# Why am I having my period every 2-2.5 weeks?



## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

I'm so tired of it! Does anyone have any ideas? I've typically been fairly regular but over the past 2 or 3 months, I've had very irregular periods. The first one I was like 2 weeks late, since then it's been every 2-2.5 weeks, sometimes as short as only 1 week in between. Should I see a doctor? See if it's normal next month?

Thanks in advance for your help. This is very frustrating!










ZMom


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

Anyone?


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## WildIris (Oct 22, 2007)

It's hard to comment without knowing more info, like how old are you? Have you had a baby recently? Are you having any other strange symptoms or changes in your life? Etc.


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WildIris* 
It's hard to comment without knowing more info, like how old are you? Have you had a baby recently? Are you having any other strange symptoms or changes in your life? Etc.

I'm 35. My one and only is 4 years old. We're still nursing, but mostly at night. Let's see, now that I think about it, she's recently stopped having her morning milk and shortened her night milk. I exclusively breastfed until she was about 8 months old but I started my period again at like 3 months pp. It was basically regular until the last couple of months. I've been very stressed for the last few months but no other real life changes.

This all started when I was like 2 weeks late for my period. I took a pregnancy test but it was negative. The next night I started my period and had a huge clot. (Sorry, TMI.) Since then, I've had my period every 2 weeks. I'm not on the pill but we do use bc so we're not trying to get pregnant.

Thanks for any help or reassurance that I'm fine. It's been particularly heavy this time around so I'm sort of starting to worry and I've already got too much stress in my life to worry about my cycle at age 35.










best, zmom


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## harrietsmama (Dec 10, 2001)

You may have had a very early miscarriage, to the point that the test didn't register it.







I would see what your next period is like, charting your basal temp - just keep a thermometer on your night stand and take your temp before you sit up. if you get up during the night, try to take it when you've been sleeping for at least 4 hrs. It will help you see if you have a pattern that starts a little lower, goes to a peak, then falls - that's normal. Other patterns can be normal for individuals, but basically it shows if you are ovulating. it will give you info anyway. You can also keep the lights on for 3 nights when you are supposed to be mid cycle to see if you can jump start your cycle back to ovulating instead of bleeding 2x a month. I did this kind of bleeding and ended up with adenomyosis as a diagnosis, similar to endometriosis. There can be soooo many things going on that can be normal or very resolvable. Just keep this in mind, there's heavy flow and then there is too much. too much is 2 nighttime pads FULL in an hour is too much (considered a hemorrhage by most) and you should seek immediate care, don't wait. If things don't smooth out cycle wise, I would go see your midwife or gyno.


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## WildIris (Oct 22, 2007)

I'm no expert but one thing that pops to mind is possible thyroid issues. This can change your cycle. When I was slightly hyperthyroid my periods were closer together, like every 21 days, and I was passing clots, as you describe.

Another thought is your DD's decrease in nursing is causing some hormonal shifts for you, and it might take some time to straighten out on its own.

It might be worth checking in with a health care practitioner, ask them to check your thyroid and your other hormone levels. Also, if you're passing clots, you may become low in iron... I'd ask for a complete iron count, plus a serum ferritin test too.

Hope this helps a bit...


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

Thanks HarrietsMama and WildIris!

I suspect that it was an early miscarriage too though we have been very careful so it seems odd that it would be. I guess I'm going to try to see an OB next week (the midwife here only does birth related things). I'll have her check my thyroid though I'm hypothyroid typically so I doubt that that's the problem but maybe my meds have gotten wonky or something. I got really woozy and faint today so I'm worried that I'm a little anemic but I had some beans and rested and that seemed to help. I guess I need to get some bloodwork done. Why does sleeping with the light on jump start ovulation? I'll try it when it's time but I'm curious!

Thanks for your input. I feel a little better about the situation.

ZMom


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## mbravebird (May 9, 2005)

Adrenal issues can also cause shorter periods -- mine only stopped being every 3 weeks when I did some adrenal healing. And then I had a really stressful time happen and my periods went back to every three weeks.

Adrenals and thyroid function are connected, too. Have you seen Dr. Rind's site?


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

The thing with light is to try and imitate cyclical moonlight- before the days of electric lighting, people slept in the dark around the time of the new moon and with a 'natural night light" around the full moon, with gradual changes in between. Many women ovulated with the full moon and menstruated with the new moon- something about that light cycle can affect women's hormones.

By sleeping with the light on, especially if you keep the room dark for the week of your period and then with a nightlight after that, can help your body move towards ovulation in the same way.


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## an_aurora (Jun 2, 2006)

I was following a pattern similar to that before I was diagnosed with an ectopic pregnancy.


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## sunnysandiegan (Mar 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Ruthla* 
The thing with light is to try and imitate cyclical moonlight- before the days of electric lighting, people slept in the dark around the time of the new moon and with a 'natural night light" around the full moon, with gradual changes in between. Many women ovulated with the full moon and menstruated with the new moon- something about that light cycle can affect women's hormones.

By sleeping with the light on, especially if you keep the room dark for the week of your period and then with a nightlight after that, can help your body move towards ovulation in the same way.

This is fascinating stuff!!!









