To say a period does not cost £25

[jinjkl]

I hear the story on the radio about MP Danielle Rowley standing up in parliament to speak out about period poverty.

Good on her - it shouldn't be a taboo subject and I feel for the homeless women or those in poverty who cannot afford basic luxuries. But I can't agree with her statement that each period costs £25, and that women spend £500 a year on sanitary products.

You can buy a 20 pack of supermarket own brand tampons for £1 and that lasts a whole period. Even if you buy Tampax you won't be spending more than £3. Sanitary towels are about the same.

You can pick up some painkillers for under £1. I know some women have extreme periods which require prescription medication, but this is uncommon and it still wouldn't cost anywhere near £25.

Some would probably argue it's the cost of replacing soiled knickers, but the whole period poverty campaign is centred around sanitary protection, not giving women women to buy new knickers after a period (I wish!)

I want sanitary protection to be free as much as the next person, but I just can't abide by these exaggerations. Any woman knows they don't spend £25 every month on their period, and if you are spending this much there is something seriously wrong.

I just don’t get it. I use cloth pads now (which I understand the initial cost may be too high for some) but when I bought reusable pads I would just buy a pack of nighttime pads, a pack of heavy pads and a pack of light pads - and I have ridiculously heavy periods! And with regards to underwear, stain remover etc - don’t people just wear black knickers when on their period? I think she is massively over exaggerating for the sake of drama.

OK, people, here's a little list for those too dim to realise that not everyone is Just Like Them:

• The cheap sanpro does not work for all women, some have flows that are too heavy.

-The Mirena and POP do not work for all women to stop periods and/or can have extremely adverse side effects that make them useless for some women. -Mooncups do not work for all women, some have painful conditions that mean they can't use them. -Doctors often do not work for all women, they get fobbed off and cannot afford private healthcare.

Is it really so hard to understand that we are all different? FFS. SMH.

I think putting a price on it - especially one which does not seem to be the norm for most women - undermines the point she is making.

all I can say is if men suffered an infliction like this that threatened their productivity and affected them like it affected women, something would have been done about it already

Without a doubt.

Erectile dysfunction - "OH NO the men can't have sex, quick get that sorted!" BAM - viagra.

Bad periods - "well it's biology, it's normal. We will wait 6 years to even send for for a fucking scan. Oh it's PCOS. Here's some painkillers, now put up and shut up love."

I'd certainly use more than a 20 pk of sanitary stuff in a week when I had periods. But still not anywhere near £25 worth!

I never realised till I joined MN what some (many) women's periods were like

You only know what your own is like - and even if someone describes theirs as heavy, unless they describe it in graphic detail, if you've never had a heavy period, it's hard to imagine the spectrum of what that could entail. So I had absolutely no idea it was even possible to bleed that much.

I am at the opposite end with extremely light periods: although that too is problematic - because my damaged womb lining is the reason I can't sustain a pregnancy (ironically I have a copper coil to try and help me to have a proper menstrual bleed).

I'm horrified and saddened to hear what so many women have to endure with their periods. It sounds beyond awful. My periods now are emotionally distressing because they're a very physical reminder of why I can't have children. But they're not physically difficult

to all of you who have to endure such debilitating periods

Tokyo There is no such thing as "the norm for most women" . You can't dismiss tens of thousands of women's experiences just because their heavy periods are caused by medical conditions. Those women don't get any extra help towards managing their periods.

You don't know why that MP had to spend that much. Her experience isn't any less valid than your "norm".

Tokyo
Are you saying you didn’t read the thread but know you’re right and women actually spend far less? Then made a point that this thread would make male MPs call us hysterical.

Could I suggest that you/people have the decency to consult others, listen to their realities instead of insulting them? Your post upthread was a bit smug and really didn’t look like you were interested in other women’s realities. Does it bother you that I find your dismissive reaction to other women’s realities no different from the aforementioned male politicians?

