Natural treatment of heavy periods

02/18/22 • 10 min

In a normal period, you should not lose more than about 80 mL of menstrual fluid over all the days of the bleed. That’s equivalent to about five tablespoons spread over all the days of the bleed. In this episode, Lara discusses heavy periods including:

the role of hormone imbalance, mast cell activation, and insulin resistance,
simple period-lightening strategies such as iron, zinc, and a dairy-free diet, and
using body-identical progesterone to lighten periods.

Links to:

Blog post about heavy periods.
Blog post about testing for insulin resistance.
Blog post with a list of brand names of body-identical progesterone.
Professor Prior's document: Managing menorrhagia without surgery.
Lara's forum where you can post a comment or suggest a topic for a future episode.

the role of hormone imbalance, mast cell activation, and insulin resistance,
simple period-lightening strategies such as iron, zinc, and a dairy-free diet, and
using body-identical progesterone to lighten periods.

Links to:

Blog post about heavy periods.
Blog post about testing for insulin resistance.
Blog post with a list of brand names of body-identical progesterone.
Professor Prior's document: Managing menorrhagia without surgery.
Lara's forum where you can post a comment or suggest a topic for a future episode.

Previous Episode

Pill bleeds are not periods

The pill is commonly prescribed to "regulate periods," but it can't actually do that because withdrawal bleeds from contraceptive drugs are not real menstrual cycles.
In episode one of The Lara Briden Podcast, Dr Lara covers:

what is a real menstrual cycle
why there's no medical reason to bleed monthly on the pill, and
the difference between contraceptive drugs and real hormones.

Links to:

Blog post about cyclic progesterone therapy for PCOS.
Lara's forum where you can post a comment or suggest a topic for a future episode.

Next Episode

Why PCOS cannot be diagnosed by ultrasound

Were you told you have polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS based on a pelvic ultrasound? That may or may not be an accurate diagnosis because PCOS cannot actually be diagnosed or ruled out with ultrasound.
In this episode, Lara discusses PCOS including:

why PCOS is an umbrella term
the difference between polycystic ovaries and ovarian cysts, and
why some women with undereating and endometriosis are being mistakenly told they have PCOS.

Links to:

Blog post: PCOS cannot be diagnosed (or ruled out) by ultrasound
Blog post about the 4 types of PCOS.
Citation for the quote about polycystic ovaries: Diagnosis of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Which Criteria to Use and When?
Lara's forum where you can post a comment or suggest a topic for a future episode.

Lara Briden's Podcast - Natural treatment of heavy periods

Transcript

Did you know that in a normal period, you should not lose more than about 80 mL of menstrual fluid over all the days of the bleed? That’s equivalent to about five tablespoons spread over all the days of the bleed. Of course, some women lose way more than five tablespoons, and today, we’re going to look at that very common problem of heavy periods and, more importantly, at what you can do about it.
Welcome back to my podcast. I’m your host Lara Briden—a naturopathic doctor and autho