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Everyone’s Opinions on Different Period Products?


Zosia

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Comrade F&F

Pads only. There's an old wives tale in my hometown that states a woman shouldn't stop the period from flowing out of the body. It's too ingrained in my conscious for me to switch. 😁

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Biblioromantic

I have an abnormally heavy flow. I'm talking saturating-an-overnight-pad-in-an-hour-on-a-heavy-day heavy. I also had trouble with tampons either being uncomfortably large or not staying in place, and they always freaked me out about having something made of bleached cotton up inside me that was a breeding ground for bacteria. 

 

I finally tried a cup about a year ago, and it's been life-changing for the better. A cup holds the flow instead of absorbing it, so it holds 5 tampons worth, doesn't smell, and doesn't have bleach or other chemicals that affect body chemistry. My largest cup means I can actually go two hours between bathroom visits on a heavy day, which is a relief. Cups are reusable, so I just wash it carefully with soap and hot water twice a day, then boil it once a week to sanitize. I still use the overnight pads as backup, but instead of using an entire box in a day, it's more like one or two pads. Ca-ching! 💰

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BambooRiver

I'm on the shot so I don't get periods anymore (yippee!) But when I did i used pads. Pads only bebe. When I first learned about tampons I was horrified. Being an asexual, sex/genital repulsed preteen i was not about sticking things up my hooha that I would much rather pretend wasn't even there. I'm still like this to this day. As an agender/ asexual person, I wish I didn't have any genitalia (or any other reproductive organ). The shot is nice because I can forget I have "female" parts. 

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Haha, this is such a matter of fact, ace-ideal topic. It's the ideal place to admit, embarrassingly, that I own a cup but have never figured out how to get it up there. It was a painful experiment - maybe my folding abilities are nil, but I hate sticking anything up there. Never had intercourse, don't see the situation changing anytime soon. I also have a short cervix so it could be a matter of size (ha!) or cup shape but I'm not interested enough to keep trying. I'll only use tampons if I'm going for a swim - I can be pretty forgetful about changing tampons.

 

I used to use clip-on cotton pads, but they were a pain to wash. I ended up throwing them out when I was traveling in New Zealand - it was humid, they didn't dry, so they went moldy.

 

I got an IUD so my periods have been blissfully inconsistent and relatively light. So back to pads for me. I'd like to try something more eco-friendly, maybe something easier to wash than my old pads.

 

My mom recently gave me some underwear and now that I'm writing this post, I've realized they might be purposely made for periods. There's no point for me to keep mental track of when my periods are coming (as it's really just a fake period because of my IUD) so they got bloody but were surprisingly easy to wash in the sink.

 

Btw, for people who don't want to invest in Thinx, Thinx basically got their idea from Asian underwear - period-friendly underwear from Asia could be easily bought online and is cheaper. I've never bought any myself since I thought my periods were a little too heavy for them to handle.

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@A Cool Fool ahh, I can relate. I think it took me at least three tries to figure out how to use a tampon, learned it online right before a swim class. I was a little embarrassed I was already 20 or 21 and had no clue how to use them.

 

But don't be embarrassed about not using tampons. At least you're not at risk for toxic shock syndrome...

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Fighting_For_Us

I've only ever used pads and tampons, but I highly prefer tampons. They're smaller and easier to carry around, but mostly I just feel cleaner than with pads. I do use pads often at night though, just so I don't have to worry about having a tampon in for too long. I'd like to try a cup at some point, but for now I'm just sticking to what I know. 

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  • 1 month later...

I use the cup ,and disposable pads in case of heavy flow at times,  although I want to switch to the reusable pads instead of disposables 

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I use pads. Switched to slightly more eco-friendly disposables recently. Became aware of reusable pads and I'd sort of like to try them, even just as a top-up, but I'm confused.

 

For ladies using reusable pads - Might be a stupid question, but how do you, erm, carry around the used product? Basically, I'm just thinking, normally I'd have to change my pads at work once or twice per day. With a disposable there's no issue of smell, since I just wrap it an put it in the closed bin. But with a reusable there's the issue of keeping the used pad hermetically sealed so it doesn't stink up my office. How do people do this?

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everywhere and nowhere

Really, how are those of you who are anatomically virgins able to use a menstrual cup??

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DarkStormyKnight

I've been using pads/tampons (really prefer the pads honestly) but I just invested in a cup to create less waste! Haven't used it yet, but here's hoping that it goes okay haha. I've heard good things about it.

