Am I about to get my period?

If you’re not having sex, don’t worry about it. But yes, take tampons with you. Stress, weight change, all sort of things can change your cycle, especially if you’ve just started within the last year. Pack tampons, extra undies, extra swimsuit, don’t wear white shorts, and you will be fine. You can leave a tampon in for more than 6 hours, if your flow is light.

Like the Scout motto, “Be prepared.”

For a guy @BarnacleBill seems to be able to answer this question with a great answer!

When you are calculating your period, you start with the day that you start your period and count from there.

Try not to get too stressed about it. (easier said than done) If it is supposed to happen it will, you can’t stop it. Take plenty of tampons and pads, what ever you would use. changes of clothing etc. Don’t forget something to ease cramps if you have them.
Would you be swimming more than 6 hours? Put in a fresh tampon before you go swimming and change it when you are done. There will be other girls and women at the camp who are also menstruating, if you have trouble go to one of the counselors or the camp nurse. If the nurse is a guy and you don’t feel comfortable talking to him (he has probably delt with all of this before, but I understand) find a woman to help you.

Good luck and have fun!

Welcome to Fluther!

There is no mention of how long this camp lasts. Do you know if there are laundry facilities there? If not, you might consider taking along some laundry detergent along, just in case. A plastic bag might not be a bad idea either.

Have a wonderful time!

Good advice above. You might also want to consider trying a menstrual cup. It’s not significantly grosser than a tampon, and you can leave it in as long as you need with much less risk of leaking.

@nikipedia depends on the menstrual cup I think. I dried DivaCup, and did not like it. Do you have a suggestion for a more comfortable brand?

@Trozeii Bring both tampons and pads. Leaving them in more than six hours shouldn’t be a concern since, hopefully you use the restroom more than once every six hours. (if not you are dehydrated. drink more water!) just change your tampon when you use the restroom. When you use the restroom before going to bed, use that opportunity to take out your tampon and switch to a pad, since you shouldn’t sleep with tampons in. (although I’ve done it numerous occasions, and the only ill effect has been some minor leakage)

Hello hello. I doubt there’s a good way to predict your periods arrival. I presume you’re young and periods can be irregular when they’re still a new thing. I had one stop for a day and then come back once. It can be weird. I’ve never heard of predicting a period based on discharge, but frankly, women’s periods vary from women to women. Just because one person can predict their periods that way doesn’t mean it will work for yours.

At this point I wouldn’t recommend a menstrual cup. They are quite useful, but there’s a steeper learning curve when it comes to using them so if you aren’t so comfortable using tampons a cup would definitely do too far at this point. However if you do need to use tampons the important thing is to relax. If you’re nervous about using a tampon inserting one is only going to be more unpleasant. I for one would think slimy thoughts when I needed to insert one. Slugs and Jabba the Hut eased in many a tampon when the little buggers resisted.

@fundevogel Oh my lord! That is too hilarious. I don’t think thinking about Jabba the Hutt would help me to get anything in into my vagina but to each their own. I usually think of things that I find sexy to ease the process if there is difficulty.

@FluffyChicken Yeah…it’s like running the tap to encourage pee for me. Clearly this is all far too much information though.

Oh fluther, you and your protective anonymity. The things you pry from me.