My daughter turned 11 in February, a month before this she got her period for the first time. She handled it like a trooper and has been regular ever since (every 28 days like clockwork)
She periods last for 6 days, 3 of which are heavy and then lighter and lighter as the 6th day approaches.
She is, however, struggling with a lot of discomfort. Period pain in her cervical region, in her lower back and upper thighs. Have treated this with heat packs, Panadol, Nurofen and gentle excersise. The pain makes her feel slightly neuseous and very teary when it is at its highest.
My question is, (no judgement please) considering she is still quite young, do I seek medical advice and see if something such as the mini pill would help with the mensual pain ever month? Does a mini pill enable her to be able to skip a period from time to time if she wants to go swimming or to camp or for a sleepover?
Please remember what it was like at 11. Most, if not all other girls her age in her grade are not at this stage of development yet.
Thank you sisterhood.
6 Replies
You’d be surprised who has there period at 11. I was one of 10 girls in my year and I definitely wasn’t the first.
I don’t think there is such a thing as too young to have a chat with her GP about options. And yeah there are some options in regards to skipping periods, but I’d be more concerned about ways to manage/decrease pain. There are some amazing products out there that means tampons are no longer necessary for swimming. There are period bathers for girls and modi bodi have swim wear too.
11 is pretty common age for periods to start (most of my cousins got theirs between 9 and 11, I was lucky and got mine a few weeks shy of 13).
Definitely speak with a doctor though, I would actually ask for a referral to an actual gynecologist, they are much more knowledgeable as it is their area of expertise.
I was in the same boat as your daughter, extremely heavy periods and horrible pains. My mum took me to a naturopath and we tried different diets etc. - nothing worked. I went on the pill in the end and skipped every period for 5 years in the end! (Not saying that is a good thing though but I had no issues with fertility afterwards.. when you’re on the pill you don’t have a true period anyways, it’s just a shedding).
It was so much better and easier for me. Before I had had sex I couldn’t put a tampon in so it was great when it was school camps and birthday parties as there were no issues.
Actually 10-13 is an extremely common age for periods. I was 10 as were a lot of my friends. I know an 8 year old with hers.
Definitely take her to your GP. They will be helpful with ideas to help her cope.
I feel SO sorry for her but also glad that she has you as a mum. I had the same thing, excruciating pain every month but my mum wasn’t the approachable type and I suffered through the heaviest periods with pain from my belly button to my knees for years until I was old enough to go to the doctor and get help. The first thing they did was tell me to try Ponstan or Naprogesic, whatever the rage was 30 years ago. It helped slightly but not enough, I still couldn’t really concentrate at school and would bleed though pads and tampons. The pill was a saving grace for me. I would encourage you to go down that path with your daughter, she might be young but I don’t think that has anything to do with going on the pill for medical reasons. To her it would just be something that is going to help her and make her life so much more comfortable. I wish I had a mum like you when I was younger!
Me too, what a good mama!
I remember being curled up in a fetal position crying in pain and my mum said "Stop sooking, it's part of being a woman". Wasn't til my adult tears I realized that level of pain wasn't normal or something I had to just tolerate!