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Last Updated:
Jan 3rd, 2010 - 00:09:53
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Question
I'm 17 years old and I've had my period since I've been in 6th grade. It's never been regular but started to be about every 2 months for almost a year. Then last month it came almost exactly a month after the previous. It's now been about a month and a week since I've had that period and I'm spotting. It's just a litle bit and it only seems to be happening first thing in the morning or when I am sleeping. It's happened 3 days in a row now. I don't know why that's happening and I'm not sexually active, so it can't be anything related to that. Can you help?
Katie
Answer
Dear Katie,
First congratulations for being a 17 year old young lady who has made the decision NOT to be sexually active.
It appears what is regular for you is to have a period every two months. While this may not be the norm for everyone, it could be normal for you. If you are having two-month cycles, the light spotting at 5 weeks could be due to ovulation. It is also possible that your cycles are shortening. If the spotting continues and if you are comfortable with having an exam, it would be a good idea just to make sure there is not anything else happening. I will warn you the doctor might suggest putting you on the pill to give you a monthly bleed, but there are better options, and it is not necesary to do anything at all if your exam rules out any problems.
A better suggestion might be to start charting your fertility to give you a better understanding of your personal cycles. If there is a Natural Family Planning instructor in your area, she could teach you how to do this for fertility awareness and which in addition will give you an excellent health record of your fertility cycles.
Sincerely,
Winnie Neill
Winnie and her husband, Bob, have been using, teaching and promoting NFP for 29 years.
She serves on both the NFP Advisory Board in Sacramento and the CANFP board of directors.
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