Just found this section after posting in teenagers... so am trying here too...
DD is 12 and has had 5 periods now. They're not particularly heavy and not painful but she goes very pale and feels very sick, doesn't eat much. She was appalled when she first started last summer (we and school had prepared her) and is very angry that boys don't have it, that it will be every month etc. She hates the sight of blood so it has been a battle to get her to check her pad, she's asked for dark fabric pads so she can't see it as much (we use reuseables and period pants and it turns out she hates disposables anyway) and she says she hates the feeling of the blood so much that it makes her feel sick. She won't entertain the thought of tampons but maybe one day?
I have A LOT of sympathy, I've had bad endometriosis since I was her age, I would throw up for days and needed to take lots of pain killers for the pain. So I am really worried about her having that, but this seems different? It seems more psychological, she is so anxious that she shakes and feels sick. I tried talking to school about it as she has days off sometimes (her dad is not happy about this!) and it's a battle getting her into school that week. She just goes round and round in circles saying I hate it I hate it, what if this, what if that... and I have to really be stern to stop her and get her to listen to my advice, ie, This is happening and you can cope with it, and it's never as bad as you think.
Once the week is over she is fine and forgets all about it, but this one week (every two months so far) is just crazy for the whole family- she doesn't want to move (because then she feels the blood) doesn't want to go out, refuses to eat etc. I'm trying to be patient as I do suspect she has some ASD tendencies. But I'm not sure how knowing that would help us going forward.
Just hoping someone has some experience really! She is a very bright kid and well behaved, sometimes I'm really surprised that she doesn't get this, but then she refuses to read about it (usually reads everything) or even think about it, she just wants to deny its happening. She says she associates blood with bad things (she's very squeamish obviously) and she just freaks out every times she sees it.
Thank you if you have read this long rant, I'm kind of exhausted and my husband isn't hugely sympathetic. Agh.