Clean up tips for work *TMI warning*

[Frequency]

I flood. I can have a super max tampon in for four hours and be fine or I can have one in for five minutes and flood through to my trousers and all down my legs. There is no warning this is about to happen. Wearing a tampon and a pad helps but I still soak the pad and end up feeling sticky and yuck and I sometimes manage to gush over the sides of the pad.

In my previous job this wasn't an issue. I was a carer. When you deal with other people's piss and shit all day talking about the ins and outs of your menstrual flow is nothing. Plus, the toilets there had sinks and space (disabled loos) so me vanishing into one for fifteen minutes armed with baby wipes, spare undies (and sometimes trousers) and an armful of sanpro was fine. No-one uttered a word.

Now, I work on a service desk. 'Comfort breaks' are monitored. Not in a 'you have three minutes and thirty seconds to toilet and get back to your desk' kind of way but people would definitely notice and mind if I vanished to the loos with my bag for fifteen minutes at random intervals throughout the day for four to five days a month. Plus I'm a smoker, so if I wandered off with my handbag in the direction of the loo (and smoking shelter) for fifteen minutes at a time it will definitely raise eyebrows.

Before I 'fess up to my much, much younger male boss and make us both uncomfortable does anyone have any quick tips?

Period knickers?

I second mooncup and sanitary towels for extra protection.

Oh, I assumed a mooncup would overflow and make more mess or get too heavy/full and fall out?

I considered period knickers but figured I'd still end up in a mess, it would just be more contained. They are in my ASOS basket but I'm reluctant to take the plunge. They're £30.

Modibodi pants. Expensive but amazing!

Tranexamic acid?

Have you spoken to your GP?

Sainsburys have just started selling period pants for £12! Could be worth investing in a pair to use alongside your usual protection just for added security

If you’re flooding a super-max tampon then a mooncup won’t be any help.

Incontinence knickers plus a pad plus a super max tampon?

I think I’d just tell the boss tbh - “I have extremely heavy periods so I may need a few more frequent and longer toilet breaks than usual a couple of days each month”. Carrier bag packed ready with spare knickers, trousers and sanpro. Job done.

Arm your boss with a small calendar..tell him your period dates. Tell him managing your periods will take as long as it takes..
Or he can trust that you aren't taking the piss bleeding like a gutted shark every month...

I would email him and let him be embarrassed. Or tell a female manager if you have one and let her tell him that your need is reasonable.
Don't worry, sanitary cups don't fall out when full, they just start to overflow. I can feel when mine is full, I wear a pad with it on heavy days just in case but your flow sounds heavier than mine.

I went on the pill to control mine. There are other options too. You don't have to live like this. It also made me badly aneamic and then I was off sick for 2 weeks

Sounds awful - can’t help, but I sympathise with you.

A mooncup is useless for flooding. The only thing I can suggest from personal experience is super plus tampon and an Always Ultra nighttime towel (the memory foam ones). I can stretch to nearly two hours with that with a normal change in the loo rather than a 15 minute cleanup.
Tranexmic Acid tablets can help to reduce the flow. You can get them over the counter at Boots as Cyclo F. Have you spoken to your GP about this?

I second coffee. Not your problem if your boss is embarrassed - maybe he was promoted too quickly if he is unable to manage a conversation about periods, which male bosses of women should expect to be brought to them on the odd occasion!

Also, in my experience, men are much quicker to brush the issue away (ie yes, no problem frequency, take all the time you need) rather than probe you for details in a bid to end the conversation. So it mightn't be very awkward at all!

I would go to the gp. You don't need to suffer like this. In the meantime I would discreetly talk to the person in charge. Really feel for you trying to work with that level of bleeding.

Have you seen your GP? If not it's definitely worth it as periods that heavy can be a sign of treatable problems.

I would also massively recommend period pants as a back up on top of tampons and/or moon cup. They are brilliant and do help with overspill. I buy mine from Cheeky Wipes and am really happy with them. They are good value too.

Have you seen the gp about this?

I haven't been to the GP. It only started around a year ago and I figured it was just one of those things that women must cope with. I feel fine, if anything they're less painful than they used be before the flooding started.

I will make an appointment ASAP.

Emailing is a good idea. I will try that.

I'm sure you have probably already tried them, but have you tried lil-lets super plus extra or ultra tampons? My periods are also extremely heavy, minus the flooding, fortunately and I would soak through a Tampax super plus in a couple of hours on the first couple of days.
Echo the others though, send him an email and let him squirm. Frankly you just need to do whatever you need to do to get through those few days each month!

Get some non-rustly waterproof knickers. I had Diary Dolls which I think are no longer available, but there must be similar period pants still. They're not like the modern ones that are designed to replace sanitary protection (which would have been totally useless for me), but just stop any leaks seeping through to your clothes or seat. They saved me several times.

I disagree about the mooncup being useless for heavy flow. They hold 30 ml blood which is twice as much as a super tampon. However if you are flooding, no sanpro will handle it completely, so I would suggest tranexamic acid, plus mooncup, plus period pants (some brands can hold flow of two tampons). You could also explore other options for very heavy bleeding - I was offered a coil for mine but prefer to deal with it with medication and heavy duty sanpro.

Have you seen your GP as this sounds awful OP! You poor thing

Speak to both your boss and your gp, make up a separate carrier bag to take through with you, that way if anyone wants to accuse you they can see you don’t have your phone/cigs/keys etc with you.

I know I bleed fast n heavy but it’s at a consistent rate so I know how often I’m changing. I use a mooncup or super tampon along side tena pant type things (always make them in black so you don’t see them the same) if I’m not going to be close to loo’s for a while to make sure I’m overly protected. Not sure if they’d be an option, period pants are only ok if you don’t over flow them.. can’t just chuck them kind of thing and it’s much more awkward carrying your knickers out the loo if you didn’t go in armed.

Also taking ibuprofen on your heaviest day reduces the flow

I would recommend a menstrual cup - but not necessarily a moon cup, there are other brands better suited for heavy periods.

I have extremely heavy periods (causing me to have severe anemia two years ago) and moved to a yuuki cup a couple of years ago and it revolutionised my life. I can wear it for 12 hours without issues and on my heaviest days it collects 25-30 ml without overflowing. I pair it with a reusable sanitary towel for my piece of mind but have only ever "spotted" where occasionally I don't get the fit right. So I would think a yuuki cup (or similar cup designed for heavy flow) plus period pants would sort you out for a days work.

There's a useful quiz on the website I link below, which asks you questions about flow, whether you have kids,how active you are etc to recommend a cup. There are lots on the market.

putacupinit.com/quiz/

Honestly, my cup changed my life. I was always leaking day and night and had to change tampons all the time, constantly paranoid about leaking and it showing. With my cup once I got confident with using it, my periods became so hassle free and I would barely even know I was on. Just empty it in the morning, wear till evening, empty at home and replace for overnight.