Lorraine Kelly
Periods don’t politely sit in the background of women’s lives — they bulldoze their way in every month and demand attention. Menstruation health is meant to be a basic pillar of wellbeing, yet too many women are running on empty because the physical, emotional and social fallout of their cycle keeps spilling into every corner of daily life.
A new report from Evana® and Ultravana® pulls the curtain back on what’s really going on, and the picture is far more exhausting, far more complicated, and far more widespread than most care to admit.
The report, Don’t Go With the Flow, cuts through decades of silence and “just get on with it” culture with one jarring truth after another. A third of women say they become tearful when their period hits — not in a cinematic, single-teardrop way, but in the messy, world-feels-too-heavy way that only hormones can trigger. Nearly a quarter report a plummeting sex drive.
And 17% say their period health has caused tension in their relationship, with one in 20 saying it helped bring the whole thing down. That’s not “a bad day.” That’s structural upheaval.
Workplaces fare no better. Nearly a fifth of women have taken time off because of period symptoms, and 16% say their performance drops when cramps, bloating, leaks or emotional symptoms flare. Put plainly: women are showing up to life while feeling like their bodies are staging a coup — and most people around them have no idea.
GP Dr Nisa Aslam, who co-authored the report, spells it out: “Overall, the Evana® and Ultravana® report, ‘Don’t Go With the Flow, suggests that younger women are most deeply impacted by period problems with 73% having taken time off work or education because of disruptive periods, compared to 49% of older women.
Overall, one in five women (21%) have also cancelled social plans because of their period, so it’s no surprise then that 51% of women feel they sometimes miss out on things because of their menstrual cycle.1
“The true impact of period issues has finally been laid bare and it’s sad to know so many women are struggling.”
The physical side is a full-time job in itself. Almost every woman surveyed — 96% — has dealt with painful periods at some point. Almost a quarter say their pain is “severe” or “unbearable.” Two-thirds say pain is their number-one problem. Half report bloating. Half report leaks. Headaches, migraines, breast tenderness — all part of the monthly buffet. You start to realise that menstrual health isn’t just about managing a bleed; it’s about navigating a cocktail of symptoms that can knock any woman sideways without warning.
The emotional landscape isn’t any softer. More than a third of women have stayed home rather than risk a visible bleed-through. A similar number feel self-conscious. Many report feeling anxious, embarrassed or “unclean.” It’s hard to overstate how much energy goes into simply hiding something that the body insists on making visible.
GP Dr Janine David calls it what it is: time — mountains of it. “On average, a woman spends seven years menstruating over her lifetime, which could mean that seven years in total is spent trying to navigate the challenges of periods. Nearly half (49%) of women wrongly believe they have to accept period problems but that simply is not true.”
Despite all this, opening up about menstrual health remains a tough sell. Dr Aslam says 73% of women don’t feel “very comfortable” talking to a doctor about their periods. Only 40% feel that level of comfort with their own mother or female friends. Silence isn’t a cultural quirk — it’s part of the problem.
Pharmacist Sukhi Basra knows exactly why women hesitate: embarrassment, cultural expectations, privacy, and the belief that nothing can be done. “There can be many reasons why a woman may not want to discuss her menstrual health with a professional… it could be due to the belief that nothing could be done. That’s what 28% of women believe. 1 However, there is help available.”
Tackling Heavy Periods With Evana®
Heavy bleeding — the sort that limits movement, wardrobe, and social life — affects 37% of women in the report. Just as many report bleeding through protection, a problem that creates both physical discomfort and psychological strain.
Dr David defines heavy bleeding as anything over 90ml per cycle, but the signs are more real-world:
- Changing pads or tampons every 1–2 hours
- Using double protection
- Periods lasting longer than a week
- Passing clots larger than a 10p coin
- Bleeding through clothes or bedding
- Avoiding exercise, errands or work
- Feeling fatigued or short of breath
These aren’t minor inconveniences — they’re barriers to a normal life.
Evana® Heavy Period Relief uses tranexamic acid, an anti-fibrinolytic medicine, to bring the flow back under control. Dr David explains: “The active ingredient in Evana® is tranexamic acid, an anti-fibrinolytic medicine, which makes your blood stickier…Tranexamic acid works by slowing the breakdown and shedding of these plugs, and thus reducing blood flow.”
Research suggests it can cut menstrual blood loss by up to 60%, offering women a realistic chance at regaining lost days, plans, and energy.
Easing Period Pain With Ultravana®
Period pain is often dismissed as “normal,” but it derails thousands of women every month. Dr Aslam warns women not to quietly endure severe pain, especially when it might indicate conditions like fibroids, endometriosis or pelvic inflammatory disease.
Ultravana® offers relief using naproxen — a reliable NSAID shown to outperform paracetamol and aspirin for menstrual cramps. Each tablet is coated to minimise stomach irritation, a small but important detail for women already dealing with nausea or digestive symptoms.
Basra adds: “This type of over-the-counter medicine is used to relieve primary dysmenorrhea…The tablets are also gastro-resistant, which means they’re covered with a coating which stops the tablet dissolving in the stomach, so that the naproxen is released further down in your gut.”
Multiple studies back up naproxen’s strength, including its ability to deliver longer-lasting relief for severe cramps.
The Bigger Shift
Dr Aslam’s closing thoughts feel particularly clear-headed: “When you think just how long women spend menstruating, it’s sad to know that so many have to continually deal with problems such as pain, a heavy flow that stops them from even leaving the house, mood swings and of course, work, social and relationship problems.”
The core issue isn’t that women bleed — it’s that they’re expected to perform at full capacity while juggling symptoms society barely acknowledges. Menstruation health should be a mainstream wellbeing conversation, not a side issue. Women shouldn’t have to plan their days around cramps, leaks, bone-deep tiredness or the constant worry they’ll be caught out.
Solutions like Evana® and Ultravana® won’t fix the cultural silence, but they do give women meaningful, practical ways to claim back hours, energy and mobility. And that’s a start — a way to stop periods from being a monthly derailment and instead something that can be managed with honesty, support and proper care.
