Heavy Menstrual Periods

You provided a likely answer to explain your heavy menstrual bleeding. It's not unusual to have heavy or irregular periods when you first start menstruating.

The hormone communication between the brain and the ovaries can be slow to adjust into its appropriate monthly rhythm after new levels of female hormones occur during puberty. This adjustment may take two to three years after your period starts.

Even though heavy periods can be normal during this time, unusually heavy periods can also be a sign that you have a problem with your blood's ability to clot.

Do you have frequent and heavy nosebleeds, gum bleeding, or other bleeding that does not seem normal? Yes, I do experience one or more of these symptoms. No, I do not experience any of these symptoms.

START OVER    PREVIOUS

Online Medical Reviewer: Faculty of Harvard Medical School Date Last Reviewed: 6/15/2006 Date Last Modified: 6/5/2006 Source: from Harvard Health Decision Guides, Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.