Nothing to add except I thought even sven was a man.
You can imagine my surprise when I first saw the title and then noticed the poster’s name.
Yes - this is a major bonus! No nasty string hanging down, or moisture migration down the string. Sometimes I forget I am even on my period! This is a very good thing!
Draelin, I hear ya. I was finally breaking through and all set to get one, then started pumping milk and haven’t had a period in a year. But they’re about to return, so it’s time. C’mon, we can do it! 
I ordered one. In about three weeks, look for a thread titled “How the hell do I use this thing???”
I agree here… That’s what’s so odd to me. After being so squicked out about it, it surprised me that it is interesting.
Another pro for me is my period always does this “ok I’m gone”… wait a day or so… “I’m back!!!” thing… I like that I can leave the cup in anyway so I can be prepared. 
Yes, I’ve had this problem too. Every now and again it’s like “yeeoww”. Mine aren’t all that long though so it’s definitely not common.
Glad to see you’re giving it a try Draelin! I’m sure you’ll love it!
Oh - and on this note… I changed mine one time right after getting home from work, after riding home with my heated seats on. They most definitely will heat up!! I quit using the high setting on my heated seats, I figured that’s just wrong.
Me too me too !
Me to-oh you probably don’t need to know that.
OK ladies I’m inspired & it’s almost pay day, Draelin I’ll race you to that thread title
Well, you have convinced one more girl. I’m gonna go pick one up after work today. It still sounds a little squicky, but I know I can get over it eventually.
I have a feeling I might be posting in that one too. 
Diva Cups are a yay double plus good. I chose it over the keeper because my friend was selling DCs and not Keepers, plus I prefer silicone and it was CLEAR.
Only downside is that I’m told they are incompatible with IUDs. (It might pull out the string, double super plus baddo-maximo.) I don’t have an IUD yet, nor do I know how it would affect my cycle other than stopping a fertile egg from attempting to become an eight and a half month party in my uterus every ~183 days or so.
Public flush and slush isn’t so hard once you get the hang of it (I used to change it in the shower until I got the art of it down), do it at home for a few times, have some paper towels, et cetera. Or hell, carry a zippy bag and a spare in case of … floor or toilet bowl droppage or something.
Goodnight and goodluck.
Erase and correct - partially.
*19. Can I use The DivaCup if I have an IUD?
The manufacturers of The DivaCup say that while it is safe to use both the Diva Cup and an IUD, you should talk to your doctor about it first. *
Oh, and on ‘bearing down’ and pushing it out by mistake - you can hold a wad of tissue paper in the right position to keep it from sliding all the way out (bearing down is a good way to remove it when ready, IMEO) and then simply push it back up with the tissue or washed hands when done bearing down.
Hasta pasta, folks.
For those of y’all that like the Diva Cup, how heavy are your flows? I’m intrigued by the idea but I have a irritatingly heavy period (super plus every two hours - sometimes I have to use two - plus I usually soak through my back-up pad). Even with tampons I have problems with blood on my hands (in public restrooms), I’m thinking these would be significatnly messier.
A Super Plus tampon holds 12-15 grams of fluid. A Divacup holds one ounce, or about 30 grams. You would definitely have to change it more than twice a day. Most women lose between 25-80 mL (or 25-80 grams) during their whole cycle. If you’re waiting to remove your Super Plus tampons 'till they’re full, and this is for more than a day, this means that you are a *very *heavy bleeder, and might want to be checked out by a doc for any “female problems”. At the very least, you might want your iron levels checked, as you’re losing a lot more blood than is average.
cites:
Yeah, I’m always borderline anemic (being a veg doesn’t help). It’s only really heavy for a day or two and then it lightens up a lot (I think I just tend to empty our more quickly) and has pretty much always been this rotten so it’s “normal” for me. Thanks for the info on the capacity; I wasn’t sure how to compare the two. Maybe I could experiment with using it on lighter days first…
There are two sizes: the first, for women under thirty who have never had kids, the other, for women over thirty OR those who have delivered children. I’m built pretty small and find even a large tampon to be slightly uncomfortable, but have had no problems with the DivaCup. They can be used by virgins, but knowing your own body will make this roughly a billion times easier. A little bit of K-Y should help things along if you’re having trouble (on yourself, not on the Cup. And not toooo much, or it might slip out).
And I forgot to add before: due to the slight suction of the Cup, most women notice shorter periods.
Shorter, cleaner, cheaper, no-panties-to-bed periods. Yah, that’s right.
And here’s the website, including a store locater page for those in the US or Canada.
Do they ship international? I had a quick look around but couldn’t find anything that said they did or didn’t…
I can’t wait to try this thing out. I’m actually looking forward to getting my period now.
Well, almost.
Why? The cups hold twice as much as the largest tampon. Even with the heaviest flow out there, you’d only have to mess with it half as many times as you mess with tampons on a given day.
Also, I don’t think you can go simply by amount absorbed. In my experience, tampons are leaky, regardless of if they’re “full” or not. I’ve never once had a cup leak, even when it was full.
Think of it this way: you can plug a sink with a big wad of cotton, and it’ll probably hold for a while, but eventually the liquid will seep through. Now plug a sink with a rubber stopper. The water will never get through it. That’s more like what the cups are like.
I think people are overestimating how much trouble it is to deal with these in public restrooms. It’s not all that bad at all - you don’t have to wash it before you put it back in. Just dump it and re-insert. You might get some blood on your hands, but once you’re used to it, even public restrooms are fine.
One of the problems with super absorbency tampons was the risk of toxic shock-wouldn’t that also be a risk here?
Yup, click on “Order”, then down in the bottom right hand corner, click “International”. It works out to $32.50 US dollars each, plus $3.25 US for S + H.
No. The DivaCup does not absorb anything. Basically, the problem with the giant super tampons was that they’d absorb not just menstrual blood, but vaginal secretions as well. The dryness sometimes led to tears in the vagina when the tampons were removed, bada bing, bada boom, there’s a way for bacteria to enter the blood. Part of the problem was women were using a super absorbency tampon when they may have only needed a regular, so that it could be left in longer. NOT GOOD. Now, as long as women don’t use bigger tampons than they need and don’t leave them in for too long, there’s little risk of TSS. But no risk is better than some, I think.
Fair enough, I didn’t think to click on ‘order’… I was looking for some kind of FAQ or shipping info link.
But with the extreme lack of frequency of my periods, it does make me wonder if the cost is worth it. I buy maybe two packs of tampons a year. Maybe three… That’s hardly breaking my bank at the moment.