The most important thing is getting to the root of the reason for the heavy
bleeding. It depends on your age, other experiences and whether you can tell by
the way you feel that your period is coming.
It is likely that you have
an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone. If you live in British Columbia, have
your family doctor give me a call and I will give some instructions to her/him
about therapies.
The things that help with heavy flow are outlined in an
article for clinicians called "Managing
Menorrhagia [1]". For a start, I'd suggest that you track your menstrual
cycle (use the Menstrual Cycle Diary [2] if
you have had no changes, or the Daily
Perimenopause Diary [2] if you have hot flushes/night sweats or other changes).
It would also be useful to track ovulation using the basal temperature. Again,
with the diaries are instructions for taking, recording and analyzing these
data.
Briefly, for a start, always take ibuprofen (say one 200 mg pill
every 4-6 hours) during flow. That has been shown to decrease flow about 20-30
per cent. In addition, when flowing heavily, make sure to drink lots of liquid,
especially salty things to keep your blood volume normal.
And I would get
a blood count. Even if it is normal your iron stores are likely low. A serum
ferritin level will tell that. If your serum ferritin levels are low take one
iron pill a day for a year.
Hope this is helpful.
