Irregular Periods: Heavy Cramps & Light Flow - What Could It Mean?

Question
Hi, I have a question. I'm 18, but so far my periods have been fairly regular. I'm on a pretty basic and predictable 30 day cycle. This time I started right on schedule, but I had an unusual amount of heavy cramping that's still lightly going on every once and a while. I'm also have a lighter flow than I'm used to. I normally go quite heavy for a few days, lasting usually right at a week. This time, however, it's been much lighter. I'm almost done and it's only been nearly four days. And the blood seems to be what I've been told is a lot of clotting considering it seems to all come out at once, and then nothing. (I've never experienced that quite to this extent before.) I /have/ had unprotected sex recently, but he has never actually ejaculated inside of me. I'm wondering if this is potentially a case of pregnancy, or if there is some other sort of issue going on here. Thank you very much for your help.

Answer
Dear Dyia,

It sounds like simply an unusual flow this cycle - likely due to a bit of a hormonal imbalance. Since you have had unprotected sex, you will need to be aware and watch your cycle next month to determine if it also is altered - skipped or extremely light in flow. If so, you should test for pregnancy. Otherwise though, I would anticipate that this is just some irregularity in this particular cycle and it will resolve itself when the cause for it is resolved. Some potential causes for irregularities in our cycles are:

-Significant weight gain or loss
-Excessive or strenuous exercise
-Poor nutrition (or a diet too high in carbohydrates)
-Smoking
-Drug use
-Excessive caffeine intake
-Excessive alcohol use (interfering with how the liver metabolizes estrogen and progesterone)
-Eating disorders
-Increased stress
-Polycystic ovarian syndrome/estrogen dominance
-Uterine abnormalities (fibroids/cysts/polyps/endometriosis)
-Hormonal imbalance related to perimenopause
-Medications
-Chemotherapy
-Thyroid dysfunction
-Recent childbirth, miscarriage, or D&C
-Breastfeeding

I hope this has helped you and answered your question. I wish you well.

Brenda