14 Yr Old Daughter with Heavy Periods - Normal? TMI Warning

That happened to me. It was awful. It didn't let up until I was 19 and went on the pill. It was amazing after that. My periods were light and Tylenol took care of the cramps where it use to not work at all. I don't know if you want to put a 14 year old on the pill, but it did work for me. But you may want to take her to a Gynocologist. The did give me a stronger pain reliever for the cramps. It worked better than the Tylenol, but I still had pain. I did and continue to have cyst on my ovaries that caused most of the problems.

I had very heavy periods as a teen, passing clots, always worried I would have an "accident" in public. It was so bad once I even passed out at school. After that incident my mom took me to an adolescent gyno who put me on the pill. What a world of difference and my quality of life greatly improved. I'm so glad my mom was open to the pill as a valid medical treatment and that was nearly 30 years ago! Thanks Mom!

This is normal... for her. I would suggest talking to her doc and discuss putting her on a low dose of birth control, which is used to regulate her period. I wish I had that when I was a teen. It runs in my family to have bad periods so if my daughter has a horrible time as well I will discuss putting her on a low dose of BC to make life much easier on her. You don't have to call it "birth control". It's a medication to help ease her monthly strife. My periods were much much worse than your daughter's so if my daughter ends up like me I wouldn't think twice heping her out. My husband wasn't happy with my idea but I told him that our daughter could go through what I went through, and by explaining that it's just hormone medication, and will not protect her from pregnancy (lie or not) that I'm fine with it because if I have a choice of a pill or going through bath towels during the night and walking around with towels during the day because the bleeding it that heavy and large clots.... I'll go with a pill!

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I know my cousin had HORRIBLE periods when she was young. It wasn't too uncommon for her to cramp and bleed so heavily that she would miss school. (And we are talking about a farm girl who had a pretty high tolerance for pain...) there were even days in high school when she would have to change a super-size tampon between every other class. (3 hours.) She was completely healthy, and it did start letting up when she was about 16.

So, I think it could be normal... But never hurts to get checked. I would schedule her for a doctors appointment just to be sure.

Yep, had terrible cramps for years, heavy periods.. The good news? When I went into labor, did not feel a thing, and when the pain got to be worse than any period cramping, the baby was coming out.. Nurse said "wow, did you have bad cramping during your periods?" I told her yes, for many, many years....

Have her mention this to her Gynecologist, just to make sure there is not something else going on. Could be a sign of a cyst.

It is perfectly normal for a young teen to experience this type of pain and cramping. I suffered immensely during my teen years and my daughter does too.

However, the amount of bleeding does seem excessive. It's probably nothing to worry about, but you never know. I would give your doctor a call on Monday.

I don't see any reason why, in this modern age of medicine, any girl or woman has to experience the slightest menstral discomfort. There are so many pain relievers available, plus hormone treatments, why suffer just because it's considered "normal" pain? If it were my daughter, I'd be on the phone, raising hell, until we had the meds in hand to ensure a period never caused her pain again.

Some months were worse for my daughter. About once a semester of school, I did end up keeping her home or picking her up from school early with sever cramping and bleeding.

My daughter is one of those who hate to miss school and would go to school sick if I let her so when she requested a pick up I knew it was bad.

We did discuss it with her pedi because at one point, she never stopped bleeding over a month.... it would be heavy one day and spot 3 weeks or something like that. We ended up putting her on a hormone to regulate her system and it has helped her dramatically.

I would ask your pedi about any treatments your daughter can use to help with the heavy bleeding.

Best wishes.

I would say to keep an eye on her monthly period and see how it goes. It's difficult to say from one incident if this is something normal or not. It happens that sometimes the period is heavier than other times. As for the early period, this can happen if she was under stress. For example, at the end of high-school, we had a big exam (it was called baccalaureate). We were under a lot of stress and we didn't even get much sleep. My period came after two weeks just as heavy as the one before. Once the stress was gone, all went to normal. So just have her keep an eye on her symptoms and take it form there. Good luck!

