I’ve been a menstruating woman for 15 years and have never heard of this thing. And ya know, it doesn’t sound all that appealing. Disposable tampons are much more my alley.
And I have got to say, gals, that finishing my tall glass of cranberry juice while reading this thread has not been the easiest feat in the world. 
“Me fail English? That’s unpossible!”
“English? Who needs that? I’m never going to England.”
I have seen the Instead cup in stores…no thank you. I think the whole idea sounds pretty gross.
While I’m here, I’ll share my biggest problem with tampons: WET STRINGS. Anyone else encounter this? What do you do? And please don’t suggest changing it every time. I’ve been known to pee a lot.
Tuck it in.
“The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”
–Mark Twain
Neither running nor screaming. It’s all pretty interesting, I think. Any vampires out there? The Menstrual Cup reminds me of a shot glass…
“Classic”: A book which people praise and don’t read. --Mark Twain
Hee hee!
At that time of the month, I’d always just tell my boyfriend that I had turned into a vampire appetizer, and he knew to stay away. 
lovelee
Ok, I have a question…I noticed you said that they come in two sizes…one for after a woman gives birth…does giving birth really change the size of things there?..I always that that it sorta sprung back into shape…
I hadn’t heard of the menstrual cup before this thread. I’ve seen what you had to say. Not running. Not screaming. Just feeling sorry that your half of the gene pool has to put up with this annoying biological necessity every month. I know you’re used to it, and it’s part of who you are, but it must really suck anyway.
I’d agree with the “anti-cup” people (in principle, anyway – I have no place to stick one) in that it seems like it would be something of a bother to remove without spilling.
The vampire-goths and other blood-ritual people out there must think it’s the best thing since Band-Aids. “Bartender, I’ll have a Blood Lite!”
How long have these cups been on the market? There’s been no advertising that I’ve seen or heard in the NY area. Plenty of the old standard commercials about “Hey Mom, do you ever feel – y’know – not so fresh?” Let me know how likely it is that my next girlfriend (whoever she may be) will have these in her medicine cabinet.
–Da Cap’n
Oh yeah, it really changes the size. Things spring back into shape mostly but not all the way.
Thank God they spring back to shape most of the way. If you stayed the size you are immediately after giving birth you’d walk around like a human wind sock! flap, flap, flap
Cap’n, the Instead disposable cups have been around for about 2 years, IIRC. The ads are so subtle, you may have seen one and not even noticed.
This is the link to Instead
http://www.softcup.com/
This is the link to the Keeper (Opalcats product)
http://www.eco-logique.com/keeper.html
Hope the links work 'cause I’m to lazy to post this twice.
Ok…let’s define “mostly” here…not to sound crude, but how does this effect your sex life?..Can it be “toned-up” with exercises or something?..
Oh, yes, Atrael. The vagina bounces back almost completely. It’s the cervix that’s stretched irretrievably. That’s why you need a different sized cup or diaphragm or anything after you’ve had a baby. No, no, you can still have sex. Don’t worry.
And yes, toning exercises are always a good idea, baby or no. Everybody 1, 2 , 3 . . Kegel!
Whew!..Thanks…started to get worried there
Atrael, the vagina does spring back into place, more or less. The more kids you have, the more it loosens up. When you are in birthing classes you will probably see a variety of videos of women in labor and there will always be one that shows the woman who’s on her 9th kid and the kid just shoots out of her like a log flume ride. Your labor will not be like that.
Kegels are exercises that you do that are like stopping the flow of your pee and holding it for a few second before releasing. This tightens up everything down there and if you beleive all the hoo-haa about it, make you into a sexual dynamo. Your husband/mate/significant other/Life partner won’t really care because by the time you are 8 -10 months pregnant, sex is the last thing from your mind until that (sarcasm alert) magic 6 weeks doctors check up. ( Yes, there are you women out there that were horny as you were stitched up, feet still in stirrups, but you are in the minority and please, go away) By this time, your husband/mate/etc will be so blinded by dreaded sperm build up that he wouldn’t care if you were as wide as the Grand Canyon, as long as 1) It (sex) doesn’t hurt you 2) He’s getting some. It will take a few interesting and well lubed ventures back in the saddle before it is the walk in the park that it use to be. Any one who tells you differently deserves a beating.
I’ve always wondered why they tell you to do Kegels before delivery. Wouldn’t you want that area to be, well, relaxed and loose, rather than tight?
“I’ve always wondered why they tell you to do Kegels before delivery. Wouldn’t you want that area to be, well, relaxed and loose, rather than tight?”
The main reason I recall was that Kegels work on the whole area, not just the vagina, so they are also good for helping to prevent loss of bladder control that can come from the strains of pregnancy and delivery.
The main reason I was told to do Kegels was to prevent uterine prolapse.
That’s when your uterus slides out of your vagina and no I’m not making it up and yes I am crunching up my muscles down there right now because I think that sounds absolutely awful!
CatinHat: I don’t like to give vague information, but here goes. When I lived in Pittsburgh, I went to a clinic called Women’s Health Services. All I can safely say is that they were downtown then. They may have moved; they may no longer exist. You should be able to find them in the Yellow Pages if they’re still around, or if you’re walking downtown and your progress is impeded by a group of holy rollers walking in a circle and saying the rosary, you’ll know you’re there. (WHS performs abortions, so this group spends fifteen minutes out of every hour praying for the unborn. That’s as long as they can stay without getting arrested.) Anyway, the staff is efficient and pleasant, they do a thorough examination, and it’s affordable. Let me know if you find it!
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green
First thing I want to remind everyone of is that Instead and the Keeper are VASTLY DIFFERENT PRODUCTS. Like about the difference between a tampon and a pad.
Instead seems tricky and messy, but the Keeper doesn’t require that much more contact with yourself than a tampon does. The thing to pull it out with is RIGHT THERE at the opening. And it doesn’t spill easily, the cup is very deep.
Now about the time thing… they have been around for a long time. Check out this link for the history of the menstrual cup: http://www.mum.org/CupPat1.htm
It seems they first came onto the market in the 1930s.
>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions
FYI there is a discusson on the difference between the two Keeper sizes on this page http://www.mum.org/olnws127.htm and I notice that just above that they had printed my letter 
Mine is the one about the pliers
>^,^<
“Cluemobile? You’ve got a pickup…”
OpalCat’s site: http://opalcat.com
The Teeming Millions Homepage: fathom.org/teemingmillions
Ladies, it has been an education. I never heard about the Instead thingies…and I know how my mom felt when I asked if she could buy me tampons ( she’d never used them and didn’t know a damn thing about them)
And I never knew that parts of your anatomy could slide out your vagina. Crist, I’ll never sneeze again!!!
When I start doing the monthly beastmaster stuff again, I am definately going to look into a menstrual cup…ewww…if that isn’t more information than any of you ever needed to know.
When I first read this thread, right after it started, I visited the sights listed, and I STILL thought you guys were really gross, then the more I thought about it, the more appealing the cup thingies became. I am on the pill, so all I get is an icky drizzle for a few days, and me and the S.O. are nowhere near the point of going ahead with the horizontal hokey pokey at that particular time of the month. I wonder about those ‘instead’ things…anyone know if they are available in canada?
Isnt the accumulation of blood in the cup or whatever going to breed bacteria the same as a tampon? Someone said they left it in for 24 hours…had anyone asked a doctor about this? Is this really safe?