Period what normal or not

[Shadow35]

Hi. I'm 37 years old and i never ask in my life question about what normal or not. In high school (girl school) i always wonder how the other girls new when their period start. When mine began, i start gaining weight super fast and my breast grow too quickly so i got extra loose skin to live with and a lot of stretch mark. I got my period maybe once two month, always a surprise, and it last more than a week and was heavy but not too much after reading how much it can be. I had to wear period pad almost all the time because of surprise and i got skin issue, irritation because of the pad. I lived like this for a while dealing with acne. When i finally had the guts to ask for an acne treatment i was proprosed to take the pill. I did and it didn't clear completly the acne but it help and oh surprise i had regular period, regular flow like heavy first to light after few days, easy to predict. 15 years passed like this, gaining more weigh a bit at the time. 3 years ago, i got a reaction to a medication that force me to stop everything including the pill. At first everything was fine, it suppose to be normal to have weird stuff the first few months. But it keep going so i decided to used an app to track everything. I now have a lot of fatigue that i assume was du to arthritis but my arthritis is starting to be in control since january. I have brain fog, mood swing. Pain, bloathing... and the period flow is never the same and i have a lot of days it's spotting. So my new doctor start me again on the same pill i used before, but in continu. I'm now using the second pack. But my initial symptom are worse. So i was looking to find answer about what really is spotting, the quantity, how often there blood cloth in. And what a normal period is. I couldn't find anything that answer my concern. I try to call the pharmacist and he told me it's normal to bleed almost all the time if it's not soaking a pad. On the pill web site it say that it's normal to bleed but if ot's not normal to consult but it didn't specify what normal bleeding is. So, i called a health line and spoke with a nurse that told me there's no way to know, but it's not normal that the pain wake me up and i had difficulty driving or cooking because of brain fog and fatigue. She told me, after spotting for more than 7 days to consult. My doctor told me to try to wait 3 month with the pill for my body to adapt but i shouldn't bleed for more than two week in a row. But was i bleeding or spotting? Since last month i had 3 random days spotting and today it's my 12 days of spotting including one heavy with a pad in a row non stop. For me it's like my "normal period" but a bit longer. I have to take diclofenac each day, with tylenol and i took cyclobenzaprine before sleeping. I'm gonna try to last to the next month but someone can tell me what is normal and what wasn't. I know everybody is different but for sure someone, somewhere made a chart because i don't know anymore what spotting or period should be.

Thanks everyone.

[Jessica456]

Hello have you tried the flo period app I use it and it's really good at helping you understand your cycle have you tried anything else other than the pill i have the copper coil and I have a period every 25 days and bleed only 5 days I really recommend the app you can track your symptoms daily and after a few months you really get to no your body I always no when mines due as a week before I get moody emotional cravings bloating sore boobs I hope this helps

[Shadow35 in reply to Jessica456]

I'm using the clue app since 2022 (i think it's the only fdn approved app). the flow app was less precise about the kind of flow. But none of these app or site are clear of what a spotting is. If it's suppose to count for a period or in a period. If it have blood cloth. Somewere i saw that its normal to have 9 days of difference between cycle so for me it's mean you need to wear a pad half a month each month because i can have 6 days of variability. Is it what people usually do? And i can have sometime only two days of flow a month, next month 2 days of spotting, one day of medium period and 2 other days spotting. Is it counting like 5 days period or just 1? And the month after i got a period of 8 days follow by 1 days of spotting. And a week later 5 days of spotting. It's say variation is normal but at this point? I normally didn't feel symptom until 3 years ago and i time goes by it increase but i can have the symtom started 2 weeks before so i don't know when the flow gonna start. For the sore boob do you feel pain like someone is twisting them or sitting on them? I have to put an ice pack to relieve the pain.