£25 must be waaaay above average. I buy Aldi pads & tampons and they last 2 months. Also have a mooncup I use when I remember & when convenient. Surely the average must be less than £10 x

banana 😘
I had the opposite problem anc now know I was very lucky to bear one child - through ivf. I hope you manage to conceive.

I think heavy periods are the norm tbh. I only know one woman who had light periods. One of my sisters had reasonable periods until she had kids and then they got much heavier, she got bad PMS and started to get migraines.

Look, don’t shoot the messenger, OK?

What I am saying is that for me, when someone starts talking about spending £25 on sanpro, part of my brain can’t help but go, “nah, she’s got to be exaggerating”. I’m obviously not the only one because the OP thought the same.

Mine are much heavier than they used to be since I got the copper coil, and even so, I can’t imagine ever needing to spend £25. A lot of women will be in the same boat.

That’s why I think citing a figure is unhelpful because then you’ve got to defend how you’ve arrived at that figure and your point loses its impact. While people are arguing about whether most women really spend £25 a month on their periods, they’re not discussing the very real impact on women who can’t afford sanpro, whether they can’t afford £25 for their super heavy never ending periods related to a serious health condition, or whether they have light periods but they’re homeless and if they can’t scrape together £2 for a packet of towels they will bleed all over their only set of clothes.

I haven't got anything useful to add.

I just got weirded out by @glintandglide's username and wondered if I'd been commenting in my sleep

I am post menopause now! £25 sounds too much unless she is factoring in other expenses connected such as time off work and so much.

I certainly couldn't manage on a couple of quid for sanitary wear before my periods stopped and I am going back 3-4 years.

I was heavy right from day one. I used Tampax and pads and had period pants that needed to be replaced. About a £10 a month I would say

I'm always fascinated on these threads as to the amount of variability, those lucky bleeders who have those teeny-tiny little yellow tampon periods over in 3 days. Versus those in danger of reproducing that famous scene from Alien, and have to change everything with ludicrous spacing that means a long film is definitely out for that week! (I guess I'm somewhere in the middle BTW.).

BUT what has really annoyed and worried me is why people get so riled when someone suggests it may cost a bit. Look, whether it is £10, or £25, isn't the real point that to be reasonably comfortable, many women have to spend tens of pounds per month, every month, without choice. That it is considerable cost, that we cannot substantially reduce without loss of comfort or dignity. It's not like simple switching Heinz for supermarket own brand beans, and not using expensive eateries or organically-grown, corn-fed, holistically-reared lambkins who have Bach played at them to get them to sleep before they go for slaughter.........

It's BASIC costs for almost all women, that most men don't have much of a clue about. Why don't we think we merit spending what it takes for us to be minimally comfortable, why this I can do it for 10p a fortnight and my gran used to knit all her own tampons (sliding into a women-only version of the Monty Python 4 yorkshiremen sketch here!).

Why are we ashamed to admit how much our biology costs, or unwilling to admit that perhaps we do deserve it, and doing it properly with a suitable range of suitable products isn't the cheapest thing in the world. Us bleeders deserve it, surely?

Christ, this thread has turned! I am more concerned about the fact that some people can't afford any sanpro rather than what it costs different bodies/budgets.

I spend a fortune. I am menopausal, 10 day long very heavy periods. Adult daughter who I suspect might have an issue (getting her to address this is another matter) also bleeds half to death. Between us we get through four large boxes of various strength Tampax a month, plus pads, night pads and liners for knickers towards the end. I have found buying cheaper products to be a false economy. I am on a tight budget and have to factor it in. Daughter is a student, I don't ask her to contribute, it's just part of the shop. However, regardless of any of it, having a period is a costly business, especially if you are how we are.

Men would never have to pay for sanpro...or it would be extremely cheap. I appreciate the point she is making, regardless of the possibly dodgy maths.

Is there any chance that women getting through loads of pads etc are changing them before they need to? I guess this is subjective and it's not meant as a criticism.

