Is this normal?

[Krose99]

So my period isn’t supposed to come until around next week, but last night I bled a little bit and then stopped, is this normal? Or a cause for concern?

[Sam W]

Hi Krose99,

We can't say for certain what's causing the bleeding, as there are a few different potential causes. Are you on any kind of birth control now? And if you're sexually active, are you up to date on your STI testing?

[Krose99]

No, last time I did anything with a guy was 6 months ago, and since I’ve had my periods all where normal until about a month ago when I took allergy medication, but I haven’t been taking it since. I also don’t take BC

[Sam W]

Got it. The reason we ask about STI testing is that sometimes spotting can be a sign of an STI. So, even if the bleeding isn't related to that, it's still sound to get checked if you haven't.

Sometimes spotting just happens as part of our cycle. So, if you don't notice any other symptoms (like pain while peeing), and it doesn't start up again, then you can assume it was just some cycle variation.

[Krose99]

Ah okay, it’s just never really happened to me before so I kinda panicked, my anxiety isn’t good with these types of things and people have told me I could still be pregnant even having periods or I could “not know I’m pregnant” for 9 months. I don’t see how, if anything I feel like they where trying to f*ck with me because of how anxious I get. But overall the bleeding I had shouldn’t be a concern?

[Sam W]

It can certainly be alarming when our bodies do things we don't expect! But I would just keep an eye out for non-period related bleeding or strange symptoms and other assume it's not cause for concern.

I know we've touched on those misconceptions about the "didn't know they were pregnant" stories. Are there still people in your life telling you those things?

[Krose99]

It’s still kind of freaking me out.. but no, not anymore but I will randomly come across it on social media, sometimes I feel like the worlds out to get me at this point.

[Sam W]

It might be worth curating your social media feeds a bit more to cut out those sources or people (or mute them). I know sometimes social media still coughs up random things onto our feeds, but cutting back the chances of seeing that sort of thing can help a lot. Are you getting treatment for anxiety more generally?

[Krose99]

No I’m not, my anxiety’s been rough this year and I don’t have medical to seek any type of help.

[Siân]

That's really tough, I'm sorry. This year has been a rough one for mental health in all kinds of ways and if you don't have access to good support services it can be really hard.

A lot of therapists offer sessions on a sliding scale - is that something that you would be interested in /able to stretch to do you think? Even a few sessions might give you some tools to better manage your anxiety.