Any ideas??? Period help

[veryworriedgal]

Hello!

I am 18 years old and I've been having a more unusual period cycle than normal. They have always been irregular (skipping 2 or 3 months sometimes) but lately seem to have gotten worse. January and February were pretty normal. Extremely heavy, but that's not unusual to me. I would bleed through two pads on a fairly regular basis. March/April/May/June I did not have a period, but I also began spotting periodically. Never for a long time, and the color was much brighter and thinner than I am used to. In July I had a period that was extremely light but continued for around two weeks. A week passed and I had another's period, again very light and lasting longer than typical. Also I do not know if it is relevant but I don't typically use tampons either. Only on very rare ocassions (maybe twice a year).

I am not sexually active. However, I do masturbate (non penetrative, so it's not that) and have noticed that after finishing I tend to spot.

If anyone has any ideas as to a cause or had similar problems please let me know!

[Jabberwockies]

Irregular and just generally irritating periods can be normal when you're young--a sizeable portion of women never have regular, fairly similar periods without taking birth control pills. Are you very physically active, or under- or overweight? These things can cause light or absent periods as well. So can stress, anxiety, depression, and certain meds that aren't related to your menstrual cycle at all. It's worth bringing up to a doctor so your hormone levels can be checked, but if you have a normal physical exam and blood levels, it can likely be attributed to age. For what it's worth, my periods were a lot like yours -- heavy, then absent, repeat -- until I was in my mid twenties, then became regular. My sister's were all over the place until after she went on birth control. It's lovely being a woman, isn't it?

[nomorepanic]

Hi

This is just a courtesy reply to let you know that your post was moved from its original place to a sub-forum that is more relevant to your issue.

This is nothing personal - it just enables us to keep posts about the same problems in the relevant forums so other members with any experience with the issues can find them more easily.