I usually start my period towards the end of the month (around the 20s, like February 22 for example). I've been sexually active since December but it's been protected and we never tried having sex without protection. My partner and I have been very careful and my partner hasn't reported any issues with the condom we're using after sex. Last month, I had a pretty heavy period but this month, it's acting a little funny down there.
This began three days ago, with what seemed to be a small spot of blood stain on my underwear. I thought that I was already on my period but a really weak one at that and that maybe it would be a lot more heavier since I usually bleed pretty heavy during my periods. For the next couple of days though, it's still the same and a lot more on and off it seems like. The blood is a brighter red, but when I wipe myself down there after peeing for example, I don't get any blood on the tissue paper, only sometimes. It seems to be very mucus-y blood that comes out if I do manage to wipe myself down there and get blood. I can literally wear no panty liners and have little to no stains on my underwear.
I feel like there is blood inside but not enough to flow out of my vagina, and I'm worried because I don't know what it is. Last night when I wiped, there was a good amount of bright red blood that made me think my period has finally started, but after washing up, all the blood also disappeared and up until now, it's still not there.
Two days ago, I had sore muscles and I've been bloated and would be extremely tired but now the bloating has subsided and the sore back is gone and I'm functional again. I also had a huge appetite but then again, I always have a huge appetite so I don't see much change there. I don't feel any kind of nausea/morning sickness or tendency to throw up. I still feel pretty normal like I usually do and can function just fine. I don't feel breast tenderness and whatnot. I feel pretty normal. The only thing that's been weird is this period issue. My boyfriend suggested that it might be PMS or I'm ovulating or this weird behavior is caused by stress or hormonal changes that is an after-effect of being sexually active. I have been very stressed for the past couple of months due to my heavy work schedule and have been getting less sleep (maybe just a good 4 hours max at most) but for the most part, I've been trying to get my sleep in and taking better care of myself. My boyfriend also suggested that because I'm stressing out so much about it, it's causing it to act even more funny.
Can anyone tell me what this is? This has happened to me before as well when I was also sexually active (February 2016), someone said on this site that I was just stressed/going through a hormonal imbalance, I took a pregnancy test at the time and got a negative. I have strong feeling that it's a similar case right now but I want to make sure if this is perfectly normal and also happens to other women.