My mother's cycle was completely irregular until she started BC. Then she took some antibiotics, and oops, here I am. My ped and then ob told me that the likelihood of my getting pregnant without having sex every single day or going on something to regulate my cycle is very, very low (crazy, crazy! cycle), so I've only used other things. I won't use IUDs because I have major issues with my uterus already, thank you very much! No, pills, depo and patches aren't for me.

See a doctor. People on here have some seriously misguided opinions.

- I'd like to see a study linking BC to infertility. In my case, with endometriosis, the sooner I went on it, the better it would have been for my fertility. That said, BC is no joke. It caused me to be suicidal in college. Don't blindly put such a young, growing girl on hormones.

- Depo has been linked to premature osteoporosis. I'd worry about putting someone so young on that.

- OP, do you or anyone in your family have a history of infertility? Bottom line, take your DD to a doctor and don't get medical advice for her on this forum.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Breast cancer and infertility in women's thirties are being linked to birth control. Do not put your kid on it.

Oh really?

Lots & lots of documentation on this out there. BC definitely has a place, but it's not without some *serious* risks.

My periods were also like this when I was a teen. Totally normal. If the cramping and PMS are so awful she can't function then you can talk to your doctor about hormonal birth control to alleviate these symptoms.

Anonymous wrote:Breast cancer and infertility in women's thirties are being linked to birth control. Do not put your kid on it.

Oh really?

My dd vomits when her period starts. My gyn said to have her to take ibuprofen twice a day as soon as she can tell her period is on the way. Ibuprofen can actually block the prostaglandins that cause nausea and vomiting in PMS. It works!!

Very normal. My 16 year old's cycles have come and gone over the past couple of years. She is very thin, which sometimes can exacerbate the regularity.

Teen's Midol and some heating pads may help your daughter. And some sympathy. If she is freaking out at all, look for some books on teen bodies written for girls her age. She may find some comfort reading that a lot of this is normal, too.

Mine was very irregular andpainful as well to start. My mom is an acupuncturist/herbalist and gave me a bunch of crazy herbs, and I got totally regular. Sounds crazy, but you might try it.

Breast cancer and infertility in women's thirties are being linked to birth control. Do not put your kid on it.

Anonymous wrote:DD got her first period last August, then another cycle came in September, November, and February. Nothing since, but the last few weeks she's been experiencing on-and-off cramps, diarrhea, and nausea. Her doctor has assured me that periods can be exceedingly irregular in young teens, but this seems really out of whack. Any other daughters out there go through this? Is this just bad PMS?

Mine started at 8, and I've always had heavy cramping, diarrhea and nausea that sometimes turns into vomiting. Mine is also irregular, I can have 6 months of 7-8 day periods with only a week in between the last day of one and the first of another, but I can also go 6-9 months without having anything (no sexual activity=not pregnant). The only things that I've found that helped were a hot water bottle strapped to my stomach while lying down in the fetal position for cramps (heating pads and those stick on warming thingies are useless because they don't get hot, just warm), sitting on the toilet with my head between my shins for nausea (unwelcome but expected side effects are dizziness and legs falling asleep) and (self-induced) orgasms to relax the muscles and cut down on the diarrhea (but I certainly wouldn't recommend that for a preteen or teen). Make sure she gets enough iron and fluids, has a change of clothes in her locker or wherever she's going to be this summer, and that she knows that it might get better, but even if it doesn't, she will live through it. I do not advocate for BC to control hormonal imbalances, as it throws some women's hormones further out of whack (I was bleeding for 2 months straight, even after I stopped the blasted things, and went from having high iron levels to being dangerously anemic).