The vaginal bleeding that occurs every month is called menstruation. This discharge during menstruation is usually a mixture of blood and tissue. This is the material that is shed from the uterus every month after the ova is not able to get fertilized by a sperm cell. This blood and tissue passes out from the vagina.
The menstrual cycle, that lasts about twenty eight days, is divided into two halves of fourteen days each. In the first half, the hormone estrogen, which helps stimulate the follicles, rises in levels and the uterus begins to get lined with blood and soft tissue. The uterus enlarges and thickens due to this extra lining. As a response to estrogen the ovum, commonly known as the egg, starts to mature in the ovaries. In the middle of the cycle, around the fourteenth day, the ovaries drop the egg and ovulation begins.
After the egg is released, it moves through the fallopian tube and enters the uterus. The uterus, by this time, is already ready to receive a fertilized egg and is prepared for pregnancy. If there is a sperm cell with which the egg fuses, the resulting zygote attaches itself to the walls of the uterus which have been prepared for this event and the woman becomes pregnant. However, if the egg does not encounter any sperm and is unable to get fertilized, it is absorbed by the body and the progesterone levels begin to drop. With this drop in the hormone levels, the uterus begins to shed its lining and the result is the discharge of blood and tissue once every month.
Since this entire procedure takes twenty eight days, it is highly unlikely that another period can be induced in between. If such a thing is occurring, there may be a problem with your hormones. Either estrogen or progesterone, the hormones that induce periods can be malfunctioning.
If you are on birth control pills, getting a period twice a month could be possible. This is one of the major side effects of birth control pills and also one of the major reasons why many women stop taking these pills after some time.
The pills should be taken as soon as the periods begin. However if you haven’t started your pills after menstruation, there can be a risk of bleeding again. Since the follicle has already developed and the estrogen levels have risen, when the estrogen levels regress due to the pill, bleeding can occur once again. This, however, could be a serious problem and a doctor should be consulted.
answered by G M