I only use pads. Always have. Shortly before I got my 1st period I was volunteering at a hospital and I saw a woman with toxic shock syndrome. Not pretty. Never even CONSIDERED tampons after that.
Pads are gross, IMHO. I only use them as backup for tampons and at night.
I don’t need anything anymore, since I got a Depo-Provera shot. As a teenager I used Tampax almost exclusively, until I was about 30, I guess. Then they started getting uncomfortable. They would always slip out a little bit. I could never get them up high enough. I also had the uncomfortable feeling of pulling out a dry one too often. Insertion isn’t fun when you’ve just pulled out a dry one, but you know you’re not done yet. (TMI warning: I have been known to lubricate the tip with spit!)
Pads are gross, too, but a little easier on the body. No period is the way to go!
Tampons, definately. Using pads is like…wetting yourself all day long.
But to be honest, these days I don’t even bother having periods, which is easy if you are on the pill or contraceptive injection.
Why would any woman choose to have a period when it is possible not to ? ( your preference for not ingesting artificial hormones excepted )
I’ve used several different types of pills and always still had a period. Not a particularly heavy one, but I still have one.
And yeah, it’s tampons all the way.
Right now I don’t have my period because I am pregnant.
Under normal circumstances the medications I take for my kidney problems react badly with hormone therapies. I also have high blood pressure and cholesterol so the stroke risk from hormonal birth control is more than I am comfortable with.
So I will continue to have periods until I hit menopause and I will continue to use pads. They are easier for me.
I just don’t bother with the 7 day break. It’s called “tri-cycling”, in theory you only do it for three months because you tend to get spotting, but if you are on a combined pill, you can manage about 6 without that happening, as long as you don’t forget to take any. I was told by my Dr that this is fine, since the only reason for 7 day breaks was that when the pill was designed, it was assumed that women would preffer to be “natural” and actually have periods. Men, eh?
You only bleed because of a fall in hormone levels.
Don’t you get toxic shock when the tampon has been in for a long time? Most women aren’t leaving them in for 12 hours, I’d hope.
If you’re wearing them for 2-4 hours, I’d imagine the risk would be very low. I’ve never actually known anyone to get TSS.
Well, the considered wisdom when I was but a wee menstruating lass (in the 80s) was that anything over 8 hours was dangerous, which could preclude leaving them in overnight, depending on how much sleep you got.
Well, besides the fact that I prefer not to ingest artificial hormones, I’d be terrified of getting pregnant and not knowing about it for months. (Yeah, I know, but no birth control is perfect.) Besides, unless you are cursed with severe cramps or PMS, it’s basically a non-issue one way or the other.
I can always feel tampons, and they aren’t very comfortable. I’ll use them if I want to go swimming or something, but otherwise I stick with pads. (I developed an allergy to Always brand >sob< and now have to use Stayfree).
'Course, it’s been a year since my last period. Probably won’t have another one for 6 months or so. Babies are useful that way. 
I hate pads, but even with the convenience of tampons, I have several problems:
-Taking out a dry one and then trying to put another one in. HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, does that ever HURT!!! :eek:
-They’re a pain to change in public restrooms, because um, sometimes, you have to um, fish them out. And then it’s very messy and I don’t want to leave the stall…
-For my first few days, a tampon isn’t enough, I have to use a tampon AND a pad, and what’s the point then?
So, I’d rather deal with pads than have to deal with tampons. Sometimes I do, but only on my light days and even then, when it gets dry…OWIE!!!
Sometimes if one’s flow is too light to have saturated the tampon, it can get stuck to the inside of the vagina. Yes, it’s as unpleasant as you imagine.
If I’m going to be out all day or at work, I use pads the first day of my period, which is inevitably the heaviest. I can go two or three hours or so between potty breaks if I have a pad (which is important when you work on the other side of the building as the bathroom, and get frowned at for leaving to use it between breaks. No one gets written up, but it’s just no fun to be stared at, you know?)but by between the time of one break and the next, a tampon just isn’t as absorbent as I’d like, even with a mini pad to back it up. I really hate them, though.
** Particlezen ** one reason is that some of us have extensive family histories of cancer(breast and reproductive types in my family), and feel that the convience of not having to deal with a period is outweighed by the threat of following several female relatives to an early grave. My maternal aunt is the only female older than me on mom’s side for the past 3-4 generations to have not gotten any type of cancer yet- mom and my great-aunt are the only ones to live through cancer, too. As nice as it might be to free of periods, artifical hormones are on the list of things I think I’d do well to avoid.
I have not found a tampon that I can wear comfortably. I also haven’t tried some of the newer ones, like the Tampax Pearl, or the OB with applicator. As much as a pad can feel horrid, I find for myself that it’s easier. There are leaks, but I can live with that. As for walking around having all that nastiness stuck up against you, I guess I never really thought about it. It always seemed like the natural thing for me to do, no matter how nasty the flow might get. That was how I was “taught”, and when the tampon subject came up, mom kind of just gave me a box, and said if I found them to be effective, then go for it, but she was a pad lady, and I kinda followed her lead. Maybe now that I am older, tampons might not be so scary, or uncomfy, but I have yet to take that step.
First of all, I can’t believe I’ve avoided this thread all day (hey, I was at work!)
Pads, never tampons. The whole Toxic Shock Syndrome from way back just freaks me out – and there are mutiple pad options out there (too many, in fact). I could only use tampons on the first/last days anyway, and only with pads…
Menopause comes at what age? I can’t wait.
TSS is caused by a staph bacteria and all that tampons do is provide a growth surface for it. If you are not exposed to the bacteria, it doesn’t matter how long you leave the tampon in, you won’t get TSS. And if you are exposed you can get TSS even if the tampon’s only been in for a short time. And it isn’t just tampons you can get it from. When I was in high school a (male) friend of mine got it from an infection around his ear ring.
Laurie Garrett’s book The Coming Plague has a very interesting chapter on TSS. As I recall, the exposure initially causes mild flu-like symptoms. These pass harmlessly but the bacteria lie dormant until your next period when the combination of the vaginal environment and your already weakened immune system puts you at risk of TSS. Tampons simply increase that risk by giving the bacteria a place to grow. So, if you feel like you’re getting the flu the next time you get your period, you might want to forego the tampons for a couple months.
The book was written about a decade ago and I hope if there’s any new information someone will correct me …
I haven’t used pads or tampons in three years.
I am hardly menopausal.
I use a menstrual cup. (www.thekeeper.com)
It ain’t for the faint of heart for those who think that your uterus sloughing off it’s layers every month is disgusting. It’s benefits, to me, faaaaaaaaaar outweigh the ickyness involved.
And I get to screw the tampon mafia, which is always fun.
One of my most successful threads to date.
I’m a tampon girl (when I’m bleeding, I’m currently taking the pill through and only breaking for a period every six months).
I hate pads with a vengeance. They make me feel like I have to “notice” I’m menstruating all the time, because I’m always feeling them, getting annoyed by them, etc. I just find pads amazingly uncomfortable.
I have always liked tampons. I have a very light flow, and only need to pop one in in the morning and take it out before bedtime, and I’m fine. Never leaked, never had any pain when removing (even when removing an hours after inserting and only the tip is bloody). They just appear to suit my body really well.
I am planning on looking into the Keeper one day soon, though, as I like the recyclable aspect of them.