When did you start?

I was 10. And the cramping that has went along with it is horrible. It was much worse when I was younger. I'd cramp so bad that I couldn't move or talk, just lay there in agony.

I was two weeks shy of 16. Late menarche runs in my maternal line. I told my older daughter about it so she would not be surprised that she is later than her peers.

I was 12, almost 13 when I started. I remember hiding it for the first 2 day until my mom finally caught on, I remember crying when she told me she knew. Being the youngest of three children, I have an older brother and older sister, I was afraid she would be disappointed that I was growing up. I actually started before my sister did, she's two years older. Looking back now I feel ridiculous for hiding it, my parents have never given me a real reason to fear telling them anything.

I also remember that one time when I was 15 and at school, it had been particularly heavy and actually started to leak through my jeans. It didn't have any extra jeans and none of my friends wore the same size so I had to call home. It was my dad who answered (my mom wasn't home at the time) and I almost panicked, I feel awkward talking to my dad about such things. I ended up telling him that I had a migraine and felt really sick so he would let me come home.

I started it on my birthday in 1989. Talk about a rude gift from Mother Nature...it freaked me out.

I was just over thirteen and a half. However, it kind of stopped again the following year when I was fourteen and a half for a few months - possibly partly because of the emotional breakdown I was going through.

Oh the joy of a 9 (almost 10) year old!!!! Painful period and size C breasts? What a great way to spend the last year of elementary school.... now I'm 14 still have terrible cramps (immobilizing) and DD-DDD breasts...what a joy....

Technically, I started at 10, because many years later, my mother informed me I had been "spotting" before what I was calling my official start time, which was about 3 or 4 weeks after I turned 11, in that same month (March). I was already in bras at age 10.

My period hasn't always been regular. In the beginning, my flow was very heavy and I would have severe cramps. I usually missed a day of school each month because of them. I also had people not believe me about them. Also, I would start, and then three or four days later, stop, and then a day after that, start up again, for another couple of days. That stopped in my late teens but has since started up again, for the past few years, although my flow isn't as heavy as it was in my teens, and I haven't gotten severely bad cramps since my early 20's (although still some cramps sometimes). I wasn't in menopause when my gyno checked me a few years ago, but maybe the change is because I'm going through in the next few years? I don't know. I should get tested again, but I get tired of going to doctors who don't have answers to fix what's wrong with me. (Like almost no sex drive...but I posted about that in another forum under another topic.)

Oh, yeah, just wanted to add a comment: Someone commented they were surprised there were girls who didn't start until after age 16. I'm sure there are cases where this isn't the reason, but years ago, I heard it was common for very athletic girls to start later. Something about the amount of exercise and practice they do.

I was 13. We were visiting a friend for Thanksgiving...And I couldn't figure out what was wrong. After going through all my panties, I asked Mom. She let me borrow some of her's (she didn't have any "things" with her, either) and convinced my Dad to go home early...Oh, that was awful!

I was 9, I had boobs and severe acne by the time I was 8. Needless to say elementary school was not fun, though it felt gratifying to watch the people who gave me a hard time deal with the same exact thing years later after I got over the awkward phase.

I was the first person in my class to get her period. Felt kind of special, because other than asking the teacher questions about it, people kept coming to me with their questions!

I was almost 9 when I started. Hate Hate HATE it! I have really bad cramps on my left side when it starts. Since I don't want kids, I wish they would take it away!

It is a very distinct tribute to be chosen as the friend and confidant of a cat. ~ H.P. Lovecraft

Why so serious? ~ The Joker

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~ C.S. Lewis

Bastetsha, have you considered going on birth control to stop your period? You would take the hormone pills all month long, skip the placebos and start the next pack right away (not skipping a week). You'd do this for three or four months, then allow yourself to have your period, and then start the birth control again. It means you won't have those nasty cramps and the mess to deal with. It also comes with the same benefits of taking birth control as it's normally taken, lowering your risk of certain cancers. I wish I knew of this when I was a teen!

Yep, tried a few of them. One of them worked but they wouldn't let me keep on them because I can't do a pap smear. They tried but I clawed my way out of those stirrups because it hurt so bad (which my therapist thinks is due to childhood trauma). So they told me there was nothing that they could do and to just suffer the pain.

It is a very distinct tribute to be chosen as the friend and confidant of a cat. ~ H.P. Lovecraft

Why so serious? ~ The Joker

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me. ~ C.S. Lewis

I was thirteen and a half, I started on December 20th that year. I had also been anticipating it from the Judy Blume books lol. Most of my friends had already achieved womanhood ahead of me so I had pretty much given up hope that I would ever get it. I learned "on the streets" what periods were etc. my mom treated it like it was a sin so she never educated us girls about it. I never used tampons because I didn't know where the hole was, I studied the little pamphlet in the box of tampons carefully, but I could not understand that there was a hole back there. I thought it was the pee hole, which the first few tampons I ever used I just ended up putting inbetween the lips out of ignorance lol. Wow. I have already planned my daughter's education on this matter, which I will promptly teach her when the time comes. She turns nine this year, so it's coming up. I haven't thought of this stuff in years lol, nice thread.

Scrolling down this is CRAZY to me because I started at age 9. I didn't know what was going on and my mother was forced to explain it. I'd never been to sex ed. at that point and I thought I wasn't wiping good enough. lol smh

I was 12.45 years old

one month before my 17th birthday.

You are the first person who started later than me that I know of. I started two weeks before my 16th birthday and thought that it was a record in starting late.

I don't know if this applies to those of you who started later, but one thing doctors have noticed about girls who start late is that many of them tend to be athletic. It's not uncommon for very athletic girls to start a bit later. Not that I'm a doctor or anything, but thought I'd share this, which may or may not be true. :P

Thank you, Maven. Unfortunately, I am not a particularly good example of athleticim. I am average.