Spotting before period

[sillysausage16]

Has anyone any experience of spotting 7 to 5 days before their period is due? This has started happening more to me over the last couple years. I will have a small amount of blood then none the next day and a spot again, very erratic until my period starts properly. When this happens, my heavier bleed lasts a shorter time, only a couple of days then I spot a Little again afterwards for a day or so.

I have health anxiety so I get quite worked up about it. But I've consulted my doctor and she says this is normal at my age (37) for my hormones to start changing. I've also had blood tests done and my cervix and abdominal area examined all of which were normal.

I am definitely not pregnant

Do you have a coil?

I don't no

This doesn't happen every month either, maybe 4 times in total over 2 years. Usually when I haven't been eating properly or exercising: I've been very lapse lately and really need to lose some weight. I've just been reading about diet and exercise being a factor in lower progesterone levels

Yes it's happened a lot to me - falling hormone levels as you move towards perimenopause.

I also got cramping on and off for a few days before which is really annoying as you end up having period pains for ages.

Started HRT - as am late 40s now and definitely in peri - and it's got a lot better.

Yeah same with the cramping on and off and I think it's my period coming but still just the spotting. It's very annoying!!

Hopefully once I start my health kick and lose weight (I am in the obese category) things will settle down.

At least because I've had blood tests for any inflammation in my body I know it's nothing sinister

This is interesting. I've had this for a while (I'm early forties) but thought it was linked to my coil. Perhaps it's the peri menopause

It's possible it's not actually spotting I'm having as it's always just before period - perhaps it's just my periods becoming more irregular with age

Oh hello OP, you are EXACTLY describing my periods, I'm also 37 and get this every single month but it then makes my 'period' about 11 days, 5/6 days of spotting, 1 day absolutely flooding, 1 day heavy ish but normal and then about 3/4 days of the stupid spotting again, I too wondered whether it was the very very early stages of peri menopause...

Oh I do feel so much better when someone else is the same!! Last month I spotted on the 1st Dec - cycle day 22 then started heavier bleed on 3rd for 2 days then had 3 days spotting.

This month I started spotting on 23rd - which would be cycle day 23 if I counted the spotting as actual period and I'm still waiting on the heavier flow - mind you I have consumed A LOT of alcohol over the last few days which has been known to slow my periods down in the past

Very similar to snowfairydust. Cramps and spotting
37 too

Hi @WLAH

REALLY pleased I posted this

You're a lot better at tracking it than me, I'm just surprised on a monthly basis!!

I used an ovulation tracker for a while but it made me super aware of my periods being so erratic so I stopped using it because it flares anxiety - hence all the doctor trips and tests lol.

Being female is so stressful, it's almost impossible to tell what's normal and what isn't!

I use an app to track

Turns out I have a cervical ectropian which is causing the spotting