I have had my current period for almost two weeks now. It started out heavy and it is getting lighter but it is still longer than it's ever been.

I'm not having any pain - it feels like a normal period except for the length of time. This is the first time it's happened. I'm wondering if it is my body's way of preparing for menopause. I'm 42 years old and been in good health.

I currently don't have insurance but should in a month or two when I'm picked up permanently. Is it okay to wait until I can afford to see a doctor?

asking

Longer and heavier periods are apparently pretty common in "perimenopause" which is the long period before you stop having periods at all. Perimenopause can last ten years or so. Menopause apparently is defined after the fact, whenever you haven't had a period for a full 12 months. If you are having mid cycle bleeding, you should see a doctor. But I personally would wait a couple of months, not go after just one weird period. (I've now been having them for 10 years and everything is fine.) Have you taken any antibiotics or antifungals? Other drugs? Some of them can cause mid cycle bleeding or changes in menstruation.

asking

Glad to help!

Another thought. Any possibility that you could have been pregnant? When I was trying to have my two kids, I noticed that I kept have periods that were a few days late and unusually heavy. My doctor said they were probably pregnancies that self aborted because something was wrong. These spontaneous abortions are really common, something like half of all pregnancies end this way. Most people don't even notice it happened because the person is basically pregnant for 2 weeks or even less. Anyway, a spontaneous abortion could also give you an unusual period. Again, nothing to worry about (well, I should say, depending on your plans ).

But, yeah, I wouldn't worry.

asking

I got your message but can't answer back as your account doesn't seem to accept emails. I hesitate to play the expert. I can only tell you what I'd do. I'm about ten years older than you. I'd feel fine about waiting until I had the insurance, a couple of months, maybe longer, depending on how the symptoms go. If your period gets longer, or other things change, I'd go in two months. It doesn't sound like a big deal to me at all at this point.

I probably would not do anything. I would mention it next time I went in for a yearly appointment with my ob-gyn (which I'm 3 months late for!). You probably should start having annuals if you aren't already. If you are worried about uterine cancer, that's a tough one, few obvious symptoms. Things like bloating, which I used to get every month myself. But doctors can do ultrasound now and tell pretty quickly if there are any abnormalities. So I myself would not worry...a good doctor should be able to rule that out quickly if you are concerned.

Squiffy

You may as well wait, once this period ends your dr would probably want to see what your next couple of periods are like anyway so you might just as well wait and keep a diary yourself. Of course any pain or anything unusual and its best to get checked as soon as you can, but a month or so isnt likely to make a huge difference if you have no unusual pain. You never know the next one might be perfectly normal anyway!