Period lighter than normal twice now - very scared :(

[GlazedOwl]

Seriously what the heck has happened to my periods I'm very sorry if this is tmi but maybe someone has gone through the same.
My usual standard period is: heavy, I'd say medium length (bleeding for approx. 5 days), always a dark colour, quite a bit of clotting. I keep a log and the length of the cycle varies between 24-28 days give or take.
Last month's period I kept bleeding for maybe 7 days but if I recall it was much lighter.
My current period finally started yesterday after 2 days of brown spotting, and it's very different from what I'm used to. Blood's bright red, and the flow is much lighter than what I'm used to on day 1-2, this feels like day 4 to me. Still some clotting but I think less than usual. By now I would've changed pads maybe 3 times, they would've been soaked and I've had to only do it once today.

I'm even more scared now because when I saw my gp last month to discuss my anemia (3rd time I've been diagnosed now, heavy periods have always been the suspect), he said that if I wanted I could have a vaginal ultrasound done and I refused as I didnt want more anxiety. And now I'm super scared that i have ovarian, uterine or whatever cancer :( I'm obviously anxious 24/7 and have been going through massive stress due to a tooth and small other ongoing tidbits but this is now driving me insane as you always read that stress causes heavier and longer periods, not lighter ones.

I'm not on my iron tablets yet and not using my tranexamic acid as its pointless during this period!

I am lost and don't know how to deal with this, have any of you ladies experienced anything similar? tired of my body being my worst enemy I swear

Edit: also the reason why I mentioned ovaries is that day one cramps really crept up high on the right hand side, as far as the middle back and whenever I have what I suspect is ovary pain it's always ALWAYS on the right side and it scares me every single time I don't recall ever having period pain that is more left sided ever and I'm wondering whether I've left something too late

[WhereIsMyMind]

My theory is that stress can cause you to miss periods completely, so there's no reason why it can't cause lighter ones. When you get stressed your cortisol levels increase which disrupts other hormones, some of which affect your period. Everyone is different and their bodies will respond to stress and anxiety in their own way.

Mine got lighter and shorter a few months ago and has just stayed that way. I have no idea why, I just assumed it was a change in hormone levels. I also started ovulating only from my right ovary which was weird. I think I briefly mentioned it to a GP when I was there for something else and he wasn't concerned. It could very easily be "just one of those things".

[Carys]

How old are you? Cos what you are describing sounds like the start of meno transition (which can take up to 10 years, but the average is 4 years). Any sort of bleeding pattern imaginable is possible, early, late, stop start, spotting, flooding, long cycles, short cycles, long bleeds, short bleeds, light bleeds, heavy bleeds. I'll wait till you confirm your age before adding anything further on this.....



A lighter period is really not a sign of anything untoward, other than the uterine lining being not as thick as usual months, or oestrogen having been lower than progesterone during the previous month. Hormonal is my bet.

[Leslie735]

I've had this happen a couple of times over the last 2 years. I'd get what I call a "spotty" period. I had one in January 2017 and another in August 2017. Both times they lasted about 7-9 days which is longer than my usual 5-6 days and I could've worn panty liners the entire time they were so light. I asked my gyne about it and she said its normal as long as they go back to normal. So if it happens a cycle or two then goes back to normal then it was jut a hormone fluctuation or stress. Even then she didn't say it was caused by anything scary just could be some hormones gotten out of whack or something like that.

[Kiko22]

It happened to me in November and December 2017 then they were normal again... I though they were "false menstruation" and I was pregnant... It was just stress and maybe the cold... It all returned normal the next month!

[EmmerLooeez]

It's pretty usual for periods to change a little with regards to flow, etc, throughout a woman's life. There can be so many things that affect it: Change in diet, stress, hormonal imbalance.

Try not to worry and think the worst. It's good that the GP has offered you an ultrasound, at least you have the option if you feel as though you need some reassurance about everything. Why not consider going back and discussing it?

Hope you feel better soon. Try not to worry. xx

[Anxiety121]

I use to have heavy periods but haven't had a heavy one in like 2 years now. My period is over in 2 days and then it's just spotting, I've been meaning to go to the doctors but I'm just so scared.

I looked on the internet and it says anything from 2 to 3 days is normal, so I'm kind of holding onto that.

[GlazedOwl]

Thank you everyone for your replies I appreciate them greatly, my period is now over and at least the bleeding didn't taper off for what felt like over a week like last time...I'm still worried that this has been my second period out of the norm, don't they say go to the doctor once 3 periods haven't been normal? I dread to think what the next one is going to be like

@WhereIsMyMind, I've only ever missed my period once in my life and boy I don't want that happening again. I didn't even have HA back then and it scared me breathless! I just find it very odd that I've been stressed and anxious 24/7 for the last....3 years and my periods have remained the same and only all of sudden there's a change?

@Carys, definitely not meno as I'm 26. I mean I've heard of MP starting very early for some gals but i highly doubt that's it.

@Leslie, well I wouldn't call mine spotty, it was still more than enough flow to be considered a period period if you get what I mean, but to me it seemed much much lighter both in flow and colour. Thing is how long do you wait for it to go back to normal?

@Kiko, glad everything went back to normal for you! I think I could've dealt with this fine if it was just ONE off period, but it's the second one now and I don't think I can deal with a third one being wrong as well.

@Emmer, funny that you mention this now, I haven't actually taken this into consideration - I HAVE started dieting. I've actually lost around 8-9kg since mid november I think? Wouldn't really call it 'dieting', just counting calories that's all. And this isn't the first time I've lost weight intentionally and I haven't had this happen before! But apart from constant anxiety this is the only other actual change in my habits really but I don't feel like it's a big enough change to be impacting my periods if that makes sense?? And I'll be honest the GP mentioning the ultrasound only spiraled my head into thinking 'oh no they suspect something potentially bad'...even though that's not what he said but there you go that's HA and I think that's why I'm avoiding even thinking about it!

@Anxiety121, my periods are usually VERY heavy for 2 days, then taper off very quick days 3-5. If it's been like this for 2 years now without change it's hopefully nothing but maybe worth a quick mention to your doctor as a sidenote if you're ever there?

[Missjensen]

I’ve just turned 27, and for the last 6 months my period have generally gotten lighter and some small things changed. It can be normal for me to get changes that last for a period of time and then it changes again. But I’m also wondering if it’s something to do with age, because when I think about it my period was really different from when I was 17.

My last period was also pretty light, I still know I bled enough for it to be proper period, but I would not fill up my pad at all, but at the same time it I was bleeding properly when I whent to the toilet. My period was also five days early.

[GlazedOwl]

I've had periods since I was 11 and they were pretty much always constant, haven't had any major changes minus one missed period a few years back yikes. I definitely don't feel like any change is normal for me but I don't know whether that's just HA or something to really be worried about, I'm still dreading my next period :(