What's your period horror story?

[Anonymous]

I recently thought about this and wanted to share mine.

Feel free to share something that happened to you/someone you're close to below.

Photo by Tengyart on Unsplash

Backstory

I was on a school trip and decided to visit some friends while I was there (this is not uncommon where I'm from).

The good

I had to travel a little to see my friends, and on the way there, I realised that I may have started my period. It came a week early and I had a menstrual cup on me, but I realised I'd have to open my luggage and go to the restroom at my friend's absolutely TINY place, which made me feel really uncomfortable.

I looked for a tampon desperately while on the train and luckily found one. I put it into my pocket and after I got off the train I greeted my friends, talked to them for about an hour and had dinner with them before finally being able to excuse myself to the restroom.

I inserted my tampon, watched a movie with my friends, got rid of the tampon and inserted my menstrual cup, greeted their spouses, talked to them for a while and then went to bed.

The bad

Officially, at least. In reality, I was wide awake until 2am, which is when I got up to empty my menstrual cup in the most quiet way possible. I was so embarassed to be on my period at their place that I didn't want to tell anyone.

I then went to sleep in beautiful, crispy, fresh white linen.

Photo by Elina Upmane on Unsplash

The ugly

I woke up with a racing heart at 4:30am and couldn't tell why. I wanted to get up to pee, but I quickly realised that if I did, I'd cover everything in blood.

I had woken up because I had felt blood coming down my leg. I always sleep in a very sheet-protective way when I'm on my period and throughout the years, I've found the best ways to avoid bleeding on sheets.

However, I knew that I'd have to remain in the same position until at least 7:30am, which is when everyone would be off to work and I would finally be able to get up without anyone seeing me.

I had to be completely quiet for 3h, I couldn't even grab my phone or go back to sleep. Instead, I waited until I was sure everyone had left, rolled out of bed to not stain anything with my blood, quickly got up and ran to the bathroom.

The aftermath

It was a lot worse than I had expected - I left an actual trail of blood behind and by the time I got into the shower to rinse myself off, everything was full with blood, including my clothes. I made sure to clean everything up (I'm a very tidy person and hate making a bad impression, so you really couldn't tell my blood had been on the floor), packed my things and headed for the airport because it was my last day of that trip.

I planned my journey home in a way that allowed for restroom breaks every 45 minutes.

I had to use the restroom inside the train, at the airport, in the plane (multiple times), at the other airport and at a train station until I was finally home.

Be kind to others - you don't know what they're going through

Nobody knew, I never told anyone this happened and to this day, this is a memory that haunts me because I was in so much pain, I had to find restrooms on the go while sticking to my tight travel schedule all the while travelling on my own.

[Hannah_le]

Well mine never shows cuz I always wear black. But I know when it leaks cuz I’ll feel it. For one I was in gym and since I was in athletics we had to work out intensely and of course change into our gym uniforms so I was wearing shorts. It LEAKS through and it’s on the floor and then running down my leg and by the time it happened it was our last class so instead my mom came to pick me up but I feel bad for the teachers. I didn’t even let the janitors clean it I cleaned it cuz I felt bad. Then second time was when I was in my woodshop class and I was sitting and hanging with friends so I get up and there’s some on the chair and I was like oh shit but before I could say or do anything my guy friend sat in that chair and of course I didn’t say shit and he didn’t notice but yea rip.

[myTake Owner]

Oh my god, that sounds particularly mortifying...
Glad you made it through that though.
I usually feel it too when it leaks, but sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it! I hate that part. :/

[doopayo]

When I first got my period I had no idea I had it at first and so I just had it all over my pants and when I went in the bathroom I had realized what had happened and I was too embarrassed and ashamed to ask for any help from friends or an adult so I just stuffed toilet paper down my panties and covered the stain by wrapping my sweatshirt around my waist so that the stain wouldn’t show.


It was super awkward and walking around with paper on my coochie 💀


Anyways, to make a long story short the education system sucks and I knew nothing about my body because of the horrible puberty education American schools offer

[myTake Owner]

Oh my, I'm so sorry that happened to you.
It's such a shame you didn't know what was happening and were too afraid to ask for help...

[razelove]

My ex-wife said she was late one month. We went to the drug-store, she started walking towards the pregnancies tests, I walked to the pharmacist and bought Plan B, then did the same the next day, and the day after. The clean-up from that looked like a gunshot wound to the abdomen. Chunky, viscous, and torrential. If there would have been gushing I would have thought huh, that's arterial.

The marriage was done already at that point. I know someone else who pulled something similar to keep a guy with her, and under her thumb, said she was pregnant, quit taking the pill, then actually got pregnant. Yeah, that was a horror story though, the period I thought might never come...

