Does Spotting Between Periods Mean I'm Pregnant?

No, spotting is not a sign that you are pregnant. When you are pregnant your periods should stop altogether and you should not have any spotting at all. Spotting is where you bleed very slightly in between periods.

Spotting is completely normal but if this is something that is abnormal for your cycle, you may wish to talk to a doctor about the change.

When you do go and see your doctor about the spotting, it is best to take a diary with you that can show any patterns that there are with the spotting. This can help the doctor to see how regular your periods and spotting are and if there is a pattern to the bleeding that they may have seen before in other patients.

There are many reasons for spotting and these are usually due to some kind of physical change within the body. What does it mean when I'm spotting;

• Puberty. During puberty, your periods will not be 100% regular and many young girls/women suffer from spotting in between their periods which will be quite irregular at this stage anyway.  This is nothing to worry about.
  

• Changes to medication or contraception. Any changes to your hormones can influence spotting, most contraception medications will change the level of hormones that are in your body and this may shake up your cycle for a short amount of time. This should revert back to normal after a few months.

• Weight loss/weight gain. Your body changes dramatically with weight loss/weight gain and as your body is getting used to it's new weight, your hormones may have some difficulty, resulting in spotting.

• Menopause. During the menopause, women will find that their periods become irregular and they may even get spotting.

Spotting is the early sign of pregnancy and if you have it then you can be pregnant but this is not a hard and fast rule. You need to take the pregnancy test to be for sure.

It is possible but not a certainty. Get a test kit!

I have been seeing this brown stuff for the past couple of weeks it is very light to moderately heavy. It is not time for my period so I am a little concerned with what it could be from. What do you think my body is trying to say to me?