Young people's experiences of periods and period pain
Impacts of periods and period pain on education and work
Periods and period pain can make it harder to do things across all aspects of young people’s lives, including at school and, for some, work. This section covers the impact of periods and period pain on:
Poppy hates missing school because of her periods but has had to at times, and this causes her a lot of anxiety.
Poppy hates missing school because of her periods but has had to at times, and this causes her a lot of anxiety.
Yes, yeah. I was... I’ve always been very studious, I hate to admit it, but I think it is just part of me, and I hate missing school; it causes a lot of anxiety for me. I fear that, you know, ‘ooh, I’m... I’m not gonna do well,’ or I just don’t like missing school that much. So, when it’s... and it was happening quite frequently, you know, a good three... couple of days every month whilst I was having painful periods. And yeah, it just caused me a lot of anxiety, and I felt like it was unfair, and it was unjust, because I feel like it could have been avoided, you know, not everyone has painful periods. But yeah, it just caused a lot of anxiety, I think, mainly.
Some of the young people we spoke to had a lot of pain with their periods, or the bleeding was difficult to manage. For some, period pain meant that they were not able to get out of bed or do as much when they had their period. This impact on them could be occasional or it could be with most periods, and it could last for a few hours or one day or several days each time.
It could also feel harder to find the motivation or energy to do things. Lily felt “sluggish”, and others said they did not want to do as much as usual or wanted to, as Chloe said, “stay in bed” more. Period pain sometimes impacted on sleep, making people feel exhausted. Anaemia from heavy bleeding and side effects of some medications for period problems can also make people feel tired.
Zaynah talks about how her period bleeding and pain act together to impact on her life.
Zaynah talks about how her period bleeding and pain act together to impact on her life.
How much would you say that your periods, the pain, bleeding, separately, but both, have impacted on kinda school and school life and—?
I think a lot because from Year 7 I was quite like anaemic. Like I’ve been anaemic all the way through, and I feel like that on its own affected me quite a bit, like whether or not I did sport and like how much I could do. Even like stairs, like how... how quickly can I climb stairs, things like that. How long you can walk, things like that. Like I feel like they’re really little things, but like they... it does affect it, yeah. And yeah, I just feel like it affected quite a few things. And then attendance. Then also exams, and then I feel like that causes you stress as well because then you’re like: ‘if I miss school, how will I perform in exams because I’ve missed so many lessons?’ or ‘I’ve missed so many days of school?’ whether that’s because you’re in pain or because of appointments. Yeah, I just... I do feel like they’re all very, very linked.
For some, the impact of periods on school caused a lot of worry and stress. Poppy said it felt “unjust” and Eidra was left “frustrated”.
Getting to school or college and attendance
For some of the young people we talked to, period pain stopped them being unable to go to school sometimes. Ivy said she misses “two or three days a month because I’m just in bed in unbearable pain”. Anayaa has missed school because sometimes it is “painful to even move and like get out of bed” vomiting, exhaustion, sleep disruption, and fainting with periods could also make it difficult for young people to get to school.
When Amalia’s periods were really painful, she could not leave her bed to go downstairs for food or to get to school, and this impacted on her education.
When Amalia’s periods were really painful, she could not leave her bed to go downstairs for food or to get to school, and this impacted on her education.
Well, like for school life, I literally couldn’t come into school like when I had my period, like for the first three days of my period I will have to stay home, and like I couldn’t leave my bed, like I had to like stay in my bed, I couldn’t move and it... it would just like be so painful, like I’d have to get like food brought upstairs because I couldn’t leave, so that was every month; it was pretty mad….
How did school react to that?
Don’t think they were worried because I was like off for like reasons, so I guess I got... my education was like lacking a bit ’cause I was off school so often so I did miss quite a bit, but it wasn’t that big of a deal because it’s not... it wasn’t like important school years, it was like Year 8 and 9, so…
Pain medications could make period pain more manageable at school for some young people but they needed time to start working and could wear off during the day. This could be factored in to decisions about whether and when to go in to school or college.
Bella Z waits for her pain to settle a bit or for her medications to start working before going in to school a bit late, but sometimes she doesn’t feel up to going in.
Bella Z waits for her pain to settle a bit or for her medications to start working before going in to school a bit late, but sometimes she doesn’t feel up to going in.
And did you ever have to miss school or... or kinda go home from school?
I think there’s been a couple of occasions where they’ve started in the morning and then so because they were so bad in the morning, I’ve missed like a... a bit of school. And... and then when they’ve like settled down a bit, or like the medications have like kicked in, then I’d like go to school. But I don’t actually... I don’t remember... I might have gone home from school a couple of times, but not very often, ’cause I normally get them in the morning and then I might go in late. Or I think there’s been a... like a couple of days as well that maybe they haven’t got better, or I’m still not feeling up for it, up to like going back to school, so I... I just come... I stay home the rest of the day. ’cause I guess after you’ve had that pain as well, you kind of... I don’t know, you feel quite exhausted ’cause it’s like, I don’t know, you’ve had to deal with obviously feeling all those emotions and like the pain, so sometimes you don’t feel up for going to school anyway.
