Tampons are Tools of Patriarchy

[Khiwanean]

Before the Diva Cup I tried another brand that I don't recall the name of. It was grey rubber instead of Diva's clear silicone and I could actually hear it squeaking when I walked. Like someone in wet shoes walking on a hardwood floor. Don't ask, I have no idea why it did that. The tail of it was really long and pokey too, I don't know why I didn't think of just cutting that off.

Was it the Keeper? They're the only brand I know of that uses latex rubber. Most other brands I've heard of use silicone or some kind of fancy plastic.

I know others responded, but this is my experience. I have a very heavy flow. On my worst days I have to "dump the cup" about every 90 minutes. I use pads as backup for when I know I won't have easy access to a bathroom (and at night). The "overflow" is it'll just leak and if you squeeze it'll run out ;).

I say it takes maybe 2-4 cycles to get the hang of. I recommend trying it while not on your period while using a lot of lube. There's also a bunch of folding techniques you can use (I use a "punchdown" method).

Livejournal for a while (idk if it is still active) had a really good dedicated community to all things menstrual cubs: menstrual-cups.livejournal.com/‎

Definitely use lube. And water-based at that if you have a silicone cup. I remember doing "dry runs" with my Diva and insertion was on the painful side. Even when I got things situated, it was still rather uncomfortable. Once I was on my period, things were... moister, even if I hadn't started bleeding yet, so adequate lubrication wasn't an issue. Not that everyone won't need extra lubrication.

A deep 7 fold is my fold of choice. I've briefly tried other folds, including the punchdown and origami, but the 7 is just the easiest for me to get to open up properly.

Edited to fix quoting issues

[ems]

Because you're not a true feminist unless you interact with your bodily fluids.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/witw/artic ... sible.html

Certainly tampon use has nothing to do with hygiene, and everything to do with shame. Amiright, ladies?

I first started using tampons when I was a teenager at the beach with my family, and wanting to swim. At the time, it was quite awkward... :embarrassed:

I continue to use them because I like to swim and also because they are much more comfortable than pads.

So, yeah, nothing to do with "period shame."

I also don't like the idea that just because something is normal and natural, it should be out in the open, and that if it is private that means it's abnormal/unnatural. Some very normal and natural things (sex, menstruation, other bodily fluids...) should be kept private. Doesn't mean they're unnatural.

[Hane]

Back in the '70s, I went to a Womyn's Camping Weekend (which turned out to be a lesbian-separatist camping weekend--I got a succession of funny looks when I mentioned my husband). One of the women there sang a song called "It's a New Day Dawning When You've Got the Bloods," and there was a lively conversation about using a speculum and a mirror to watch oneself MENSTRUATE OMGZZZ!!! I felt like a Bad Feminist for thinking this no more special than watching oneself cry, sweat, or urinate.

[SpeakNow]

Back in the '70s, I went to a Womyn's Camping Weekend (which turned out to be a lesbian-separatist camping weekend--I got a succession of funny looks when I mentioned my husband). One of the women there sang a song called "It's a New Day Dawning When You've Got the Bloods," and there was a lively conversation about using a speculum and a mirror to watch oneself MENSTRUATE OMGZZZ!!! I felt like a Bad Feminist for thinking this no more special than watching oneself cry, sweat, or urinate.

That sounds about as wonderful as watching myself poop. No thanks. I do many things that I don't feel the need to watch.

[happy atheist]

using a speculum and a mirror to watch oneself MENSTRUATE OMGZZZ!!!

Do Not Want!

[snusmumriken]

Back in the '70s, I went to a Womyn's Camping Weekend (which turned out to be a lesbian-separatist camping weekend--I got a succession of funny looks when I mentioned my husband). One of the women there sang a song called "It's a New Day Dawning When You've Got the Bloods," and there was a lively conversation about using a speculum and a mirror to watch oneself MENSTRUATE OMGZZZ!!! I felt like a Bad Feminist for thinking this no more special than watching oneself cry, sweat, or urinate.

Agh, it's like in Fried Green Tomatoes...only worse. Towanda! :auto-layrubber:

[keen23]

Not everyone can take birth control*, even if they want to. I can never.

ETA:*=Hormonal types of birth control

You do have the option of the copper IUD- Paragard. However, the effects on your period are the complete opposite of Mirena. Longer, heavier periods result.

I mistakenly grabbed a box of mixed sizes tampons last time I went to the store. I had to laugh, because the Jr sizes won't do squat for me now, and it would probably come flying out the first time I sneezed (please tell me I'm not the only one).

