Mummyoflittledragon They are. I was looking it all up in relation to another thread recently. Iirc men twice as likely to get referral to urology as women to gynae.
UnderBlue thanks "Doctors have said everything is normal." What tests, investigations have you had done? That is NOT acceptable. There is a women's health board now in the health section. I honestly don't know what to suggest other than keep pushing for a referral to a gynae. What kind of consultant?
pollypelargonium52 YES it IS necessary for some - as I and MANY others on this thread alone have said, cheaper products are often a false economy for those with heavy/clotting periods - they're not as absorbent so you end up using more. We've ALSO pointed out NUMEROUS times it IS NOT just the cost of sanitary protection.
@LoveInTokyo even IF it's 'just one woman' if that woman has endo/pcos/fibroids/hypothyroidism causing heavy long periods then YES they are needing to spend more than sodding 'thrupence' - as an average I believe £25 could be accurate as at today's prices pre-diagnosis I was spending almost £50 and there are posts I've seen where posters were using more than me at that point too, so possibly £60/70. Your post at 1735 is PARTICULARLY offensive as many of us have taken the time to write posts EXPLAINING how and why it's NOT just pads/tampons but also MEDICATION and not 'just' for cramps - but for migraine, bowel disruption, anaemia and for which otc meds do NOTHING!
"And those that are probably have a medical condition which is making their periods very out of the ordinary." YES - BUT that isn't a SMALL but actually a SIGNIFICANT minority of us, and that this is also happening BECAUSE we're not being taken seriously by Drs, so that it takes YEARS to even get a diagnosis let alone find treatments that work! Seriously - READ THE THREAD PROPERLY.
"Probably because I have not read 19 pages of commentary about sanpro" then why comment and advertise your ignorance? MANY posts by myself and others that for MANY women it IS far more than £2 a month!!
Debating respectfully requires acknowledging your experience is not the only possible experience, and NOT DISMISSING by not even BOTHERING to LEARN/READ what others experience has been.
@queenofthenights @yb23487643 @Sarahrellyboo1987 @formerbabe @theunsure @Yura @thenavigator @mousefunky think you need to READ THE THREAD better, we're not 'snowflakes' we're women suffering when we shouldn't be, sometimes for many years even decades being fobbed off by Drs and dismissed by politicians - and other women! I've collapsed with the pain or blood loss at times and been admitted to a&e. Some women are so unsupported it's making them suicidal. Please have some compassion. And learn more especially if you have daughters PLEASE - my mum had quite light periods and didn't mention anything to me about heavy flow or extreme pain, I still feel she doesn't really 'get it'
@hackmum "unless you've got a serious medical problem." - which many do which often goes undiagnosed and untreated for YEARS!
@bruffin what you are describing is NOT 'the heaviest of periods' and 4 days? Several pps have explained if they have heavy periods they likely last at least a week - heavy every day, and some people up to 2 weeks per period, plus some more women longer than that or the frequency of their periods are such that they're averaging more than 2 weeks pcm.
chanklybore and how are homeless women supposed to manage mooncups and reusable products? When they haven't even faculties or money to do laundry? Also has it been some time since you were on benefits? Because these things are a big initial outlay cost, that's not something people operating week to week to the penny can manage. They can't save.
"there’d have to be a lot of people spending £60-80 a month just to even up my £1 skew, if the £38.46 was accurate." There are! There'd be less if they could get referrals to gynae's and get diagnosis and treatment to reduce flow/length.
"we shouldn't have to live like this!" Agreed - but GP's aren't listening, the govt aren't listening. As I said 14 years, even when I went in as a patient who was a trained nurse I was dismissed as it was put down to me 'suddenly' being aware of the condition through my training. And I'm guessing they thought I was inventing symptoms to fit the diagnosis. Almost all the GP's that dismissed me were men.
"Was it necessary to tell everyone she was on her period" why not? It's what she was talking about. The poor menz won't go up in flames for knowing!
In terms of the pain - I've had a twisted ovary, impacted wisdom tooth, experienced labour, even the pain I get in my spine due to injury from a car accident is LESS painful than my periods even now! I was once chatting with a colleague at work when my period hit, severe instant stabbing pain that made me pass out, she's chatting away and turns to see why I didn't respond and I'm gone! Like SharpLily it wasn't until I was on a monitor and being told that I was even aware I was in full labour - because it was NOTHING in comparison to my usual period pain.
Tammyswansontwo what is happening with how women who have the coil fitted and it then causes problems AND THEY ARE BEING REFUSED REMOVAL is a fucking disgrace! I am SO sorry you went through all that.
Don't even get me started on Essure!
"I honestly despair of some women." Me too!
Also did anyone else notice:
"I went back to see my consultant. He said it was impossible that the coil was causing it but had no interest in finding out why it was happening (because he blatantly knew it was the coil - look at the materials talking about “ensuring compliance” in the early months). He said I had to give it three months" we need more women working in this field. Also, you were in EXTREME pain yet the trials on the male pill were halted - because they couldn't hack the side effects - which were - injection site pain, lower libido, mood swings, acne, muscle aches. Yes cos that's FAR too unacceptable for MEN to have to deal with!
