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Menorrhagia (heavy menstrual bleeding) - Management
What advice and counselling should I give to a woman with menorrhagia?
- Discuss the natural variability and range of menstrual blood loss. For some women, reassurance may be all that is required, and treatment may not be needed.
- If reassurance alone is not appropriate, discuss the different treatment options for heavy menstrual bleeding, covering issues such as:
- Effectiveness of treatments.
- Acceptability of treatments, including likelihood of adverse effects.
- Whether contraception will be required.
- Implications of treatment on fertility.
- Give written information such as patient information leaflets, to explain the condition and treatment options, where appropriate.
- Patient information covering heavy menstrual bleeding is published by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) and can be found at www.nice.org.uk (pdf) [NICE, 2007a].
- If asked, advise that no specific lifestyle changes benefit menorrhagia.
- If the woman and clinician cannot agree on the most appropriate treatment option, she should be offered the option of a second opinion.
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