Irregular bleeding a concern?

I will be 39 in March, began mentruating at 12 and was always regualar. 13 week mc at 20 yrs, live birth at 21yrs, live birth at 29yrs, live birth at 32yrs and stillbirth at 36yrs when I was 20 weeks pregnant. (My baby died and I had to be induced.) The cause of death is not known for certain, but there were blood clots in my placenta. I had all the tests done to rule out a problem with clotting in my blood. For at least the past year, my mentrual cycle has been a little odd. I spot brown blood for about 6 days every month before I really begin to bleed for about 3 days, and then spot another day or two before it stops. The beginning of the spotting is at regular intervals (every 26-27 days) and there is always some mild clotting during the full bleed. Thinking back, the clotting has been going on for years, but I was told by my Dr. that it was normal. Other than being an annoyance, there are no other symptoms that would concern me. Are there some dietary changes I can make to try to fix this before I resort to expensive medical tests? Should I be concerned?

[Machelle Seibel, MD]

A. It doesn