This has been done LOADS in relation to period poverty and women's health generally.
Very annoying that people like op still exist that don't even consider that not everyone has periods the same as they do!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3291537-To-say-a-period-does-not-cost-25
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mumsnet_classics/3269641-Period-symptoms-no-one-talks-about
Some (a significant minority) of us have conditions like endometriosis which cause VERY heavy, long, painful periods. There's BOUND to be posters who will then come on and say:
"Well that's not normal you should go to dr and get it sorted"
WE DO. And then we get IGNORED. (And not just in relation to gynae issues)
"I hope to god your menstrual health stays hunky dory and you never have to go to the GP for it. They don't care. They misdiagnose you for years as having psychological pain or IBS. Then they start guessing at other things, which are wrong. Did you know the only way to actually diagnose endometriosis is via surgery? Not that easy to get!" Yep!
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3402449-Aibu-to-ask-you-to-tell-me-your-experiences-of-being-dismissed-by-medics-as-a-sick-woman-I-promise-to-listen
It was 14 YEARS before I was DX and that happened basically "by accident" and no thanks to any of the many Gp's i'd reported TEXTBOOK symptoms to. (And that was the average time it took to get a DX then, it's currently around 7.5 YEARS)
I've said this before on the subject.
At my worst I was having periods that lasted up to 2 weeks, very heavy every day (by which I mean NEEDING to change max tampon AND Max pad hourly), cheaper pads and tampons were a false economy as they weren't absorbent enough or caused other issues.
Even AFTER several surgeries and medical treatments I was still needing a significant amount of sanitary products.
And it's not just sanitary products
"A pack of paracetamol is like 20p?"
Paracetamol is nowhere near enough for many of us. Instead or as well we need stronger up to and including specialist prescribed pain killers, which if you're in England/Wales and not eligible for free prescriptions can be a significant additional cost. At one point I was on prescribed medication to reduce bleeding + 2 painkillers + medication to treat other symptoms (eg I have endo on my bowel and spine so I had medication to deal with severe diarrhoea/bowel spasms caused by the endo and nerve pain exacerbated by the endo, migraine,
Mooncups AREN'T suitable or desirable for everyone before THOSE people start.
I posted this on the thread linked (and I can see now I even forgot some items) this was prices at the time of posting in my town - prices vary around the country too which many posters seem not to realise:
If I were experiencing what I did in the past I'd be getting through
3 packs of pads - £2.85 X 3 = £8.55
If I had to pay prescription costs -
£8.80 X 3 (pain + flow control + migraine) = £26.40
Stain remover - £4 would last 2 months so £2
Replacing underwear that can't be rescued - £3.50
Bedding needing replaced approx 6 monthly £20 a set = £3.33
TOTAL - £43.78 and that's NOT inc loss of earnings which was easily at least 2 days per month.
"but that’s the top end of spend totals, not the average." See above - it's REALLY not!!
"I have extremely heavy periods and I’ve never spent close to £18/£25." As was apparent on the period poverty thread I've linked, because we rarely discuss the details many are unaware that there are those who have heavier periods than them so in fact they're not having the heaviest periods. There's a huge variation.
"Periods aren’t a one size fits all thing." Precisely.
"I have very heavy periods. Go through pads every hour or two (been investigated nothing wrong)"
"And yes, I have been checked out by doctors, who say there is nothing wrong"
exactly what investigations/checks? Eg endo doesn't show on an ultrasound, there are "non gynae" conditions that can cause periods to be very heavy/painful that are woefully under investigated/DX/treated.
"I have menorrhagia. It is expensive. Doubling up and highest absorbency products (not available in ‘value’ ranges) changed at least twice as frequently than recommended. Not cheap." Menorrhagia is not a DX it's a description of symptoms only.
"But I appreciate I'm in the monitory."
"but surely my experience is closer to average?"
Its not a tiny minority though that have problem periods, just under 50% of women suffer with some kind of gynae condition, if you then add in "non gynae" conditions that ALSO mean worse periods and I strongly suspect not a minority at all!
"They are arguing for children missing school though, who'd get free prescriptions." Because Sanpro ISN'T free, many girls (too many) are very aware of their family being very tight for money and so don't tell that they need Sanpro, to try and save their family money and instead stay home. Sadly some girls families genuinely don't have the money as they barely have enough for food! The utter farce of UC, frozen benefits, sanctions etc is making things extremely difficult for many families. For rural families there's also the additional cost of either travel to the larger, cheaper shops OR paying a premium price and having less choice at small corner shops.
"If you need a prescription more than once a month, it's cheaper to get an annual subscription"
Not everyone has £104 easily to hand, many who aren't eligible for, or don't yet have the proof they're eligible for free prescriptions aren't necessarily able to lay their hands on this kind of money. It's expensive to be poor.
"The cost of sanitary products is the tip of the iceberg." Exactly! But also isn't as cheap as those claiming its "unnecessary" to spend more on these when THEY have NO experience of gynae/period issues.
The narrow mindedness that is so prevalent on these threads from women LUCKY enough NOT to have heavy, long, painful periods is shocking!