I have short menstrual cycles, also, and have had a chiropractor tell me my adrenals need more support. I also had an early miscarriage and bled A LOT and became anemic. Not all at the same time, though. In any case, I highly recommend getting to the bottom of it sooner rather than later. It has taken me far too long to get back into a better health cycle. "Blood Builder" was an excellent food-based iron supplement that worked well for me regarding the anemia. I did take adrenal supplements and I am not sure what the scoop is there. I am currently taking Dong Quai and my menstrual cycle seems to be finally lengthening out a bit. I also saw an ayurvedacharya who gave me herbs to help all sorts of issues I was having, which also seemed to help immensely.

Best wishes!


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

Thanks for all these suggestions. I went ahead and scheduled an appointment with a new care provider. I'm going to try the lights on and off thing to see if that helps too. I'm sure I need adrenal support - my chiro told me that as well. I'll get them to check my thyroids as well. I'm hypothyroid and typically when my levels are off, I stop having my period so I don't think that's what it is but I'll have them check jic.

thanks everyone!


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## mbravebird (May 9, 2005)

When you're experimenting with the lights on/off thing for ovulation, make sure that when the lights are off, they're totally off -- without even a nightlight -- and if you have a streetlight outside, block the light from your windows. That will help support your adrenals. The body can only make melatonin in true darkness, and melatonin is what shuts off your adrenals at night. So if it's not dark, your adrenals are still working...

ETA: the melatonin connection is also what allows ovulation -- the presence of melatonin inhibits ovulation, while the absence allows it. That's why women used to ovulate when the moon was brightest. But now there's so much artificial light all the time that it's pretty random.


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## MLinPDX (Jun 22, 2006)

I had what I thought were irregular and heavy periods for months. Many visits to the county clinic were no help. After the police broke down my back door at the behest of a late night blood-testing doctor due to deadly anemic levels (not sure how to phrase that, my blood work was really bad), I went to a specialist. It turned out to be an uterine fibroid.


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mbravebird* 
When you're experimenting with the lights on/off thing for ovulation, make sure that when the lights are off, they're totally off -- without even a nightlight -- and if you have a streetlight outside, block the light from your windows. That will help support your adrenals. The body can only make melatonin in true darkness, and melatonin is what shuts off your adrenals at night. So if it's not dark, your adrenals are still working...

ETA: the melatonin connection is also what allows ovulation -- the presence of melatonin inhibits ovulation, while the absence allows it. That's why women used to ovulate when the moon was brightest. But now there's so much artificial light all the time that it's pretty random.

Oh, I didn't know all of this. I'll try that tonight - it'll be difficult because I'm really uncomfortable sleeping without a nightlight so we'll see if I can handle it. Does taking melatonin help the adrenals?


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## zmom (Jun 29, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MLinPDX* 
I had what I thought were irregular and heavy periods for months. Many visits to the county clinic were no help. After the police broke down my back door at the behest of a late night blood-testing doctor due to deadly anemic levels (not sure how to phrase that, my blood work was really bad), I went to a specialist. It turned out to be an uterine fibroid.

What type of specialist? I have an appointment with a gyn for next week. How do they test for a fibroid?

I'm sorry you had to go through that!


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## amis2girls (Mar 2, 2005)

I was going to say fibroids, too. That's what was causing my af every two weeks. Mine were diagnosed with ultrasound.

Hope you get it figured out.


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## tayndrewsmama (May 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MLinPDX* 
I had what I thought were irregular and heavy periods for months. Many visits to the county clinic were no help. After the police broke down my back door at the behest of a late night blood-testing doctor due to deadly anemic levels (not sure how to phrase that, my blood work was really bad), I went to a specialist. It turned out to be an uterine fibroid.









That is some rough stuff there. My aunt almost died a couple years back from this same thing.

My cycle last month was totally screwed up. I have become pretty anemic and it came early. In addition to that I was bleeding like a stuck pig and blacking out. The doc thinks I probably had a miscarriage







in an earlier cycle and then my body didn't start ovulating again right away. I guess if you don't ovulate the body can do some pretty nasty stuff. He wanted me to take progesterone, but I decided to wait it out and it started up on it's own.

It's kind of hard to know without an exam I guess. I am not big on docs, but when it comes to some things I get a little worried. Maybe I freaked in this case because the symptoms were similar to those that my aunt had.


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## mbravebird (May 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *zmom* 
Does taking melatonin help the adrenals?

Taking supplemental melatonin is not too great for the pineal gland over the long term -- it decreases its ability to make its own melatonin, and actually shrinks the gland some, IIRC.

Did I post the honey thread on here already? I can't remember. Honey taken right before bed, 1 or 2 Tablespoons, will stimulate the body to produce melatonin on its own, as long as you have no sources of artificial light around. Here's the thread that describes it, along with a bunch of us who tried it:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=932971

The glucose in the honey increases insulin, which increases tryptophan, which increases seratonin, which converts to melatonin as long as you are in darkness...

Basically, you sleep really well and your adrenals get a rest, and you wake up feeling really rested.

And adrenal function is related to thyroid function, and both are of course related to cycle length. HTH...


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## ramlita (Mar 26, 2002)

Acupuncture has always helped me immensely when I've had cyclical issues. Even one visit can make a world of difference.

Keep us posted!


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## harrietsmama (Dec 10, 2001)

So did you get this figured out? I hope all is well


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