Vomiting and fainting with periods or period pain could also complicate being able to get to, or stay in school. For example, some schools had policies about vomiting automatically meaning that young people were not allowed to stay at school.
Sage is sent home when from school she vomits with her periods, which can feel a bit frustrating when she feels ok again shortly afterwards and it happens most months.
Sage is sent home when from school she vomits with her periods, which can feel a bit frustrating when she feels ok again shortly afterwards and it happens most months.
Does it kinda impact on you at school, or... or does it ever stop you doing anything, or... or miss school, things like that?
I’ve had to go home from school quite a few times ’cause like I get them... I got really bad ones, so a lot of times I end up throwing up, and like the school nurse is always like: “You should just go home, like you shouldn’t be here anymore.” I was like: “I was fine up until five minutes ago, OK, I am not sick, I’m just suddenly in agony,” and then I’m home, and I... I like take a nap, and then like two hours later I’m fine again, and it’s like, can I go back to school? Why am I missing things?
So, do you think it was it the pain that got you sent home, or was it the fact that you’d vomited and then they like sent you home?
I think it’s more the fact that I vomited ’cause like I was... I’m... you know, it’s like a regular thing, it’s once a month, so a lot of times I’d just like have paracetamol, call it a day, and just like go through with it, and sometimes I go like, not really be there mentally in class ’cause I’m sitting there in pain, so I’ll just like ask my friends for notes, or like I’ll like sit it out for most of the day, but I’m still kind of in school.
Some young people, like Zaynah, had missed school in order to attend medical appointments about their painful periods.
Missing full and part days of school could build up, and impact on attendance and education. Scarlett had 64% attendance in the school year when her periods were really bad. After working through options with school to manage his periods and pain, like a reduced timetable and use of the SEN facilities, River is now home schooled, which makes it easier for him to manage his schoolwork, because he “can do it at my own pace and my own time”.
Being in classes
Being able to get hold of more pain relief when it wore off in the middle of the day could help young people stay in school once they were there, but was not always straightforward in practice. For example, for some young people we talked to, their schools wouldn’t allow students to go home for period pain or their school first aid services were not allowed to give out pain medications. You can read more here about school support with managing period pain.
Though pain medications can help, they can also have side effects which can be difficult to cope with at school. These could contribute to how young people felt about being able to go to or focus in class. Zaynah and Ivy had taken strong codeine-based painkillers from the doctor, but these could also add to them feeling sleepy or sick.
Even when young people were able to be physically in classes, periods and period pain could impact on their experiences of school, college or university. For example, period pain could impact on people’s ability to focus on lessons or their work and make it hard to concentrate.
Reham finds it hard to concentrate on schoolwork, or to want to do it, when she is mostly thinking about pain.
Reham finds it hard to concentrate on schoolwork, or to want to do it, when she is mostly thinking about pain.
It definitely affects me when I’m there ’cause I find it really hard to concentrate ’cause I’m mostly thinking about pain. And sometimes I’m just looking at my work and I’m just like: ‘no, I don’t wanna do none of that.’ So, I just need to sit down in my chair. I’m also like top class, so like whatever I have to learn, I have to like get it through my head ’cause it’s gonna be important. So, I’m just sat there trying to figure out what’s going on in class, while also hoping I don’t just get a... a big feeling of pain right in the middle of like lessons and stuff. And also, my concentration’s a bit off, but... yeah.
There were times for Sage when she felt she could “not really be there mentally in class ‘cause I’m sitting there in pain” and so she would ask her friends for notes afterwards to catch up. Emily recalled times when “I cannot concentrate on my lessons because the pain is like too distracting; I just wanna sit there and burst into tears”. When the pain was a lot, Abi had to focus on not crouching over and so wasn’t learning.
Worrying about period bleeding, pain starting or flaring up could add to the difficulties of concentrating at school. Elsa sometimes had cramps which could mean she couldn’t “physically concentrate”, and worries about bleeding were “always kind of nagging at the back of my mind”. For Bella Z, period management in school could take up lot of her “headspace”, making it hard to concentrate.
There could be feelings of dread around periods. This included when symptoms like pain were predictable and monthly, but also when symptoms were unpredictable. Sage said the hardest part of her period experience is that she never knows whether her period will come with a “little cramp” that settles with paracetamol or if it will be a really awful one where she feels like “dying on the floor”.
PE classes were a concern for some young people we talked to, and you can read more about impacts of periods and period pain on sport here.
Exams
The impact of periods on attendance, studies/work, and concentration could all affect examinations and assessments. This included the impact of periods on preparing and studying for exams, as well as the impact on sitting exams.
Worrying about periods and period pain during exams could add to the already significant stress of upcoming exams. Grace would always be wondering, “is my period gonna fall on a day of an exam?” and, if it did, “am I gonna stand up and there’s like a puddle of blood like on the chair?”
Sage uses a scheduling app that said her period was due during her exams.
Sage uses a scheduling app that said her period was due during her exams.
