Heavy Periods? Natural Remedies That Actually Work

Are you dealing with really heavy periods, bleeding longer than seven days, going through maxi tampons and pads every couple hours, and maybe have even been told your only options are birth control or a hysterectomy?

Despite what you may have heard, there are natural remedies for heavy periods that can help you get your life back.

I'm a functional practitioner who has helped hundreds of women with heavy periods find relief without surgery. I've worked with women who had adenomyosis, endometriosis, and fibroids, women who were bleeding through a tampon and pad every hour, who couldn't leave their house during their period. And now they’re living their lives without planning everything around their cycle.

So if you're tired of feeling like your period runs your life, I want to share some insights that can help you make an informed decision about your next steps. Because an educated woman is the best advocate for her own health.

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What Counts as a Heavy Period?

A normal, healthy period should last three to seven days while you're bleeding. You don't want to be bleeding less than 25 milliliters and no more than about 80 milliliters.

If you're thinking, "I have absolutely no idea how much I'm bleeding," here's a quick way to estimate. A regular tampon and pad holds about five milliliters of blood. An overnight tampon or pad holds about 10 milliliters. So think about how often you’re changing your pads or tampons and that’ll give you a good estimate.

You're also looking for your period blood to be a deep wine red or cherry red color. That color tells us you have a healthy flow.

What Causes Heavy Periods?

You’ve probably heard all your life that periods are just different for everyone and whatever is “normal for you” is normal. 

No. Heavy periods don't just happen randomly. There's always a reason behind why this is happening, and that’s good news because it means you can also change it! So let’s look at the main causes of heavy periods.

Low Progesterone

This is one of the most common causes. When you have low progesterone, estrogen is basically running wild and unchecked, leading to heavy periods.

Fibroids

Fibroids are growths in or on the uterus that can cause heavy bleeding.

Endometriosis

Endometriosis is another big one, affecting at least 1 in 10 women. This is when the uterine lining starts growing outside of your uterus, causing inflammation and heavy, painful periods.

Adenomyosis

Often confused with endometriosis, but it's different. With adenomyosis, the tissue that normally lines the inside of the uterus starts growing into the muscular wall of the uterus. Instead of the lining shedding cleanly every cycle, some gets trapped inside the muscle, creating inflammation, pressure, and heavy, painful periods.

You can get this diagnosed through a transvaginal ultrasound, MRI, or based on symptoms and history.

Thyroid Conditions

Hypothyroid specifically is another big cause of heavy periods that often gets missed.

Copper IUD

If you have a copper IUD, heavy periods are a known side effect.

Heavy Period Home Remedies You Can Start Today

While everything is nuanced depending on which specific condition you have, there are foundations that impact all of these things. These are the heavy period remedies you can start right now.

Focus on Blood Sugar Balance

I know you hear me talk about blood sugar balance all the time, but this is where it really matters. We want to be protein and fiber forward with our food. I don't advocate for keto or cutting out carbs completely, I just advocate for blood sugar balance.

Start with aiming for 30 grams of protein at every single meal and work up to 25 grams of fiber for the day.

I know that doesn't sound like very much, but if you actually look at how much fiber you're getting, it's probably less than that. If calculating fiber seems overwhelming, try this instead: focus on getting 30 different plants throughout your week. Plants can include teas too—nettle tea, alfalfa tea, milk thistle tea, bitters, leafy greens, broccoli, carrots, green beans, squash, pumpkin, even cinnamon. This helps build up your diversity and supports your keystone bacteria in your gut.

By the way, if you get digestive issues from fiber, it doesn't mean you shouldn't have fiber. It just means some of your keystone bacteria are probably way too low. Start by slowly increasing fiber just a little bit by adding one extra serving of fiber per day for an entire week. Then go up the next week. Maybe you add a sprinkle of chia seeds throughout the day, then next time add more broccoli. Go slow so it's not shocking for your gut.

Bring in Magnesium

I love magnesium because it's a relaxation mineral that helps with muscle relaxation, and over 78% of women in the US are deficient in magnesium. This is not medical advice, please talk to your doctor before you bring in any supplementation, but magnesium is a great heavy period remedy.

I also like B6 to help absorb magnesium. Seeking Health is a great brand that has magnesium and B6 combined. You can find my favorite brands of supplements at my Fullscript dispensary.

Support Your Liver

By including more fiber in your diet, you're naturally going to support liver clearance because you're increasing bitters, which are great for the liver.

Other heavy periods natural remedies for liver support include vitamin C, milk thistle, burdock, dandelion leaf, and castor oil packs. If you have a hormonal issue (which you do because you're here and struggling with heavy periods) you need to support the liver more.

Reduce Overall Inflammation

Something simple you can start doing to reduce inflammation is removing endocrine disruptors from your life. If I was going to start with one thing, I would start with switching to organic tampons and pads. Hands down. Fragrance-free, organic tampons and pads. Garnuu is a great, non-toxic brand I recommend for period products and you can use code LEAH to save 15%.

If you have endometriosis or adenomyosis, I would highly recommend not using tampons. Many women notice a massive difference in pain levels when they're not using tampons.

But everybody should be using organic tampons and pads. We don't need that fragrance in our most delicate area or all those hormone disruptors, especially when we're bleeding and our cervix is open.

If you're already doing that, the next thing I would do is switch to non-toxic skincare when you run out, then switch your cookware and makeup. I have a full switch and ditch guide with vetted brands. But if you're not in this world at all, please at least start with switching over your tampons and pads first.

Additional Supplements to Get Rid of Heavy Periods

I want to leave you with a few more things that can be really helpful supplementation-wise. Again, not medical advice, please take this with your own grain of salt.

Shepherd's purse is a great herb to have on hand if you're having a really heavy period and need something to help your body manage it. 

The other thing I like is anything that helps build the blood, because you're losing a lot of blood. Beef organs are really useful for this.

SubLuna is an herbal company that has a tincture for shepherd's purse and one called Iron and Copper Mineral Nectar that's a good blood builder. Use coupon code LEAH to save with Subluna.

The other option is beef organs- my go-to is Paleovalley. You can use coupon code LEAH to save with Paleovalley.

These are just recommendations to look into, not medical advice. Talk to your healthcare provider before bringing any new supplements in.

When You Need Something More Specific

No matter what’s causing your heavy periods, these are the foundations that will help you get rid of them for good. It’s what I have all my clients start with when they’re dealing with hormonal issues like heavy periods.

Now, if we want to get very specific into what’s causing your heavy periods, things look different. For fibroids, we're looking at mineral imbalances with copper and zinc. Same thing with endo. We're working more at the autoimmune level for adenomyosis. For thyroid issues, it gets very specific with the support needed to restore balance.

If you want to do this deeper work, that's where the Hormone Reset Program® comes in. We help you with the testing, the lifestyle shifts, and one-on-one coaching. My team and I have worked with hundreds of women in all of these categories.

If you're ready to step into feeling like you're truly living your life again and not letting your heavy periods run your life; if you're tired of calling in sick to work or not being able to function on your period, I would love to show you how!

These natural remedies for heavy periods are just a starting point, but you don't have to figure this out alone. You can feel like yourself again.

Let’s get rid of your heavy periods!

Stop dreading your heavy periods every month and planning your life around your cycle. Get the accountability, testing and personalized protocol you need to get rid of heavy periods naturally.