[myTake Owner]

I can only imagine how horrible taking plan B can be... It's pretty serious and there's not enough education on it in my opinion.

Sorry you had to witness that.

[Imcmullan]

Lol you aren't supposed to take plan b like that. First, it only works for like the first 72hrs after sex. 2nd you only take 1 pill..3rd, you could have killed her having her take multiple ones for 3days in a row! Oh n if she was late a month, she may have very well conceived n the blood you saw was your unborn child you guys killed by taking plan b 3days in a row 🙄

[razelove]

@Imcmullan So you're saying if it would have been 4-6 times then I wouldn't have had to go through a divorce, right? The more you know.

[Imcmullan]

Oh so you're saying if you had killed her with plan b then no divorce? Its no wonder you're divorced.

[razelove]

@Imcmullan Dark humor, I made out great in the divorce, Louisiana is an at fault state. That was so long ago, who knows if she's still dead or alive. I certainly don't care. The question was period horror story. I shared mine. If you have any issues take it to the complaint department. With one convenient location in Africa. Open one day a year for one hour. If it means that much to you, seriously, go to Johannesburg.

[Imcmullan]

🙄 k

[t-8900]

bro if you were already done than why did you keep having sex with her? seems grimey af.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Thanks for sharing your MyTake, well I know this one girl in 7th grade was wearing white jeans and started her cycle and wore a jacket around her waist and went to the nurse's office I don't know if she stayed in school that day or went home but the word was going around about this happened but I respect ladies and their menstrual cycles no one should laugh about it or make fun it's nothing to be a laughed at or shame at it all ladies have this to a certain age?

[myTake Owner]

I agree that it's strange this is something people ridicule women over, especially when they're still young. Really doesn't have to be that way.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

@Asker I agree with you :)

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Thanks For Most Helpful Guy :)

[Dazed0N0Confused]

A little over a year ago I had a decidual cast, which is a VERY large piece of my uterine lining that didn't break up like it does traditionally which causes it to come out in a very large chunk, come out of my vagina. One side was smooth, while the other side was ragged (guess which side was connected to my vagina vs the side the umbilical cord attached to haha). I thought I was dying the cramps were so bad. I thought I had been pregnant, didn't know (I was on birth control), & miscarried. Then I did my research after my freak out & took a pregnancy test, no pregnancy hormones detected & found out that a decidual cast is not very common, but common enough that I didn't have to worry about it.

Another time (I wear a Menstrual Cup) I had stayed the night over my now ex-boyfriend's house, I hadn't realized how heavy my flow was, I always dump it before bed, & sometime in the middle of the night my Cup over flowed & started leaking... I just remember scrubbing his bedding & mattress, along with his pissed off demeanor, tone & him mocking my apologies the next day... Which in turn pissed me off because I had told him it was Red Week & he told me to still come over... I had never felt so ashamed of being a woman in my life before then.

[Whit-Bit]

Background: My gym requires all team girls to wear a leotard and you have the option of wearing boogie shorts (think girls volleyball shorts)

I was at gymnastics practice and relatively new to periods so wasn't comfortable with tampons yet, (my first mistake) as well as not knowing how to properly flip during a period in a leotard. By the time I was 3ish hours into practice we were doing overspills, and the coaches at the time was going around correcting us. One of my coaches that was a guy was correcting a teammate fairly close to me. A minute later he joked to our team that we needed to shower/use deodorant more because we smelled weird. A minuet latter I heard him talking to my other (female coaches) about the smell and I realized it was the smell of old blood via me. All my other teammates who were older immediately knew what the smell was and just stared at me. I couldn't move or anything since we were stuck in the overspills and all the younger girls and the guy coach would immediately know it was me if I did move at all. Long story short, I got over my fear of tampons.

[myTake Owner]

Oh no, that sounds so mortifying :/

[josephinelcajon]

Obviously it was not me but at a wedding a girl dressed in all white had her first period standing on the alter as her mother was getting married. She started soaking through and put her hand down which caused it to seep through on her hand. She let out a bloody murder scream running in high heels and long dress tripped and feel with a smack that echoed through the silent church. She broke her arm. Paramedics were called and the wedding was canceled. I swear there was not a dry eye! EVERYONE felt so extremely bad.

[Hannah591]

What an absolute nightmare!

[josephinelcajon]

@Hannah591 It truly was!

[myTake Owner]

OH my god!! That sounds mortifying, especially considering it was her mother's wedding... Crazy :/

[UnlovedWife]

I was in 6/7th grade during computer class and I feel my period arrive. The teacher was one of those that you don’t dare ask to go to the washroom.
When I got up I saw blood on the chair (it was the material ones that spin). I quick pushed it in, utterly horrified, and used my sweater to cover myself. I tied the sweater around my waist.


