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.

Funny how that works. Mine were very irregular -anything between 5 weeks and 7 months- until I had a baby at age 41! Now they are every month, give or take a day or two. I wonder why having a baby finally changed my cycle.

Oh bless you. Thank god we’re more open these days, they talk really openly about it which is brilliant.

yes she was in so much pain she felt sick and couldnt eat (v unusual!) which would be fine except you can’t take ibuprofen on empty stomach and paracetamol alone wasn’t touching it so it’s a vicious circle.

Oh gosh @GlitteryUnicornSparkles , so sorry to hear this. I think endometriosis is one of the re worst things to have, hope treatments have improved over the years? So hard to diagnose and so hard to treat - I think knowing about this condition has meant I am not minimising my daughter’s experience. All this ‘everyone has them, crack on’ is so awful if you literally can’t move.

Thanks for all comments, I’m reading and absorbing them all. Probably not best word there 😊

I still remember my first period. It was when I was around 12/13 years old and I was going on holiday the week after it started. It ended up lasting about 10 days and was very heavy.

Mine used to last 11days and be heavy for most of it. I was also in extreme pain and took years before the Dr took it seriously and got me on the pill. Painkillers didn’t work as I threw up from pain and brought them back up. It ruined my early teenage years and i struggled in my exams as it started on exam day.the pill was amazing for me, minimal pain, could time my period or just not have it if done thing was happening.

Everyone is different but I remember my first period, started on Boxing Day 1969 when I was 13 1/2, so thankfully it was the school holidays. My mother muttered something along the lines of “How? You’ve got no bust”, and shoved a pack of her sanitary towels in my wardrobe with a carrier bag for my soiled towels. I changed every hour and got told off for wasting them, being so expensive…

Until I went on the pill when I was 16 they were hell. Eight days of flooding, clots and awful pain, wearing two pads and changing every hour. I started using tampons when I was 15 and had a Saturday job so I could buy my own, as my ridiculously Victorian mother disapproved.

My daughters both started at 13, neither had flooding nor any pain that Feminax didn’t sort.

I remember my first one very clearly!
Age 13 and woke up in the morning and the sheets were covered in blood. Started crying and shouting for my mum ( not like me but I think it was the shock !)
I was so traumatized that morning that my mum had to give me the day off school and I stayed in bed ALL day . When she came home from work she told me that this was happening every month so I just had to get on with it .
I was fine after that , just think it was the inital shock of it but I do remember for the first few months I used to destroy the bed clothes I was bleeding so heavily .
Never had any pain until I turned 19- And the issues with pain unfortunately haven’t reduced .

Am waiting now for my own DD to start hers and dreading it as she’s very Squamish 😬

I’d forgotten feminax!! Great call, I’ll grab some.

so sorry to hear about yours and other negative experiences. I’ve been so keen to be kind as it’s such a potentially scary isolating thing if you don’t get the approach right. I’ll bear in mind the pill for the future - thank you.

I remember my first period - it was heavy, painful & made me feel rotten. I cried most days because I couldn’t imagine going through this for the foreseeable future! Luckily after some time they lessened, fell into a pattern, the pain eased & I got used to it! Hopefully hers will get better as time goes on🤞🏻

My DD didn't start until she was 14, her first one was awful and very heavy. I wonder if it's a build up so will be heavy.

Unfortunately for her they didn't get any better and she's now on the pill, they've improved slightly but we're off to doctors again today as she's still suffering.

Have you considered period pants for her. These were a game changer for my DD, bit of an investment to start but so worth it. Modibodi and Hey Girls are the best in her opinion, steer clear of cheaper brands like M&S and Primark etc as they just leak.

My first one was very very light, so much so that I told nobody and literally forgot that the next one would be due the following month. They were really awful after that, until I went on the pill at 20. Pretty heavy, but the worst part was the sweating and being doubled up with pain every 29 days. I was too embarrassed to ask for any help for this.

I find Michelle Rogers reflexology videos on Youtube the best natural relief for periods I've ever tried. She has some videos that focus on first periods too and seems a locely lady maybe give them a watch with your daughter xx

My poor daughter had heavy periods from the off and then had them fortnightly for four months! They finally settled and are very normal now, not even spectacularly heavy.

Definitely a case of everyone is different.

I think almost anything and everything is normal for a first period.

I had pretty painful periods until I hit 30, and then they started to improve.
Mine have never settled into a particularly regular cycle. Anything from 23 to 28 days is normal for me.