**Tampax ** suck. The applicator is agonizingly uncomfortable, the material is actually abrasive, and they expand lengthwise. The fuck? It has to be the worst tampon design in history, and yet they seem to have cornered the public bathroom dispenser market.
Freudian Slit & Antigen - I’ve heard that it doesn’t work out for some women. I’ve had a great experience with it which is why I recommend giving it a try. But yeah, like all hormonal BC methods it can have mixed results. I figure I got unlucky in the monthly hellride department and lucky in the trouble-free depo department. 
/hairs stands on end. /runs screaming from the thread.
AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!
BaneSidhe, have you considered asking your doc for a one-time prescription of a mild tranquilizer before you go in? Diazepam (Valium) works as both a muscle relaxant and a tranquilizer, so not only will you be less fearful, but you won’t clench up as much, making the pain less.
If you can’t swing that, you might try some Advil or a glass of wine to mellow you out beforehand.
Of course, this presumes you have someone to drive you there and back.
I’m a guy, but I prefer pads.
You can cut a pad in half and use the pieces in your skydiving helmet to cut down on the wind noise when you’ve lost your earplugs.
Tampons don’t work as well with this application. :eek:
And with your user name(RedFury -> :mad: ), you shoulda thought twice about posting, too.
. . . This shouldn’t be turning me on, should it?
NinjaChick, if you want to be on the pill you have to have a pap smear every year. They won’t renew your prescription if you don’t get it. It’s a way of strongarming women into preventative care - I highly approve but it’s a pain in the, er, neck.
I don’t know where NinjaChick is and if it’s the same place as you, but I’ve been on the pill since I was 16 (21 now) and I still haven’t had a pap smear. According to my doctor I’ve been able to avoid it because I haven’t had sex, but I think my pap-less days are numbered. 
I did this on the combined advice of my gynecologist and neurologist, to prevent migraines. It took a special prescription and occasional argumentative phone calls from one or the other to the pharmacy to get them to refill my prescriptions every three weeks instead of every four, but not only did it help my hormone-related migraines, it relieved other things as well, like cramps, etc. Talk to your doctor about it.
I can’t bear the idea of looking at and cleaning out a cup of bloody mess. It’s bad enough seeing what hangs off the end of a tampon sometimes. urk
Oh, I was answering for the US - I believe it’s a general policy, I’ve encountered it with several doctors and several states. I believe NinjaChick is in New Mexico.
-fire
-ninja throwing stars
-modems
-the empire state building
-telescopes
-icebergs
icebergs might be a relief after all that other stuff.
I use tampons on occasion but I mostly use pads. I had a hard time inserting tampons for the longest time. I think things loosened up over the years and now I can insert them, unless I am really crampy and the muscles are fighting me, but I still have to use a pad because the tampons always seem to leak. I also hate pads because some of them really irritate me down there. There was a new cover design going around that really irritated me, it was plasticy, and it was hard finding a pad without that crap on it, that’s why I tried to switch to tampons but like I said, I just can’t use them by themselves. It seems like people may have complained about that type of cover because I’ve been seeing it less and less. It’s annoying having to try out new brands because if you buy a box of pads or tampons you’re pretty much stuck with them until you use them up and depending on the size of the box you may be stuck with them for a couple months.
If we could just be turned into a newt
-Christmas trees
-Pyracanthas branches
-Pit Bulls
-CD Cases
-Larry King
What about Eric the Half-a-bee?
They might work for nose bleeds?
monstro, I don’t know how you can stand plastic applicators-the one time I tried them, they fucking PINCHED.
Count me as another who hates tampons-at least, I haven’t tried them in ages. And…TMI:
With my heavy flow, I’d probably end up using BOTH
Wouldn’t it be messy as hell-and what if you needed to do so in a public restroom?
Antigen, you can use any monophasic pill (the ones that have the same amount of hormones in all the pills, other than the placebos at the end of the month) to skip your period. Just don’t take the placebo pills - after the first three weeks, move on to the next pill pack. This may not be cheaper than a scrip for Lybrel (52 weeks of active pills straight, and thus in theory no periods, although many women have breakthrough bleeding anyway) or Seasonale/Seasonique (12 weeks of active pills, then one week of placebos, for four periods a year, although some people still have breakthrough bleeding issues), since some insurance won’t cover more than 12 refills a year, but it’s worth looking into, especially if you’re taking a generic.
WRT getting the pill when not sexually active - IME, your virginity medically expires in the US when you turn 18, at most, because at that point, doctors won’t believe you anymore until they’re actually looking at your hymen. They will want to do the full pelvic at all times.
But do doctors even buy into the myth that having a hymen means you’re a virgin anymore?