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 am another one who read that and thought theres no way the majority of women spend £25 on one period. I know I dont nor any of my friends. Im not saying nobody does but i still dont believe the vast majority do

It’s a shame that the first reaction to the MP is not to applaud her for breaking the taboo by talking about periods but by nitpicking her figures.

Especially when we all have varied experiences.

Exactly instead of applauding the MP for breaking the taboo, instead of acknowledging that females have essential expenditure on this, instead of thinking every girl and woman should have the dignity of good sanpro, it's just "I only spend £1.17 so it can't be true" over and over and over again......

I don't think anyone is saying the vast majority do, but as is clear from the experiences recounted here, a significant percentage do. How high does this percentage have to be before other women stop dismissing our experiences? 10%? 20%? 30%? I'd like to know how many of us there need to be to become relevant.

And for those all saying no way, periods can't cost more than £2 per month, promise me you won't take this attitude with your daughters. When I was a young teen with heavy periods, I'd have to ask my mother to buy me more sanpro and she used to say no, tell me I couldn't have got through that lot so quickly, and leave me without protection. I don't know what she thought I'd been doing with them other than soaking up blood. We weren't poor, luckily, but she didn't believe me because she had lighter periods. It was utterly terrifying. Please don't do that to your daughters.

Thank you for that SharpLily because my mum was the same. It was like I was being deliberately extravagant. Awful times and I can't bear to think of other females going through it too, as we did.

I know it's probably a small percentage of women who have to spend £25 a month but it does happen. I have to buy prescription of trans acid an Drew I'm on max dose so the box doesn't last long plus I go through a super plus tampon and a night pad every half hour for the first 72 hours (sometimes less if the meds have actually worked) after that it's 4-6 days more of heavy bleeding where il change pad n super plus tampon every 1-2 hours.. sometimes the last day is only 3-4 hours. Plus towels on my bed at night. I'm awake a lot at night to go to the loo! I have pcos and endometriosis - had surgeries in the past etc coil fitted didn't stop or make them lighter. I've struggled with this since I was 10! (Got really bad around 14) and I'm on a 26 ish day cycle. I've begged doctors for a hysterectomy but because I'm "young" (30 ish) they won't do it. Oh n I have to buy prescription for iron tablets too as I'm so anemic because of it.

I envy those with light periods but there are woman who do have heavy heavy periods and do have to spend loads of money on them each month.

There’s the poverty premium - fair enough I can get a box of tampons from Aldi for under a pound but then again I can drive there.
If I didn’t have a car, public transport locally is really expensive. So if I couldn’t get to a large supermarket you’re talking £3 for the equivalent product in the local convenience store.

£25 is probably how much she claims on her expenses each period... 😂

Oh no, i'm not dismissing anyones experiences i totally understand everyones periods are different. I just found it odd for th MP to use such a high figure in her speech, when this, imo, does not reflect the majority. Whereas the point she was making was very valid, why not use a more average figure iyswim. Apologies if this makes no sense!

She said she’d spent £25 so far on her period. Why doubt that? Or make jokes about expenses.

It just continues to highlight the problem as to why she raised it in the first place.

And in the news this morning the NHS is looking to cut 7 risky or ineffective treatments...of which d&c and/or hysterectomy for heavy menstrual bleeding are listed. After reading this thread and having my eyes opened I am shocked and disappointed in decisions made.

@Graphista and others who replied, thanks. I've created seperate thread about my problems here:
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/womens_health/3292641-Have-i-got-endo-Medical-professionals-not-listening

I have sometimes wondered why the manufacturers put sanpro in such stupid size packs. I'd always thought they'd make sense in a pack designed to last for one period. Been amazed (and jealous!) reading this thread that there are women for whom a box of 10 or 14 towels is more than enough to see them through an entire period!

I have sometimes wondered why the manufacturers put sanpro in such stupid size packs.

Tampax used to do boxes of 40, but now only do 20. That confused me when it first happened - I couldn't believe all the supermarkets had sold out.

