14.5 year old daughter's periods - debilitating

[RaisingMissDaisy]

Hello all
Every month I go through the same debate in my head: should I try and put my daughter on medication to help her deal with her periods better? The first two days are always so bad she isn't able to leave the house and today, 3rd day, she is at school but keeps sending me messages (which is not allowed, she is not supposed to use her phone, but that's another matter) saying she has never felt worse and is about to throw up. She has already been to the school office to get a paracetamol. Is it ok to start messing around with her hormones at this age and put her on some kind of contraceptive pill? or is there anything else I can do? I have seen people mention naproxen, is that something we should try? I think she may not yet be quite old enough for it. Or do I just need to take her to a doctor and see what they say?
Thank you for any experiences

Poor girl, take her to the doctor and if there's s school nurse I'd ask her to be sent home today.

Is it pain or heavy bleeding or both?

Was going to ask the same. Naproxen can be prescribed if under 15, or bought OTC if 15 plus. So may be worth getting a GP appointment to ask if they can prescribe Naproxen and see if that helps.

My daughter was minutes away from getting her appendix out when she was diagnosed with primary dismenorrhea ie really bad period pains. That's how bad they were. She was put on pill at 14 and didn't look back. After 2 children she still has bad periods but they are more manageable. Take her to the doctors

My parents left me to suffer and I accepted debilitating heavy periods as ‘the norm’. There are many options including non hormonal ones to help so please book a gp appointment and at least discuss all the options first.

as examples- tranexamic acid, mefenamic acid or even thinking about the pill is fine to start at 14 if needed to regulate periods if that’s what she wants also! There is vast amounts of information available so read through with her and decide together/ trial them and see

My daughter started on the pill at 14 due to severe period symptoms including fainting and vomiting. The GP we saw was very understanding and talked through all the evidence re using the pill. She was very reassuring and both me and DD were happy for her to take it. She's now 19 and still taking it. She wouldn't have been able to function properly without it and had already been missing several days of school every month before we went to the Doctors.

Get her to the doc. I suffered dreadfully and my life was messed up by it all. I remember taking my degree finals in a haze of painkillers and suiting on thick pads, hoping I would get to the end of it before I soaked through everything.

It is misery. If it's hormones she needs, then it's hormones she must have .....

My DD went on the pill younger than that to control her really heavy bleeding.

I went on it at 16 due to pain and heaviness.

What's the concern with the pill really? She will really struggle to keep up missing that much school through her gcses.

Dd has just started on the pill. We tried transenamic acid at first but that didn't help enough. Since going on the pill shes been much better. The gp said for best results to take 3 packs back to back then have a period. So 4 periods a year. So even if the 4 are bad 1. She can control when they start and 2 she was having 14 periods a year and bleeding for 7 days she won't be anemic and won't be bleeding for 100 days a year.

Why on earth would you leave her to suffer month after month? I would take her to the doctor asap and go get her from school now. She must be utterly miserable.

I agree!

Please take her. I had 5 years of this before I realised I couldnt keep missing school and work. The pill was an absolute god send. There are other things they can try too.

At 14 she can go to the doctors without you and decide with her doctor what medication she takes, without involving you.

Honestly I can't believe you haven't booked her appointment before.

Yes you should take her, my periods used to be worser than child birth and I've done that twice, I remember how hard it was for me to get out of bed to the toilet, I would also be sick. My daughter is now at the age she's likely to start her period soon and I wouldn't think twice about taking her to the gp.

Get her seen by a Dr urgently. It's horrible being in agony for multiple days with periods. My mum always told me it was normal, turns out it isn't normal to not be able to move/do anything without suffering for at least the first 2 days. I had one labour with paracetamol and one only with gas and air and both times I said that was on the same level if not easier than my period. Get her some help x

Dd had the contraceptive implant at 14 for this. Not completely solved the issues but a million times better.

I was the same at that age. Thankfully a hospital doctor prescribed the pill for me and it was honestly life changing.No more days off school in debilitating pain, bleeding through.

Please take her to the GP urgently

My periods were awful as a teenager and I worry about this for my daughter when she starts. The heavy bleeding / pain / vomiting. I had to start paracetamol and ibuprofen as soon as I thought I might start and carry on every 4-6 hrs for a few days. And they would last 7 days but got slightly easier past day 2/3.

100% speak to the GP about what the options are. I wish my mum had done this for me and I will be advocating for my child if she’s in the same situation

Thank you all, this is a very clear response. I have not done it so far, as, when I mention it to her, she says she doesn't want to see a doctor/take the pill. But I agree with you all that it's ridiculous to go through this every month
thank you!

Definitely time for a doctor and medication. My DD went on the Pill at 12 or 13 for horrible period pain and heavy bleeding. It’s made such a difference. Periods are now a minor annoyance instead of a painful ordeal. She’s been on it for about three years now. It’s a mini Pill called Slinda. I had bad period pain as a teen and it improved a lot when I started the Pill at 15.

I took DD to a private gynaecologist who is happy to fit a Mirena for her under general anaesthetic if DD wants to do that (I’m not in the UK). I have a Mirena and love it. No periods.

Take her to the doctor right away!

I would have felt embarrassed at that age. But you can’t let it mean you miss school etc so insist she goes

My 14 year old dd is exactly the same, the first two days are awful, she can’t move for the pain and has vomited in the past. Took her to the gp at the end of last year and he had no hesitation about prescribing the pill for her, she has just started taking it so fingers crossed it helps!

Just to warn you that I had symptoms like this throughout my teenage years and it turned out to be undiagnosed endometriosis and adenomyosis. I was fobbed off for years by doctors who told me it was just bad pains.
After 7 years of infertility and eventually having two surgeries, one to identify and remove endometriosis and the second to remove more endometriosis, I had to have IVF with ICSI to conceive.
I don't know if my infertility would have been quite so bad if my endometriosis had been found and treated earlier. But I certainly do know that I wouldn't have lost so many days and weeks to severe pain and heavy bleeding.

How about Nurofen Plus? That’s great for period pain. It’s what my teenager takes when she has a nasty period.