I was really worried ’cause it was, according to like Flo, scheduling-wise, it was supposed to be like right when I was... like in the middle of exams, and I was worried that I was like gonna have like a terrible time and I would have to like run to the bathroom every minute, and like I was really worried about having to skip one day because of the pain, but I was really lucky, and my stress took over, so I just didn’t show up. I also, I have rest breaks, so I was a little less worried about having to go to the toilet ’cause I could do so and still go back and still have like the time for my exam, but I was... just the concept of it.
Some people had exams on days when they had periods. Emily Z feels that period pain affected her GCSE mock results and also made it hard for her to concentrate during her maths GCSE exam, which was really frustrating. Jayden got really bad cramps suddenly during an A level exam. They managed to finish the exam “but I was in like a bit of a like a sweat from it ’cause it was just like, quite painful”. Going to the toilet or needing rest breaks during an exam because of periods and period pains was a concern because of taking up time, but some – like Sage and Emily Z – had permission and allowances for other reasons but which also helped support them with period pain in exams.
For some who had period pain whilst taking exams, like Emily Z, it was sometimes possible to have painkillers. Ivy took codeine pain medicines during her GCSE English exam to manage her pain, but this made her sleepy and like she had brain fog. She reflected on how hard it was that, even with medications, she was struggling with pain and pain medication side effects, and that after “working so hard for 10 years in education and then it comes down to that final exam …and you’re still struggling with the pain”.
Rosie had period pain and vomited before her GCSE RE exam. Her teacher asked if she could still sit the exam.
Rosie had period pain and vomited before her GCSE RE exam. Her teacher asked if she could still sit the exam.
No. And one time, I did start my period before my RE GCSE and I nearly didn’t sit the exam because... well, so they let me come out of the room... Basically, our sixth form was like Alcatraz and they made us like do like a session beforehand from like seven in the morning until the 9am exam. So, I was in that, and I was crying, I begged my teacher: “Please, like, let me leave,” so they did. And a head of staff, or someone, came and got me and left me in a room by myself, and I was like: ‘OK.’ I fainted in the room. And a slightly nicer member of staff came and she gave me some apple juice and like a bar of chocolate before. And then they rang my mum, and she came into school to sit with me, and I was being sick into a bu... like I was in the process of being sick, and the head of sixth form was asking me if she thought I could still sit the exam. And then my mum shouted at her. But there was quite little in the way of understanding about periods at school. I’d said to one of my science teachers where I’d said, you know, like: “I think I’m gonna faint, can I... you know, sit outside or maybe get some air?” and he went “no”, so I just had to stay in the lesson. Yeah, but at the times I have been at school and started my period and had the first 2 days, I usually either come home or don’t go in at all.
Despite the extra challenges of periods and period pain during exams, some young people we spoke to - like Rosie – had done well and received good exam results.
Working and jobs
For those who had jobs, periods and period pain could also impact on whether they were able to go to, enjoy, or stay at work. Like in school, knowing whether or when young people could get access to toilets or pain medication or rest breaks could make a difference to how being at work felt. Sometimes people’s jobs were quite physical, for example up on their feet or walking a lot, which could be uncomfortable. For Lola, the impact on work and social activities was the spur to her going to get medical help: “it got to the point where I’d started working and I was having to call in sick on shifts and I was having to cancel a lot plans with my friends and family, and at that point I went: ‘this is going too far,’ because it was getting in the way of me doing things on a daily basis”.
Jade works as a waitress. If she is working with male colleagues, she finds it difficult to talk about her period pain, which can make it harder to manage her shifts and pain relief.
Jade works as a waitress. If she is working with male colleagues, she finds it difficult to talk about her period pain, which can make it harder to manage her shifts and pain relief.
Yeah. So how long would the ibuprofen help you for?
For the first three or four hours of the shift, I’m feeling breezy, and it’s fine, but then it slowly, it’s like: “Ooh, guys, I don’t know if I can handle this much longer,” but... yeah. If my friends are working, I say it, but I don’t say it to anyone else; I keep it to myself.
OK. And so, if you were on shift with one of your friends, you’d be able to say, “Oh my, this is grim”?
Yeah.
But if you were on with people you didn’t know as well?
I just keep it to myself.
OK. What about kinda managers or... or supervisors?
I don’t really tell them anything.
Mm, OK, OK. Do... do you know... have any kinda thoughts on why or what... what might make you not think about telling them?
’cause most of them are men and it’s just like: ‘ouu, guys, this is awkward.’
Yeah.
So... yeah.
OK. And that’s really interesting. So, do you have a kinda sense that it... that... that it might be a little bit awkward talking to men?
Yeah.
Have you ever tried?
Not really.
OK.
I’ve had friends who have tried in like school, and stuff, and it’s just, doesn’t sound very fun.
Period pain could also impact on work for family members. Leila needs support at home, so when she was not able to be at college because of her period pain, her mother would have to make adjustments to her work. She could usually manage to work at home, but this could be “tricky” when she was meant to be working away from home.
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