6/12/2020 Diet and Progesterone for Heavy Periods

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Diet and Progesterone for Heavy Periods

October 20, 2018 by Lara Briden

Natural progesterone can work for heavy or ooding periods but you also need to consider
the underlying cause of your heavy periods.

There are three main causes of heavy periods: low progesterone or “unopposed” estrogen,
endometriosis or adenomyosis, and thyroid disease.

Let’s look at each cause (and possible treatments) and then I’ll provide the top ve general
ways to lighten menstrual ow, including natural progesterone.

Heavy periods caused by “unopposed estrogen”

If your doctor says your heavy periods are the result of hormone imbalance, she means
you’re having anovulatory cycles and not making the progesterone you need to thin the
uterine lining and prevent heavy periods.

In other words, you have estrogen that is “unopposed” by progesterone and so develop a
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de ciency, read Ovulation is the main event of the menstrual cycle.

👉 Tip: Uterine polyps are a symptom of unopposed estrogen or endometrial

hyperplasia and are another cause of abnormal bleeding.

The only way to make progesterone is to ovulate, so, you need to know why you’re not
ovulating.

Possible reasons to not ovulate

Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS. Identify your type of PCOS and treat that.
Being a teenager so have not yet matured the communication between the brain
and the ovaries. It should improve with time but in the meantime, use the period-
lightening treatments discussed below.
Perimenopause or second puberty because ovulation starts to wind down and you
lose progesterone. This type of heavy bleeding is also called dysfunctional uterine
bleeding or endometrial hyperplasia and is tough to treat. You may need almost every
period-lightening treatment listed below.
A medical problem such as thyroid disease or high prolactin.

👉 Tip: The best way to know if you’re ovulating and making progesterone is to track your
basal body temperatures. Read The right way to test progesterone.

Heavy periods caused by endometriosis or adenomyosis

Endometriosis or adenomyosis are gynecological conditions that can cause pain and heavy
bleeding. Your doctor might be able to pick them up with an ultrasound, or she might refer
you to a gynecologist for further assessment.

Natural treatments for endometriosis and/or adenomyosis:

Anti-in ammatory and anti-microbial treatments including zinc, turmeric, and a

dairy-free diet. Read Endometriosis? Treat the immune system.
Calcium-d-glucarate (see below).
Natural or micronized progesterone (see below).

👉 Tip: Fibroids are rarely the cause of heavy bleeding because most broids are located
inside the muscle or on the outside of the uterus where they do not a ect ow. Only ten
percent of broids cause heavy bleeding.

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Heavy periods caused by thyroid disease

Thyroid disease is a common and treatable cause of heavy menstrual bleeding. Experts say
that screening for thyroid disease in every case of heavy menstrual bleeding “would avoid
unnecessary surgeries and exposure to hormones.”

Ask your doctor to test your thyroid and then ask to see the results. If your TSH is higher
than 3 mIU/L, it could be a sign of subclinical hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid).

Also, if you have thyroid disease in your family, ask your doctor to test “thyroid antibodies”
or “TPO antibodies,” which you may have to pay for privately. TPO antibodies are the
marker of autoimmune thyroid disease or Hashimoto’s disease and can cause symptoms of
underactive thyroid (including heavy periods) even when TSH is normal.

Natural treatments for thyroid disease:

Thyroid hormone (T4, T3, or thyroid extract).

Natural treatment to correct thyroid autoimmunity. See Chapter 11 of Period Repair
Manual.

👉 Tip: If you’ve su ered heavy periods all your life, ask your doctor to screen for
coagulation disorders such as von Willebrand disease. The condition accounts for up to 20
percent of all cases of heavy menstrual bleeding which is sometimes the only symptom.

Natural treatment of heavy periods

The following treatments are in addition to the core treatment of xing the underlying cause
of your heavy periods. For example, if you have thyroid disease, then the solution is to take
thyroid hormone plus look at one or more of the following.

Avoid cow’s dairy

Avoiding cow’s dairy (A1 casein) makes periods lighter and it could be because it reduces
mast cell activation which has recently been identi ed as a cause of heavy periods.

A dairy-free diet can work particularly well for the heavy periods of teenagers.

👉 Tip: You can still have butter, goat and sheep milk products because they don’t
have A1 casein.

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Turmeric

Turmeric or curcumin is one of my favorite treatments for heavy periods. It works by

reducing prostaglandins and lowering estrogen (by downregulating the enzyme
aromatase). You can take turmeric every day of the cycle and then increase the dose during
your period. Turmeric can also relieve period pain and endometriosis.

Iron

Iron corrects the iron de ciency caused by heavy periods, AND it lightens periods by
increasing blood viscosity. If you’re de cient in iron, take 15 to 50 mg of a gentle
supplement such as iron bisglycinate. The best food sources are red meat and eggs. Be
sure to take it at a di erent meal from turmeric because turmeric can prevent the
absorption of iron.

👉 Tip: Can’t get your iron up? It could be because you’re consuming too much dairy.
Dairy inhibits the absorption of iron.

Calcium d-glucarate

The active part of this supplement is the glucarate part (not calcium). Glucarate makes
periods lighter by reducing estrogen. It promotes estrogen detoxi cation both in the liver
and in the gut where it inhibits beta-glucuronidase, a bacterial enzyme that causes
estrogen to be reabsorbed.

Progesterone for heavy periods

Progesterone lightens periods by thinning the uterine lining. In that way, it’s similar to
synthetic progestins such as norethisterone (Primolut ) and medroxyprogesterone Ⓡ
Ⓡ
(Provera ), but progesterone is better for mood and does not carry the breast cancer risk
of progestins.

The standard way to take Prometrium is at bedtime during the nal two weeks of the cycle.

Tip: If you’re having trouble convincing your doctor to prescribe Prometrium or

Utrogestan, refer her to Professor Jerilynn Prior’s document “For Healthcare
Providers: Managing Menorrhagia Without Surgery.”

Advil or ibuprofen can lighten periods

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Natural treatments work to prevent heavy periods but they cannot stop a heavy period
once it’s underway.

If you want an easy x during your period, try an NSAID medication like ibuprofen or
naproxen, which can signi cantly reduce menstrual ow and might buy you some time
while you work with the other treatments. Take Advil as directed on your heavy days, and
take it with food to decrease the risk of stomach irritation.

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