BarbaraofSeville entitlement???? Are you kidding me? No - NECESSITY to function in life - including working and raising children! Cheaper products = less absorbent = end up using more anyway, unless you think women should be permanently dressed in dark colours then those of us with heavy unpredictable periods ARE going to need to replace clothing, EXTREME pain requires stronger medication - that's only available on prescription people keep mentioning prepayment Certs - AGAIN high initial outlay that POOR WOMEN won't be able to cover. (In actuality poor women SHOULD get free prescriptions - but this is yet ANOTHER major issue with UC - until claims are confirmed, and even then women are having difficulty proving to pharmacies that they're eligible for free prescriptions - it's a mess!) again with the mooncups/reusable pads - not affordable or practical for many poor women, and mooncups DO NOT WORK FOR EVERYONE.
Clearly another who hasn't read the thread properly.
"and frankly all the “why don’t you try” or even privilege suggestions are fucking insulting" damn straight they are!!
"exacerbating the poverty experienced by women in comparison to men." Exactly!
"And when you take into account that the recent benefit cuts have disproportionately made women worse off it's a pretty depressing story" women have always been worse off, but yes recent changes have made things much worse!
"My doctor knows. My doctor dgaf" this is the biggest issue as far as I'm concerned
"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 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" do you have a diagnosis? What investigations/tests have you had done?
- diagnosis and TREATMENT would save a lot of suffering - and money! If the govt wants to save money on the cost of periods, not just for women but the whole country, I strongly suspect a FORTUNE could be saved by getting GP's to STOP FOBBING WOMEN OFF! Refer to gynae's for diagnosis and treatment. But I'm guessing they won't because it's a high cost short term and would bump up their spending within a parliamentary session.
32 years and counting here of painful, heavy unpredictable periods here. First 14 years at today's prices = over £8k!
"No they're not VAT free. Which is an absolute scandal" agreed.
Period poverty IS a major part of child poverty, girls are missing school because their families can't afford even the cheapest sanitary protection. This has long term effects on their success academically, which then of course means they're less likely to get the better paid jobs/get into higher education. It's why food banks request & are donated sanitary protection, why the red box campaign was started.
redboxproject.org/about/
changedname100 so sorry you've experienced that. I've generally found women bosses more sympathetic and understanding, but everyone's experience is different.
"Ever get the feeling that we still have to battle against tiresome women who find the difficulties other women suffer amusing." It's infuriating! If other women don't listen what the hell chance have we of getting men to?!
"Actually in some cases you can't even work through the pain. Not when you can't stand up because yor legs are jelly, you're throwing up with the pain, shivering violently to the core, and just... mentally in a totally different zone, where all there is is pain. Sort of delirious. And that's with diclofenac and tramadol..." Yep - this was me pre-diagnosis.
Coffeeisnotenough I am sorry you have been through all that and hope you are now being properly supported. But as you know I was responding to you saying you wouldn't have CHOSEN to wear new pants on a period day - so you should know not all women, quite a few in fact don't KNOW when they're going to bleed. So new pants do get wrecked.
LyingWitchInTheWardrobe excellent post.
drearydeardre "maybe young girls - although I doubt many have the heavy flow outlined in your anecdotes" why? Mine were heavy and painful from the age of 14, my sister started hers aged 9 - also always heavy.
"I think that's bullshit. If people actually spoke about periods I bet it would surprise you how many women have an awful time and spend a lot." Me too! I think problem periods are FAR more common than is recognised. I have a group of 15 friends that I am close enough to, to discuss this type of thing - only 3 have never had any issues with periods. The rest of us are a mix of endo, hypothyroidism, pcos, fibroids. All of us that did have difficulties have similar experiences in difficulty getting diagnosed. For 2 of them this resulted in hysterectomies 1 of those had 1 child before that, the other has had to face unwanted childlessness as has another who has pcos.
bananafish81 I'm so sorry for all you have gone/are going through. Thank you for your understanding and compassion for those of us with opposite periods to yours.
"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 doubt it. Certainly for myself based on at my worst the tampon and pad were completely soaked in blood. If I didn't change as frequently as I did I leaked. I've even had tampons fall out because they're so weighed down - certainly it took little more than a tweak on the string and they slid right out.
Currently - can no longer use tampons due to pain. Use always purple (long and highly absorbent with wings) which NEED changing approx 3 hourly, periods now last 8-10 days. The lightest I was long term-Ish - when I was on a (now discontinued) brand of pill continuously - then I was needing same absorbency pads, changed with same frequency but 'only' for up to 7 days. I still bled regularly while pregnant (which was worrying) and bf too. But 'only' for up to 5 days. So Roversandrhodes NO it's not as simple as 'just go on the pill'
"My issue is that if you’re not willing to give a reusable and affordable option a go then you damn well shouldn’t be moaning about the cost of sanitary towel." Jesus! Can you not even get that women in poverty CANNOT AFFORD the HIGH INITIAL OUTLAY - and that they are also likely to be struggling to access facilities to clean/deal with these reusable 'miracles' ?? Just try and look a TINY bit outside your own world. You're also being arrogantly dismissive of those with pain, scarring, abnormally shaped bodies!
"Learn to comprehend written writing." Fuck me! I can't believe you wrote that when you can't even be bothered reading what people are taking the time to write!
"Women in poverty can't afford to pay for the laundry or the water, so pull your head out of your bum and give it a wobble." Hear hear
"This is much bigger than how much we spend on sanitary products" ABSOLUTELY! I too was relieved to have it confirmed it was 'only' endo. That it wasn't as extensive as I feared so I had a chance at becoming a mother.