Supporting 11 year old with periods

[Rri76]

Hi all, this is my first post, I hope there are maybe some other mums that can help with this.

My daughter has SEN and an EHCP but attends a mainstream school. She’s moving to a mainstream secondary school in September. Her needs are mainly physical due to a brain injury at birth, so she can’t fully change her clothes without help, and needs help on stairs etc.

She is quite physically developed in terms of puberty and last summer started her periods. She has coped quite well so far and we have been using period pants which are a life saver. However, on her last couple of periods the bleeding has been really heavy the first couple of days and the pants have leaked, most recently at school. She isn’t able to change them herself and therefore we have been relying on one pair lasting the day.

How do other mums manage this issue, I have ordered some of the super-heavy pants for her for next month and am aware that contacting the GP is another option, but as she hasn’t mentioned any pain I was hoping to find another way to try to manage first?

It is worth trying different brands and styles of period pants. They fit differently and some brands/styles work better than others for individuals.

If DD needs support with toileting/changing at school, that can be provided.

Has DD had an OT assessment?

Some find Tranexamic acid helpful. And some take the pill back to back.

Thanks for your reply. I have made a GP phone call appointment for next week.

She has had an OT assessment but currently doesn’t need help with changing at school as they go in wearing the uniform for that day whether it be PE or not - they carried it on after Covid. We are aware she will need help with changing at secondary, but having someone help with changing period pants is something I want to avoid if possible.

Do you know if tranexamic acid requires blood tests to be prescribed? DD would find that very difficult, she had a lot of hospital admissions when she was younger, so finds blood tests frightening,

Is DD receiving ongoing OT support?

DD2 had bloods to check for anaemia (and maybe other things, I can’t remember) before starting tranexamic acid.

If the GP wants bloods, you could request paeds take them and ask about a play specialist. As well as think it about whether numbing cream/gel or spray would work better and if the hospital has a buzzy &/or virtual reality headset to help.

She doesn’t have ongoing support no. She was discharged with a plan of help with practising getting dressed but progress is slow!

She will probably cope with having blood tests if necessary, I guess I was optimistically hoping this could be avoided.

Do you mind my asking if tranexamic acid helped your daughter? DD really suffers on the first day or two, then it’s manageable, but those first two days I feel the bleeding is just too heavy and can’t see her coping with it going forwards if it doesn’t improve.

Tranexamic acid has helped DD2.

It sounds like DD needs ongoing direct OT provision. This can be included in her EHCP.

Thanks for your help, appreciated.