Probably normal, but?
Brief background infos... And no, I'm not looking for a diagnosis, just ideas. It doesn't seem like anything serious, just an odd "This is probably normal but I wonder what others say" sort of thing where I have no idea how to go about searching the internets for clues, but figure this is an appropriate place to ask.
I regularly have really heavy, messy, gross periods.. having to pretty much live next to the bathroom as I was having to change tampons at least once every 30 min...
periods didn't start until I was almost 16, and were really mild/forgettable until I was 21...
from 20-26 (give or take a couple of years) the heavy bleeding started, and on top of that it was not unusual to have a 2 week period, and then start again 2 weeks later... or sometimes I would go 2-3 months (6 months one time) without a period, then back to the 2 weeks on 2 weeks off... Then settled out a bit so that periods came every 6-8 weeks..
2-3 years ago when I was living with a female roommate for a while, I started having them about every 4 weeks (though we never actually synched up, I would usually start a few days after she finished)... Since then they've still usually been pretty heavy, but being more regular seemed to ease that up a bit (also, someone told me that orgasms can help for shorter or less miserable periods so... *cough*)
This month... it came a week earlier than expected, and was pretty light. A full period, just not a hugely heavy flow, and lasted about 4 1/2 days... ended about a week ago. Started again today, really light so far... I suppose if its coming back that means I'll be good for new years, lol...
Just thought it was odd. I'm not on any sort of medications... Had been under a lot of stress, and just moved from IL to OK, and the stress is pretty much gone. I've heard that in the early 30's (32 now) things might sometimes change again, but dammit... I just a couple of years ago fell into a regular sort of cycle :(
and yes I am sexually active, but the period that ended last week was I think the 2nd one since the last time I was with someone. (Aka, I've had a full period before this odd one, so don't believe pregnancy could be the issue)
Maybe once I get a job I'll just look into birth control, though I'd rather go IUD or steriliziation as I don't want kids at all... but something that helps regulte periods might help with the heavy flow.
I suppose the question, if there is one, is "This is normal, right?"
though since I'm here... I hear 'spotting' mentioned all the time but have no idea what that actually means... have a theory that this could be it, lol.. but?
(sorry for any incoherence, tis 2am and I'm falling asleep here)