SHOULD I THROW MY MENSTRUAL CUP AWAY?

UPDATE!!! 😱 4 MONTHS LATER, ALL I CAN SAY IS WOWWW YALL..... YOU BEAUTIES WERE 1000000% RIGHT!!!! MENSTRUAL CUPS ARE THE WAY TO GO!!!😭😭😭

I JUST WANNA KNOW... WHERE HAVE THESE THINGS BEEN ALL MY LIFE?!?!?!🥺🥺

Ok so imma be honest, I took a break from my diva cups for a cycle or two after my 1st “negative” experience (documented below) , but then I ran out of tampons and pads in Feb/March ~ and I totally didn’t feel like going to the store amid COVID 👎🏾, so I pulled my cups out and decided to give the cup another try and whewwwwww 😅 I LOVE THEM NOW 😍😍. They’ve saved me money, allowed me to feel confident during my period bc of NO LEAKS and they’re totally COMFORTABLE now that I know how to put the cup in and take it out correctly ~ thanks to the feedback YOU ALL left in my comments!!!! 💭

The tips y’all gave on how to properly insert the cup and make sure it’s properly sitting in vagina walls; as well as making sure I BREAK THE SEAL and “PUSH” to take it out; as well as taking it out in the shower 🚿 and boiling the cups after use; have all been life savers!!!!

I suggest anyone who’s over the fence about the cup to read the comments under this post to learn the CORRECT way to use cups because doing it right makes AAALLLLLLLL the difference!!!!!

I still only get a 2 day cycle with light discharge on day 3 :) and yes, my dr said I’m okay!! So I use a liner and/or tampon oh the last 2 days bc my first day is my only real period day ~ but using a cup for my heaviest flows has been MAJORRRRR.

There’s a lot I could say. But I just wanna tell y’all thank youuuuu for the insight you shared with me AND for convincing me to give them another chance!!!! IM NEVER TURNING BACK 😂😂😂😭😭 I Love y’all and I hope you’re okay and safe during these corona times!!!’

Sincerely, me 😘

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I got on my period yesterday. I usually use a tampon and a pad simultaneously because my flow is soooo heavy, but my friend told me about her menstrual cups that she got a year ago, and she swears they’re the best thing that happened to her period life. She said they’re extremely cost efficient compared to disposable pads/tampons, 100% environment friendly, and great for heavy flows. My flow is HEAVY. Like... REALLY heavy. But on the brighter side, I don’t get any cramps at all and my cycle is only 2 days, so I’m not mad at all lol. I wanted to try something new for the new year anyway, so I ordered my cups last month, and my plan was to use them for my 1st cycle of the decade.

I used my cup all of yesterday and into this morning. But after 24 hours, I’m having... mixed feelings. Here are a few pros and cons of the cup based on my day 1 observations.

PROS:

- I could literally FEEL when my flow was entering the cup, and naturally, I knew when it was time to change it. Every article I came across online said you should change your cup every 12 hours, but as I mentioned before, my flow is extremely heavy, so by the 3-4 hour mark, I was already at the 20ml mark - which is the fullest it can get for the small cup. The company I purchased from suggested women under 25 and with no history of child birth to use the SMALL cup, and women over 25 and with a history of childbirth to use the LARGE cup. I’m 22 and have never given birth, so I got the small cup. I have to say, it was FASCINATING to see my blood 🩸 in one concentrated area. Another PRO is You can have the cup inserted while peeing. We have 3 wholes as women (URETHRA, VAGINA, ANUS). You pee from the urethra and the cup goes inside your vagina, so there’s really no interaction. Because of their material, tampons normally get wet when you pee and so you have to take them off, but not the cup. There’s literally 0 interaction between the pee and your cup. And there were 0 traces of urine in my blood every time I took it out. That was pretty decent to me. Lastly, the cup is very discrete. You completely forget about it after a few minutes of inserting it. My cup is made of a very soft, flexible material , so it allows me to move around COMPLETELY freely without worrying about anything. It literally feels like you’re not even on your period. Now, on to the reasons why I want to throw this thing OUT 🗑.

CONS

- About an an hour with my menstrual cup inside of me, I was going about my business and as I aforementioned, I completely forgot it was inside me. I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and reached to my vagina to see how my flow was doing , and I noticed there was slight traces of blood. It wasn’t too much blood so I was not tripping at all, but when I went to reach for the long, pull-able part at bottom of the cup, I COULD NOT FIND IT. I FREAKED OUT. I looked all around the house, thinking maybe it had fallen off or something, only to touch myself again and that thing was ALL THE WAY UP MY VAGINA. I was SHOCKED. I was like wtf??? Is it supposed to go in that DEEP? So I rinse my hands again and I try to pull it out and when I say that process was a B*TCH!!!! Unlike the string on a tampon which is long enough to easily pull out; The “string” of the cup (the long part at the bottom) was soooo hard to pull. It is not like a string AT ALL. And when I did pull it Out, it was freaking PAINFUL. I got a little better at taking it out throughout the day, but that first time taking it out was hell. Another con is it is MESSY. I have a super heavy flow so even just 10 seconds of reaching into my vagina to pull the cup out had my fingers DRENCHED in blood 🩸. I didn’t like that at all. I also learned that I HATE how period blood SMELLS. With tampons and pads you don’t really smell the blood because you’re disposing them immediately after use, but I rinsed out my cup every time I took it out (with cold and then hot water), the IRON-ish smell made me slightly nauseous, I’m not gonna lie. I know it’s my own blood and it’s nature and blah blah blah, but there’s a reason I’m not a nurse or a doctor. I HATE the sight and smell of blood.

MY BIGGEST CON however was how I felt after I WOKE UP this morning. I did extensive research online and EVERYONE said it’s okay to sleep with your cup, including the company I purchased from, so I did. I slept for 8 hours and this time around, I put a light pad on to prevent messing my sheets up. When I woke up this morning 1) MY CUP WAS COMPLETELY FULL 2) MY UTERUS LINING HURT BAD 3) THERE WAS BLOOD ON MY PANTS DESPITE MY WEARING BOTH THE CUP AND A PAD 😭

I wore a wing-less pad bc I figured I didn’t need my super ones since I already had the cup in, and boy was I WRONG. The pad shifted when I was sleep and it completely messed up my granny panties and pants smh. Those are just clothes tho so it’s whatever. What I’m NOT feeling AT ALL is how my uterus area is feeling this morning 😣. Its literally so SORE. Is this how women with cramps feel?? Bc this is NOT it! Im not in pain or nothing but there’s this sore feeling around my uterus area and all I want to do is to crawl in a ball with a heater next to my belly. I don’t like this at all!

I wanna give my cup another chance, but I’m definitely NOT wearing it today. My vagina needs a break because wheeeww... it’s SORE honey. Do any of you use the cup? And if so, are you NOT supposed to wear it at night or something? What am I doing wrong? Thanks I’m advance.