Intended for healthcare professionals

  1. Menorrhagia
  2. Menorrhagia
General Practice 10-minute consultation

Menorrhagia

BMJ 2000; 321 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.321.7266.935 (Published 14 October 2000) Cite this as: BMJ 2000;321:935
  1. Sally Hope, general practitioner (SHope@doctors.org.uk)
  1. The Surgery, Park Lane, Woodstock OX20 1UD

    This is the first in an occasional series of articles on common problems in primary care

    A woman comes to see you having been rejected at a blood donor session because of a haemoglobin concentration of 90 g/l. She has happily used a contraceptive diaphragm for the past 20 years. She has two children and has been feeling tired and grumpy.

    Medical treatment of menorrhagia, adapted with permission from The Initial Management of Menorrhagia—Evidence Based Clinical Guidelines (see box)

    What issues you should cover

    • Ask about flooding, clots, and frequency of changing sanitary wear overnight during periods.

    • Are the periods regular? A regular cycle implies ovulation, and non-hormonal treatments should work. Irregular, anovulatory cycles may need hormones.

    • Symptoms suggesting other conditions are irregular bleeding, a sudden change in blood …

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