Period pain teen- wants to skip school

[RoaRoaRasputin]

My teen wants to skip school for 2nd day in a row. What do I do??

My DD had this - we struggled on with collecting her when it was too bad. I had zero expectations of the GP but we got one who said in this day and age no girl should be missing school because of period pains and started her on mefanamic acid, and said to come back in 2 months, at which point DD chose to go on the pill so now she times periods with school holidays. Now obviously if school didn't keep locking the toilets at breaktimes she wouldn't need to do that 😐

The GP also stressed the importance of taking the painkillers in advance of it hurting really badly, and keeping on taking them at regular intervals which I had already pointed out because taking 1 ibruprofen and expecting it to last 48 hours is daft.

I had zero expectations of the GP but we got one who said in this day and age no girl should be missing school because of period pains

Just a fortnight ago my DD was told it was to be expected and that they would improve when she had her first child.

I had the whole pain vomit faint periods while a teen in school, albeit 30 years+ ago now.
Personally, I would discuss various options with my daughter and try to listen to her thoughts on the best approach to manage situation depending on whether this is something that happens every so often, or every month. How long severe cramps last, 1 day or less or more than 1 day. I would talk about how to take painkillers, which ones and dosage etc. With that information I'd ask if she wanted to try hormonal meditation or not and respect her choice.
I feel that when in this sort of pain everyone should have the right to let their body recover and so I would not send daughter to school if she was obviously unwell.
I don't feel that girls should be pressured into taking hormones if they prefer to manage the pain in other ways, even if this meant the odd day at home, but would fully support any girl who did.
I would talk about the consequences of regularly missing out on education, and what can be done to mitigate this if need be by helping her access any work missed.
Periods are a part of women's lives though, and how each girl or woman manages them should be respected.

Much depends on your reading of the situation. Prior to this issue has your daughter been a calm stoic type of person or a bit of a drama queen? If the former, I'd definitely give her the benefit of the doubt, especially if you can see from her behaviour that she isn't right eg not eating , not doing much, not able to move much etc - all indications of greater than moderate pain. If so, I'd be a strong advocate for her. A friend of mine had endometriosis and suffered hugely as a young teen ( blue lips on occasion and huddled on floor). No doctor took her seriously at all.

I had similar with my younger daughter,

Posted too soon!!
Younger daughter's periods had become much more painful and she had a day off this month. We went to GP on day 2, who was amazing, gave her some anti inflammatories and told her to go back in two months if no better, as there was plenty more he could do. It had an instant impact, tablets very effective and she is so much happier.
Not something I could relate to, as I have been lucky with period pains, but am really pleased we took the time to go. And good to have a really positive GP experience.

My periods were awful (heavy and painful), and my youngest daughter (14) is the same. In the end I took her to the GP. We tried anti-inflammatories (mefenamic acid) first, but in the end the GP advised putting her on the pill. It has made such a difference! It's lighter and less painful, and knowing when it's coming means she never gets caught out (they were pretty irregular before). She hasn't missed a day of school other than with covid in over a year, where she was having 2-3 days off per month.