"Paracetamol is pointless for period pain btw OP... You need nsaids to stop the prostoglandins that are causing the pain and inflammation. Thats why feminax is Ibuprofen Lyseine." Lots of people inc myself are allergic to NSAIDs
"Clothes don’t need replacing because you’ve bled on them though - just soak in cold salt water for 24 hours. And buy black!" Wow! Lovely attitude! So people like me with medical conditions causing such problems should only ever wear black pants/tights/skirts/trousers/nightwear and only use black sheets and towels and have a black sofa? Don't be so ridiculous!! As for stain removal cold salt water doesn't always work, stain removers and the proteins in the blood itself eventually break fabrics down so the clothing wears through, bloody disintegrates in some cases! Way before they would for women who weren't leaking blood onto them.
"Reading this makes me sad to see how much some women suffer with periods
. A pack of pads lasts me a couple of months, I rarely have to take any pain relief and every month I get annoyed when my period starts because I hate having to wear pads for a few days. I will count myself lucky from now on." Genuinely lovely to read a thoughtful, empathetic post from someone who doesn't have problem periods, I wish the others who don't have difficult periods would at least try to get it.
"I offered to make some reusables for our local food bank and this offer was rejected. I offered to buy some and donate and this offer was also rejected. Pity, really" I'm surprised at you Bellini. Had you considered it may well be because foodbanks users have extremely limited access/money to launder them?
Whatnow40 that post is utterly heartbreaking!
"Does anyone else cringe at the posts saying they spend extra on chocolate?" Yep and wine - especially when you consider posts like the one I refer to in above para where young girls are being given socks to use! They're flippant, ignorant and dismissive imo. I agree such items shouldn't have been included in the survey either, there are other costs that could have been and even just not including them but accounting for those who have heavy and/or lengthy periods would have been more to the point.
"I didn’t realise taking painkillers was so commonplace, either :/ mine are uncomfortable but not what I’d call painkiller-level painful. Being female can be a bit shit sometimes" you're lucky, like some pps I've had pain so bad I've vomited, passed out! I didn't even realise I was in Labour with dd because the contractions simply didn't register anywhere close to as painful as my periods.
"Of course I know there are many reasons why people can't/won't take the pill, but surely some of you can to ease your terrible periods?? DD had very heavy, very painful periods, went on the pill, problem sorted." It is not a cure all. For some conditions/women it can make things WORSE. Wrt your daughter PLEASE don't leave it at that I was 14 when I was first put on the pill by a GP, it did improve things temporarily but what SHOULD have happened is the gp should have referred me to a gynae. Heavy, painful periods are NOT normal or healthy. If the pill helps in all likelihood all it's doing is masking/dampening symptoms. The cause may even be worsening even if symptoms seem improved.
I was your dd. The endo that was the cause wasn't discovered until the SECOND mc I had, I wouldn't wish what I went through on my worst enemy and certainly I would hope you wouldn't wish it on your daughter. PLEASE advocate for her, push to get her properly DX and treated and hopefully avoid the pain and heartache of what can happen if she isn't - which can include infertility.
"Thank goodness there are posters available to tell us how we’re doing our periods wrong." Yep cos of course I CHOSE to have over 30 years of pain, excessive bleeding, migraine, lose 3 babies, suffer an ovarian torsion, a&e admittances and several surgeries - but yea I did all that for fun 🤔
"Surely this thread has brought out some extreme cases" not particularly.
"I’ve never understood this either. I bought a mooncup for £20 and replaced it after 10 years. So it’s possible to spend barely anything at all." If you are able to use a mooncup "A mooncup deals with very heavy periods" AND don't actually HAVE heavy periods land actually reduces them" bollocks!! Even the mooncup site itself doesn't claim this utter nonsense!
"Even taking the mini pill to reduce periods they are still heavy and last 8 days" MANY posters CLEARLY described heavier & longer periods than this. "Even using more traditional products I can’t imagine spending £25 a month. If your periods are that bad there are specialist products available through the hospital or GP which will be better than shop bought and not as expensive." Which specialist products are you specifically talking about? I've NEVER been offered Sanpro via GP or gynae services.
"Through personal experience, give a shit or not GPS do have catalogues of products they can provide and you phone up and order yourself, doesn’t cost them anything" what?! Do the manufacturers provide them for free? "so easier to get than a referral." Which is pretty shitty because a referral and CORRECT DX and treatment would prevent a HUGE amount of suffering. Not only monthly, but in terms of infertility, mc and worse.
@redsuitcase
"Getting hysterical over this seems to make people take women's issues even less seriously and the efforts should be, quite frankly, directed at bigger issues." It SHOULDN'T cease to amaze me how misogynistic some WOMEN can be but it still does completely shock me! Tell me PLEASE what bigger issues there are that are more important than girls and women being stuffed educationally and in their careers because they are not getting SERIOUS even LIFE THREATENING gynae issues DX and treated? And PLEASE don't use the word hysterical ESPECIALLY on a thread like this it's incredibly inappropriate and Fucking offensive!
"Percentage of women whose periods cost them in excess of £10 a month is tiny.
And then the percentage of women who then have that >£10 push them over the breadline is tinier still." PLEASE DO provide actual evidence of this!