No one saw and years later I happen to be at the school in the computer lab as a student teacher and guess what I spot? Yip the blood stained chair. It had been over a decade. It was so gross. I never confessed anything.

[myTake Owner]

Wow, that sounds terrifying. So sorry that happened to you...

[SpiderManFan2002]

One time, it just started at school and it was killing me to the point where I couldn’t stand and I got super sleepy and the cramps- when I needed to stand I couldn’t even stand straight, and I threw up luckily it was in a bucket- obviously they had to call my mum to come and get me early, and they didn’t know it was my period they just thought I was sick lol but yeah it was my period that resulted in that mess lol.

[myTake Owner]

Oh my, that sounds awful. Sorry you went through that...

[SpiderManFan2002]

It wasn’t pleasant but that’s what I get for not getting preggo😂😂😂😂

[Manduh]

This is why I always have a multiple pads with me because I have a very heavy flow and I tend to stain everything I sit on so I have to wear multiple pads so that I don't stain any of my clothes or the chairs or sofas that I sit in. I'm constantly looking if I've stained right after I get up from sitting or lying down.

[myTake Owner]

That sounds life-altering for sure...
I feel you though, having a heavy flow is pretty damaging for your "period self-esteem" if you know what I mean!

[Manduh]

Exactly!

[ShaTTeredMasterpeace]

I was 10 years old when I got my period. And it was my birthday. My mom had thrown me a surprise party. After the party we were going to a basketball game. I started to feel a very weird pain in my belly. The pain was something I hadn't felt in my life. It only got worse while we were at the game and by the time we got back home, I was in tears. I remember going to the bathroom, seeing the blood and freaking the freak out lol. My mom had already known what was going on. So yeah, my first period was on my 10th birthday. What a bloody surprise!

[Aimee_Maemae16]

I almost fainted at school due to the pain of my periods


I have had periods for a while but done nothing for the pain because my step mum says it will mess up the cycle if I go on the pill so I end up fainting a bit because of the pain and when it happened at school everyone kept asking what happened so I said I don’t know but the teachers all said to the classes that I had fainted because of “young ladies problems” so now everyone calls me period fainter

[myTake Owner]

First off, thanks for sharing this.
Secondly, I never fainted, but I also felt a certain pressure to go on the pill at some point... Your step mom is right though, if you go off the pill at say 24, you'll have the same issues including irregular cycles at that age!
I know it's hard to hear, but I'd advise you only go on the pill if fainting really bothers you. Have you tried taking pain killers?

Also, don't worry honey, you're 16 if G@G is right, these things have a way of taking care of themselves. Think about it: periods aren't something to be ashamed of, and soon your peers will realise that too and feel bad about ever calling you "period fainter".

They'll have empathy for what you're going through, just like me.
Hope that helped, sending you lots of love and courage today :)

[Aimee_Maemae16]

Pain killers don’t help

[Virgo31]

It’s not a story but anytime I sneeze I can literally feel the blood rush o of me. One time I was with my family and I sneezed and felt it rush out. I got up in panic (cause I didn’t have a pad 😬) and just ran upstairs never to be seen again. Cause I was embarrassed 😞.

[myTake Owner]

Happens to the best of us (myself included). You'll get used to it over time and be able to adapt to it, don't worry :)

[Kazzy36]

Was like 11, went on a school surfing trip with my entire class of both girls and boys. Absolutely no warning of a period beforehand but I was blessed by mother nature while out at sea, when I felt a sharp pain in my tummy I just knew. We finished an hour later and I had to take off my wetsuit in front of EVERYONE. Blood was dropping out all over and it smelt super bad.
I still cringe now.

[Anonymous]

I was on a 3 day 2 night school camping trip. The morning I left I discovered I had my period. My mom had gotten me pads a year before just in case. I didn't tell anyone and put a panty liner in my underwear and pads in my backpack. I didn't tell anyone the whole trip, even when another girl asked if anyone else had gotten their periods yet. That was my first period. A month after that I had a week long school trip to another province, but luckily that cycle was 35 days.

[myTake Owner]

It's crazy how ashamed you feel when you first get your period, right?
I was at home when I got my period the first time and even 7 years later, I still haven't told my mom officially, LOL.
It's obvious I have my period now, but still.

[Li-Na]

At the time I newly had an IUD fitted within my uterus, the first couple of days meant extreme bleeding.

Didn't think much of it.

One morning during Physics class, I leaked all over the chair like I had been stabbed in the abdomen. My friend pointed out that I was turning pale, I indeed was. Never lost that much blood in my life.
She was kind enough to clean up the mess while I fainted.

One of the sub teachers thought a student accidentally cut their arm due to the copious amounts of blood.

Ah, a day I will never forget.

