To let DD have a day off with period pain

[PeachRose]

As the title says AIBU? She is 13 and never has a day off school, she has always had 100% attendance. She started her periods last year and only had maybe 4 or 5 so last night was pretty bad, she had period pain, feeling sick and just looked completely washed out. I've given her nurofen and her grandma (MIL) has stayed with her today. Would you do the same?

I am convinced I found labour so easy because of years of absolutely hellish period pain that no medication dealt adequately with

Ditto.

Labour was a few hours long, drug free, with a reward at the end. Periods were agonising days long endurance tests without a single good thing about them. It turned out I had endometriosis, something that only came to light after I unfortunately suffered my first ectopic pregnancy in my late twenties. I remember almost collapsing in the street after getting off the school bus at age 17 and my bitch of a sister refused to even carry my bag for me.

If bad periods become a regular thing, I always recommend a girl/woman goes to a doctor and refuses to be fobbed off until a full investigation has been carried out.

This is news to me!
Obviously I've heard of period pains but I've not had any before so I'm surprised that women need days off work!
I would be taking her to the doctor. Periods shouldn't be that painful!

Maliea, believe it, you and your friends/colleagues are very lucky! Feminax, which has been mentioned above, didn't take the pain away for me, it just made me sleepy and sometimes nauseous. Other medications did the same, the only things that worked didn't alleviate the pain, they knocked me out, thus making me incapable of going to school, university, or work. I've fainted from period pain on a rush-hour train going into Waterloo and still I went in to work. Menopause was the best medicine for period pain, I found!

You did the right thing OP.
I used to get terrible period pain as a teen that used to have me literally screaming. I couldn't explain what it was like...until I had my first child and went into Labour. Then I could describe it. Strangely after the birth it stopped.
My daughter experienced the same during her periods, I used to allow her to stay off school. It didn't harm her education at all.
Hope it all settles for her. Having her grandma with her is beneficial, even if for nothing more than reassurance.

I have such a clear memory of being 14 or 15 and staying at home with period pains, and going to get a hot water bottle but the pain was so bad that I ended up collapsing on the stairs, not able to move or call out. Luckily my mum was at home so she found me there after a while. But it was horrible and terrifying, and far worse than labour, and nobody really took it all that seriously.

I think it is so sad a teen feels ill and we are questioning the odd day off school.

Periods can be awfu.

Mine were bad enough that I got sent home from school on a few occasions... on one occasion I was the teacher! Teachers don't get sent home lightly!

I would rather repeat DS2's 10 hour back to back labour than certain periods I can recall! My cramps were in the 5cm dilated league at times and used to radiate down my legs.

As a pp said, if that level of symptoms were caused by anything other than a period, there wouldn't be any doubt about having time off (and I know the stoically trying to function as best as you can feeling hoping the prescription painkillers might do something helpful in half an hour)

Yanbu. I had bad period pains when I was younger. The one time an older male teacher asked if I was OK as I looked so pale. Obviously didn't know what was wrong. I just said I was ok. Went to the school Birse after the lesson and got paracetamol (back when they could). She told me to go for a gentle walk and go back if needed. I did exacylu that, and went to sleep for an hour (totally unlike me).

No one else can say what pain she is in as everyone's body is different. If she is in that much pain she won't be able to concentrate anyway.