IS YOUR PERIOD TOO HEAVY?

Heavy menstrual bleeding is a primary cause of iron deficiency and anaemia. So, how much blood is normal to lose with your period?

• We should lose 40-80mL of blood with each menstrual period.

• For every 1mL of blood lost, we lose 0.5mL of iron.

• A regular pad/tampon holds approximately 5mL of blood, and heavy/super pads and tampons hold approximately 10mL of blood.

• Menstrual cups have the mL on the cup so are perfect for measuring blood loss.

• Anything more than 80mL of blood lost per period is menorrhagia (heavy menstrual bleeding), and needs investigating.

• Causes of heavy periods include: hormone imbalances (oestrogen excess), poor gut health, fibroids, polyps, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), endometriosis and adenomyosis.

• Treatment should focus on correcting the root cause, not mirena coils, contraceptive pills or tranexamic acid.