Vomiting at every period in 16y DD

[CafeCandles]

My poor daughter over the last six months or so has become very ill at every period. Vomiting and feeling dreadful with period pain. Her most recent period she vomited every half an hour for more than twelve hours. She's regularly needed to take a day off each period or I've had to collect her from school. We had a private scan which was normal. Could it be hormonal? Has anyone else experienced this? She has her GCSEs coming up and would not be fit for an exam if she's on the first day of her period.

I don't vomit but do feel very nauseated. They've given me anti-sickness tablets, the same as I had during pregnancy.

Could she try the pill?

I was like that for years when I first started. I got periods every 2 weeks as well. What really helped me was going on the pill for a few years. When I came off it things had settled and have never been that bad again.

I think we'll have to put her on the pill although she's not keen. I would like to know WHY it happens? Presumably some sort of hormonal thing?

Had exactly the same when I was at school. The only thing that sorted the hormones was the pill

I had this as a teen and also recently again for some reason. In my case, it’s partly to do with a flood of the prostaglandins that are meant to stimulate womb contractions to release the womb lining. They affect my guts and stomach too, hence diarrhoea and vomiting. For me this is compounded by the effect of the severe cramp which also makes me vomit. It is totally solved in my case by taking ibruporfen (NSAIDs) at the first hint of a cramp or sometimes on the day I know my period is due - maybe harder for your teen if she’s not regular yet. Stronger NSAIDs can be prescribed get GP but in my case I find they irritate my stomach so I’m just swapping one problem for another. Dehydration makes it worse for me so I pay extra attention to fluids in the days leading up to when I’m due.

I was similar as a teenager - I have fairly severe endometriosis and adenomyosis. I wasn't diagnosed for a number of years, as it often needs surgery for a full diagnostic confirmation.

One of the initial treatments they suggest is the combined pill in any event. It had some (albeit quite limited) benefit for me

Poor lass. I was like that. For far too many years. Wish I could offer any help, but I never got any answers. And managed to fail an O Level by vomiting in it because of my period. I would hope there was more help these days. Hope she gets some help.

Hi, my daughter has also suffered terribly for a number of years. I won’t go into it on the thread but please feel free to PM me as we are probably slightly further along the journey with meds, investigations so I can tell you what we tried etc. As a parent I felt helpless, you really have my sympathy it’s hideous for them to go through x

I went through what your daughter is going through. It was horrendous.
The first two days were terrible.
I found that eating healthily and taking paracetamol helped .
However, your dd may need to go on the pill.

Sounds like endometriosis
I get very sick before my period but also have severe diarrhoea
my endo is everywhere but mainly affects my bowel and GI
I have regular periods, not heavy and not the usual endo signs

I was the same and was well into my thirties before effective pain relief transformed my life. Maximum dose of ibuprofen, and paracetamol with codeine (trade name Solpadol). Sorted the vomiting and squits too. It took my working in a hospice to realise the people dying of cancer were in less pain than me.

Yes I had this.

Really bad diarrhoea and vomiting every period.

I strongly recommend hormonal contraception, really helped. I also ran together 2 packets which cut the number of periods in half.

I had similar. Plus diarrhoea and light headedness. It took many years to get an endometriosis diagnosis.

My DD is also Y11 and doing GCSEs this summer. She's started fainting or near-fainting the first day of every period. She's 100% fine after a few hours (although looks a horrid shade of grey!)

I've tried healthy eating, lots of water, good sleep and exercise. She's been tested for anaemia.

I'm reluctant to suggest the pill as it seems excessive for a short spell of fainting. But I'm worried about her confidence and her exams.

I was like that around 17, 18, 19. Dreadful periods, vomiting.

Then on my early twenties the periods go quite heavy....I was diagnosed with PCOS in my mid-twenties.

My periods are crazily heavy now.

I was out on a mini-pill for but after a week it had given me 3 bad migraines and vomiting, so now I just struggle on, even after many years.

I had this too when I was a teenager. I don’t think it was hormonal, more my body’s response to feeling such pain for so long 😣 Barely any pain for donkeys years; light is on the horizon for her I’m sure

I wasn’t great with my periods but was manageable…until I had children in my mid twenties (30 now) then of dear lord all hell broke loose. It seemed to send my hormones into overdrive and I got so poorly each time.

Just a gentle warning that if hormones have that level of impact on DD in terms of nausea/vomiting she may not tolerate the pill/injection/patch very well. Before kids id had all of them and just a few side effects but they made me really unwell now. If you research each contraceptive you’ll find the amount of hormone it releases and at what speed. The chances are the higher hormone doses won’t be tolerated well. Equally the pill being taken orally may not go very well.

The only one I can use now is the ring, of all the contraceptives available it has the lowest hormone/speed releasing and is very concentrated in area as it’s absorbed via the membranes rather than directly entering the blood stream/digestive tract.

Just a thought, she may be totally fine on the pill

DD and I were both the same. I went on the pill and it didn't help, got a pcos diagnosis at 27 and then adenomyosis post hysterectomy, DD got a diagnosis of pcos at 13 but the pill has worked really well for her as long as she is very strict about taking it.

Worth looking up Cyclical Vomiting Syndromre. Periods can be a trigger. You can get some great support on Facebook groups such as 'Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome Network Support Group'

Does she consume much dairy produce? If so she could try reducing consumption drastically to see if it makes a difference.

I was like this as a teenager too. Always needed a day off school on day 1 of my period and would vomit repeatedly for 12-24hrs. I think it was mainly pain driven due to very strong cramps.

What appeared to sort it for me was evening primrose oil...unless that was just a coincidence and time was actually the healer.

If my daughter turns out similar, I'd try her on evening primrose and if no effect, consider a trial of the pill.