So often women are told it’s “Normal” to have period problems. Just live with it and take birth control. Frequent periods, skipping periods, heavy bleeding, terrible PMS before your period or pain with your period that keeps you home in bed – these things are NOT normal!

When you have a healthy menstrual cycle, this is a sign of your overall health and vitality. When your periods are off, not only can this disrupt your life and make you feel awful, it is the female body’s way of telling you, something is NOT RIGHT!

You don’t have to suffer with your period.  There are options other than masking the problem with birth control. Diet and lifestyle strategies along with herbal and nutritional therapies can restore your hormone balance and end your period suffering.

Here are the most common period problems and why they happen:

1. Short cycles – periods that occur less than 25 days apart. This means you have more frequent periods and who wants that! Short cycles can be caused by high estrogen or low progesterone. It’s a sign of a potential luteal phase defect in which the 2^nd half of your cycle is too short.  This can  happen if you are not ovulating or if there is a problem with the health of your developing follicles.
2. Long Cycles – periods that occur 35 days apart or longer. This can indicate lack of ovulation, low estrogen, low body weight, stress or PCOS
3. Skipped Periods – while it’s no big deal to mis a period occasionally, if you are sipping 2 or 3 periods per year, this might be a problem. Most of us will skip a period here and there.  High stress, travel and being sick with a bad cold of flu can cause you to miss a period. However, if you are skipping periods more regularly, this indicates a lack of ovulation, PCOS,  a thyroid problem or early menopause. If you are underrating and have low body fat or are an athlete and training intensely, this will also lead to skipped periods or loss of the period altogether.
4. Heavy Bleeding –  your periods are too heavy if you are changing your pad or tampon every 1-2 hours or  more than 6 times per day or if your period lasts longer than 7 days. This is a sign of imbalanced hormones, usually high estrogen or low progesterone. This can also happen if you have PCOS, a thyroid disorder, Adenomyosis or Uterine Fibroids.
5. PMS – symptoms leading up to your period can be normal if they are mild and do not interfere with your life and relationships. However, if the symptoms are more than mild or last more than a few days, this is a sign of hormone imbalance. Breast tenderness, bloating, and problems with your mood are common PMS symptoms that indicate an issue. Click here to read more about PMS and what can be done about it.
6. Painful periods-  your periods should not limit you from your living your life. If you are in tears and doubled over in pain, this is not normal period pain. Painful periods can be caused by an inflammatory diet, pelvic stagnation or high estrogen levels. Severe menstrual pain can be a sign of an underlying condition called Endometriosis. In this case, pain might be accompanied by other symptoms such as frequent pelvic pain in between periods, pain with bowel movements or pain with intercourse.

Your periods do not have to be a curse. Together we can identify your specific hormone imbalances and investigate the underlying causes. To read more about what can throw your hormones off, click here.

Editor’s Note: The information in this article is intended for your educational use only. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health practitioners with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, supplement, fitness, or other health program.