I had a lifetime of normal to light bleeding. Now I'm on HRT and my bleeds are heavier . But I use Always Infinity and the absorbancy is amazing. I can easily go 3 hours at the start of the bleed without changing- no smell and no leaking. The pad 'wicks' it through to the foam underneath. I rarely need more than one pack of 12 over a 4 day bleed then I use pantyliners for the 5th day.

Just a thought!

@SomeDyke hallelujah!

I never realised till I joined MN what some (many) women's periods were like
Yes yes to this.
I also didn’t realise what some (many) women’s periods were like until I came off the pill after twenty years.
I also didn’t realise what some (many) women’s periods were like until I became peri menopausal.
I also didn’t realise what some (many) women’s periods were like until my daughter started undergoing tests for PCOS.

It is really interesting to hear genuine accounts of other women’s period experiences. It’s really not talked about enough in general.

Period poverty is very real - at university I was so poor and suffering from terrible terrible periods that I would have to ration my sanitary towels, often staying at home and using tissue instead. I should stress I wasn’t your typical 18 yr old, straight to uni with parental help but instead 21, doing it on my own with heavy responsibilities and serious money problems.

Fast forward to my 30s and poverty wasn’t a problem but my periods became increasingly bad. Flooding for 5 days and lasting a total of 9/10 days, it was so bad I couldn’t leave the house without serious risk for 3 days a month. Sanitary towels were changed every 20 mins to an hour. I ruined a memory foam mattress and countless jeans (never mind the knickers!).

My iron level dropped to 2 and I was having iron infusions at the hospital but I still couldn’t get a referral to gynaecology! I finally went private (which ended up costing £500 for two consultations). The consultant was horrified I couldn’t get an appointment on the nhs but said sadly gps are under a lot of pressure not to refer to gynocology as it’s so overwhelmed.

Ive has some treatment which has made it better in someways but caused some other problems which mean I’ll probably end up with a hysterectomy before 40.

Periods can be horrendous full stop.

£25 seems a bit of a stretch just on sanitary towels but I was probably close. The costs of replacing mattresses, clothes, missed work, missed opportunities and eventually private hospital fees is a hell of a lot.

I have been back and forth to the GP and the specialist for 3 years because despite taking the strongest painkillers, I am in complete agony for 2 days. Pain where you can't sleep, and you curl up and cry. It reminds me of mid-stages of labour. It does cost me around £25, not just the equipment but also the emotional labour and time. But really you can't put a price on pain and the shitty feeling (and the feeling of being dependent on someone else because you can't look after your own kid or make dinner). And its twice a month, which means there's absolutely no escaping it!

What I am saying is that for me, when someone starts talking about spending £25 on sanpro, part of my brain can’t help but go, “nah, she’s got to be exaggerating”. I’m obviously not the only one because the OP thought the same

For the third time Tokyo, she said she had personally spent £25 that week.

@Mummyoflittledragon thank you so much - congratulations on your baby

Unfortunately Drs on both sides of the Atlantic have confirmed that my womb cannot support a pregnancy. The world leading expert in the role of womb lining in infertility and miscarriage told us that there was no point pursuing any more treatment, as my issues were too severe, & we had exhausted every possible option. We only did 4 IVF cycles but had 7 cancelled cycles due to my crap womb lining, and spent the best part of a year trying to get me to have a period. Sadly nothing worked - and they couldn't even use my womb lining biopsies for the Tommys miscarriage research programme, because the lab said there was no usable tissue, there wasn't a single endometrial cell in the samples, just mucus. At least one pro of having PCOS is that I don't have regular periods - so I'll only have 4-5 periods a year tops, so the black spotting is pretty infrequent.

However my issues are a massive derail - I am an extreme edge case. That notwithstanding I am so saddened to read what so many people have to live with

I rarely need more than one pack of 12 over a 4 day bleed

That makes 2 per day and one at night. Ick.