I'm 37 and have had regular periods my entire life. I've never even skipped one unless I was pregnant. Last week Sunday, I noticed a very dark discharge in my underwear and thought, "Wow that's weird. I'm early this month." And I assumed that I just got my period. But then, it stopped. Then that Tuesday, I got the same thing. And then again it stopped! Didn't have anything else until this past Sunday (when it would've been regular for me to start my period) and there was normal-looking blood when I went to the bathroom. So I was like, "Cool. I finally started for real!" But then, AGAIN, the bleeding has stopped. I feel all the symptoms like it's here, but I haven't been bleeding.

This has never happened to me before & I'm worried about it. I should say that I've been under quite a bit of stress lately. People at work are being laid off left & right, and I'm afraid I might be next. Both my kids have been sick, I'm always borderline broke, and I have no family here to rely on for help. So yeah, I've been a bundle of nerves lately. But can stress REALLY wreak that much havoc that my entire cycle is thrown off & I'm bleeding and then not bleeding and having weird discharge and then not having it and all that stuff? And I'm not old enough to be experiencing perimenopause yet, am I? I just don't know what it could be, but I also don't know if I could handle any more bad news right now. Thanks for reading.

Also, there's NO WAY that I am pregnant either. Thought I should add that!