Period has arrived before going away on beach holiday - what to do ?

[thedogsdinnerandall]

Im peri and my periods are all over the place. Only been 2 weeks since the last one, before that it was a 6 week gap. Do I:

A) Let it be and just pray it's super light - it could be either light or heavy. Im so up and down what with peri

Or

B) Take medication to stop/reduce the flow .. but this could make for a super heavy & lengthy period when I get home .. and im going to a spa 10 days after getting home

Thoughts ?

I'd do the medication.

Can you not just use tampons so you can still go swimming?

Tampons?

If my periods were already all over the place no way would I take the medication and mess up my cycle further.

If you don’t typically suffer with incredibly heavy or painful periods, I’d just get on with it.

Get to Boots get the super heavy orange tampax and quite literally go with the flow.

Trying to do anything else is just going to give you more hassle

I can use tampons, its all I use .. but what if heavy and I'm in shorts ??? All my shorts are light colour. And i travel tomorrow ! So no time to buy any

This re my messing up the cycle even more. But what if I'm super heavy..I have no way of knowing until I'm in full flow..

Do you often bleed through your tampons? If it’s not something that normally happens to you I wouldn’t worry about it happening on holiday.

Not that I think you need new shorts but where do you live that you couldn’t buy those by tomorrow but you could get a prescription medication?

@sweetpickle2 I already have the medication from before, it was surplus
I have enough to see me through, if needed. I go to the airport 9am tomorrow

Get up super early and get to your nearest supermarket and buy darkshorts. Or if you can't find any dark sweatshirt to tie round you.

I'd also be tempted to try tampax & towels so surely nothing will leak, just not suitable for swimming

What medication do you have? If it’s norethisterone it’s unlikely to stop your period once it has started.

I find period pants (including period bikini knickers) are great. Could you get any where you are going on holiday?

I took the pill for 5 years without stopping. When I ceased taking it nothing happened. I never had another period. I was 42.

Talk about sod’s law! l have been very irregular and very heavy for the last few years. Taking what you have said into account l think the Tampax option would be the best option, otherwise, you might things up big time for the spa break. Hopefully as it has only been 2 weeks it will be managable.

lf you are flying, you should be able to pick up some darker shorts at the airport. Airports are great places for summer clothes even in the darkest days of winter. You might want to consider opting for skirts or dresses instead.

When l’m at my heaviest, l use these together with a tampon:

https://www.marksandspencer.com/3pk-heavy-absorbency-period-high-leg-knickers/p/clp60707256?color=BLACK&extid=ps_ps-pla-pmax_ggl_lg_ch__-UK-_-_baussc_tier_2&cq_src=google_ads&cq_cmp=23692892859&cq_con=&cq_term=&cq_med=pla&cq_plac=&cq_net=x&cq_plt=gp&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23702971804&gbraid=0AAAAAD7g6bSXHxvZN-nsnoJgEFjl1T8Ve

They are not too bulky and feel more feminine than most period knickers. They do provide reassurance though.

l hope you still enjoy your holiday. x

Can you get a set of period pants? Places like supermarkets sell them these days. You can get period swimwear too, although this might be harder to get your hands on at such short notice. Have a lovely holiday and try to relax.

Do you have reason to think it will be particularly heavy? I had my first period in six months when I was away over Easter (and nothing since 🤞) but it was exactly the same as my periods always were. Four days of moderate flow.

I’m not sure that can help the OP here.

Stock up on sanitary towels at airport, and use alongside tampons. Change your tampon every hour.

How did you survive until peri without learning how to handle a period? This is ridiculous. Buy tampons and get on with your life.

In fairness, if the OP has particularly heavy bleeding (though it’s not clear from her post), it goes way beyond just changing the most absorbent tampons regularly. In the summer of 2022 (just before I had surgery to stop it), I was bleeding so heavily I was soaking through tampons and flooding sanitary towels within minutes, and sitting on a bath towel so as not to bloody chairs.

I actually bled out the mirena coil I’d had put in a few months earlier to stem the bleeding.

Before peri she probably knew when her periods were coming, she wasn’t expecting one after 2 weeks and the day before her holiday. Ridiculous comment. Every woman learns how to handle periods. Every woman hates them and does not want one on a beach holiday.

I think some medication needs to be started days before so won’t help now, and you’ll need enough to cover the whole holiday - depends which one you have, I’ve only ever had Norethisterone.

I have used norethisterone to stop periods for years.

Norethisterone has always stopped my periods. I have used it for years to do just that. It doesn’t work immediately but by day 2 it’s usually slowing to a stop. It’s worth a try either way.

Medication
Why not!

Period pants and period bikini bottoms.