| 5 star (1) | 100% |
Annieg (Hurst, Tx) on 06/15/2016: 
I'm 46 and I've had problems with heavy, long periods for the past four years. Mine weren't as heavy as some on here have described (thank goodness) but got bad enough at times that it definitely made me apprehensive about leaving the house, particularly if the place I was going didn't have a bathroom. I've always been very regular, even since having my son 8 years ago. 4 years ago I was over a week late for my period which freaked me out. I took several pregnancy tests which were all negative, but I knew that the tremendous stress I was under at the time (mother had medical issues) could cause me to be late. That period finally started but was a bit longer than normal. On what should've been one of the final days, I was watching fireworks - it was July 4th - and felt that I was suddenly bleeding...a lot. I ran for the house and barely made it into the bathroom. I was pouring blood. Totally freaked me out...have NEVER had that happen before. My bleeding was always "normal". My husband grabbed a towel and drove me home. On the way I called a family friend who is a naturopathic doctor. She assured me that I was most likely perimenopausal and that yes, it can just suddenly happen that way.
Fortunately, the bleeding did slow that night thanks to taking some herbs I had on hand plus Advil. That began 4 years of this aggravating bleeding. I've had episodes of very heavy bleeding like that from time to time but have gotten the worst of it under control by taking various things: apple cider vinegar, arnica pills, yarrow, shepherd's purse, white oak bark, blackstrap molasses, etc. While most of it seemed to get the worst bleeding under control, none of it stopped my periods completely that lasted for WEEKS. What a frustrating thing to have it slow to the point where you think it will FINALLY stop but then it just starts back up again. Bleeding sometimes heavy but mostly moderate. The longer it affected my life the more stressful it became. I couldn't take my son to the pool - his favorite thing in the summer - because I never knew how much I'd bleed.
I tried all sorts of store bought herbal blends to balance out my hormones but some seemed to make it worse or gave me headaches. None felt quite right to me. I finally came to the conclusion that my hormones were really out of whack or I had fibroids and decided to make an appointment to get those checked. Yes, I avoid doctors like the plague and didn't want to go. 20 plus years of knowledge of natural medicine can make you that way. While waiting for my appointment, I had the idea one morning to up my Vitamin D. I'd taken it for some time but was forgetful sometimes about it. At the time I was taking 5000 iu, that morning I took another 5,000 and upped it to 10,000 iu total. My period stopped that afternoon. Huh. I also had started taking more blackstrap molasses to up my iron, in case I had become anemic with all that bleeding. My research had shown me that anemia can actually lead to MORE bleeding. So those two things were the only things I had changed. A week later (still no bleeding) I had my doctor's appointment and mentioned those things to her. She had my vitamin D level checked, along with hormones, and was going to check for anemia. Told me to keep taking the D because it would take a while for levels to rise. Sonogram showed no fibroids. Results came back in a few days: D levels WERE low (still) and I was anemic. Hormones were just fine.
Since then I went a whole month with no bleeding, and have had a normal period with fairly light bleeding. It's like a darned miracle. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine told me she was having a longer than normal period with heavier bleeding and she was worried about it because that wasn't normal for her. I told her about the vitamin D. She told me a few days later that she had taken an extra dose the next morning and her bleeding had stopped by the next day. I know that Vitamin D acts as a hormone in your body, and most people are deficient in it...some severely. I know I tried just about every other remedy I could find on this site plus others and nothing worked until I boosted my Vitamin D. I'm not sure if I'm still anemic, I know it can take a while to fix that and plan to go in for another blood to to check that out. I finally feel like I can get back to normal living now, and have taken my son swimming twice already. :)
Good luck to all you ladies out there!
