the menstrual cup community on Live Journal has tons of info about menstrual cups. There’s actually about 8 brands of cups in production in the world, and some are way smaller and shorter than the Diva. Anyone interested in cups, go there; you’ll learn more than you ever thought there was to learn.
Ummmm … it’s a bizarre icky concept for one who’s never used them. Can I ask - how do you know when it’s full? Do you leave it in at night time? Isn’t it messy to empty, do you get stuff everywhere? (God I sound like I’ve just got my first period).
Thanks for the tip, Telperien. I shall check it out anon. Hopefully they’re available in my area.
I’ve never ‘filled’ the cup. (Maybe it’s just because I’m past the stage in my teenage years where I could overflow anything.) I just empty it every 8-12 hours and I’ve been fine; YMMV (your menstruation may vary). I’ve left it in at night but typically don’t have the need to.
As for removal, I haven’t had luck with the ‘slide the finger up to break the seal’ method; (alert to WhyNot) I grab the base between thumb and forefinger, pinch, and pull a little. (I think it’s less messy to remove it that way, too.) I don’t really notice any spillage, at least nothing worse than removing a tampon.
I agree with those who said that - for those with a cup with a stem - stem-trimming is the way to go.
Since you actually see the amount of blood (it’s a little less gross than it sounds) you get a really good feel for how much you produce at different points in your cycle. I’ve never filled a cup, but I do know what days I need to be a little more precise about when I clean it out.
I’m also a stem trimmer. I do the “pinch and yank” removal method and favor the “folded taco” insertion method.
I love my divacup unconditionally.
You’re welcome. I know that some stores sell certain cups, but you might have to check on the websites to see if any stores in your area sell them. Ordering online is probably your best bet.
DellieM, it was a rather gross concept to me at first too. When I got used to the idea, though, it seemed much cleaner than a tampon or pad. One of the key issues for me is the smell. In the United States, pads especially seem to be made with something that causes the menstrual blood to have a certain unpleasant smell. One brand even says this on their packages, though they don’t call it unpleasant–they have some nonsense about the smell telling you when you need to change the pad! There’s also the smell of the blood when it comes into contact with air, which isn’t quite the same, but is still not pleasant. With a menstrual cup, there’s no smell, and that makes it seem much cleaner to me.
Oh my, yes. Everything is so much cleaner with the cup. This was an unexpected but highly welcome effect of switching to using one. And, it never leaks, which is great because with pads or tampons I always seem to manage to overflow them at least once during my cycle.
I bought one of these (actually, I bought a second one when I found a good price, but have never opened the second one).
Initially I hated it, then I sort of liked it, and now I rarely use it. I just don’t get a good seal and consistently leak. I’ve tried every trick out there to get it to form a good seal and nothing works for me. I don’t know if it’s because I apparently have a tipped cervix or what, but I’ve basically gone back to pads and tampons - which I hate because I wanted to love the DivaCup after everything said on here. It’s not uncomfortable, but I still have to wear a pad because I will leak when I use the cup.
After my first period with the Divacup, I’ve never managed to make a big mess when emptying it. I use something similar to even sven’s “pinch and yank” method, so generally I only make a mess if I’m not paying attention and turn the cup upside down when it’s not over the toilet. :smack:
I do have heavy flow occasions where I feel it’s full in a similar manner to the tampon; if it gets to the point where it’s almost going to overflow, it’ll actually sink a little bit lower in your vagina and you’ll feel it move. This rarely happens with me, as I generally change it pretty regularly on an 8-12 hour schedule. Wake up, empty cup, wash/rinse cup, re-insert cup, go about my day, empty cup sometime before bed, wash/rinse cup, re-insert cup, go to sleep. At the end of the cycle, wash cup/boil cup and put away after it dries.
It’s really a lot more sanitary than tampons/pads; I noticed a huge difference within the first month after not having a wastebasket full of used tampons at the end of my period, and now having to deal with the smell of other people’s used menstrual products in public restrooms is quite nauseating. You’ll still smell your own menstrual blood when you empty the cup, but it’s not going to be that same strong-sharp smell, and it’s not going to be a constant issue like with pads/tampons where you feel like you smell as bad as a baby’s dirty diaper.
I don’t know what to add except to wave my hands in the air and say “amen.” I love not making garbage, and not getting that dry tampon squcreeeeee dragging cotton on the last scant days, and only having to empty it in the morning and before bed (I’ve never approached filling it, YMMV). I love never having a Wednesday morning when I go “Crap! I’m out?! When does Walgreens open!?”"
Generally I empty mine in the shower, so I never really deal with a mess- it all goes right down the drain.
So I did get it out, bearing down to scoot the bottom past the opening to the vagina, then pinching and pulling. Worked way better than trying to get fingers alongside it. It did have a lot more suction and sluuuuuuurp than I was expecting, but I did not, in fact, prolapse anything! 
I’m a convert after one day and two changes. I love it. No mess, no smell, no need to get up in the middle of a movie or sleeping to change it. I had no idea that menstrual fluid is, in fact, odorless. I thought the smell on the used pad was the blood! Nope, it must be something in the pad, 'cause a big whiff right on top of the Keeper and no smell at all! (And my sense of smell is really acute this cycle, for some reason. But no odor here.)
I emptied it once yesterday, around 6:30, to find about 1/2 a teaspoon of fluid in there. Rinsed, reinserted, and went out to dinner and a movie and came home and went to bed without worrying about it 'til morning! This morning I had maybe a teaspoon and a half of fluid in it. I know I’m always telling women they overestimate the volume of their flow based on what I’ve read, but even I’m surprised at how little fluid there is!