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everywhere and nowhere

And I repeat my question: am I the only one to have a pencil-size opening only?

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On 9/21/2019 at 12:08 AM, Nowhere Girl said:

Really, how are those of you who are anatomically virgins able to use a menstrual cup??

Just fine. There are many sizes, some are made of thinner silicon, and others from thicker ones. For me there was no pain or discomfort at all. Obviously it depends on the person's anatomy, but for me it was no trouble at all.

 

On 9/25/2019 at 3:56 PM, DarkStormyKnight said:

I've been using pads/tampons (really prefer the pads honestly) but I just invested in a cup to create less waste! Haven't used it yet, but here's hoping that it goes okay haha. I've heard good things about it.

I tried the cup for the very same reason. I'm too paranoid to use tampons (thanks to all of those TSS horror stories - no matter how rare those case are, I'm scarred for life), and as someone with a heavy flow I have to use night pads most of my period, even during daytime, so it basically feels as if I'm walking around in an adult diaper. First time I used a cup I was surprised how easy it was, just slid right in and there was no leakage overnight, but then I had to take it out. Incidentally, that's when I found out that I have a very, very high cervix. Took me around 3 hours of panicking, googling, messaging my friends, looking up available gynecologists, and standing still playing PS4 for 90 minutes hoping for gravity to come to my aid, before I finally could get it out. Bought a larger size, which took just a couple of minutes on the first try to remove.

 

Just make sure you know which size to get. The brand I bought just had two sizes, one recommended for younger women who haven't given birth, and the larger one to those who have given birth. I didn't even think that it was more complicated than that, but turned out... it was. I was dumb.

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everywhere and nowhere
27 minutes ago, Taival said:

Just make sure you know which size to get. The brand I bought just had two sizes, one recommended for younger women who haven't given birth, and the larger one to those who have given birth. I didn't even think that it was more complicated than that, but turned out... it was. I was dumb.

Age, family life and sexual life have little to do with each other. I'm 38 years old, have obviously never given birth, never felt non-terrified and non-repulsed by childbirth, have also never had sex...

 

TW: just by the way, yesterday, during autoerotic experimentation, I found out I may also have vaginismus after all... Just great... I don't really care that much about period products - I'm getting close to menopause anyway, and I have used pads all my life, but at least it additionally explains my failure to use a tampon...

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  • 3 weeks later...
DarkStormyKnight

Hey gang so I tried to use a cup today and it was so painful to insert that I gave up on it. I saw online that I should be using lube to help with it (which explains a lot) but does anyone have any other tips?

Also does the discomfort decrease with use? Like I'm thinking of just going back to pads that hurt so bad.

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On 10/14/2019 at 12:33 AM, DarkStormyKnight said:

Hey gang so I tried to use a cup today and it was so painful to insert that I gave up on it. I saw online that I should be using lube to help with it (which explains a lot) but does anyone have any other tips?

Also does the discomfort decrease with use? Like I'm thinking of just going back to pads that hurt so bad.

Try folding it in a different way. I fold mine with the punchdown fold. Don't try to insert it dry. And make sure it's fully open and sealed when you do get it in. How many fingers can you fit in your vagina?( I don't expect an answer here, but if the answer for you is only one painlessly, you might struggle)

There might be an answer on here http://putacupinit.com

I really like mine, although retrieving it for the first time was, shall I say, interesting. (Squat down)

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everywhere and nowhere
22 hours ago, Zebrafinch said:

How many fingers can you fit in your vagina?( I don't expect an answer here, but if the answer for you is only one painlessly, you might struggle)

For me the answer is only one and not entirely painlessly.

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On 7/17/2019 at 2:47 PM, griffinej5 said:

I have a cup, but I have not been able to figure that out. I just got some underwear from knix, but I haven’t had a chance to try them yet. If I like those I’ll probably slowly add to my stash.. I mostly use pads, and tampons only if necessary for now. 

So, update on this product. It’s not that great. I only used them overnight, and bled through. And I don’t bleed very heavily. I can only really use those at the beginning or end. 

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This thread is great. I'd only ever heard of tampons and pads before (probably very North American of us). I'm a disposable pad-person, but the idea of a reusable cup intrigues me.

TMI story about tampons

For my first experience I didn't know where to insert it. I had no idea where the vaginal opening was. I was twenty-something and never explored my body that way.

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