My Period Panty Horror Story

If you get a period, you’ve probably seen an ad for these somewhere. They’re the hot new blood soakers meant to make having a period more sustainable and easier to manage. No more leaking through pads at night or tampon pee string or menstrual cup rinsing. Just super absorbent panties that can last users as long as 10 hours. Since I hate the hassle of other period products, I decided to invest.

Fast forward to a couple of weeks later. For once I was excited to wake up to find my period had started in the night. That morning I broke out a lacy pair of my new period panties and went to work. I won’t lie, it felt strange not having the buffer of a pad or tampon, but I decided to shove all those thoughts away. I’d heard great things about them from a friend and I was looking forward to making this my new normal.

I walked into work practically buzzing, but trying to keep my composure. I felt so empowered just freely bleeding and I didn’t have a care in the world...for about an hour and a half. I was sitting at work when my nether regions started to feel very... wet for lack of a better word. I went to the bathroom to find that I had completely bled through the panties and the blood was seeping into my, thankfully black, leggings. I started to panic. So much for that 10 hour protection. I didn’t want to tell anyone, but there was no way I could make it through an 8 hour shift. I ran to the nurses station (I work at a psychiatric institute) and told the charge nurse that an emergency had come up and that I had to run home. I was being intentionally vague, but I was hoping my use of the word “emergency” and my promise to return would be enough to get her approval, but she told me I’d have to ask my (male) supervisor.

The last thing I wanted to do was tell my supervisor that I had bled through my pants as he isn’t the best communicator and is also moderately sexist. We went back and forth for a while. He tried to make me clock out. All the while I’m aware of how soaked my butt is getting. He gave me a hard time, but I finally got to leave. I was mortified, practically raging on the ride back. Wondering how this was possible, if I had gotten duped, bleeding onto my seat the whole drive home. I got in, did a quick wash up, and did my best to clean up the murder scene that was my underwear and leggings before racing back to work. My flow was so heavy I had to use a super tampon and an overnight pad to catch everything. I got back in after being gone for close to an hour, hoping no one noticed that I’d changed my pants. If anyone did, they didn’t mention it.

I’m intentionally keeping the name of this brand private because this isn’t meant to be a review and I don’t want to bash them. If anything I blame myself. I had started an iron supplement a month before and it made my period heavier so I just figured I’d bought the wrong absorbency. So, lesson learned. Next time I’ll try a different brand and a higher absorbency. The experience wasn’t all bad. I’m glad I invested and I still use them midway through my period when my flow is lighter. But in the meantime, back to pads and tampons I go.