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've never totalled mine up!
Tampax 3x£3, sometimes on an offer so works out £8. This gives me a range of super, regular, and the orange ones thats like having a courgette stuck up there. More if I get the pearl compak or if the offers aren't on (£12)
Always is about £1 for 10, I wear both Tampax and Always, changing both about 6 x per day in heavier days, 3 x per day otherwise on average... period of 6 days = about £3 worth. So thats £15 even without thinking about pain relief/travel expenses (Agony to walk)/extra food if needed/change in food.
Oh and obviously i'm mega anaemic the blood bank won't even accept me any more :(

£5 on sanitary products
£3 on painkillers
£50 on chocolate and red wine.

Yup I agree with her!

(If you go through more than 4 pads a day you need medical help for heavy periods.)

4 pads a day is a bit minging though?

If you have one from 11pm to 7 am, that's means you're only changing every five hours. Regardless that is totally inadequate for a heavy period five hours of the same pad is yuk

For heavy periods, it's cheaper to use maternity pads. They are around £1 for a pack of 10, so that's around a couple of £1 a day.
£2 x 4 or 5 days = £8 or £10

If you add painkillers, that would be £8 something for a prescription, but doctors should prescribe enough for at least 3 months.

£25 sounds a lot

How can you work or go about your daily life if you lose that much blood

I work for myself from home. I make sure that I’m no more than an hour from a loo on day 1-3.

Mirena stops periods though

I have fibroids. Mirena isn’t recommended as they’re likely to knock it out.

Allowing 6 hours for sleep

During the night I allowed myself the luxury of only getting up every 2 hours to change san pro

No way does it cost that much. Before I had my hysterectomy and when I was regularly changing both a towel and a tampon every hour for the first few days, I was getting through about a fivers worth of sanpro a month. And my experience isn't typical.

These silly figures do nothing for their "cause" as everyone will dismiss the figures as nonsense and stop listening.

I have heavy periods, but even so, get through only 2 boxes of Lil-let’s a month. No idea what they cost. But that can only be 7 or 8 pounds, I reckon.

I buy Bodyform when they're 2 for £2 and 2 packs will last for 2 or 3 months. I'm probably a bit lighter than average but £25 seems excessive. I do spend a lot more on junk food though due to ridiculous cravings

Your post was bound to get mainly responses about the fortunes people spend.

I agree with you though op...for the majority of women it won't cost anywhere near £25.

I tend to use a mooncup and my periods are becoming infrequent due to age. Last one caught me completely unaware at work. I had to get to the nearest supermarket and buy new underwear, clothing, plus tampons & pads.

My first day I have to empty my mooncup roughly every half hour or risk flooding. Even then it can be a close thing and need a change of underwear despite pads. If I am lucky the second day every hour.

If it wasn't for the mooncup I dread to think how much I would spend changing tampons, pads and pants that often.

I wish I had been told years ago it was abnormal and something could be done rather than putting up with the mess, pain and passing out occasionally.

Too late now as they are on their way out.

I agree that 10 tampons in 24 hours is not a tiny amount, but I don't think it's super high either. The poster who made that comment, about how it's (supposedly) abnormal to use 10 in a day, has obviously NEVER had bad periods, (or they are a fucking man!)

As has been said, who would be a woman eh? Periods really are utterly vile on every level. From the pain and cramps etc, to all the blood clots and flooding, and social events being marred, and losing time off work etc.

Do you think men would put up with this? Would they fuck! There would have been way more research and things invented/created to make things a lot better. I know there's 'the pill' but it doesn't suit every woman.

Jacques that is terrible. Can you get a second opinion? Do you take iron supplements? Another pp said she uses one tampon an hour for 10 days. Again, well over 100 per month. I do think this should be for the NHS to investigate and take seriously though. It does not in any way represent the average woman, even on a heavy period. It's very worrying that doctors are just letting women lose so much blood without taking it seriously though. For some of you, it must be almost a pint per month which will lead to anemia.

