5 days before period dark brown discharge, no cramping. took test 8-9 days after iui, negative. could this be my cycle early or something else?

Your hormones are in: .. flux for some reason. Irregular periods and spotting could mean you may have some hormonal imbalance that could be affected by many different factors, including age (if approaching menopause?), nutrition, illness, exercise (or lack of it), body girth, psychological well-being, stress, season, or simple fluctuations of other related hormones (thyroid for example). U should check a preg test 2.