ANOTHER PERIOD QUESTION?

We can't really describe a typical light, normal, heavy, or extra heavy period - it's a matter of personal judgement, I often see girls here describing their medium to heavy flow as heavy because they're going through a super tampon within four hours, while I can leak through ultra tampons and overnight pads in fifteen minutes on a heavy day.

If looking purely at natural methods to reduce flow...

Diet - most menstrual health problems can be improved with dietary changes, overall a healthy lifestyle makes a big difference but diet is key: a healthy balanced diet (note: that does not mean nothing but rabbit food!) - plus maintaining a good blood sugar can help as insulin is a growth hormone and thickens the uterine lining. Avoid dairy, specifically cows milk, this can be a big trigger for menstrual health problems, although it can take a few moths to see the benefit in stopping dairy. Try adding more phytoestrogens to your diet, this means eating more foods like nuts and flaxseeds - also help in general as healthy fats and fiber are both good for your health overall - these help to reduce the estrogen stimulation of the uterus lining so reduce secondary uterine lining build-up.

Supplements and herbs - Heavy flow can both be caused by and cause low iron so it helps to increase iron intake leading up to menstruation, it doesn't hurt to take iron supplements or a good multi-vitamin to help with this. If NSAID's like Ibuprofen or Mefenamic Acid are out and you want to stick with natural methods then try taking daily turmeric which is a natural anti-inflammatory. Herb-wise you're too young for Chaste Tree/Vitex but you could use evening primrose oil taken daily to help regular hormones, also try red raspberry leaf tea during your periods too.

Caffeine - this can help reduce menstrual flow during your period as it works to constrict the blood vessels so less blood loss, however because it constricts the blood vessels it can also increase cramps: less oxygen getting to the muscle of the uterus. If you normally get cramps then avoid caffeine, but if cramps aren't an issue give it a try.

Natural progesterone - this will not mess-up your body like synthetic progesterone or synthetic estrogen in the pill, this helps to prevent thickening of the uterus lining and you can get it from natural health stores in the form of a cream (lots of women use it to help reduce menopause symptoms instead of using hormone replacement therapy).