[AnywhereButHere]

Apparently the tampon's usefulness knows no bounds! :D

artofmanliness.com/2012/06/05/survival-tampon/

[fakepigtails73]

I use regular tampons (never Super or Super +) during the days and pads at night. Never perfumed...

I never tried the Diva Cup or the Mensu Sponge, I don't know, old habits die hard I guess! There's something off-putting about it to me. But to have other options on the market is good. I'm a member of the so-called Generation X so my Mom is a Baby-Boomer, and I remember being a young teen with her telling me stories about the pads she had to wear that came with "belts". Yuck! That must've been awkward! :disgust:

About the age when one got her 1st period...I got mine at 9 yrs old. Pretty young, no? I've heard that the younger one woman had her 1st period the more at risk she is of getting certain cancers (breast, ovarian...) Old wives tale, or true?

Each time of the month when I get my periods I hate it because for the first 2 or 3 days my moods are in such chaos and I get bad cramping! :pull-hair: Even with my taking a low-hormonal birth controp pill and the other meds for my b.p. disorder that "supposedly" help with the PMS syndrome.

I remember a few yrs ago my Mom told me that after she had her menopause and stopped having menstruations alltogether she, as strange as it may sound, ended up "missing" it once in a while. At least during the first couple of years of her menopause. I understand what she means though... :mouse-shock: It will be weird when I won't have my periods anymore after having them monthly since I'm 9!

[Seal]

Back in the '70s, I went to a Womyn's Camping Weekend (which turned out to be a lesbian-separatist camping weekend--I got a succession of funny looks when I mentioned my husband). One of the women there sang a song called "It's a New Day Dawning When You've Got the Bloods," and there was a lively conversation about using a speculum and a mirror to watch oneself MENSTRUATE OMGZZZ!!! I felt like a Bad Feminist for thinking this no more special than watching oneself cry, sweat, or urinate.

Yeah... I love being female and all, but that sounds rather dull actually. It's not like you're watching a geyser blow or something, geez. Did they make popcorn too?

[OkToBeTakei]

I've never seen perfumed tampons here. Saying that I have never seen the smelly bits adverts either. Nor EVER seen anything as described as a douche. Strawberry or any other flavour :shock: Sounds like some type of weird enema in ze wrong bit.

Mr OK has no problem buying my stuff. WHAT I get is always a trip. He seems to watch adverts and thinks I will like the latest and funkiest product. I'm pretty ok with most things. Last month I got these TAMPAX brand tampons in wee plastic moulds that were pretty cool tbh :lol:

I am seriously not tempted by the cup idea. But that maybe because at mid forties I'm just used to my ways and means and really don't want to break in a new method. I just don't like the idea of it for some reason. Really interested to read all the experiences though. Filing them away for my daughter, another option.

On the pads with loops thing. My brother once came to the dinner table with one of those secured under his ears as he had cut his head. He was 9. My sister was wholly unimpressed my Mother nearly wet herself with suppressed laughter. That was the evening he learned from Mum about living with three sisters :lol:

[Conuly]

It will be weird when I won't have my periods anymore after having them monthly since I'm 9!

Well, to each her own. I turned 30, realized I'd been menstruating for 20 years, then danced around the house to celebrate the halfway mark.

[jaynie]

I have a heavy flow and find the Diva cup better than tampons + pads which is what I used to do. I still usually wear a pad for the 2 heavy days, as a backup, but you can tell before "emergency" time that you need to empty it. Those days, I need to change it in public once if I'm out for 8-9 hours. And on heavy days yeah, it can be messy and get on my hand but that's easily washable and stopped squicking me out early on.

But as people have said, there is a definite learning curve to keep the messiness contained. The first two periods were a little rough until I really got the hang of changing it, and changing in public back then was a bit of a mistake. Stuck in a stall in JoAnn all like WHAT DO I DO?? Haha. But it got much, much better. I prefer now to change it in a private or empty bathroom because...sounds...but it's not so bad otherwise.

Okay, end TMI. Hope some of this info helps! :dance:

Ditto all of that, with two additional points:

1. I used to carry around baby wipes before I got the hang of containing the messiness. They were lifesavers, and took care of all the gore nicely, plus they come in useful in a ton of other situations as well, which mean no one will ever question why you're carrying them. Not that it should matter, but if you're as easily embarrassed as I am, it helps. Also, all of your friends will be enormously grateful when you sit down together at a sticky pub table and you have the cure!

