Period delay tablets for prom and GCSEs

[2fallsagain]

Has anyone used them? My daughter's period is due on the day of her prom and there is no room for much underwear or a breakthrough bleed (dress pale yellow). Was thinking of delaying her May period so it resets for June also will time it for the half term if we can as she is also in the middle of GCSEs. Any advice about where to get them from?

We went for the pill for similar reasons.

We did not want period pain and flooding to be a concern during exams.

Speak to GP. They will prescribe / talk you through options. We did for both our DD.

Under 16s have to be prescribed by a doctor. Over 16 you can buy from a pharmacy.

Oh I heard somewhere that the GP would not prescribe for "lifestyle" purposes. I have tried local pharmacies but they don't do it so probably need an online one. But maybe I will try GP first

They prescribed it for my DD when she was 15 to cover her DofE camping expedition. Maybe they won’t prescribe for lifestyle reasons for adult women?

Just tried to call GP, because she is not with me (she is at school) and so could not give her consent for them to talk to me they wouldn't even tell me if they do it or not! That was after waiting on hold for 20 minutes.

Wouldn't a tampon and some period underwear do the trick? I'd be wary of messing with her cycle - in my experience (although I appreciate this is purely anecdotal) whenever I move to a new form of hormonal contraception I tend to experience several weeks of intermittent and random bleeding before everything settles down again.

Yes that is a concern which I am a bit worried about, however this dress has no room for period pants and she does not really like wearing tampons. Its basically this dress

Do an econsult?

I would be wary of the delay tablets if you haven't used them before as they do seem to be a bit unpredictable.

Both dds got on fine with cocp.

How to loose your guy dress https://www.usmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/Kate-Hudson-Revisits-Her-Iconic-How-to-Lose-a-Guy-in-10-Days-Look-in-Glamorous-Yellow-Dress-1.jpg?w=800&quality=86&strip=all

Yes I was just going to see if they would do them first but a consult is probably the way to go. What is a cocp?

I would also not mention the dress so much as timing for GCSEs TBH. To be fair, I didn't ask the GP regarding a dress -- for us it was painful periods meaning it would wipe out exams. We went contraceptive pill, continuous for a few months.

Yes her exams are part of it too, if her period can come in half term that would be most helpful, then that naturally hopefully delays her next one.

What does she do when she goes swimming? I hated wearing tampons apart from as a teen but on one holiday as an adult when I wanted to go in the swimming pool I had no option but to use a tampon which I got from hotel reception.

Are her periods regular?

She wears period swimwear. Yes they are pretty regular

Combined Oral Contraceptive Pill

I’ve only done it once before a city break - really did not want to be on.
You had to take the pill at least twice a day from what I remember.
i got it prescribed but it was quite a long time ago now (maybe 15!).

Tell them she gets a lot of pain and it could jeapordise exams. I hate the 16 rule. It’s ridiculous. Most 16 year old can’t ring a surgery between 9-3pm! Boots do an online doctor. It’s about £30

those period delay drugs can really make you feel awful - my dd went on the pill at 15 to help manage periods - she plays a lot of sport and her periods were v heavy - takes continuously for however long is needed - women and girls really don’t need to put up with having monthly periods if we dont want to!

Honestly it's such a nightmare. She doesn't want to really go on the pill as she doesn't really want to take hormones regularly and she normally manages ok.

The GP called back, has prescribed them but I think we will just give it some more thought.