What can go wrong with your period

Periods generally work the same way. However, lots of things can go wrong with your period. Here's a few of them, as well as some common symptoms and cures.

• Heavy Flow; your period is consistently very heavy and you go through a lot of menstrual products (e. g. pads, tampons) per day.

• You could have a tumor in your uterus. These tumors become more common as you age.
• To get rid of a tumor, you'd probably have to get surgery.
• Tumors in your uterus also tend to shrink or disappear after menopause, because there's not as much estrogen to feed them. However, waiting until menopause could be a long time.
• You could also have a blood clotting problem.
• You should probably see a doctor for this.

• Light/Non-existent flow; your flow is very light or non-existent.

• Your period could still be regulating itself. Your menstrual cycle generally acts a bit wonky for the year after your period begins.
• No cure for this, just got to wait it out.
• Your hymen or uterus could be malformed.
• Talk to a doctor about corrective surgery.
• You could be pregnant.
• Take a pregnancy test to check for pregnancy. If you are pregnant, there's nothing to be done for your menstrual cycle except have the baby.
• If you're taking birth control pills, they could be messing up your flow.
• Try not taking any birth control pills for a while and see if your period goes back to normal. If they do, you should probably stay off birth control pills. There are better methods of preventing pregnancy, anyway.

• Cramps; you're having really bad cramps.
• Cramps are a normal part of periods, and most people who experience periods get at least mild cramps.
• Try taking some ibuprofen or aspirin for mild cramps. Heatbags and chocolate can also be effective.
• If you're having really, really bad cramps that keep you from moving and such, you might have endometrosis, which means that tissue grows outside of your uterus during the menstrual cycle. When you have your flow, this tissue has nowhere to go, and it causes inflammation which can produce horrible cramps.
• You might need hormonal treatments or surgery to fix endometrosis. Talk to your doctor for help.