Now I know what a Incontinence pad feels like LOL

[Gratefully2years]

I work in LTC so of course I go to work not armed with any sanitary pads and the women I work with are well past this annoying monthly issue. And of course today was the day I cleaned my car. 12:00 am and oh no seriously. So I check the supply closet and there they are the incontinence pads we give our residents. I will say I am very glad I was not resorted to a brief. Note to self make sure all needs are in car when coming to work. It's going to be a night LOL. Thank God scrubs are loose and I am tiny LOL. 

[ruby_jane, BSN, RN]

I don't miss these days! I usually had a stash in my car. Necessity is a mother, right?

[peach2218, CNA]

I have a period that sneaks up on me-- 2 years postpartum with the Nexplanon implant, it's NEVER regular. It's also super heavy. I have worn pull-up briefs more times than I care to discuss. On the bright side, once I made my favorite 96 year old resident laugh until she peed (which didn't take long). 

[VivaLasViejas, ASN, RN]

I used to have periods when I went through a super-plus tampon, a thick pad, AND a Depends within half an hour sometimes. They were so heavy that I once bled for three weeks and became so anemic that I needed a transfusion. I’d passed out at work too. Then I had this little procedure called an endometrial ablation, which took care of things nicely. I still had menses, but they were lighter and much less frequent until I reached menopause only a couple of years after my D&C and ablation. Also it pretty much wiped out my ability to get pregnant, which is important when you’re well into your 40s and are ready to be done with child-rearing!

[amoLucia]

Gratefully - I KNOW you meant this post in gentle fun and I did smile when I remembered my 'back in the day' days when I could get caught off guard. It was infreq because I was VERY regular.

But I use incontinence pads & pullups now as I've developed 'gotta go, gotta go' problems. It takes time & money to get the best combination for one's needs. When your lifestyle has to consider leaking WHENEVER, it's not pleasant.

Viva - I too, had a D&C for hypermennorrhagia (I used to teach entry level med terminology to non-nsg students). If only I had known about the D&C earlier, I'd avoided so much grief!

[OldEMTNurse, LPN, EMT-I]

Do you remember the days when girls wore the menses belt? Yep, the necessary item that was supposed to keep the needed item in place, but rarely did. I was in High School when that belt decided to go cockeyed. Off came the pad and fell under my desk chair. I quickly kicked it to the back of the classroom before anyone saw what I did. Sometimes janitors have to clean up terribly embarrassing things.

[Hannahbanana, BSN, MSN]

Oh god, those awful belts. Once I found myself in a public place and discovered the rear tab had come undone, the belt thus pulling the whole pad up in front of my pubis. Looked like a hard-on.

I was never so happy as when I got my period one day and had no pads and my mother wasn't home to take me to the store. I grabbed one of her Tampax and never went back (though I found better brands later).