[Badger2024 in reply to Shadow35]

If you were bleeding too much then you would be anaemic. Have you had your blood iron levels and haemoglobin checked? If all okay then personally I think being on the pill is good advice from your doctor and yes it does take a few months sometimes to stabilise into a pattern. Crazy that all women have to go through putting up with periods for so many years. After your ‘heavy’ or normal days of bleeding have finished you don’t need to wear big pads. There are thin mini pads for spotting. Think of a normal day as the amount of blood on your pad is just one shape ( like blood in a diamond shape for example) Spotting is when you have a few dots. More than one ‘shape’. Some dots are a bit bigger than others. Some are redder than others as they are the more recent spots. Older spots can be brownish in colour. Try not to worry about it and like your doctor suggested, wait for another month or two. think that you may be suffering from anxiety. Is there someone you can talk to? Could you talk to your doctor about your anxiety?

[Shadow35 in reply to Badger2024]

Hi. Thank's for your answer. I just don't understand why nobody create a chart to explain to women whats normal or not. Even the way to calculate period change between medical website. Some include the spotting some don't. It's making a big difference. Some say you start your circle the first day you really have an heavy flow some say to calculate with the first bleeding. With what i found it's meen i never have normal bleeding. It's lighther and if some of my bleeding are more spotting it's mean some month i don't have period at all. Almost never an heavy flow but it's never the same. One month it can last 1 or two days and the next can be 6 to 8 days. Sometime it's stop in the middle to start again. i never ask question all my life but i have other health issu and that make me realise that maybe they are linked together and that i need to ask. i really want to be fonctionnal again snd stop having heath issu non stop. I'm just fed up of fatigue and pain and can less tolerate the wait and see for many months. I already loose almost 3-4 years being sick and waiting for a diagnosis. I finally saw my doctor because i was bleeding non stop for 14 days. I would not have been concerned for few little spot during few sporadic days but the mix of bleeding and the pain during the day but that also wake me up at night regardless of the nsaid.... He change the pill because of all the side effect that was way too much. A lot of the time i wasn't able to drive my car or go out of my house because of memory lost and some things in my house disappear during that period. It was like a depression. I had to pee 3 time each hours at least and it was just one of many side effect i got. I also got an endovaginal echo, waiting for the result. The new pill is just a little bit better, i'm happy again but still tired and i was bleeding for 22 days in a row before it finally stop. And no i don't have anxiety i got it check. It's just that i was hoping for my heath issu to be all in control before i need to work again and it's not. I just have less then one year to be ready to work because yes it's debilitating to the point i can't work. The fatigue and all the other symptom happen always with my arthritis flare so i put the blame on them but now that it's in control i know it something else and the first pill increased the symptoms and created more so it's related with my hormone. I just hope they gonna find a solution. The other days it was 30°c outside and i had a polar coat on me and i had chill without fever. Was so tired i had to lay down for six hours. I have a doctor appointement today to see whats the next step is because the pill i'm on now it's just a tempory fix to try to get my system to be regular first and it was to stop the bleeding.

[Badger2024 in reply to Shadow35]

You’re dealing with a lot having looked at your previous posts. I wouldn’t worry about people creating period charts. Just write on a piece of paper when you have spotting or regular bleeding. Some people only ever have spotting. When I was young I had heavy painful periods. We’re all different. Doctors are usually worried when there is a change from what’s usual for you. As your periods have always been irregular then nothing has changed. Going on the pill seems like a great idea. Just find one that is right for you. I found taking an anti-spasmodic was better than a NSAI. I took Ponstan

[Lilspice]

Sorry to hear you're going through all this Shadow35. It is really hard to get a definition of normal because it is so variable for different people. Really good that you are consistently tracking, the main thing to look out for is if something differs from what you're used to. Other thing to stress, is if the symptoms are impacting your life and you aren't able to do day to day things or can't work, then do flag this to your doctor. That's what they'll take as not normal and you can push them to do specific tests like an ultrasound or to refer you to a gynaecologist.

I battled with really heavy periods for years which caused fatigue, dizzy spells and digestive issues. They tried to treat me with different contraceptive pill variations but things only got resolved when I got scans and saw a specialist who identified the underlying cause.