Why am I having period pains and slight, dark blood staining?

As you approach the menopause, your hormones don't always fall gracefully and can go up and down, and stay static for a while.

When you get a sudden rise, this can often trigger a bleed. Periods like this to tend to be heavy as well, and this can sometimes continue like this for several years before your periods stop for good.

Period pains without a period are very common, even though your hormones may be falling there is still a cycle, not high enough to trigger a bleed but still high enough to give PMT symptoms. You may find a daily magnesium supplement can help with this.

However, heavy periods can cause anaemia, which in turn can cause fatigue, low mood, and sleep problems so it is best to get this checked out by your doctor or a nurse as well

Eileen Durward