I’ve stopped worrying about the fold. I just sort of scrunch it and shove and it pops open and seals nicely all on it’s own. I think this may be a benefit to the stiffer Keeper over the softer DivaCup - the Keeper really, really wants to be stiff and open, so I don’t need to spin, tug or twist it to make a seal.
Most women bleed only an ounce or so each month. It looks like more on pads because liquid spreads so much on a flat surface. Try spilling a tablespoon of Kool-Aid on a plate and you’ll see what I mean. Most of the cups hold around an ounce, so emptying them once or twice a day is more a hygiene thing than a capacity thing. There’s no risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome from leaving it in too long, because TSS develops when something dry is up against the wall of the vagina, like a dry tampon edge. A moist menstrual cup doesn’t have that problem.
Using the pinch and pull removal method, the cup stays upright while you pull it out. Since it’s probably not all the way full, you can take it out and examine the contents if you want. I’ve noticed that the outside is mucusy, and there are a few small clots and unidentifiable white stringy bits (I assume these are some sort of connective tissue for the uterine lining?) on the outside, and yes, my hand gets moist with clear mucous (but no blood). But I plan on washing my hands after using the toilet, anyway.
I don’t think I’d want to empty this thing in a public restroom, mostly 'cause I wouldn’t want to emerge from the stall with a moist mucusy hand. But since I don’t have to empty it more than once a day (so far), I can just do that before I leave the house and not worry about it. If I do need to empty it more frequently at the peak of my cycle, I’ll just carry wipes with me.
One nice thing is that, unlike with a tampon, I can go to the bathroom and NOT take the thing out or have it fall out - even while having a bowel movement. So I don’t have to change it if I don’t want to. It pushes its way down a bit while I’m bearing down, like a tampon does, but it goes back into place immediately when I’m done.
If you like the concept, try a different brand. Like I said, I think the Keeper might be easier to both insert and make a seal because it’s stiffer than others - all the fancy folds and whatnot are shown with the DivaCup or LadyCup. I wanted a DivaCup because, well, because it looks neater, really. All that space age silicone, clear and sanitary! I was disappointed the vendor I went to only had Keeprs. But in the end, I’m glad I got this one. Really, the Keeper is almost as stiff as a applicatorless tampon, and you don’t have to get it up as far. Once it’s in the vagina, you can just push it from the bottom of the cup, open or folded. I don’t have to insert fingers at all.
Removal, well…that was my own fear talking. I was afraid of pinching something or sucking out my cervix or having to call my mom. 
But it was kind of like taking out a contact lens - once I did it successfully, I lost all intimidation around it.
Oh thank goodness! I was just about to post “Are you okay?/Light the Batsignal!”
Glad to hear everything’s come out all right. 
[TMI hijack]Thank Og I’m not the only one who ever endured this humiliation. At 16 I used my first tampon, and I couldn’t get it out. After many tries and many tears, I panicked and got my Mom. :o Og love her, she tried, but to no avail. Off we went to the emergency room, where it was determined I had a hyman that had an extra tendon thingy that stretched across the open part of the opening and had to be snipped to release the tampon.
My mother timidly asked if I was still a virgin. I could’ve answered that. My poor boyfriend had been trying to hammer his way through that cast iron tendon for days with no success, and it hurt both of us like hell. :eek: It was a horrifically embarrassing situation, but we sure were glad it had happened next time we had at each other!
Here is my TMI first use Diva Cup story.
I bought it because I was going on a week long canoe trip in bear country and the accepted method of disposing of used tampons and pads when camping is to burn them in the fire… Not something I wanted to venture into. Hey dad move your marshmallow over I have to burn my tampon. So after looking at some recommendations here and at some camping websites I bought a Diva Cup.
I practiced inserting and removing it a few times with no problems. So the time came to use it for real and inserting it went just fine. Before bed that night I brought my waterbottle for rinsing and my headlamp to the outhouse for the removal.
It would not come out.
At all.
I was starting to freak out.
So I went back to the camp and got out my leatherman. Yup I used pliers to get out the Diva Cup. I will tell you from experience that pliers do not belong anywhere near those tender areas.
Those pliers went with me everywhere for the next few days.
The next month when I used it at home I realized my mistake. I tried to remove it while standing. It is so much easier to take it out while still seated.
Live and learn, and come prepared.
I am so happy that I don’t know what a keeper is.
Shoo! Or we’ll send someone over there to force you to click the links.
WhyNot, glad to know things worked out for you!
Adding to **nashiitashii’s ** tips for cleaning the thing: An alternative to boiling at the end of the cycle is to soak in hydrogen peroxide. This regimen reduces the odds of yeasties, I’ve found. Mind you, I’m not sure if H2O2 would be okay with the rubber that the Keeper’s made out of, but it works a treat with the silicon rubber the Mooncup’s made out of.
An ounce a *month * for most women? I knew I was heavy, but I didn’t know I was quite that heavy. :eek: Handwaving the fact I have to empty my cup about 3-4x a day the first few days gets me over 200mL total. …I guess I need to start eating more blue steaks.
Average menstrual fluid loss is about 30 to 40ml. Menorrhagia is diagnosed if fluid loss is over 80 mL per cycle. 200 mL is definitely in “ask your doctor” territory.
You all rock. I learn sooooo much on this frickin’ board.