Endometriosis is defined as the growth of normal uterine tissue in locations outside the uterine cavity. This tissue often invades, or pervades, the abdominal cavity and may, in rare cases, even extend into the lungs. The problem with endometriosis is not the quality of this tissue, but its location. It generally results in scar tissue and may produce painful periods, sex, and pelvic pain in general. The only way to conclusively test for endometriosis is through a laparoscopy, where a small incision is made near the umbilicus, and an instrument is inserted so that the entire pelvic cavity can be viewed from the inside. The orthodox treatment for endometriosis is surgery, however the condition often recurs. Women are also told that their endometriosis is likely to resolve if they get pregnant, which they cannot and do not always choose to do. I have seen considerable success using homeopathy to treat the symptoms of endometriosis. Most women who have been successfully treated, however, do not subject themselves to repeat laparoscopies in order to make sure the abnormal tissue is gone.

How heavy should a normal period be? This is another situation where we need to ask how heavy is a normal flow for whom? According to Ayurvedic medicine, a woman who has a pre-dominance of Pitta (the fire element) is more likely to tend towards a heavier menstrual flow. These women often have blonde or red, but also brown, hair, a ruddy complexion, and often have freckles, moles, or petichiae (red, broken blood vessels). They tend to be warm-blooded and sometimes hot-tempered. They may also have diarrhea or loose stool just before or at the onset of their periods.

Excessive menstrual bleeding, called "menorrhagia", may range from a day in which a woman needs to change her pad or tampon every couple of hours and has a gushing, profuse flow of blood, to an extreme state where she needs to use double protection, and change pads or tampons every half hour or hour. I once saw a woman in her late forties who, for years, slept with a plastic sheet on her bed during her period because she would soak part of the mattress! Her excessive bleeding was remedied quite effectively with homeopathic treatment. In my experience, herbs such as Geranium and Trillium can halt an excessive menses quickly tem-porarily, but does not change the overall tendency as does homeopathy. Since there is no standard homeopathic remedy for menorrhagia, I cannot give you personal suggestions. I can say, though, that I have often found such homeopathic remedies as Belladonna and Sabina, when they match the woman's specific symptoms, to stop bleeding in a matter of hours or a day. Orthodox medicine is likely to prescribe birth control pills. I am very suspicious of estrogen supplementation and strongly advise more natural al-ternatives. Not only can the pill cause mood swings, headaches, yeast infections, and a variety of other annoying symptoms, but can cause or aggravate such estrogen-dependent conditions as fibrocystic breasts, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts, and uterine or breast cancer. I have one patient whose 18 year-old godchild died of a sudden aneurysm due to the pill.

If the excessive bleeding is longstanding, it is probably something which needs to be treated on a constitutional level. If it develops quickly, it is important to rule out such causes as uterine fibroids, uterine cancer, or ovarian cysts. Your doctor will likely do a pelvic ultrasound and, if cancer is suspected, a uterine biopsy. The same is true for spotting or bleeding between the periods (metrorrhagia).