This is so frustrating for her, isn't it? It sounds normal, but still it's frustrating.

Some pain relievers can be effective, but some are not as good with bleeding issues as others. So you want to think about this. Also you mention that your daughter had no ibuprofen with her - does your school allow kids to carry their own meds? Double check on this because, on top of how lousy she feels, you don't want her getting into a issue for having any kind of drugs on her, even over the counter. She can probably access it through the nurse's office with parental permission or a doctor's note.

As one poster mentioned, there can be other things like PCOS or hormonal imbalances affecting periods. Make sure your pediatrician is fully equipped to handle this, and ask whether you need a gynecologist. I am reluctant to send teens through a whole bunch of tests with endocrinologists and so forth - it's expensive, usually involves more than a teen really needs to deal with, and it often yields nothing more than a big prescription and an over-reliance of medications. I am similarly reluctant to send someone to the "natural foods" aisle because there is so much in there that is untested and which can cause significant side effects - not everything is labeled correctly, you don't know where it's made, and a lot of "natural" things are terrible anyway (think snake venom, poison ivy, toadstools and bella donna!).

There are some terrific advances in anti-inflammation and cellular health - you've probably seen a lot about epigenetics on Dr. Oz, PBS, and the major news magazines. There is a natural peptide which has been through extensive clinical studies and has had over 60 published papers from various scientific and academic institutions. It can do wonders to restore proper cell functioning and stop a whole host of problems when the body "overreacts" to normal functioning, from hormonal issues to autoimmune problems. You have to be sure it's in a bioactive form that survives digestion. I only know of one company that has the rights to it and I know it's available in a capsule as well as in a women's formula that helps with all kinds of menstrual issues from PMS to bloating to heavy periods to menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats. So it's good for women of all ages. It's also safe because it's given to small children. It's worth considering.

It can be normal, but it can also be not normal. Keep track of her cycle. My daughter has Poly-cystic Ovary Syndrome, and the heavy bleeding was one of the first signs of it. Then gradually she started to get her period only every 2 or three months and it would last for 2 or 3 weeks. Super heavy and major cramping. It was awful for her, and I felt so helpless. Once she was diagnosed, her doctor put her on a low level birth control. It is amazing the difference. Her periods are on time and mostly normal. She still gets cramps but not anywhere near the level they were.

This sounds so much like me at that age. But my periods lasted a full week. My mom was old school and wouldn't even consider taking me to the doctor for birth control for this. When I finally went on birth control when I was 19 it made a huge huge difference in my periods. Even my mom said at that time she wished she would have taken me earlier. I would really talk to her doctor or maybe your gynecologist about this. She may have to have an exam but it really is worth putting her on birth control for this.

My period was much heavier at that age and got much lighter as I got older. I think there are a lot of variations of normal. I used to have a friend that would use two tampons at one time because her period was so heavy!

I remember having terrible periods. They would last about a week and be heavy then come back every other week. It was awful. I ended being put on the pill(at 12) just to regulate my hormones and what a difference. I can't remember how long I took it but why suffer if you can help it you know?

Make sure she's getting enough iron.

As a teenager, hormones are all over the place, and this can really affect the menstrual cycle. When I was a teen, I had insane bleeding. There's a broad range for "normal", but -- that much? Not so normal. I didn't see a gynecologist until I was an adult. But I still assumed what I experienced was normal and never discussed it. Until I discovered it was not. I never improved. I got worse. And worse. And worse still after the birth of my daughter. And then I went through an awful lot of difficulty that may have been avoided, if I'd been seen, heard and diagnosed / followed earlier in my life.
My advice to you is have her see a really good gynecologist with a history or interest in treating unusual gynecologic conditions, i.e. fibroids, PCOS, endometriosis in a conservative manner. She may need to have a standard pelvic exam, an ultrasound and a blood work up done but hopefully not much else. If there is a diagnosis to be made, then you'll have one, and you'll be able to discuss and consider what options will help comfort your daughter.