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 don't have periods as I've got pcos and I got a pant of the thin asda towels (like the always ones ) for the homeless charity /volunteer groups and they were 55p and the tampons (asda ones ) were 75p. Even most places like boots and Superdrug have their own brands now but even the more expensive ones aren't that steep ! I can understand if you have a heavy one so maybe it's just an average across all women between heavier and lighter periods and they've done a survey or something & it's based on some average of like 250 women most likely.

Jacques, someone might yet seriously suggest moss.

On one MN 'period poverty' thread, an indignant MNer objected to schoolgirls being given free pads on as she had been poor during adolescence and had managed perfectly well with wadded up school toilet paper. Despite her 'ridiculously heavy periods'.

I had light periods as a teen, and I couldn't have managed then with toilet paper!

Since having a baby my periods border on uncontrollable. Flooding through a super plus tampon and towel within 30 minutes at their worst point. Mooncup... doesn't stay in place due to damage caused by giving birth (yes I've done pelvic floor exercises - forceps have caused scarring). My last option is hysterectomy but I get no sick pay beyond 3 days and cannot afford the recovery time. My whole life evolves around when my next period arrives. And before anyone suggests... 1) due to history of blood clots hormonal contraception (mirena and pill) is out 2) transxemic acid out due to same reason. £25? Yup, easy. I am so miserable and envy those that can control their periods.

when I had periods they were incredibly heavy and irregular, I had to wear dark clothes in case of leaks, and used panty liners in case of getting caught out, they were long 7/8 days with 4 days v heavy, adding this together - yes they could have cost that much & for some women (many) approach menopause you can 1 week on 1 week off!

I celebrated at the change - no regrets!

Yes of course. But I had no idea that women could have such very very heavy bleeding that they might need to wear a super plus tampon AND and a heavy pad AND have to change the tampon hourly!LOL. Someone who wears a super plus tampon and changes them 6-8 hours is different to someone who has to get up hourly in the night to change their super plus tampon AND extra absorbency pad, surely?
I've been really surprised at how many others suffer like me - I'm early 40's and have just never really spoken or thought about the cost before! It's just been my kind of normal for so long that I didn't realise others could get away with only spending a few quid a month!
Nor did I realise there were actually many others like me who absolutely dread the military like operation every month, covering seats and the mattress in towels "just in case". The list could go on and on lol

My thoughts were exactly the same as Babdoc’s. Why not issue mooncups to women that ask, same as they issue condoms and free contraception?

There does need to be some action for those who need funded products. I know it’s been compared to deodorant or toothpaste but you could manage take kids to school or job without those even if you were a bit smelly. But there aren’t many other reliable ways of stopping blood pouring out of you and you have to leave the house.

Shame that if your body can manage the pill it’s totally free of charge regardless of you income (no idea what costs NHS) yet if you can’t take it there is no other option for you to get rid of them. I for one couldn’t manage any hormonal treatment because of migraines. So not only do you have put up with them then you have pay for them on top. Double joy !

JamieVardy
I think that was the one, where a poster described being give one sanitary towel for the whole of her cycle each month but her abusive mother. So many awful stories.

Glad I could help bananafish. 😊

I have horrendously heavy periods and can sometimes go through half a box of tampons in a day, and thats with a pad as well.

£25 is probably stretching it, but i guess its an average figure.

I wear Tena Lady Extra all the time due to overactive bladder. I wear Tena Lady Extra Plus during my period. They tend to be heavy but short at the moment. They were 11 days apart at one point. For a while before that.............14 to 17 days apart.

I had to wait 31 days for the most recent one. This is all during the last year. Im 45 so probably perimemopausal

I dont like the idea of Mooncups.

The eco warriors said.............restrict your use of plastic bags and use bags for life...........i said fine.

They said................micro beads are affecting the sea life in the oceans Micro beads are now banned TOTALLY AGREE.

they said put this thing called a Mooncup in your fanjo...............sorry this is where i draw the line. I could never do tampons at all and Mooncups would be the same and I DONT WANT TO. a woman has the perfect right to decide what goes into her body (which has always been an MN consensus too) Why is there an attempted shift of the goalposts for Mooncups!

Soo many typos atm. One week post hysterectomy is tough!

You could easily spend that much if you had long, heavy periods. There are also women and girls who have long, heavy periods every 24/5 days or even more frequently.

I personally take the 8-12 teaspoons of blood lost stat with a huge dollop of salt. I am pretty sure I have lost more than that in a single morning standing in the shower.

My mum had a hysterectomy at 45 after several years of back to back heavy periods that left her so anaemic she was hospitalised twice. She used to buy 'Dr Whites' in bulk from the wholesaler.

mummyoflittledragon Yep, I think you're right.

I recently tried supermarket pads and they're horrible. Wouldn't even consider supermarket tampons. Im lucky enough to be able to afford to have a choice. I also definitely get through more than one box a month!
I think perhaps like PP have said it might include NHS costs and time lost at work.

