Lucy: Mothers with fibrocystic breasts often have a lot of discomfort before their periods. This is possible even if this mother never had the problem before. No hard data on this, but if that's her problem, reducing her caffeine intake might help. As to her question about being pregnant, it's not unheard of for a woman to be pregnant and continue to have monthly bleeding. However, if she was pregnant, her breast tenderness would likely be more constant, not just before her "periods". In any case, it doesn't hurt to check a pregnancy test just in case. Keep us posted. Alicia. [log in to unmask]