Menstruation does not end: what is the reason

When menstruation comes to a woman regularly and always has almost the same duration, this indicates that the health of her body is normal. Any disturbances in the nature of the discharge or in its duration may be a cause for concern, as they indicate the presence of pathologies or hormonal imbalance.

In this article, you will learn why your period lasts more than 7 days and what to do in such a situation, whether such manifestations can be normal, and when you should immediately seek medical help.

About the normal cycle

Menstruation first appears in a teenager aged 12-15 years. This is a very important moment in the life of every girl, which even received its own name - menarche. The arrival of menstrual periods indicates that the girl’s body is preparing for a possible pregnancy. In the first one or two years, the duration of the cycle and the nature of the discharge may fluctuate, this is caused by hormonal changes in the girl’s body, usually in the second year its regularity returns to normal.

Please note that a normal menstrual cycle should be regular and without too much pain during the period. The duration of discharge should range from 3-5 days, and the entire cycle is in the range of 21-35 days. During one menstruation, from 50 to 150 ml of blood should be released with the remains of the internal uterine layer, while the woman should not feel any discomfort, such as itching or burning. The smell from the discharge may have a slight, but not persistent, metallic tint; the stench of rot, pus, rotten meat or fish is not allowed.

To track the regularity of the onset of critical days, you should keep a special calendar, where you note not only the days of arrival of the regula, but also your feelings during the cycle, this will subsequently help the doctor to create a complete picture of the course of the disease if any disturbances appear.

Treatment of menstruation, what to do if menstruation lasts a very long time?

If a woman does not know the reason why her period lasts so long, more than 10 days, then she should definitely seek help from a gynecologist on the 11th day. And if there is itching in the perineum, if there is an unpleasant odor from the discharge, if it itches in the external genital area, if there is mucus, blood clots or mucus in the discharge, all these are symptoms for which you should immediately seek help from a doctor.

If menstruation occurs on the 10th day, then the doctor most often prescribes Vikasol, Dicion, Etamzilat. These hemostatic drugs are most often used if menstruation does not stop for a long time or the discharge becomes very heavy. How can hemostatic pills help with long periods? Vikasol - used because is an analogue of vitamin K. This ingredient helps improve blood clotting. It is important to note that Vikasol is prescribed for heavy and long periods when the cause of poor blood clotting is a lack of vitamins and minerals.

Dition is a very effective hemostatic agent that is used when there is very heavy discharge or uterine bleeding. Etamsylate - reduces blood loss and stimulates an increase in the formation of thromboplastin. Why can’t you take medications on your own to treat heavy periods and menstruation on 6, 7, 8, 9 or 10 days? Each drug or tablet has many contraindications. Treatment of the cause of the pathology should be carried out after an accurate diagnosis has been made. Self-treatment of the problem often comes down to the banal elimination of symptoms, which means simply stopping menstruation. But if painful and problematic periods are not treated, then the symptoms in the form of long periods may recur.

What to do if your period does not stop for more than 1 week? If your periods are still taking a long time, it is better to consult a specialist, because... Without a comprehensive diagnosis, even an experienced specialist doctor will not always be able to make a diagnosis. In addition to a gynecological examination, the doctor usually prescribes an ultrasound of the pelvic organs (ultrasound). Most often, doctors check the quality of blood clotting, check for hormonal imbalance, and check for the presence of inflammatory diseases. Such a comprehensive diagnosis is necessary due to the fact that many types of diseases have similar symptoms, which is why it is not always possible to determine an accurate diagnosis without diagnostics.

Why do menstruation last 7 days or more?

Let's look at the main reasons why menstruation lasts more than seven days:

