Imagine feeling exhausted, dizzy, and overwhelmed by your periods for decades, only to discover a simple solution was within reach all along. This is the reality for countless women, like Emma Cleary, whose lives are silently derailed by heavy menstrual bleeding—a condition often overlooked, misunderstood, or dismissed.
From her early teens, Emma battled relentless fatigue and light-headedness, earning her the cruel nickname ‘Casper’ from classmates who mocked her pale, ghostly appearance. ‘I felt like doctors just wanted me to put up and shut up,’ she recalls, describing years of unanswered visits to her GP. At 16, she was diagnosed with anemia—a condition caused by iron deficiency—but no one connected it to her heavy periods. ‘I thought bleeding through my clothes was normal,’ she admits. ‘I never spoke about it with anyone.’
But here’s where it gets controversial: Despite heavy menstrual bleeding affecting one in three women, many remain undiagnosed, their symptoms dismissed as ‘just part of being a woman.’ Emma’s iron supplements barely helped, and by her late 20s, her hair began falling out—a devastating blow for a model whose livelihood depended on her appearance. ‘Makeup artists had to color in my scalp for shoots,’ she shares. Even a costly hair transplant failed to fix the root cause.
The turning point came at 35, when Emma fainted in a supermarket, collapsing into a flower display. ‘I woke up thinking I’d died and it was my funeral,’ she says. The embarrassment of her dad picking her up was the final straw. Now 42 and a mother of two, Emma has found relief through tranexamic acid—a medication that reduces menstrual bleeding—and annual iron infusions. ‘Without it, I couldn’t have started my business or raised my boys,’ she says. And this is the part most people miss: Tranexamic acid is available on the NHS, yet Emma’s periods were never discussed during doctor visits.
Experts call this a ‘silent public health crisis.’ A recent Lancet study by Anglia Ruskin University revealed thousands of women are hospitalized annually due to heavy bleeding, often after years of mismanagement. Dr. Bassel Wattar warns, ‘This is a crisis in women’s health. We need to shift from reactive to proactive care.’ Heavy periods—defined as bleeding that disrupts daily life—can lead to iron deficiency, affecting energy, cognition, and immunity. Yet, only one in four UK women with iron deficiency is formally diagnosed.
Here’s a thought-provoking question: Why are women’s reproductive health concerns so often minimized or ignored? Professor Toby Richards, a hematologist, notes symptoms like dizziness and brain fog are frequently mistaken for ADHD or depression. His charity, Shine, advocates for national iron deficiency screening. A pilot study at the University of East London found one in three women reported heavy periods, with 20% having anemia—many also experiencing depression.
‘Targeted screening can prevent ill health and empower women,’ says Professor Amanda Broderick. But the bigger question remains: Will society finally listen to women’s voices and prioritize their health? Share your thoughts below—do you think heavy periods are taken seriously enough? Let’s start the conversation.
