11 year old - bad period pains - options?

[MKDmumofflash]

I'm sorry, I didn't know which forum this would sit in.

My 11yo started her periods around Christmas. So far, she has only had bleeding a couple of months, but every 28 days she has intense period pains, regardless of bleeding, lasting about 10 days or so.

She takes ibuprofen and paracetamol but is grey with the strain of coping with the pain.

Does anyone have any suggestions of what else we can we try?

Has anyone tried a myoovi tens machine alongside pain relief?

Thank you!

Accupucture and herbal remedies have worked wonders for me, my niece, friends etc

Following too, as my DD, who is almost 13, has just started heavy painful periods 😢

My 11 yo dd2 is similar. She has had 2 periods so far and both had quite bad cramping for days before and during.

I have been using paracetamol, heat pads and hot water bottles. But am thinking to add in ibuprofen as well.

I would go to the GP and discuss options preferably as an emergency appointment when she is struggling so they can see how bad her pain is.

It may be worth getting her investigated for endo

Speak to a female doctor. Need to rule out endo.

Go to the doctor - they should prescribe mefenamic acid.

Tranexamic acid has helped my daughter

Thanks all, I thought about endo, but didn't know it could strike so young 😪

Last Dr I spoke to said it didn't matter if she took ibuprofen for days at a time, but I hadn't thought about an emergency appointment. Unfortunately we don't have a choice which Dr we see, but I will phone next time.

Do the acids help even if they're not bleeding?

Thank you all again.

Stick on heat patches are really helpful.

Another thing that randomly helped me was cutting out red meat - took a few months to make a difference, but it definitely helped, apparently it's something to do with pain receptors.

More expensive - acupuncture and reflexology, just when she's got pain (they might try and say weekly, but I never found that helped as the benefits don't really build up, but it was good in the thick of it). Whatever you do, stay well away from herbal medicine - it will just make her bleed heavily and make things worse (I was hospitalised because of blood loss when I foolishly tried it).

A tens machine is worth a try - get one secondhand, as it's a weird sensation and might not be any help.

GP is worth trying - particularly to discuss whether the pill or other treatments might help. They will be able to give you stronger painkillers, but that might make her too stoned to function, so ask about what else they can do. It's worth raising the question of endo, as it can take a long time to be diagnosed (unfortunately there isn't really any treatment), but if she gets a diagnosis, it's classified as a disability so her school etc would have to make reasonable adjustments.

Sorry she's going through this - I started my periods young and they were awful too.

Tranexamic acid is to reduce bleeding. Most people find Mefenamic acid equal or less effective than ibuprofen. Make sure you're using ibuprofen every 6hrs and and Paracetamol every 4-5hrs.

DD was prescribed naproxen for her painful periods over the phone.

Not tried myself but heard good things about Myoovi. Particularly from the perspective that it's portable pain relief and drug free.

I would also suggest keeping a daily pain and symptom diary noting all symptoms like bleeding and heaviness along with pain on a scale of 1-10. This will give people like the GP and gynaecologist clues. She needs a gynae referral going forward.

My periods were very painful and heavy from onset of menses at 14 and the root cause of that was endometriosis. Although no one therapy or treatment can eradicate endometriosis, there are treatment options.