Desperate for advice on stopping my daughters periods....

[Guest guest]

Hi, my daughter is 12 years old and has been getting her period for just over a

year now. She is non-verbal and considered to be severe on the ASD spectrum. She

can communicate via a Dynavox but cannot always tell us how she is feeling. She

seems to be handling the period ok but REFUSES to wear a pad, she actually gets

very upset and angry if I try to place it in her underware. She will rip it out

and throw it away. She is usually a very loving and non-violent person but show

her a pad and she is enraged. I have tried every trick in the book but she

simply hates it. I even tried to show her how a tampon works but no dice. She

also is CONSTANTLY wiping her vagina with toilet paper or anything she can get

her hands on (like the bathroom towels)because she must feel she has urinated in

her pants. All I do for the entire time is clean blood out of clothes, towels,

carpets, bed linens etc... The school refuses to accept her if she won't wear

the pad and I understand that but now she loses almost a week every month and

that is unfair to my daughter.

I took her to an OB/GYN and at first they refused to do anything due to her very

young age, again, I understand but the circumstances are unique. They never

dealt with a person who has autism. They had a team meeting to discuss our

options at my request and the group of doctors came up with a prescription for

Lybrel. I was and still am VERY nervous about any birth control pill due to the

known side effects. We started the Lybrel 2 weeks ago and today I found out this

medicine has been removed from the market....the doctor claims due to patent

laws, not anything to due with harming women. They now have ordered seaonale. My

question to the group is this: after 2 weeks on the Lybrel (which contains both

estrogen and progesterone in low doses) she seems bloated and her breasts seem

to have grown (both known side effects) She is CONSTANTLY touching and squeezing

her breasts and lifting her shirt in public. I am trying to teach her time and

place for touching herself but it seems as though maybe her breasts are tender

and she is possibly massaging them to make them feel better? I gave her Motrin

and it seemed to have helped. I am not sure if I should consider stopping the

Seasonale but dealing with the period again scares us. I don't know what our

options are at this point due to her young age. The doctors refuse to place an

IUD such as Merena, or any surgical intervention such as uterine ablation. They

say that they only due the ablation for women who are done having babies. I

doubt my daughter will EVER have an opportunity to have a baby considering the

severity of her autism. I think the ablation makes the most sense but they won't

consider it. What else can I do if giving her the birth control pill fails????

Any advice would be so much appreciated!!!

Thanks,

Tina