2. I had immense trouble with nights in the Pad Days -- no matter what combination I tried, I always ended up with Horror Movie Sheets. But I no don't seem to have this trouble with the cup, even though I overflow in the day time. I'm not sure if that's my body changing, or if it's the way the cup holds the blood when I'm laying down (I suspect it's that), or if it's just plain old Crunchy Hippie Voodoo Magic, but hey, if it works for me, it might for you as well?

[PennySycamore]

I was told you're not supposed to flush tampons because they are specifically meant to be expanding plugs of cotton that absorb water, so they end up clogging. I was told this by the plumber who came to fix our toilet after I had been living with my partner for about two months. :? Oops.

ETA for riffles.

When I'd take my tampon out, believe me, they could not have held one more mL of fluid. They were soaked.

[ILoveJellybeans]

Reading this thread, I am super blessed to have super light 2-3 day long periods. Although on the first day I get cramps so bad I want to rip the stupid thing out, stuff it in a box and mail it to Michelle Duggar, to go to Uterus Hell.

[alchemy]

I mistakenly grabbed a box of mixed sizes tampons last time I went to the store. I had to laugh, because the Jr sizes won't do squat for me now, and it would probably come flying out the first time I sneezed (please tell me I'm not the only one).

Doubling up of the wee ones works really well on heavy flow days. This I found out quite by accident when I forgot to remove one before inserting the next.

[Effie]

That depends on whether you use the collected blood to create art, obviously.

Ugh that reminds me of some menstrual "art" that I have seen on the interwebs. Some lady was creating menstrual art cards for her friends. I wonder if she had any friends left after that...

[meep]

Doubling up of the wee ones works really well on heavy flow days. This I found out quite by accident when I forgot to remove one before inserting the next.

What?! Isn't that dangerous? I've never heard of anyone doing that.

[Conuly]

What?! Isn't that dangerous? I've never heard of anyone doing that.

Quite dangerous. The risks of TSS are not overstated.

[DistantStar]

Is it totally awful of me to think that the whole speculum with a mirror (and NOT DURING MY PERIOD, EWW) thing would be kind of interesting to do? Once? It'd be kinda neat to see my cervix. Dunno why I think so, but I'm pretty familiar with all the exterior bits, having gotten out a mirror for those. (This may piss off a certain stripe of feminist, but I don't get the whole "I worship my period" thing. I get the "periods are natural and should not be a source of shame" thing but the sort of stuff I ran across in a few Pagan circles was just weird. As if we women are nothing more than our baby-making bits. Isn't a major point of feminism that we should be seen as MORE than just that? Overkill, ladies, chill out!)

I am told I should be on my knees praising Whoever for the invention of pads with adhesive.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

I found my Diva Cup much easier to use when I turned it inside out. It fit better, and no poky stem.

[Hane]

Elder member here piping up to say that I feel as if my body is on vacation ever since the blessing of menopause. I see ashen-faced young women going around hoping someone can spare some extra-strength ibuprofen, and I remember the bad old days, and feel so awful for them.

[lilith]

Well I just ordered a cup from a Canadian seller on eBay. The costs vary dramatically, from under $10 to over $50, so I ordered a cheaper silicone one with decent reviews.

I love the idea of not having to buy tampons, and if it works for me I'd like to start my daughter with one when she starts menstruating in the next few years - it would be great if she was comfortable with and informed about her body from day one.

[Arete]

Is it totally awful of me to think that the whole speculum with a mirror (and NOT DURING MY PERIOD, EWW) thing would be kind of interesting to do? Once? It'd be kinda neat to see my cervix. Dunno why I think so, but I'm pretty familiar with all the exterior bits, having gotten out a mirror for those. (This may piss off a certain stripe of feminist, but I don't get the whole "I worship my period" thing. I get the "periods are natural and should not be a source of shame" thing but the sort of stuff I ran across in a few Pagan circles was just weird. As if we women are nothing more than our baby-making bits. Isn't a major point of feminism that we should be seen as MORE than just that? Overkill, ladies, chill out!)

I am told I should be on my knees praising Whoever for the invention of pads with adhesive.

You most certainly should, and I don't care if you are an atheist in this case. It's not quite the invention of the printing press, but it is up there as far as I'm concerned. I still shudder when the belts are brought up on this thread. Bad, bad memories. :penguin-no:

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Quite dangerous. The risks of TSS are not overstated.

That happened to me once. I did not get TSS, but I definitely freaked out so much when I realized what had happened that I ended up stress-manifesting a bunch of TSS symptoms (nausea, dizziness, etc.)

I'm a nutcase. :embarrassed: