14 year old on birth control

[Anonymous]

I think I know the answer here and I just need to get over my unease, but my 14 year old daughter has been having heavy periods and bad cramps for over a year and her doctor has recommended we put her on the birth control pill. This seems like the right medical answer, but it took me aback for a minute when they said we needed to have her come in and take a pregnancy test first, which is standard protocol, before the give us the prescription. She is in 8th grade and hasn't kissed anyone yet, I know this isn't being prescribed because of her having sex but somehow it just seems very young. Has anyone else put a daughter this young on the pill?

[Anonymous]

I wish my mom had let me go on it at that age when my cramps were so bad. I would miss a day of school or be so doped up on midol i could barely function.
I get your hesitation but you are doing the right thing.
My dd went on the pill at 16, her cramps were not as bad as mine but were getting progressively worse.

[Anonymous]

The pill has been a huge life improvement fir my teen - cramps and headache were intense and I’m so glad this was an option.

[Anonymous]

I was on the pill for heavy periods and pain at 16 when I got mine. I didn’t have to take a pregnancy test though. Or maybe I peed in a cup but I didn’t know it was for a pregnancy test. Anyway I wasn’t sexually active until much later in life.

The pill helped but then it stopped working for me. What actually helped was green tea and alieve.

[Anonymous]

I went on it at 19 for BC but it fixed my horribly heavy periods, too. I stayed on it til I got married and wanted to get pregnant. As soon as I went off it, the heavy periods returned and I was grateful for how much it helped all those years. Got pregnant a month later, fwiw.

[Anonymous]

The pregnancy test is most likely required by insurance.

[Anonymous]

I went on the pill at 15 and my newly 14 yo just started on the pill. I am still on the pill at 44 and love it. It cleared up my acne, cleared up my cramps, made my period short and regular, and I never had pms with it. I was a very late bloomer sexually and I think 14 will be similar - really the name just describes one function. I hope it helps dd - she has been leaking through pads every hour. Even my conservative (when it comes to our DDs and dating) dh has been asking to get her on the pill seeing what she is dealing with.

[Anonymous]

OMG--just put her on the pill. Free her from the misery of periods.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. I am a dad and if my kid is in pain and there is a medicine that would help with minimal or manageable side effects why wouldn't I allow her to use it????

[Anonymous]

My friend put her 12 yr old on the pill. No big deal. It would be like you saying the HPV vaccine is about sex.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of people seem fine with it, but the pill made my lows really low. Watch for serious depression / mood changes regardless of whether the cramps subside.

[Anonymous]

My mother allowed me to go on the pill at 14 and it was life changing. I used it continuously for 20 years and came off of it at 34 to conceive my only. I was able to get pregnant in 4 months. Birth control pills are miracle drugs. Enjoy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish my mom had let me go on it at that age when my cramps were so bad. I would miss a day of school or be so doped up on midol i could barely function.
I get your hesitation but you are doing the right thing.
My dd went on the pill at 16, her cramps were not as bad as mine but were getting progressively worse.

I wish my mom had done the same. I was bleeding through tampons in an hour, had disfiguring acne, and often fainted on the 2nd day of my period from the pain of cramps. I was told it was normal, I was too young for my periods to be that heavy, or that I wasn’t changing my pads and tampons enough.

Continuous birth control fixed all of that but no one even suggested it for my periods until I was in my 20s. It probably saved my life.

[Anonymous]

Not birth control, but my 12 year old daughter went on Accutane and had to get MONTHLY pregnancy blood tests. I had to take her to the LabCorps at her school at like 8 am once a month. It was... not fun.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Plenty of people seem fine with it, but the pill made my lows really low. Watch for serious depression / mood changes regardless of whether the cramps subside.

This happened to me too as a teen. I didn't realize it was a possible side effect of the pill, but being on it made me very depressed.

BTW, I have never heard of having to take a pregnancy test to be prescribed birth control.