Is it true that fundy girls can't use tampons?

[So Many Lies]

Well the hymen is the most important thing a girl has to offer you know...what self respecting man would ever want 2nd hand goods. :roll:

Some of my family are SDA - pretty moderate bunch - and they were not allowed to use tampons. Not just for virginity's sake but also they are regarded as unhealthy. Along the same lines as "the pill makes you infertile".

[SunnyAndrsn]

Okay interwebs, I need advice on the cup thing. Anyone care to share a bit of information? I've looked up the Diva Cup and how to insert it, but I decided to try Instead, the disposable cup. I couldn't manage to insert it correctly. WTF? How can you do that wrong? Somehow I did.

I'm sick of leaking tampons at work, and I can't always just run to the bathroom to take care of things. So...any tips or tricks from cup users?

[Kitty]

Okay interwebs, I need advice on the cup thing. Anyone care to share a bit of information? I've looked up the Diva Cup and how to insert it, but I decided to try Instead, the disposable cup. I couldn't manage to insert it correctly. WTF? How can you do that wrong? Somehow I did.

I'm sick of leaking tampons at work, and I can't always just run to the bathroom to take care of things. So...any tips or tricks from cup users?

This is what I've been wondering. I managed to insert 2 wrong. I gave up and went back to tampons, which I hate because there is seriously nothing worse than pulling out a dry tampon.

[bionicmlle]

Okay interwebs, I need advice on the cup thing. Anyone care to share a bit of information? I've looked up the Diva Cup and how to insert it, but I decided to try Instead, the disposable cup. I couldn't manage to insert it correctly. WTF? How can you do that wrong? Somehow I did.

I'm sick of leaking tampons at work, and I can't always just run to the bathroom to take care of things. So...any tips or tricks from cup users?

I've used the Instead cup and it seems WAY to large for me (teehee). It worked okay but always needed some re-adjusting. I use the NuvaRing as my BC and NEVER feel it so it's not as though having somethin' there is unusual for me....

[PBrooke]

The whole TSS thing was still an issue by the time I hit puberty. I think even today they say preteens shouldn't use them. I started my period when I was eleven, and was freaked out by what I read about TSS, so there was no way I was going to try tampons, even for swimming (sigh). My (liberal) mother didn't use them, because she said they made her cramp, so I assumed she knew what she was talking about. As a result, I never got around to trying one until I was in college.

Nowadays I use whatever I feel like, based on flow and what I'm doing - tampons, pads, or liners. I also have major Kotex brand loyalty - weird to think that I'll probably have used, with very few exceptions, one brand for my entire menstruating life.

[JesusFightClub]

I don't use tampons because I am super heavy flow person. It's easier to change a pad every two hours than leak everywhere and fish about in your nether regions every two hours.

That aside, gardenvarietycitizen, I wondered about something. I taught in Japan for a bit and I was sort of impressed by the more matter of fact attitude towards bodily functions. At one time a girl fainted in assembly (quite dramatically) and was carried out. I asked one of the boys in her class what had happened, and he said (after consulting his mates and the dictionary) "She has a strong menstruation." But none of them thought it was funny or gross like UK schoolkids would have. In fact they seemed to take it as just something which happens, like catching a cold.

Is this attitude normal amongst Japanese men/boys?

[shangrila]

In the older days, many of the old ladies I know had no clue the'll have periods. When it started, their mothers told them: oh. When it happens, use a rag or cotton. When it stops happening, you're knocked up.

[bubbabearzle]

Okay interwebs, I need advice on the cup thing. Anyone care to share a bit of information? I've looked up the Diva Cup and how to insert it, but I decided to try Instead, the disposable cup. I couldn't manage to insert it correctly. WTF? How can you do that wrong? Somehow I did.

I'm sick of leaking tampons at work, and I can't always just run to the bathroom to take care of things. So...any tips or tricks from cup users?

I could never ever get instead cups to work, they just don't go well with my anatomy, I guess! Diva cups are, IMHO, the way to go. yes, they are more expensive, but they are pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it, which is pretty straightforward. They sit lower in the vagina, and the positioning takes care of itself (there is really only one way for them to sit, whereas the instead cups always seemed to be tipping over to me....

