Heavy periods, Menorrhagia

Overview

Heavy periods (also called menorrhagia) are common and may just be normal for you. Treatment can help if they're affecting your daily life.

Check if you have heavy periods

You may have heavy periods if you:

need to change your pad or tampon every 1 to 2 hours, or empty your menstrual cup more often than is recommended
need to use 2 types of sanitary product together, such as a pad and a tampon
have periods lasting more than 7 days
pass blood clots larger than about 2.5cm (the size of a 10p coin)
bleed through to your clothes or bedding
avoid daily activities, like exercise, or take time off work because of your periods
feel tired or short of breath a lot

Causes of heavy periods

It can be normal to have heavy periods.

They can sometimes be heavy at different times, like when you first start your periods, after pregnancy or during menopause.

Sometimes, they can be caused by:

conditions affecting your womb, ovaries or hormones, such as p olycystic ovary syndrome, fibroids, endometriosis and pelvic inflammatory disease
some medicines and treatments, including some anticoagulant medicines and chemotherapy medicines
stress and depression

Rarely, heavy periods can be a sign of womb cancer.

See a GP if:

heavy periods are affecting your life
you've had heavy periods for some time
you have severe pain during your periods
you bleed between periods or after sex
you have heavy periods and other symptoms such as pain when peeing, pooing or having sex

What we mean by severe pain

Severe pain:

always there and so bad it's hard to think or talk
you cannot sleep
it's very hard to move, get out of bed, go to the bathroom, wash or dress

Moderate pain:

always there
makes it hard to concentrate or sleep
you can manage to get up, wash or dress

Mild pain:

comes and goes
is annoying but does not stop you doing daily activities

Treatment for heavy periods

Heavy periods do not always need to be treated. But there are treatments that can help if they’re affecting your daily life.

Treatments from a GP include:

some types of contraception, such as an intrauterine system (IUS) or the combined contraceptive pill
medicine to help reduce the bleeding, such as tranexamic acid
prescription-only anti-inflammatory painkillers, such as mefenamic acid or naproxen

You should have a blood test to check if you have iron deficiency anaemia.

If these treatments do not work or a GP thinks a condition may be causing your heavy periods, they’ll usually refer you for tests or to see a specialist.

The information on this page has been adapted by NHS Wales from original content supplied by

NHS website nhs.uk