Today is day 6 of my cycle, which has been weird from the beginning. First, this period started on day 37 (normally I am 21-28). The first 3 days were very light with brown blood. The next 3 days have been moderate to light, but with lighter blood (red and pink). Normally, my period will last 3-4 days, with a couple days of tiny spotting afterwards. With this, there is no end in sight. The last couple mornings I wake up to more blood when I am expecting none. This is very unusual for me - is this normal peri? I am 47, and had a pelvic ultrasound 2 months ago - everything was fine - uterus, ovaries, and bladder were totally normal. What the heck is going on?

What's going on is perimenopause. It's very, very normal. Some of us have had periods that go on for weeks or even months. Read through some of the threads in the "Bleeding" forum and you'll see that cycles like this are very common. Hope we don't have to welcome you to the Bleeders' Club!

You could be me! For years my periods were like clockwork -- 4 days, not very heavy, with a regular 26 day cycle. Then suddenly, for about the past two years, they've come a few days late, then a week late, then two weeks late, then back to normal. I skip a period totally every 5 - 6 months. Instead of 4 days most last an average of 6-7 days, with two days really heavy and with bloating. And I'll spot for several days afterward. Plus, I have no warning any more when they start. Used to have cramping or aching the day before, now they just appear out of the blue and the cramping begins afterward if I don't get to the Ibuprofin in time! They also usually begin and end with brownish blood, and some of the bleeding in between is pinkish, with clotting. My last period lasted just 3 days, with heavy bloating, then just disappeared. The longest I've had is 15 days -- not a gusher the whole time, just the regular 6-7 days, then heavy spotting for the next 8-9 days at a seemingly regular time of day. I've found this is just one of those things that has happened to me with peri. I find I'm really looking forward to the months when I miss entirely!

Anna in Texas

Thanks for responding, Anna. That period finally ended on day 7 - it just stopped - no petering off like usual. Very odd. I guess this is something I'm going to have to get used to!

My period this month started spotting on day 28, 29 finally on day 30 I flowed for a couple of days then spotted for another several days. This is different for me than in my fertile years. My obgyn said that it would be erratic like this in peri