Because heavy periods bite!

Most of the time, I can tell exactly when my period will strike. No, I'm not that regular. I will typically get a migraine the day before as well as encounter a few nights of insomnia prior to my visit from "Aunt Flo".

The span of my period, and even the day after, is peppered with headaches. Until recently, I'd throw myself a little "pity party" here and there. I thought my hormones were mean spirited little creatures. But then I found out about a condition that makes me feel like a wussy in comparison. I found out about women who have menorrhagia.

According to the website, Dare to Wear White, menorrhagia is a condition where women suffer excessive or prolonged menstrual bleeding. Bleeding can be so bad that many women have to double up on their protection (wearing a pad and tampon) and change their protection more than every 1-2 hours. But one of the scariest (in my opinion) symptoms is that women can get blood clots in the menstrual flow or constant pain in the lower abdomen. And just as bad? Periods more often than every 21 days. Can you say "anemia?"

If you click on the Dare To Wear White website, you will find that many, many women deal with this condition. There's also a plethora of information regarding symptoms, causes, treatments, and even a button you can click to find doctors in your area who can treat the condition.

But the main purpose of this post isn't to just talk about the condition but to also discuss treatment options. For some, hormone therapy, hormone-releasing IUDs (Intrauterine Devices), D & C's (Dilation and curettage) or hysterectomies work wonders. Now there's another choice known as Endometrial Ablation.

According to the Dear to Wear site, NovaSure's Endometrial Ablation procedure is a safe, simple, one-time treatment that has been performed on hundreds of thousands of women. The procedure, which is minimally invasive, uses energy to remove the uterus' lining -- thus controlling the heavy bleeding mentioned earlier. The procedure takes less than five minutes and most women can continue their normal activities within a day or two.

For those of you who have menorrhagia, (and have decided you are finished birthing babies) there's a survey asking you for your input. The first 250 women who complete this survey (http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB227MUNNJFG7) will receive a $10 Amazon gift certificate. Please remind them that the survey is for women who have heavy periods AND are done having children. (If these guidelines don't apply, please don't take the survey.)

This write up was written on behalf of Mom Central.