If you can get free condoms from FPCs you should be able to get san pro. I think, for MOST people, £25 is excessive. There's always going to be people who suffer terribly. But I think her potential hyperbole won't help a cause that is really important. Even if it's a couple if quid, if it's that or a loaf for your kids' breakfast...

mummy wishing you all the best with your recovery, I hope that you get relief with this next chapter of your life

They recently decided to replace the old tampon and pad machines in my DD4's high school that dispensed sanpro for $0.25 per item (in the US) with containers of free supplies that the school guarantees to keep well stocked. A very welcome decision in my opinion.

Thank you all for sharing in this thread. It has really opened my eyes. I suppose ibhave been very naive, I thought my periods were average. I use one pad a day on the 2nd and 3rd day then just a bit of loo roll sees me through for all the other days. I had never given any thought to it really. I now understand the whole period poverty issue a bit better and have sympathy for people with much harder periods.

I realise I sound like I'm bragging, I'm not. My periods are unusually painful, I've passed out when ive not managed to get to pain medications soon enough.

Despite the bickering ... this thread is fascinating. My Mother had awful heavy periods so I knew this was a thing, but I'd no idea it was so common. When at gynae recently she asked me how heavy my periods are and I found it hard to answer. They feel heavy to me, but I now realise from this thread that they are light in comparison to many other women.

I use reusables, but certainly not going to preach to others about it. For someone with light periods like me, it will probably be many years until I make and financial savings on these as non-synthetic/ sweaty ones are not cheap and I probably only used to spend £2/3 a month on disposables.

Whatever makes that time of the month more comfortable, easier and cheaper is good and that's going to be different for everyone.

It is so frustrating and saddening that those of us with heavy and problematic periods so often even have other women doubting what we say.

I am just coming to the end of a bloodbath one and am considering making another GP appointment to consider further options.

Some people seem to think that just because they personally have not experienced flooding that suddenly gushes through your clothes and runs down your legs then it doesn't happen to anyone and the rest of us are just whingers.

I had to rush home from an evening dog walk flooding severely the other day. DH saw me come in in that state and was horrified.

£25 per month may sound a lot, but for some of us it is possible. I don't add up what I spend as I don't dare. I just hope that, having reached the age of almost 52, each one might be my last. I get angry every few weeks whenever yet another one comes knocking.

This thread has been one of the most upsetting I've ever read here. I can easily spend £25 on a period but unfortunately I think that figure has meant a lot of people have missed the very good point Danielle was making. What has become clear is how unaware other people can be about what others are going through and, worse, how dismissive when it's explained, simply because it's different to their own experience.

When people have a conversation about, say, Marmite, and one person loves and the other hates it, they recognise how different they are, have a laugh and move on. On this thread, a serious percentage of posters have described how £25 is an accurate figure only for others to say that can't be right because they themselves only spend ha'penny . Not reading the full thread has also been a serious problem - for those saying that having to change sanpro more than every four hours is very unusual, I think this thread proves otherwise. Has someone got the time to add up how many posters have said they can easily spend £25 and compared it to those spending £1-2? I think the results would be interesting and show that actually, £25 isn't that far from average.

However one of the worst comments was the poster who found the MP disgusting for saying she has her period. You are a fucking disgrace.

I was lucky, I went of the pill in my late teens and it had an amazing effect on my periods. It's not that easy for everyone. I'll never forget being 14, 15 years old and being told by the teacher that no, I could not go to the toilet again because I'd already been once that lesson. I used to have to sit there trying not to cry, dying inside because I knew that as 20 minutes had passed, I would have soaked through my massive, giant size tampon and pad and would have to bear the humiliation of soaking my seat and clothes in blood in front of a class of other teenagers - and in case you hadn't noticed, teenage boys are not known for their sensitivity in dealing with these issues. And then being called 'disgusting' for making such a mess by the same (female) teacher.

Oh but of course, this is not 'normal' so I should solve it all by going to the doctor. Would this be the very helpful doctor who told me that all women have periods so I shouldn't make such a fuss? And yes now, in my 40s, you're damn right I would stand up for myself and press my case and say that my experience is not acceptable. In my teens? Not a chance.

And then there was the pain... Let's put it this way - I didn't realise I was in labour until midwives said so because my contractions were nothing compared to my experience of period pain.

However as many have already pointed out, it doesn't matter what the average period spend is, because the fact is that if you're broke, you can't afford £2, never mind £25.

Among other serious lacks of understanding, I don't think anyone is saying they have to replace their entire underwear drawer and bedlinen every month. I do soak and wash my period pants but, even though they're black, they do need replacing more often than my everyday underwear. They end up pretty gross.

And I'd love to know how people get blood stains out with just cold water. I've tried all sorts of stain removal and found that nothing really removes all traces of blood and the harsher treatments mean the fabric falls apart pretty soon anyway, so they still need replacing.