Thread: What could be the cause of my painful, irregular, unusual period?

I have been getting periods since I was 14 (Im 27 now). They were really painful (thy used to cripple me) and irregular for years. I have been on the pill now for 4 years now and I have been like clockwork, bright red in colour and only slightly uncomfortable.
9 weeks ago I started taking malaria prevention tablets and my period was late by a week and it was so painful I was doubled over. The period after that I had to skip because I was in Africa doing conservation work so the faclities were basic and it would have been inconvienient to have a period. This time I have been bleeding slightly very dark, almost black blood, I asume this is spotting as I have never had it before, my period was due today and this month it came on time but theblood is very very dark and it is painful.
Could my malaria tablets cause this? or could it be something else?
Should I go to the doctors now or wait until I finish my malaria tablet course (I take my last one Saturday) and see how my next period is?

I would suggest seeing a doctor for this. It could also be down to skipping a period. The darkened blood could be very old blood that should have been due to release the month before? If it helps any, when I have irregular spotting, it's often dark brown to almost black.

I'm not sure about the malaria tablets since I've only had to take a course of them twice in my life. I never noticed anything unusual the first time, and I was using a combined pill and just skipped the one week break I would have had to take for my period anyway. I think a doctor would be better suited for this issue I would say.