GP refused pill

[ellie7347]

Hi, my daughter who is 15 soon has had awful periods since she started them a year ago. Cycles anywhere from 18-35 days, lasting up to 8 days, heavy at times. In the last few months she has started to get bad cramps and gastro symptoms such as nausea and diarrhoea. She has missed because of this.

Went to see GP last month who refused to put her on the pill as it is not natural and she had to wait another two years to see if they were going to settle. So we got Mefenamic Acid. This does help the pain but she is still getting nausea/diarrohea. Plus cycle is so hit and miss.

She wants to go on the pill but would seeing another GP make any difference. She is coming up to her GCSE years and cannot afford to be this affected by her periods. I was thinking about taking her to the contraceptive clinic but no doubt she would have to say she was planning to have sex.

I went on the pill at her age for same reasons and it changed my life.

Just wondering if anyone had any suggestions

Definitely get a second opinion.

Go to another gp. It will change her life and she'll be grateful to you.

I'd go to the family planning clinic. X

Family Planning. Poor love.

I'd also complain to the Practice Manager.

Thank you for the replies. Would we have to fib to a family planning clinic.

I would recommend family planning or referral to gynae. I suffered for 5 years with symptoms like your daughter. Gp wouldn't prescribe pill till I was 18 (which massively helped). Finally diasgnosed with endometriosis at 27. It gets me so cross when I read a stories like your daughters. Girls/women get fobbed off with "it's just period pain/it's normal". I remember telling the gynae that I often vomited when I had my period, but "that's just normal" and he looked at me like I was crazy and said "who told you that?"

I don't think it is a fib. You can say she wants to be protected in the future, but right now she's not sexually active

Another one who was fobbed off for years. Definitely get her the pill, but also ask for gynaecologist referral. It took almost a decade for me to be taken seriously.

Change GP now.

The way your DD has been (not) treated is appalling.

It reminds me of when my friend went to a pharmacybto get the MAP and the pharmacy told her that she should leg the baby have a chance to live and that she would grow to love it.

I think it is disgusting that HCPs sometimes don't give people the treatment that they should because of their personal feelings.

If get a second opinion. I went on the pill at 14 to control my extremely heavy periods.

I didn't fib to family planning when I had my implant changed. Told them my periods are awful make me awful (agony passing out, feeling weak nausea can't eat) told them I wasn't sexually actively at time they were happy to do it. I was also 6 weeks early in changing it but explained hard to get time of work.

Please go family planning they will be much more understanding

Is there any chance of the FP clinic refusing? As dd says she'll just put up with it if she keeps getting refused.

Try a different GP, a more sympathetic one! I wouldn't go to a family planning clinic and fib, in my experience if she tells them she is sexually active they will push for her to get an implant or similar, as that doesn't rely on the user taking it properly to prevent pregnancy, but that wouldn't necessarily be the first choice to get her periods under control. Just go to a different GP and explain everything that you have written here.

I don't think a family planning clinic would refuse, but then I wouldn't have thought the Dr would either!

I was put on the injection to stop cramps joining in with my Crohn's disease symptoms. My doctor didn't have a problem with it as it was a medical need separate to contraception.

'Its not natural'? What a wanker. Most modern medicine is about doing better than what is natural. I bet if your DD was a boy with a chronic debilitating condition easily helped by an inexpensive medicine she wouldn't just be left to suffer. Poor love.

That's dreadful, and not typical in my experience. I took both of mine to the GP for painful periods. With dd1 the GP tried a few other things first (including Mefenamic acid). When it didn't work, she went on the Pill at 15 precisely because it was starting to interfere with her GCSE work. Dd2 was put straight onto the Pill at 15 for the same reason. I very much hope that a different GP would give your dd what she needs.

'Not natural', my arse. It's not natural to take Paracetamol for a headache, or antibiotics when you're dying of sepsis. If we all stuck to what was natural, that GP would be out of a fucking job.

It was actually a lady GP, a locum. She was adamant that the pill wasn't natural and if her problems continued after a year or two, she could come back and they could do blood tests!

Definitely see another gp. I went on the pill at 14 for the same issues your daughter had.

Why would you want to put your daughter on the pill to sort this out? She is very young and will will severely mess with her system. Try reflexology , sounds like her whole system needs balancing rather than messing it up further with synthetic hormones. Reflexology is very good at balancing the endocrine system and good for fertility for that reason too. Look for a qualified experienced practitioner who is a member of the Association of Reflexologists.

It sounds like endometriosis to me OP, I would try and get to the bottom of it, rather than attempt to mask the symptoms with the pill!

See another GP. They will prescribe. It will help.

Why would you want to put your daughter on the pill to sort this out? She is very young and will will severely mess with her system
Are you the female doctor in question?

I'd see a different GP. IME Mefenamic acid does very little to control severe period pain, and the stomach cramps that accompany it more or less outweigh any benefit it ever had.