FFS. If women can't be accepting and understanding of each others menstrual experiences what hope have we got against the patriarchy?!

I was told by an old male doctor when I was 20 (in 2001) that the reason I had not stopped bleeding for 10wks was probably because I was using tampons, which were 'unhealthy'. 17 years later and finally been diagnosed with polycystic ovaries and probable endo. Until I read this thread I assumed I just hadn't been clear or assertive enough but sadly sounds like it's the norm to be fobbed off.

This thread sort-of morphed into something different from the OP, but it's a really important one.

10 to 14 would have been more than adequate until my 40s, when i was perimenopausal and got endometrial cysts, but by then i had bought a mooncup, which i had to empty every couple of hours. Thankfully only really heavy for 2 days.

Loved your post Graphista!

For me it was one male and one female GP who refused to refer me to the gynaecologist or do any tests other than bloods for nearly three years (they wouldn’t even do a smear or swaps despite the fact that I was bleeding after sex/between periods) - apparently they couldn’t as the department was backlogged and they had to follow strict guidelines.

They did refer me to a gastroenterologist because I was so anemic - even though I didn’t have any other tummy problems...expensive mri and appointments later and he confirmed it was all gynocological...still couldn’t get a referral!

At that point I got a private referral and saw the male consultant I would have seen anyway on the nhs 48 hours later (that’s a whole separate issue).

He was probably more understanding than any female professional I’d dealt with and reading this thread I can better see why. It seems if you have easy periods yourself as some uses obviously have, some just can’t get their heads around the appalling situation other women find themselves in.

The fact the MP got up to talk about this and is so involved probably means she really does understand herself...so £25 is very possible for her, it was for me.

Home bargains:
2 x Pads £2
1x tampons £1
1 x ibuprofen £1
1 x paracetamol £1
= £5

Why are people deliberately missing what has been posted here several times? Which is that her breakdown of expenses for periods includes money for fucking chocolate and dvds. This is a total pisstake. Tbh I think claiming new knickers is also a pisstake - it’s perfectly possible to remove all or most of a period stain, however heavy, and then those become your period pants. Stain remover, fine, but that would be a quarterly expense. I think she is belittling her own argument by adding unnecessary crap onto her costings.

When I last saw a consultant for my uncontrollably heavy periods, and asked him why women, specifically those in peri stages of menopause suffer with such awful periods,he said years ago we'd be dead by now, and it was a sign of our bodies failing. Possibly true in some parts, but helpful? No. But a new view on the shut up and put up stance... be grateful you're not dead

I agree the chocolate thing bothers me. It's a huge step backwards to start portraying women as slaves to hormones and chocolate monsters with pmt. I don't crave chocolate on my period. The whole £10 on chocolate included in the budget is frankly embarrassing and does nothing for the cause.

It is becoming blindingly obvious that if you don’t understand another woman’s period then you simply don’t understand - instead of telling other women that they’re wrong, maybe it’s time to start listening?!

Also, all this derogatory talk of dvds, tissues and chocolate as part of the £25 is a bit daft. It just plays into the stereotype of the messy hormonal woman. The real issues that need dealing with are pain, flow so heavy that women are literally unable to leave the house or Work (contributing to female poverty), missed opportunities, fertility issues and the underfunding of women’s health issues compared to men’s

Rachyabbadabbadoo

That’s very interesting! My doctor told me recently that a woman’s body is designed to be pregnant for the majority of their adult lives, and that periods are the unusual state for a woman to be in, and that’s why it takes it’s toll so much, iron-wise and everything else.

Op you are being v unreasonable
Lucky for you you have light periods

I proably getvthrough 3 packs of heavy duty towels that cost probabky ten quid

Then iron pills on prescription and feminax

If periods are so heavy it is necessary to change pads every hour for 10 days then women should be seeing their GP.

If a condition is diagnosed then this should be treated and some help with the cost should be given.

However, as I said before, why is the woman in poverty? Why aren't her benefits/pay covering the cost? What else can she not afford?