[Kelya]

I could never ever get instead cups to work, they just don't go well with my anatomy, I guess! Diva cups are, IMHO, the way to go. yes, they are more expensive, but they are pretty easy to use once you get the hang of it, which is pretty straightforward. They sit lower in the vagina, and the positioning takes care of itself (there is really only one way for them to sit, whereas the instead cups always seemed to be tipping over to me....

The disposible cups are hard because they seem so flimsy...if you move your muscles the wrong way, they shift and sort of collapse in on themselves, in my experience. The diva cup is strong enough that it makes a better seal and won't collapse.

Also, I forget with the disposible cups, but if you don't turn it enough, you'll leak, so make sure you turn it, then slide your fingers along the edge of the cup to check for any breaks.

[cindyluvs24]

If stuff is coming out, then we're not exactly sealed up to begin with, right? Doc Sharon where are you?

[cindyluvs24]

i remember trying to use them and getting nowhere with those diagrams in the instructions. A compassionate god would have put everything where it can be easily seen.

[genericJname]

Okay interwebs, I need advice on the cup thing. Anyone care to share a bit of information? I've looked up the Diva Cup and how to insert it, but I decided to try Instead, the disposable cup. I couldn't manage to insert it correctly. WTF? How can you do that wrong? Somehow I did.

I'm sick of leaking tampons at work, and I can't always just run to the bathroom to take care of things. So...any tips or tricks from cup users?

In my opinion, cups are awesome. One caveat is that different brands have slightly different shape and I guess some work better for some people's bodies so it might take trying a few. I started with the Diva for about a year and then started having some leaking so I switched to Moon Cup and was a lot happier.

Most of the cups are made of silicone so there is a much lower risk for TSS because there is no absorbent material just sitting in there. You can wear them for 12 hours at a time, unless you have really heavy flow, so there is usually no need to even mess with it at all in public. I just wash mine twice a day and put it back in. The cup manufacturers sell there own expensive soap, but I use unscented generic brand summer's eve instead. I wipe mine down with alcohol between periods (not when I'm putting it back in any time soon because I'm scared of messing with the flora)

The insertion is a little tricky at first to figure out, but once its in right its very secure. Its similar to how to insert a diaphragm except that the cup sits much lower after its in.

I love not having anything to throw away, not having to buy feminine products (except a gentle soap every now and then) and not having to worry about it during the day when I am at work.

[genericJname]

I was never forbidden from the tampon, but because my understanding of self-anatomy was very lacking, I was never able to get it to work. My first time to wear one was the day I got baptized when i was 17. There was going to be this after church ceremony at a lake where a bunch of us were going to get baptized. I was horrified when I woke up that morning and saw that I had started. It took me locking myself in the bathroom for 2 hours to figure out how to get it in. :oops: To top it all off, my mom was furious that I wasn't ready for church when they were leaving and had to drive myself late. I told her and she just didn't get what the big deal was.

[Rosa]

I used Instead for a long time (and I agree that they are harder to insert *correctly* - stiffer cups are harder to insert but more likely to be seated right, IME) and then switched to a natural-rubber Keeper for about 8 years. I couldn't use it for a few years because of ectopic pregnancy treatment, then pregnancy/c-section, and the rubber degraded. So I switched to a silicone Diva Cup. The natural rubber wasn't as slippery and was a lot easier to take back out.

I have a really heavy period and the cup will leak if it gets too full, so I usually wear a cloth pad for backup (a thin one). But it solves one of the main cloth-pad issues, in that my cup doesn't USUALLY leak so I generally just wear the pad all day and don't have to worry about getting a dirty one home.

And I join most of the disposable pad hate. For me it's the weird plastic coating on top - if I have to use a pad, I try to find the super generic cheap paper ones because I just can't stand the feeling of the fancier ones.

[PBrooke]

Wow, I can never imagine being told I can't use tampons. I hate the feel of pads, and haven't worn them since like, the year I started my period. I would always get paranoid about them leaking while I was asleep or something, when I switched over to tampons I never looked back.

