Menstrual disorders

Many women and young ladies suffer with numerous problems that the menstrual cycle can bring: heavy bleeding, cramping, PMS, nausea, vomiting, exhaustion, anemia, prolonged bleeding, irregular bleeding, and more.  There are several causes of these troubles.  Bottom line, after a simple workup to find the cause and rule out major abnormalities, these bothers can almost always be managed. 

First, identification of the bothersome symptoms is in order.  That will lead to a workup to find the cause.  Sometimes the cause is an abnormality that can easily be treated.  But often women have severe symptoms with no apparent abnormalities.  We still don’t have to tolerate these symptoms. 

The first place to start is with nature herself: a whole food, plant based diet.  Plants as food and daily exercise can significantly control many of these symptoms.  There are also herbal and natural remedies that can augment our hormones and decrease the toxicity of hormone metabolites. 

There are numerous medical and surgical managements that can help relieve problematic cycles.  There are many different types of hormones, such as hormone balancing with bio-identical hormones that don’t interfere with the body’s own hormones.  This is based on the woman’s levels of hormones and what is deficient or needs to be balanced.  Hormones such as oral contraceptives and other hormone analogues are very potent to control symptoms.  There are nonhormonal medications also such as anti-inflammatory medications and prescription non-hormonal medications that decrease bleeding.

Surgical remedies include endometrial ablation, which is a one-time procedure done in the office or operating room that decreases bleeding and cramping and other symptoms.  The most common reports of this procedure are, “This is the best thing I’ve done in my life” and “I should have done this a long time ago.”  Embolization procedures can be done by interventional radiologists.  Some women will ultimately do best with a hysterectomy, which can be done as an outpatient with no visible incisions.

Just tell problematic cycles: We’re not going to take it!  Come in and get a very individualized set of options of what may be best for you!

Author

Karen E Kennedy MD Gynecologist for over 21 years in Gulf Breeze, FL, caring for patients in the Florida panhandle area.