That's how I have ALWAYS been with my cycle, and I'm 40 now.
The P in PMS is pretty extreme for me. In the few/several days before the flow itself starts, I'm utterly exhausted and could sleep for 3 straight days for seemingly no reason. I'm crabby, cranky, moody, massively swollen pink breasts, and have zero control over my emotions. And it's only gotten more intense as I've gotten older. My experience has been that this is just what PMS is, and then once the flow itself begins, I'm bloated and crampy and still exhausted, but much better emotionally.
I, too, have short but intense periods, but as I age even those are getting a bit longer. Very very heavy bleeding for the first 3 days, then basically it shuts off like a valve and merely leaks enough to annoy for the next 2. It used to only be 2 solid days, but it's up to at least 3, or even more, now.
Has anything else changed for you? Any change in contraception, diet, exercise, stress? As this is a new thing for you, if nothing has changed otherwise, I'd see the GP. Unfortunately, I've no experience with