When did you start?

Pretty young actually, age 10. I remember being so scared; I thought I was bleeding to death! XD

Age 10 and a half, it was Labor Day, which I thought was prophetically ironic, but I ended up never having kids! I had just gotten booster shots, and my mother (immigrant, 3rd grade education) said maybe the shots "brought it on." I remember thinking, this woman will kill or paralyze me with her superstitions, I can never confide or trust in her again. We were having a family picnic, just us and my brother's girlfriend in the backyard, playing cards. This is significant because I was never allowed to interrupt her when she was in a card game with my uncles. (Even these past few years, when she would TELL me to call her while she was playing cards, I would be a liitle afraid she would yell at me!) Anyway, I called out the bedroom window to her that I needed her; she refused to come in. I repeated my request; she said she would send in my father! I said, No, it has to be YOU! I think finally my brother's girlfriend came in to me, saw what was going on, and went out and got my mother to come in. Then she told me never to talk to ANYONE about it, and I didn't, not even my little girlfriends. Shame, shame, shame.

I was 12.

I was 13. It was one of the few times my mom was supportive.

aged 8, was best thing to happen to me, finally i was left alone for a week each month, i actually looked forward to it coming! once i sussed out i was safe during period time i used it to my advantage every other week i would tell both my step father and brother that i could not play their games because i was on! it worked for a while until they got wise that i couldn't possibly be on so much! i even saved used pads to show them to 'prove' i was really on!!! gross but when needs must one does whatever one can! I hated pads, the blood on them frieked me out, so as i used to do the weekly shopping i ventured into tampons three months after my first one, they are the best thing since sliced bread! now i have no choice, can't wear tampons as i am incontinent, and it is a waste of time putting a pad in to the 'adult nappy' style things i have to contain my ablutions! i now hate my periods, the blood, the smell, yuuuukkkkkk! roll on the menapause!

My grandmother didn't get hers until she was 16. It could have been due to stress or other factors, since it was during WWII. I don't know how old my mom was. I have heard that girls are getting them younger and younger, though.

The pill is the best thing ever. Even from my first period at 13 they were extremely painful, lasted up to two weeks, and came whenever the heck they felt like it. Sometimes miss it for 4 months, then twice a month. I used to get cramps so bad it felt like my whole insides were trying to ram their way out through the bottom of my pelvis and take the whole outside part with it too. I had cramps so bad I had to get down on my knees at work and deep-breathe. And the irregularity meant I could get it at any time, any incredibly inconvenient and unexpected time. Horrible, crappy. Since I've been on the pill, they have been light and short, and I always know when, so it's easy. Made my life so much better!

Oh yeah... I also don't use disposable feminine products. It's awesome! I use a Diva Cup during my period and Luna Pads for light days afterward. No garbage! Diva Cup can stay in for 12 hours, empty, wash, put back in! Very convenient, don't have to think about it all day. And with the Luna Pads, just throw them in the wash. Keep one in your purse just in case. They even come with a travel pouch with separate sections for clean/dirty. I love these things so much, and I love the fact that there is no garbage for the landfill, and for other people to deal with. I'll post links:

http://lunapads.com/

lots of different types and sizes. I just use the teen size, since it's only for light days, or overnight (mine are light at night, but it's different for everyone, obviously!)

http://lunapads.com/divacup/diva-cup.html

Two sizes available depending on age/circumstances. You can wear it for sports or swimming. Takes a bit of getting used to, but is normal after that. I know a few women who use them and love them too!

Really? I have to sleep with a towel so I dont ruin my bed!

Some of that controversy is involved with all the hormones they pump into cows for continuous milk production. Along with anti-biotics and everything else they put into your meat and dairy, a theory is that these things are causing early development in children, resulting in girls getting periods earlier. Possibly resulting in bigger mood swings, more symptoms of PMS and PMDD and worse periods. The things we do for food....

http://www.livescience.com/1824-trut...y-puberty.html

I was 14 and in 8th grade, so not too traumatic. By that point I was worried something was wrong with me as everyone else I knew had theirs!

I believe I was 11, almost 12 when mine started. I remember being in 5th grade and the office not having anything for girls starting their period. I wasn't sure what was going on for sure. I thought I knew, but it kind of scared me. When one of the office staff figured it out, she said, "you want me to call your mom?" And my mom came to my rescue.

I was 14 years old.

My first was a week before my fifteenth birthday... then it didn't happen again for nearly a year. My mother was convinced I was pregnant (so humiliating for the virgin I was... I'd just got over the shock of discovering I had a vagina when the first period hit, now I was supposed to have put something in it?) I had to go to the doctor's with her to confirm a) that I wasn't pregnant, and b) that I was virgo intacta. Anyway the second came shortly before my sixteenth, then six months later they finally kicked in regularly. And they were awful... so painful I threw up and fainted regularly. It got so bad that when I was at college my Dad often had to come in and drive me home because I'd puked, then passed out in my own vomit, and on coming to couldn't walk.

Best thing about pregnancy (physiologically speaking... the baby was the best thing) was that my periods stopped feeling like I was being stabbed repeatedly in the nether regions with a hot knife. It only hurt like hell... and they finally became regular when I was nursing my son.

But I have to say, the pain of my first few years menstruating was so bad that, if I had to go through them again, I'd seriously consider suicide. It was awful.

((((((((((((mgran)))))))))))))

I was 13 when i started (i think, i'm not 100% sure though....i just remember waking up and feeling really ill)

I was one week away from my 12th birthday. I could not believe the pain. Mom told Dad and I tried to hide the shame I felt. I was a little angry too as I had a big softball game coming up in just three days ! It was the beginning of some very difficult/painful/irregular periods for me. At the age of 32, and a 3rd miscarriage, a hysterectomy was medically necessary for a pre-cancer condition. I was glad to get rid of the "mess" but really struggled with my identity as a woman.

interesting! i didnt' start till i was 2 months away from my 18th b-day i thought it was normal. i was highly allergic to foods so i grew up on fresh goats milk and everything was made from scratch we even raised our own cows and pigs..chickenc...ectt... didn't even have a soda till my twenties and none of the candy or snack s u see in stores.

Yeah, my mom started to be concerned when I hadn' started by age 12. When I finally got it at age 14, she was so excited! lol

Oh god! I would go to the doctor if my periods were ever that bad.

I was 13, and asked my mum if i would have to have a hysterectomy because it was heavy!

My parents didn't even know until I was about 16 even though I started at 11. My family never did "the talk" about sex or development or anything. So I was embarrassed and really didn't know what was going on. I did the toilet paper method or stole tampons from my sister for as long as I could remember.

I was 13.

I was nine. I wasn't afraid. My Aunt has always been really open about things like this and on my father's side all the women started at a very early age.

Wow, for all you early starters I am going to be paranoid now. My daughter is 9! My mom started at 8 or 9.. We are so not ready for that yet!!!

I started at age 11, I was a swimmer and it was a big meet that day.