Last updated on October 21, 2020
Question:
Hi,
I’m 14 almost 15. I started having periods 3 months ago. The weird thing is that I keep having my period every other week. And they last for 10 to 13 days! I want to know if that is normal or not.
Answer:
Menstruation at the beginning is often unstable. Your body needs a bit of time to figure out how much hormones to release and when to release them. The distance between periods is measured from start to start. So if you are saying that you have a period that lasts 10 to 13 days and then two weeks later you have another period starting, then the distance between the periods is 24 to 27 days, which is fairly normal. But if you are saying that your periods are starting 14 days apart and lasting 10 to 13 days, that is that you are not bleeding on 1 to 4 days between periods, this is unusually short. Having a fourteen-day cycle is not unusual, especially in your teenage years, but combined with a long period of bleeding, it is a cause for concern.
The general rule is that any period of bleeding that lasts longer than say eight to ten days should be check by your doctor. Depending on the amount of blood that is being lost, there are strong concerns that the level of iron in your body might drop too low and make you very ill. The doctor will want to look for reasons why the bleeding is lasting so long. It can be an early indication of some severe diseases.
Hopefully, the doctor might find nothing to be alarmed about in your situation. If so, she might prescribe something to help your body stop bleeding after a menstruation period, or she might give you something to stabilize your hormones until you are a bit more mature.
Meanwhile, make sure you eat plenty of iron-rich foods each day to make up for what you are losing.