Why do I have my period every two weeks?

Symptoms:

You’re 15 years old and your periods only started a year ago but they’re quite irregular and sometimes you get two periods in one month.

You’re 51 years old and your periods are getting heavy, sometimes you pass clots, sometimes you have only two weeks between periods and sometimes your periods are irregular, you have hot flushes and night sweats.

You’re in your mid 40s, you have a feeling of fullness and pressure in your pelvis, back pain, pain during sex and frequent periods.

It could be:

Your young age,

irregular menstrual cycles are common in teenagers who’ve just started their periods. Quite often the menstrual cycle is shorter than it would be when periods are well-established.

The perimenopause

when your ovaries are shutting down and failing to produce enough oestrogen to keep menstruation regular. When you’ve had no periods for 12 consecutive months you’re in the menopause.

Fibroids, benign growths of uterine muscle within the wall of the uterus. They’re often linked to heavy menstrual bleeding and bleeding between periods.

Stop it:

Hormone levels fluctuate during adolescence and a person’s menstrual cycle can take around six years to become regular. See your doctor for reassurance but you may not need treatment.

The perimenopause refers to the years leading up to the menopause and you should

always have irregular periods checked out so see your doctor for advice as soon as possible.

Fibroids can be diagnosed with an ultrasound scan so see your GP for referral to a gynaecological clinic to assess their number and size and treatment options.