• intrauterine device. This is a very popular and effective method of contraception, which, despite its positive aspects, also has a number of side effects. In addition to the low price, convenience and reliability, prolonged menstruation is added. If your period lasts more than 7 days and there is very heavy discharge, it is recommended to remove the IUD from the body and choose another method of birth control;
• hormonal contraception. Due to hormonal changes and the body’s adaptation to a new method of contraception, the first 2-3 cycles after starting to take birth control pills may last longer than 7 days, and the cycle may shorten. When the cycle shortens, menstruation occurs 2 times a month. If such symptoms appear for longer than 3 months, you should definitely consult your doctor; you may need to replace oral contraceptives with other pills or barrier contraception;
• endocrine diseases. When there is an excess or deficiency of certain hormones, thyroid diseases begin. In this case, long-term regulation may occur. During the treatment process, you should consult with an endocrinologist and take hormone tests;
• age-related changes. Hormonal imbalances in adolescence can cause prolonged periods in adolescents for 1-2 years after menarche. This is a variant of the norm, but if the cycle has not returned to normal after 2 years, it means that there are additional developmental anomalies or pathologies that require medical intervention. Hormonal imbalance occurs in a woman after 45 years of age, when reproductive function begins to decline and menopause occurs. Long-term regulation is also typical for women in the postpartum period;
• adenomyosis. With this disease, the cells of the inner mucous layer of the uterus grow into its walls. Normally, the endometrium should slough off and completely exit the uterus within 3-5 days during menstruation. If your periods last more than 7 days, but are not heavy, then you can suspect the presence of adenomyosis. The diagnosis can be confirmed by ultrasound examination;
• polyps. These are small foci of endometrial growth, which in themselves are not dangerous, but can cause prolonged periods. They are formed against the background of long-term use of drugs containing estrogen;
• blood diseases. With such ailments, the level of platelets decreases, and these blood cells are responsible for stopping bleeding. Iron deficiency anemia can provoke prolonged periods;
• diseases that are transmitted during sexual intercourse. If prolonged periods are accompanied by severe pain in the lower abdomen, the doctor first of all assumes the presence of sexually transmitted diseases. To identify them, laboratory tests are required (smear, ELISA blood test);
• neoplasms in the uterus. If your period starts too early and lasts longer than expected, the reason may lie in the presence of tumors of various types. In the initial stages, both benign neoplasms and cancer develop asymptomatically, and with the intensity of growth they affect the nature of menstrual flow, and there can be either a short or long menstrual cycle;
• heavy load. Excessive physical activity contributes not only to prolonged regulation, but also to endocrine changes, so in pursuit of a beautiful figure, you do not need to exhaust your body with too intense and heavy physical activity;
• colds. Colds disrupt blood circulation in the uterus and cause a painful condition due to ongoing inflammation in the body, additionally causing prolonged regulation;
• stressful situations. Emotional stress in some cases can lead to menstrual irregularities.

Risk of prolonged bleeding

The duration of menstruation should be strictly controlled, since prolonged bleeding in a woman reduces the level of iron in the blood and increases the likelihood of developing anemia.

This negatively affects your well-being and leads to dizziness, drowsiness, chronic fatigue and increased irritability. Anemia can also provoke pulmonary or coronary insufficiency and hemorrhagic shock.

If menstruation lasts longer than expected, diseases of the genitourinary system often appear. If there is significant blood loss, surgery may be necessary.

If there is prolonged discharge, a woman should consult a specialist. If your periods take a long time, only a doctor will be able to identify the cause of this deviation and prescribe the necessary therapy. Prolonged discharge may be a sign of miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, or malignancy. How to distinguish a miscarriage from menstruation, read the article at the link.

What is the danger

Harm to a woman’s health can be caused not only by the pathology that provokes prolonged bleeding, but also by the bleeding itself. If menstruation lasts longer than a week, the body loses a lot of iron, and anemia develops against the background of its deficiency.

If your period lasts longer than 7 days, this may be a symptom of ectopic fetal development or the threat of spontaneous abortion. In addition, prolonged periods may mean that the woman is seriously ill or has cancer. Timely seeking medical help and stopping bleeding in some cases can even save a woman’s life.

Common Causes of Prolonged Periods

Continuous menstruation in certain cases has physiological causes:

1. Reducing body weight.
2. Overweight.
3. Stress.
4. Increased physical activity.
5. Changes in climatic conditions.
6. Hereditary factor.
7. Disruption of the reproductive organs.
8. Nutritional deficiencies can cause your period to not end.
9. Injury.
10. Intoxication due to the ingestion of large amounts of alcohol, psychotropic drugs or nicotine. Find out why you shouldn't drink during your period.
11. Termination of pregnancy or childbirth, as waste products of the fetus and remaining fragments of the placenta are removed from the body.
12. Establishing a cycle in girls.
13. The period before menopause. The reasons for long periods after 40 or 45 years may be that this is the last menstruation.

Only a gynecologist can figure out the reason why your period lasts 8 or 9 days. Bleeding for too long can also occur due to pathological factors:

1. Hormone dysfunction.
2. Blood clotting disorder.
3. Taking hormonal contraceptives – the reasons for long periods may be that certain medications are not suitable for the woman.
4. Development of adenomyosis.
5. Neoplasms in the pelvis of a benign or malignant nature. Myoma also belongs to them. The development of this tumor occurs slowly. But it can cause your periods to go longer than expected.
6. The appearance of a polyp.
7. Violation of the concentration of substances produced by the thyroid gland.
8. Use of an intrauterine device.

When menstruation occurs and does not end, the problem should be reported to the doctor.

