Uterine bleeding

I am 51 years old.  My most recent period started February 12th and seemed to end on February 16th.  One day later I started bleeding again and have been bleeding ever since.  So I have been bleeding almost 2 weeks.  A normal period for me is 5 days.  My questions is, how long should I wait before I get this checked out by a health care professional?  Am I in perimenopause or could it be something else?

[Bhupinder Kaur, MD]

Hello,
This irregularity in periods can be due to perimenopause. Symptoms of perimenopause are irritability and mood swings, hot flashes, night sweating, irregular periods, decreased blood loss during periods, dry vagina, breast heaviness and tenderness and joint and muscle pain.

However if the flow becomes heavy then you should get it evaluated as you may need hormones and tranexemic acid to stop bleeding.
It is very difficult to precisely confirm a diagnosis without examination and investigations and the answer is based on the medical information provided. For exact diagnosis, you are requested to consult your doctor. I sincerely hope that helps. Take care and please do keep me posted on how you are doing.