Period Symptoms. W hat’s a problem? What’s normal?

According to textbooks, your period should come every 28 days or so, and the menstrual fluid you lose is on average, 6-9 tablespoons. The trouble is, your body can’t read textbooks, and it may do something very different.

Some period symptoms women have:

• Periods that don’t come regularly (in fact very few have a consistent 28-day cycle)
• Heavy periods—a very heavy flow of blood each month
• Painful periods
• An absence of periods (called amenorrhea)

A few women have a combination of problems period symptoms. Sometimes these things are normal; sometimes it means something is wrong. So if your periods aren’t regular, or are too heavy or painful—or if your period stops coming—you should talk to a doctor.