Why do my periods seem to last forever? One starts, then tapers off but never stops completely, then I have another full blown period.

During the perimenopause, your hormone levels decline and the ovaries no longer ovulate reliably and predictably each month like they used to. The lining of the uterus gets out of balance due to these fluctuations in hormones and this results in unpredictable bleeding patterns. Some women are lucky and their periods simply space out and get shorter and lighter; many women are less fortunate and their periods get heavy, prolonged and more frequent.