I was told no tampons or sex because it’s easy to introduce infection after giving birth - so nothing can go ‘up there’.
I’m under the impression this also includes the DivaCup.
After giving birth for the first week the hospital had me using newborn diapers as a pad, I was bleeding so much. Yeah, you have to use pads that first month or so, but after that you’re good to go on the DivaCup.
Ah, ok, I was just wondering if it was something temporary or permanent. As it is, just temporary.
That bleeding is called lochia, btw: http://www.gynob.com/lochia.htm
The first 24 hours I
TMI:
was passing chicken-egg sized clots, too!
Ewww.
Bad Opal! No scaring the pregnant lady!
I got to use my DivaCup for two, maybe three cycles before I got knocked up. I am dreading that post-partum time when I can’t use it, because that thing is a freakin’ Godsend. I didn’t have any problems with irritation from tampons, but I would always do that thing where the tampon was stark white with one tiny red stripe down the side of it that somehow managed to leak even though it was still bone-dry. I don’t get that with the cup–it’s never even come CLOSE to leaking.
Ah, my bad. But I did use just a dab when I started using tampons so very long ago.
I swear Feministing or somewhere similar had a video up a few months ago that was a mock ad for a vampire tampon. It was priceless.
My favorite mock ad is number 9 here: http://inventorspot.com/articles/ultimate_dry_creative_tampon_ads_around_world_12298
Although this is a close second: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-4APMv2QKo
Links broken just in case.
Oh goody, I found it! (NSFW because of one swear and an anti-foreigner slur. Mostly it’s just Tampy the Vampire Tampon, an animated character).
I’ve been pimping cups for how many years? Why did it take you so long to try it? 
And if it is any consolation, the things I mentioned in my spoiler didn’t hurt. I mean everything else did, but those didn’t.
Amen. Can’t do without the wings. Too much leakage otherwise.
I can’t even think of using a tampon.
I have a question for those advocating menstrual cups-if one finds tampons uncomfortable and a major inconvenience, how would a cup be any better/different?
(Plus, I’ve read that they reccomend running them through the dishwasher every so often to sterilize-eeeewww!)
-Guin (currently on her period and cursing her ovaries)
I tried Instead a few years ago, and it looked like I was killing people in the bathroom a few times. Bought a DivaCup four months ago and haven’t looked back.
I honestly forget that it’s there. By Day 2 of my period, I barely remember that I’ve started - and I’ve always had miserable periods.
Advantages over a tampon - I can’t feel it, it doesn’t leak like a tampon, there’s no wet string to annoy me. I only have to worry about it twice a day.
Yeah, there was a small learning curve, but after the second month, I didn’t have a problem. It’s so much easier than worrying about how many tampons I have and if I put any in my purse.
And I put mine in the dishwasher, but I also wash it in the bathroom sink every time I empty it with gentle soap (baby soap for me). It’s not gross at all - it’s essentially already clean, it just goes in the dishwasher for a sterilization.
I have been a cup devotee for 10+ years and I can’t stand wearing tampons. They dry me right out, which feels gross when they’re in and painful while they’re being being removed. A cup contains the menstrual fluid, but leaves all the other juices that you produce (so that area feels lubricated like it always does). A tampon absorbs EVERYTHING. Tampons may also have ingredients which cause extra irritation (e.g. whatever makes them whiter-than-white; whatever gives them super-absorbent qualities, etc).
Also a cup is soft and molds to the shape of me, while a tampon remains shaped like a cylinder - it expands, but its overall shape is determined more by its needs than by mine. I can definitely feel a tampon inside me but I can’t feel the cup.
When I used tampons I used OB Super Plus and I had to change them every four hours or less. I empty and wash my cup once a day.
Well, I didn’t think anyone would clean it in the dishwasher-that it would just be for sterilization. Still, it was just like, da’hell?
I wash mine with soap when I empty it, and then after my period I put a little splash of bleach in a plastic cup full of water and soak it for about an hour. It comes out looking brand new. Emphasis, by the way, on LITTLE splash of bleach.
I think the main learning curve with the cup, and what indeed seems to have made several people here give up on them, is that you have to learn how to take them out. If you just grab it and pull it creates a suction and is REALLY hard to get out. I think some of the people who give up because of difficulty removing assume that the trick is that you eventually get used to pulling really hard or something, but that’s not it at all. You have to break the suction (squeeze it to deform the circle, and pull forward rather than down) and you have to push with your muscles as well. You do that and it pops right out no problem. Once you learn how to take it out, it’s a dream.
I mess with it twice a day. The only time I have to think about my period is when I wake up and when I go to sleep. Long distance travel, all-night dance parties, staying over, work running late, using an African pit latrine…all of these are no problem at all with my DivaCup.
I never run out of supplies. I never have to borrow tampons, or go home early, or rush to a bathroom. I never have to rush to the store, or be pissed off because I can’t find my brand. I always have what I need with me.
I never even have to take out the trash in the bathroom!
Best thing ever.
Where do you empty the contents of the cup?
Into the toilet, I’m guessing?
Yeah, you just dump it into the toilet as you pull it out, then wash it in the sink. If you’re in a public restroom you can just put it back in without washing it, so you don’t have to carry it out of the stall to the sink or whatever. I mean it’s not like it’s got anything on it that it won’t get right back on it the minute you put it in. You just wash it the next time you empty it at home.