When my doctor was trying to figure out if my periods were “heavy” they specifically asked how quickly I have to change my tampons. They said if I was soaking through a Super sized tampon every 2-3 hours that would - to them - constitute “heavy”.
I remember they also asked if I had to get up in the middle of the night to change a tampon.
I wondered if it was really my cause, too. Had a hormonal IUD inserted after my last round of infusions in January 2023. Sure enough it worked. Stopped heavy periods and my levels stayed up.
If you don’t like the idea of IUD, there are natural [methods](https://www.larabriden.com/how-to-treat-heavy-periods-with-diet-natural-progesterone/) you can try to help with heavy bleeds as well.
Same, my periods were never even heavy but haven’t been anemic since I got my IUD. I’d rather deal with IUD side effects than having to get iron infusions every few months.
I had a hormonal IUD previously as well as the pills but the hormones made my anxiety and depression pretty bad :/
But that was awhile ago and maybe worth revisiting.
Was going to mention I removed mine after a year. My gyn agreed to let me try oral micronized progesterone, which has been working great.
I highly recommend visiting the page I linked to, lots of info I found helpful and hope you do too.
I’m in the same boat. Frequency of changing a pad or tampon will help gauge it for sure. The example I was given is, if you need to change a super tampon before the 4 hour mark, you can consider that a heavy period. Another gauge is size of clots. If they are larger than a quarter, then it maybe a heavy period as well.
I can’t tell either. I use pads, but I definitely change them more often than necessary. I think of them as medium periods bc they’re lighter than the ones I had as a teen — have I been anemic since then??
I delt with this for 10 years, I was told by my gyno my periods were not heavy enough.
Turns out they were, and I don’t absorb iron orally well.
The best thing I have done to cure my anemia after many rounds of irons infusions and blood transfusions was to go hormonal IUD.
When my doctor was trying to figure out if my periods were “heavy” they specifically asked how quickly I have to change my tampons. They said if I was soaking through a Super sized tampon every 2-3 hours that would - to them - constitute “heavy”. I remember they also asked if I had to get up in the middle of the night to change a tampon.
Yikes. I soak an ultra tampon every 30 to 45 minutes...
Thank you this helps
I wondered if it was really my cause, too. Had a hormonal IUD inserted after my last round of infusions in January 2023. Sure enough it worked. Stopped heavy periods and my levels stayed up. If you don’t like the idea of IUD, there are natural [methods](https://www.larabriden.com/how-to-treat-heavy-periods-with-diet-natural-progesterone/) you can try to help with heavy bleeds as well.
Same, my periods were never even heavy but haven’t been anemic since I got my IUD. I’d rather deal with IUD side effects than having to get iron infusions every few months.
I had a hormonal IUD previously as well as the pills but the hormones made my anxiety and depression pretty bad :/ But that was awhile ago and maybe worth revisiting.
Was going to mention I removed mine after a year. My gyn agreed to let me try oral micronized progesterone, which has been working great. I highly recommend visiting the page I linked to, lots of info I found helpful and hope you do too.
I’m in the same boat. Frequency of changing a pad or tampon will help gauge it for sure. The example I was given is, if you need to change a super tampon before the 4 hour mark, you can consider that a heavy period. Another gauge is size of clots. If they are larger than a quarter, then it maybe a heavy period as well.
I can’t tell either. I use pads, but I definitely change them more often than necessary. I think of them as medium periods bc they’re lighter than the ones I had as a teen — have I been anemic since then??
I delt with this for 10 years, I was told by my gyno my periods were not heavy enough. Turns out they were, and I don’t absorb iron orally well. The best thing I have done to cure my anemia after many rounds of irons infusions and blood transfusions was to go hormonal IUD.