Diagnostics

If a patient complains of prolonged discharge, the gynecologist first conducts a survey to understand what other symptoms accompany the abnormal discharge. Next, the following diagnostic measures are carried out:

• gynecological examination in a chair;
• Ultrasound examination of the organs of the reproductive system;
• flora smears;
• blood test for hormones, coagulation and platelet levels;
• colposcopy;
• MRI of the abdominal cavity;
• cytological examination and biopsy;
• cut analysis by PCR method.

Depending on the suspected cause of protracted regulation, the list of diagnostic procedures can be expanded or shortened.

What to do

Normally, menstruation should reduce its intensity closer to 3-4 days, but if they not only drag on for more than 7 days, but also become even more abundant, you must definitely seek medical help. If you have a long period, what is not recommended to do is self-medicate and use folk remedies without a doctor’s prescription.

If heavy blood loss is accompanied by severe pain, loss of strength and pale skin, you should immediately call an ambulance. Before the ambulance arrives, a cold compress to the lower abdomen will help alleviate the condition, while you need to lie horizontally, put your legs above body level, you can put a bolster or pillows under them.

Medicines and folk remedies

Only a specialist knows exactly how to stop menstruation that has lasted longer than 7 days. In a hospital setting, drugs that narrow the uterus, as well as hemostatic drugs such as Vikasol and Dicynon, may be prescribed. Such medications have many contraindications and adverse reactions, so it is not recommended to use them at your own discretion. For some pathologies that provoke prolonged regulation, treatment involves surgical intervention.

In addition to basic therapy, the gynecologist may recommend the use of traditional medicine. Here are the most popular recipes for decoctions and infusions that our great-great-grandmothers used during long-term regimens:

• You can normalize the cycle with a decoction of herbal tea, which contains equal parts of peppermint leaves, birch leaves, yarrow herb and valerian roots. A tablespoon of the herbal mixture is poured with a cup of boiling water and boiled in a water bath for a quarter of an hour without boiling. The broth is filtered and boiled water is added to 250 ml. Take small sips throughout the day;
• a tablespoon of dry young birch leaves is poured with a glass of boiling water, infused for 6-7 hours and strained. Take the infusion one third of a glass three times a day;
• A tablespoon of nettle leaves is poured with boiling water, infused and taken 2 cups throughout the day. In the same way, you can prepare an infusion of shepherd's purse.

For treatment to be effective, you need to follow all the doctor’s instructions, and for greater effectiveness, combine traditional medicines with folk remedies.

Remedies for prolonged menstruation

The choice of treatment tactics depends on the causes of prolonged bleeding during menstruation; it is determined on the basis of a comprehensive examination. Prescription of drugs for correction of the menstrual cycle is made by the attending physician, taking into account the need to treat the underlying disease that caused long critical days.

If there are no contraindications, hemostatic agents are prescribed to stop bleeding, the most popular of which are:

• Vikasol . The drug is a synthetic analogue of vitamin K, without which the normal process of the body’s production of prothrombin, a protein that determines blood clotting, is impossible. The product is very affordable in price and has virtually no side effects or contraindications.
• Tranescam is a drug that contains transescamic acid, which is a good hemostatic agent. The prescription of Tranescam is especially indicated for identified inflammatory processes in the organs of the reproductive system, since it has a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect.
• Dicynone is an effective prophylactic and medicinal agent for bleeding of various etiologies. The drug has a good effect on the condition of the walls of blood vessels and improves blood microcirculation, in addition, it stimulates the process of platelet maturation.

In some cases, oral contraceptives help stop prolonged bleeding during menstruation and normalize the menstrual cycle. They are usually prescribed if such a phenomenon is associated with hormonal imbalance.

After consultation with your doctor, it is also possible to use traditional medicine that has proven itself in terms of being able to stop bleeding. It is recommended to drink tea during menstruation, brewed according to one of the following recipes:

• tea made from nettle leaves, which is especially useful during lactation, as it is not only a hemostatic agent, but also contains a high concentration of vitamins and minerals;
• an infusion of chamomile flowers and lemon balm, which should be taken three times a day, one glass.

It must be borne in mind that such products can be taken only in the absence of an allergic reaction to any component of the herbal collection.

We recommend reading about bleeding when taking birth control pills. From the article you will learn about the causes of bleeding when taking OCs, the types of discharge at the beginning and end of taking OCs, and when you should consult a doctor.

And here is more information about the drug Duphaston for delayed menstruation.

Long periods cannot be ignored, because in addition to natural discomfort, they can be a symptom of a serious pathology. Only the attending physician can determine ways to correct this condition based on the results of the study.