Menstrual Health Day: My first period

I was 11 years old when I had my first period. I had been really excited for a while because some of the girls at my school had started their periods. Education around periods consisted of a very short lesson and some trendy looking booklets sponsored by Tampax. They included a period tracker/calendar.

My first period was light and not really a big deal. However, in my family we never talked about them, especially around my dad and my brother. My mum encouraged me to hide my sanitary pads. Unfortunately for me, my next few periods were extremely heavy and traumatic. I had no idea how to deal with them (especially because of the taboo of keeping quiet). At school, I was told to tell my PE teacher I was 'on', meaning I was on my period. I just felt embarrassed. I wasn’t allowed to use tampons, due to the fear of Toxic Shock Syndrome. I would suddenly bleed through clothing, as found when I bled through my sparkling white PE shorts. I was vomiting and I had severe stomach and back pain. I was miserable. My mum eventually took me to the doctor’s surgery, where I was put on the pill. This allowed me to live an (almost) normal life.

Endometriosis, Adenomyosis and fibroids forced me to speak openly about my periods in order to explain to friends why I needed to cancel plans, or why I was too poorly to work. This is one of the reasons I wanted to advocate for others.

Hopefully, education around periods is a lot better now. I wish my younger self had the confidence to speak up about how I was feeling.

#menstrualhygiene #menstrualhealthday #chronic #period #pain #menstrual #health #endometriosis #fibroids #adenomyosis #MHDay2025