So many women so determined to ignore other women's experience

I use cloth san pro now after getting fed up of scented pads Itch itch. And having to change my sheets daily due to leaks at night. Spent about £70 2.5 years ago (including a £20 absolute giant hammerhead shaped pad to use on the first night as that’s always been the worst for me). I have heavy periods lasting about 7-9 days and I’m on a POP. But I still buy painkillers and Imodium thank to always getting the shits whenever I’m on too. Thanks body. Period cramps and shit cramps. Lovely.

I think she got the figure from this Guardian article, which I remember thinking was completely ridiculous at the time: www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/oct/05/period-poverty-women-sanitary-products#comments

"It isn’t hard to see why sanitary products are often out of reach. Research shows pads and tampons cost women around £13 every month. Add another £8 for new underwear, and then almost a fiver for pain relief."

£13 a month for pads and tampons? That would buy you 17 packs of Wilko tampons (272 tampons). Or 68 packs of sanitary towels (680 towels). I appreciate budget tampons/towels might not be right for everyone, but we're talking about the average woman here.

£5 a month for pain relief? That would buy you 16 packs of Wilko paracetamol (400 tablets).

And £8 a month for knickers? Wear black knickers that won't show the stains. Even if your knickers do have visible period stains, you don't have to throw them out. And you can buy new packs of knickers for a lot cheaper than £8.

What's the point in exaggerating and over-inflating the figures so much? It just undermines their argument.

I’m always gobsmacked how unaware women are of how periods are for other women.

You beat me to it! I was coming on here to ask the same question 😂
£25 seemed like an extortionate amount to me but after reading some of the posts it has made me realise that I am lucky I have moderate monthly costs.
A brave lady though. Whilst I'm not a prude, I don't think I could have told a room full of men (and now country) that I was on my period.

1. I had fibroids, this meant I was going through ten to fifteen towels a day, sometimes for up to ten days.
2. I live rurally so there are times Tesco etc aren't available, particularly if you need to put a carrier bag on the car seat just to do the school run.
3. You get through a lot of knickers and wearing black ones is not always the answer. Fortunately I'm past it all now, but it's not always as cheaply and easily dismissed as some folk would like to thing.

I feel very lucky. I spend less than £1 per month. One packet of Tescos own pads which are 69p and a cheap packet or paracetamol. I have very light periods though and feel sorry for those spending £25 a month. It must be awful 😐

So many women so determined to ignore other women's experience

Not at all, but for the majority of women, this is a very very small financial burden- nowhere near what is suggested. I think that for those who do struggle to afford it, there should 100% be free sanitary products and the NHS should also take people with obviously serious health issues more seriously rather than fobbing them off.

But there are many other things I would like to see funded before free tampons for all women.

I was also bamboozled by this. I think needing different products at different times bumps up the cost (I use super tampons, then move onto regular, pads at night, and usually a pant liner with tampons) if you were having to buy the whole lot in a oner, whereas a pack of towels, for nights only, lasts me a few months. Feminax Ultra is my drug of choice for the first 24h, and I often get a migraine on the first or last day which needs Migraleave. Again, those painkillers together would be about £10, but last months. So I can see how I could get to about £25 if I was especially unlucky with everything running out at once. I guess if you are living in true poverty you’re not chucking a box of Tampax in your basket if you don’t need it right then, or stocking up on things if they’re on three for two or whatever.

Jacques that is terrible. Can you get a second opinion?

I’ve had several. Both my most recent (excellent) GPS admit its appalling but I don’t meet criteria for treatment

I think that there should be resources to at least provide free supplies to teenagers who need it. Not only it's not their fault they are poor, but there's nothing they can do about it. It's not that easy for a 15 year old to get a job and they shouldn't have to just to buy a pack of tampax.

There could be supplies at school, and girls could ask with discretion for enough supplies for a couple of day at a time.

Adults can take care of themselves, kids need help.

Pack of 10 sanitary towels is about 30p if you buy own brand Tesco or Wilko. Tampons about 70p. Aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen is about 25p a packet.