Must say, pads have made major advances since I started menstruating in the mid-90s. I use a "thin" kind and I never have the wet-diaper feeling anymore.

[narcoleption reflux]

I wasn't raised fundy, but my mother was very sheltered and had never had a period because of serious gyno-issues. Her mother never gave her "the talk," and I did all my learning about that stuff on my own. I used pads for my first period, then bought tampons. I needed them because I took ballet classes five days a week. Mom didn't mind at all. Honestly, I don't think she knew what tampons were.

Fast forward about 25 years...I was diagnosed with Toxic Shock Syndrome. Much of 2009 is a blur to me; TSS is a horrible illness. Now, I can never use tampons again. I hate it, especially since I've gotten to be "a woman of a certain age," my periods are heavier, and I jokingly refer to pads as my "lady diapers." I really miss tampons.

[pixydust]

I wasn't raised fundy, but my mother was very sheltered and had never had a period because of serious gyno-issues.

Wait, your mother never had a period? Did she give birth to you? I'm sorry, I know that I'm being nosey, but I'm kind of fascinated by that!

[narcoleption reflux]

Wait, your mother never had a period? Did she give birth to you? I'm sorry, I know that I'm being nosey, but I'm kind of fascinated by that!

I am an adoptee, pixy.

[narcoleption reflux]

Or, as my parents called my brother and me, "chosen children." I always thought that was sweet. We were adopted in the late '60s, so I don't know if this terminology is still used for adopted children, but I think it should be. Sorry for the derail, and sorry if I seemed short, pixydust. I'm naturally a bit curt. I should have included the adopted part in my post, as I wasn't as clear as I could have been.

[HOTW]

I discovered Instead cups first because nothiung was sold cup wise locally. I find tampons annoying because they leak a lot and pads cause chafing. The cup is such an improvement and there are a lot of types you do not have to be limited by the ones sold int he US thanks to ebay you can buy other options. I have tried several types and prefer the Yuuki from Czeckoslovalkia. I tried and discarded the Lunette and the Meluna Soft. You need to find the fold and the placement that works for you

[Mommy22alyns]

I <3 tampons. I tried Instead but could never get the hang of it, so I've not wanted to make an "investment" in a Diva. The only time I've used pads is after having my girls. And I've already told them that I will encourage tampon use from the start because they both do gymnastics.

[ilovetchotchkes]

I have a box of instead cups. I'm actually pretty pissed. I bought a box just before I was due to get my period in Nov. I was all ready to jump on the cup bandwagon.

My period never came. It'll probably be 2 years before I menstruate again thanks womb parasite!

[Daenerys]

I have a box of instead cups. I'm actually pretty pissed. I bought a box just before I was due to get my period in Nov. I was all ready to jump on the cup bandwagon.

My period never came. It'll probably be 2 years before I menstruate again thanks womb parasite!

One of my primary school teachers made the mistake of thinking no periods = can't get pregnant.

Her children are ten months apart.

[ilovetchotchkes]

One of my primary school teachers made the mistake of thinking no periods = can't get pregnant.

Her children are ten months apart.

yeah at my 36 week visit my midwife discussed birth control options with me because she said that breastfeeding was no birth control

,

[FireIsCatching89]

Is it weird that I kind of love this thread? Periods are something that nearly every woman experiences (excluding those who are trans or have gyno issues, though, to be clear, that doesn't make them less of a woman), so they transcend borders, generations, etc. in a way few things do...and the culture surrounding menstruation is so interesting and varied and historied and tied up with gender issues and sexuality and...*lets out anthropologist squeal* I could talk about this all day and read about it for WEEKS!

For anyone who feels the same, I HIGHLY reccomend Flow: A Cultural History of Menstruation. I got it for Christmas and read it in just a few days. Very informative and cheeky, with loads of kitschy old tampon ads as illustrations. I'm keeping it around for when I have really bad periods, as a reminder that at least I don't have to wear that horrific-sounding belt/pad combo and go without my beloved Advil.

God, I'm nuts.