Bleeding Assessment

Women and girls with bleeding disorders can be hard to diagnose.  The most common symptoms are heavy periods, easy bruising, and more bleeding than normal after childbirth.  Often many women in the same family have the same bleeding disorder and it may not be diagnosed since the family has normalized the symptoms. This means that you may be told my your mother, grandmother, aunts, and other women in your family that very heavy periods are normal.  Just because it is normal in your family, doesn’t mean that it is normal for everyone. If you have a bleeding disorder you are also at a higher risk for endometriosis and ovarian cysts. Also, some girls and women bruise easily, have joint issues, have bleeding into muscles and experience early arthritis. Iron deficiency is common in women with bleeding disorders and may be a complication of heavy menstrual bleeds and interfere with quality of life. These symptoms are common to other conditions and health care providers may not make a connection to a bleeding disorder.

Women who are carriers of hemophilia may or may not experience bleeding disorders symptoms. Information about carriers

Getting an early diagnosis can help reduce symptoms, it can allow doctors to plan for a safer child birth or surgeries, and can reduce complications. 

How are bleeding disorders in women, diagnosed?

It is important to prepare your bleeding history so that a family doctor can send a referral to the Manitoba Bleeding Disorders program. Talk to your family members to see if there are other women in your family who bleed like you do. This is important information to share because bleeding disorders are inherited. 

Here are tools to help you share your bleeding history with a primary care physician:

Track your periods using journal or app on your phone: Clue, Period Tracker or Blood Sisterhood App.

Read more about these apps that revolutionized how we think about menstruation here: THE BEST PERIOD TRACKING APPS (AND WHY THEY WORK) – Let’s Talk Period (letstalkperiod.ca)

Download a Menstrual Assessment Chart

Take a test at Let’s Talk Period

The Self-BAT (self-administered bleeding assessment tool) is a scientifically validated scoring tool developed by Dr. Paula James targeted at individuals who are concerned about bleeding. Taking this test will help you better understand whether current, or previous, bleeding episodes are normal or abnormal. The test will give you a bleeding score that you can share with your family doctor. 

Self-Bat-Eng – Let’s Talk Period (letstalkperiod.ca)

Self-Bat-Fre – Let’s Talk Period (letstalkperiod.ca)

 Talk to your Primary Care Provider

Now that you have gathered your bleeding history, you need to see a family doctor for a referral for further investigation. (blood tests) Treatment is available and you don’t need to suffer with the complications of prolonged bleeding. Check out Pipeline to Care to get more information on the referral system to the Manitoba Bleeding Disorder Program.