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Question:
My periods are quite heavy. I lose so much blood that I become severely anemic and sometimes have to get iron shots. What can I do?
Answer:
Excessive menstrual bleeding or menorrhagia is a common female complaint that may be entirely prevented by taking proper nutritional measures in many cases. The first step with menorrhagia is to rule out serious causes. As excessive menstrual blood can reflect a serious condition, it is essential that if you are experiencing excessive menstrual blood loss that you consult a physician. As with any disease, proper determination of the cause is essential for effective treatment. In many cases of "excessive blood loss," it is demonstrated that the amount of blood lost is actually quite normal.
In your case it sounds like iron is the key consideration. Although menstrual blood loss is well recognized as a major cause of iron deficiency anemia in fertile women, it is not as well known that chronic iron deficiency can be a cause of menorrhagia. Iron supplementation, at a daily dose of 100 mg elemental iron, has been recommended as a preventive therapy by several researchers, since it appears that chronic iron deficiency may promote menorrhagia, and iron-containing enzymes are depleted before changes in the blood (anemia) are observed. It is certainly worth a try. Take 200 to 500 mg of vitamin C per day with an equal amount of citrus bioflavonoids along with 100 mg of elemental iron per day for three months and see if the blood loss is reduced. I would also recommend having your physician measure the level of serum ferritin (an indicator of iron status) to gauge the severity of the iron deficiency and your response to supplementation.
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