Aibu to ask whether this is a normal first period?

[Guiltridden12345]

My 13 year old started her first period 5 days ago. it’s day 5 and she’s still bleeding ‘the same amount’ as day 2 ( day 1 was lighter). She’s using pads, teen ones and a good night one too, and changing 3/4 times a day. She’s not leaking but she’s fed up it doesn’t seem to be lessening.
She has had bad cramps all 5 days too, meaning ibuprofen and paracetamol max doses since day 1. She hasn’t historically taken painkillers much so this is unusual.

i cannot remember my early periods at all. I used tampons straight away so don’t really remember volume but was light flow. Don’t remember pain til later teens but only needed to double up drugs when I reached my late 20s.

Not expecting you to remember your first periods but wondering about your daughters’ experiences. Is this normal for a first period? Do they settle down/get lighter and less painful over time? Just seems quite intense for a first period.

It's completely different for everyone, not my dd but my niece started hers about 4 years ago the first year was the worst for her very heavy (suffered with low iron) and no pattern to it some would last 7 days some 4 she was also irregular sometimes it was 3 weeks between periods then 5 but it did eventually calm down.

That’s good to hear thanks @Bouncyball23 . Feel the body should ease them in more gently!

DD is not great with blood/pain etc so her first period was reportedly the worst thing ever. I think that the volume on a pad can look a lot even though it isn't always, changing a few times a day is normal and the sensations of a period are quite unlike anything else so may be more unfamiliar and unwelcome than very painful. It may take a while for her periods to sort themselves out and may be different each time for a while.

My dd's first one lasted over 2 weeks! I was about to make her a doctor's appointment but it stopped, she has had very irregular ones since then and it's only settled in to more of a pattern this past 3 months (started about a year ago) the first year can be a bit of a rollercoaster for some

Your poor daughter! Two weeks is just not fair.

Yes you’re right, it’s all new, and it is the weirdest feeling. My daughter was definitely in pain though, she looked grey til painkillers kicked in. Being a woman is shit sometimes!

I started at 8 as did DD. My first one was heavy for seven days. Thereafter they were completely unpredictable until I had a baby in my late teens. After that they were, & still are, 28 days to the hour so a bizarre first decade.

DD’s first lasted around 7 days also but tapering off. She has been like clockwork ever since(late teens).

should add that mine were also very painful for the first few years as were most of my friends from what I recall.

My DD had the same problem with her first period, ended up at 12 days after taking tranexamic acid. The next few were quite heavy and long again so she was taking tranexamic acid for the first 6 months. Then literally overnight her periods became average.

It takes time for them to settle down.

What’s tranexamic acid?

I don't remember my first period but I do remember that I had excruciatingly painful period pains and terrible PMS for the first four or five years (from 10-15 in my case).

Mine were horrific for the first few years. Really heavy and cramps so bad I vomited. Went on the pill in later teen years and this made it so much better. I’ve been on the pill ever since so can’t say if they changed as I got older unfortunately. Everyone is different though, would be nice if nature could ease us into them. I hadn’t had much education around periods and for some reason in my head I thought you only bled for a couple of hours a day so got really scared when it didn’t stop!

My DD got her first period in may when she was 13. It lasted a week, she hasn't had one since! Assume this is also normal??

I actually remember my first period very well. I wasn’t a heavy bleeder in my teens but my periods lasted around 14 days but only came every 4-5 months with awful cramps (endometriosis) so to still be bleeding the same at day 5 as day 2 would be have been plenty normal for me, they started to taper off at 10-11 days.

I remember mine were really heavy and lasted up to a week sometimes. I started at 10 as well so wasn't fun.
Now days they are just a few days and get lighter towards the end.
I do think it can be common for young girls to have heavier longer lasting periods than adults.
But if she starts soaking through her clothes regularly it could be a medical issue and you should seek medical advice.

Your poor daughter, that's pretty rough. You'll just have to wait and see how she does but in the meantime best diet possible and exercise will regulate her hormones.
I'd stay any from any pharmaceutical interventions just yet.

I can't remember how heavy my flow was but my first period was excruciating. I had never experienced that kind of pain before and for about 2 or 3 days before the blood started, I remember rolling around in my parents' bed and asking to stay home from school.

I posted similar a year ago. My daughter’s first period was extremely heavy and painful and lasted 8 days (while we were visiting PIL in the UK which made it harder to deal with). Hers have calmed down and are completely normal. No interventions required.

My early periods were horrific. I used to get diarrhoea and vomiting most months. I once vomited 12 times in 2 hours due to the pain and couldn’t keep water or painkillers down. They used to last 8 days, I remember because I had to miss school swimming two weeks in a row and a teacher told me I couldn’t possibly still have my period and my mum was called. I was so worried there was something wrong with me I begged her to take me to the doctor (I was lucky though as one of my schoolmates was given a tampon and told to get on with it, we were all 11/12 and had only used pads). I was prescribed mefenamic acid and a high dose ibuprofen and then eventually contraceptives. I took 4 pills at one point. I missed a couple of exams. They are still painful if not using contraception (I dreaded TTC) but the last time I vomited I was in my twenties.

All i remember about my first period was discovering i'd started it at 13 when i went to the toilet, and it was just some reddish brown in discharge. I went downstairs and told my older sister (only one in at the time) i thought i'd started my first period, she asked if i'd put any sanitary wear on and i said no, so she told me to go put on a pad, which i hadn't done already purely out of shock i think. Don't remember anything after that about length, heaviness etc, don't remember telling my mum. Infact, other than a few vague memories of leaking on my coat at school, and a stain i made on my futon sofabed, i don't remember anything about my periods at all till my late teens when i got diagnosed with PCOS, went on the pill, and was in hospital a week later with a suspected blood clot on the chest.

My DDs started 3 yrs ago just as she turned 12. For the first 6-8 months or so they were lasting up to 9 days and heavy enough that she was pale and iron stores were low. She had them every month from the start witha a couple being less than 4 weeks aparr. She needed occasional painkillers, still does but less and periods now less heavy, very regular and lasting 5 to 6 days.

My first period was terrible - heavy, painful and massive clots. Heavy bleeding for 2 weeks and lighter for a further 2 weeks. Lasted 28 days in total

@Guiltridden12345 after 7 days I took my DD to GP as I was worried that her period wasn’t ending and she was prescribed tranexamic acid. It’s a usual medicine to prescribe for a very heavy periods.
https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/tranexamic-acid/
My DD was taking it every period for 6 months until things looked normal.

My first was the longest I ever had. It was more than a week.

My first was 3 weeks and counting before mum finally took me to the GP for medication to stop it!

Relatively normal after that.