[TadCurious]

Thanks for sharing this. It's important for guys to try to understand about this. It just seems wrong that we make it so girls have to worry or be embarrassed about their periods.

[myTake Owner]

You're welcome. As you can see in the comments too, there's a lot of shame and worry associated with periods, so it's very important that men communicate that they're there for us if we want to talk about it.

[TadCurious]

Absolutely. 👍

[taeh_ie2]

It was at a god dame wedding😩, and I was wearing a white mimi flowy dress, and got I I some blood on the dress

[myTake Owner]

Oh no

[FictionalCharacter]

As a child. My dad was watching a biography about hermaphrodites. That he told me, if a girl never starts her period. She’s a hermaphrodite.

This made me paranoid. Since I always felt ugly as a child, with all my deformities. That I actually WANTED my period, to feel like I was a woman.

[myTake Owner]

I'm so sorry that happened to you.
There are other reasons why a girl may not start her period though... Interesting story.
What deformities do you have if I may ask?

[FictionalCharacter]

Just reaching through puberty, and being made fun of by kids. With my crooked teeth, big crooked nose, acne, long jaw and unibrow 😅🙈.

Which later in life, doctors requested that I get surgery to fix my jaw and nose.

[myTake Owner]

Ah, okay. Crazy how mean kids can be...

[LeoElias]

Wow im sorry your dad is an idiot. A woman can be late on her period for medical reasons. Like my aunt had a heart condition and didn't get her period until she was 16. I know I am a dude but I guess my family having medical professions and I guess we talk about stuff like this without it bothering us.

[BillHe1]

I'm sorry,
I guess I'm definitely old. I know about and understand periods, tampons, pads, and some others from my many years of marriage. But you have me at a loss with a "menstrual cup".

I do feel for your situation.

[BillHe1]

I have recently seen a TV advertisement: Period/Menstrual Panties. Appears to be regular looking dark colored panties. But the add goes on---the period blood is absorbed in the absorbent material in the crotch of the panties, wear all day even on your heavy days, then just take it off and wash it in the washer and wear it again when dry... My wife says "Ewwe", NO... NO Way", all day?

I understand that tampons, mini pads, and maxi pads, like diapers are made of very absorbent material, but an absorbent material in the pantie liner to be worn all day soaked in blood, and then just washed out. Washed by hand or one or two at a time (filled with menstrual blood) in a washer?

You can't pull it out like a tampon or pad if all a sudden your guy reaches down into your panties for a little fingering.

That's just me.

[myTake Owner]

A menstrual cup is similar to a tampon, but you can reuse it multiple times for up to 10 years.
You fold it, insert it like a tampon, it pops open and creates a vacuum.
Then you break the vacuum seal, take it out, empty it out, wash/boil it and reinsert.

It takes some practice, but since cups don't have a string like tampons, they're very useful and comfortable.

I've never tried period underwear before, but I'm not weirded out by the concept, I think it's pretty cool. Must be really comfortable and great for leaks.

[BillHe1]

Just my curiosity,
Not far up, it can still be reached to be removed easily with fingers? Only removed to be emptied. Does any blood or urine pass bye? If you can't feel it in place, is it a hindrance to any manual finger stimulation in that area... or is that NO at that time?
I know I have played with my wife's pussy during her period and even had sex during that time, but she never really had any heavy days. She usually used tampons or mini pads. I don't think there was a Cup back in the 70s-80s

[myTake Owner]

It takes practice to be able to reach the cup for sure, but vaginas aren't that long, so they don't end up getting lost.
Blood only passes by when the cup is full. The cup has small holes at the top so that the blood can pass through if it's full.
You can finger a girl who's wearing a cup much easier than one wearing a tampon.
However, cleaning up after a cup spill is less pleasant than accidentally removing her tampon.

Still, I've been told the taste and smell is much nicer when wearing a cup as opposed to a tampon.

[modelUN242]

Uhh, when I didn't have a pad and had to use cheap toilet paper, horrible. It did get through my clothing I think and maybe stained a chair but I was wearing denim or all black for it not to be noticeable. But, not really a horror story. I did ask some people for a pad a couple of times.

[Sonorous]

I- I don't get periods but I get intense nose bleeds...

do dat count

[PinkMichae]

When I first started at 12 years old I was at school and wearing a white jumpsuit. Since I never had it I didn't have pads or tampons. Just a white blood soaked jumpsuits as I walked home. It was very embarrassing

[orangecherry]

I was with a guy and we'd done it but never on my period so I told him and he said no problem. Then when we were naked and about to do it he went pale and his eyes got wide and he said no I can't 😞

[myTake Owner]

Oh my... So sorry that happeed to you, especially because he seemed up for it at first!
Don't feel bad though, it just isn't for him and that's not your problem.

[orangecherry]

I have a great boyfriend now and he is amazing