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Heavy Period After Menopause

Heavy bleeding after menopause is not normal and is a medical concern. Once you start menopause, the hormone estrogen has reduced significantly and stops menstrual cycles. Therefore, heavy bleeding takes place after you have been diagnosed with menopause is not from a menstrual period and should be reported to your physician.

  1. Menopause Stages

    • Menopause has three stages: perimenopause, menopause, and post-menopause. During perimenopause, your ovaries still make enough estrogen to continue producing menstrual cycles. In most cases, these cycles will be irregular, causing light, heavy, long or short menstrual periods. Heavy bleeding in this stage of menopause is common. During menopause, levels of estrogen have decreased enough to stop menstrual cycles. Bleeding in this stage is not common and is usually caused by hormone irregularity. Post-menopause is the stage of menopause that marks 12 months of missed menstrual cycles. This stage continues throughout your lifetime. All bleeding in this stage is abnormal.

    Uterine Growths

    • In the menopause stage, some women develop uterine polyps. Researchers aren't sure what causes these, but they have found that the development of them is linked to hormonal factors, according to the Mayo Clinic. The polyps are bulb-like growths that protrude into the womb from the uterine lining. Uterine polyps can be the size of sesame seeds but can grow as large as golf balls. They are generally benign, and in some cases can shrink on their own.

    Dysfunctional Uterine Bleeding

    • Dysfunctional uterine bleeding accounts for 40 percent of irregular bleeding cases in women over the age of 40, according to Medline Plus. This type of bleeding can be caused by the imbalance of the hormones estrogen and progesterone during menopause. Symptoms of dysfunctional uterine bleeding are bleeding from the vagina (sometimes heavy), hot flashes, mood swings, tenderness in the vagina and hirsutism (male-pattern hair growth).

    Hypothalmic Causes

    • Hypothalmic dysfunction stems from a problem within the hypothalamus located in the brain. The hypothalamus controsthe pituitary gland, and the pituitary gland controls adrenal glands, ovaries (which control produce estrogen) and the thyroid gland. Causes of hypothalmic dysfunction are anorexia, bleeding, bulimia, tumors, head trauma, malnutrition, radiation, surgery and too much iron intake.

    Special Considerations

    • Many other problems can cause bleeding during menopause, but they are rarely life-threatening. Some include ovarian cysts, uterine fibroids, cervical or uterine cancer, vaginal atrophy and uterine atrophy.

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