Heavy bleeding
See your GP about your heavy periods
Based on your answers, we recommend you make a routine appointment with your GP to discuss your options. Heavy periods can have a big impact on your life, but there are treatment options available that can help.
How to get ready for your doctor's appointment:
- Learn about your symptoms. Read more about heavy periods and treatment options.
- Go prepared. Take a copy of your answers with you. Your doctor may want to know if you have any specific worries about your symptoms, what you think might be causing them, and what you’d most like to achieve through the appointment. It can be helpful to think about these in advance.
- Track your symptoms. Use a period diary (like this one from Endometriosis UK) or tracker app to record your symptoms over two or more months. You can learn more about recording your symptoms here.
- Take an ally. It can help to have someone else in the appointment with you to make sure you're heard and to note down any information.
- You can go back. Different treatment options may work better for different people and it can sometimes take some time to find the right option for you. If you’re not happy with your treatment, you can go back and discuss alternatives.
Read about what to do if you feel dismissed by your healthcare professional.
Find out more about conditions that can cause heavy periods
Heavy periods can sometimes be a sign of an underlying gynaecological condition. It may be helpful to learn more about these before your appointment. If you have concerns, you can discuss these with your doctor.
Heavy periods can also be a sign of other things such as a bleeding disorder. Very rarely, heavy periods could be a sign of womb or cervical cancer, so it is important to speak to your doctor.
Other symptoms
Our Period Symptom Checker only asked about heavy bleeding and period pain. Some people experience other symptoms in relation to their periods, such as irregular bleeding, fatigue, fainting, insomnia, brain fog, bloating, low mood, pain during sex, headache and more.
If you are concerned about any of these, or if your periods become irregular, disappear, or if you have bleeding in between your periods, after sex, or after the menopause please see your doctor.
You can learn more about a variety of reproductive and gynaecological health conditions in our health information pages.
Letter to give to your doctor
You may wish to print this letter out and take it with you to your appointment, or send them the PDF as part of your online consultation.
Dear Colleague,
Your patient recently completed Wellbeing of Women's Period Symptom Checker. We advised them to make an appointment with you to talk about their symptoms.
We informed them that their symptoms are common in endometriosis, adenomyosis, fibroids, and pelvic inflammatory disease. Our Period Symptom Checker only asked about heavy bleeding and period pain. Your patient may also be experiencing other symptoms.
Your patient's answers:
- • What age were you when your periods started?
- • "In the past three months, my period has caused me to... ."
- • How long have your periods been like this?
- • What have you already tried for heavy periods?
- • In the past three months, have you experienced period pain?
- • How long have you been having painful periods for?
- • In the past three months, how bad has your period pain been, at its worst moments?
Wellbeing of Women's Period Symptom Checker is part of our "Just a Period" campaign which aims to tackle normalisation of period-related symptoms and empower women and girls to know when and how to seek help.
Our Period Symptom Checker was co-created with GPs, gynaecologists, pharmacists, women's health researchers and women with heavy menstrual bleeding and period pain. It is based on information from the NHS website and NICE guidelines. If you have feedback or questions about this please contact hello@wellbeingofwomen.org.uk.
Yours faithfully,
Janet Lindsay
CEO
Wellbeing of Women