Life Insurance With Heavy Or Irregular Periods
Periods themselves are not a medical history. What gets done about them is.
Two things reliably follow heavy or irregular bleeding: a blood count, and a scan. Both leave something in your record, and both are more informative than the symptom.
This page covers what we would ask and the conditions this is commonly investigated for.
The short answer
Heavy, painful or irregular periods are a symptom rather than a diagnosis, and on an application the useful answers are what came of them. Heavy bleeding commonly causes iron deficiency anaemia, which is a blood test result with a treatment; and persistent symptoms are usually investigated by ultrasound, which frequently finds fibroids, a polyp or an ovarian cyst.
What it is
Heavy menstrual bleeding, sometimes called menorrhagia, means losing enough blood to interfere with daily life. Painful periods are dysmenorrhoea. Irregular cycles vary in length or are unpredictable.
Common underlying causes include fibroids, polyps, endometriosis, adenomyosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and thyroid dysfunction, and in many cases no structural cause is found. Management ranges from tranexamic acid and anti-inflammatories through hormonal treatment including the combined pill and the hormonal coil, to procedures such as endometrial ablation or hysterectomy.
Why it comes up on an application
- Iron deficiency anaemia is the common consequence and it is a measured thing: a blood test, a diagnosis and usually iron treatment. That is a far more substantial entry than the bleeding.
- Ultrasound is the usual investigation, and it frequently identifies fibroids or a cyst, each with its own page and its own answer.
- A hysteroscopy, looking inside the womb with a camera, is sometimes done and is a procedure.
- The hormonal coil, the pill and other hormonal treatment are prescriptions and belong in a medication answer.
- Endometrial ablation and hysterectomy are operations with dates and should be named as such.
- Thyroid function is often checked, because thyroid problems affect cycles, and that result is worth knowing.
- Where symptoms have caused regular time off work, that is a direct question on an application.
What we would ask you
- What the main problem is: heavy, painful, irregular, or a combination
- Whether you have been diagnosed with anaemia, and whether you have taken iron
- Whether you have had an ultrasound or hysteroscopy, and what it showed
- Whether a cause was identified, such as fibroids, endometriosis or a thyroid problem
- What treatment you have had, including hormonal treatment and any procedure
- Whether it has affected your work
- Whether you are currently off work or working reduced hours because of an accident, injury or illness
- Whether you are waiting on any medical tests, appointments or treatment
- Whether you have been diagnosed with or treated for cancer in the last five years
- Whether a parent, brother or sister was diagnosed with cancer, heart disease or a stroke before 65
- Any medication you take
- Whether you smoke, and your date of birth
Anaemia Is The Measurable Entry
Of everything on this page, iron deficiency anaemia is the thing most worth having ready, because it is objective.
Heavy bleeding over months or years depletes iron, and that shows up on a full blood count. A diagnosis of anaemia, a ferritin result and a course of iron tablets or an iron infusion are all concrete, dated entries, which is more than can be said for a description of how heavy the bleeding was.
So if you have ever been told you were anaemic, say so, along with roughly when and what was done. If you have had iron infusions rather than tablets, say that specifically, because it indicates a more significant deficiency and a hospital attendance.
The Scan Usually Found Something
This is where the real detail lives for most women who have been investigated.
Pelvic ultrasound is the standard first investigation for persistent heavy or irregular bleeding, and it commonly identifies fibroids, a polyp, an ovarian cyst or adenomyosis. Each of those is a named finding with its own management, and each is a better answer than the symptom that led to the scan.
If you were given a diagnosis, lead with it and treat the bleeding as the symptom. If the scan was normal, say that too: a normal pelvic ultrasound is useful information and a complete answer, and it tells us the investigation happened.
Which cover is relevant
The usual starting point. Any anaemia and whatever a scan found sit in the picture more prominently than the bleeding.
Genuinely relevant. Severe dysmenorrhoea and heavy bleeding cause real, recurring absence for some women, and that is what this cover responds to.
Pays on diagnosis of a listed serious condition, and these symptoms are not among them, though some policies cover specified surgery. Read the definitions.
Common questions
Do I need to declare heavy periods?+
Answer what you are asked, and lead with what came of them. Any anaemia diagnosis, any scan and whatever it found, and any treatment are the informative parts rather than a description of the bleeding.
I was anaemic and took iron. Does that count?+
Yes, and it is the most useful thing you can give. Anaemia is a measured diagnosis with a blood test behind it, and iron treatment is a prescription. If you had iron infusions rather than tablets, say so specifically.
My scan was normal. Should I still mention it?+
Yes. A question about investigations asks whether they happened, and a normal pelvic ultrasound is genuinely useful information. Leaving out tests because the result was reassuring is the commonest way an application becomes incomplete.
I have the hormonal coil for it. Is that medication?+
Yes, it is hormonal treatment and belongs in a medication answer, along with the pill or anything else prescribed. It takes a line and makes your answer complete.
Will this affect my income protection?+
It is worth asking rather than assuming, and anything in your records will come up. Honestly, severe period pain and heavy bleeding do cause recurring absence for some women, which makes it a realistic consideration rather than a theoretical one.
Cover that often goes with this
The gaps we most often find sitting next to this one.