Mooncup question- what's 'normal'?

[Bouncearound]

I've only recently started using a mooncup and it keeps leaking . I've followed all the advice and hopefully will get the hang of it but if anyone has any tips please let me know!

Also, can anyone tell me how often you should have to empty it? Part of the attraction to me was that it could last longer between changes but mine has been changed four times in six hours and each time it has been full to the brim (which I guess is also the main reason it leaks but it seems to leak a little constantly even when not full).

Any seasoned users have some advice?

[ItIsHowItIsx]

I had to give up on the mooncup with heavy periods.

[Bouncearound]

I didn't think I had particularly heavy periods but I'm now wondering! I'm always anaemic so guess they might be heavy... Maybe I need to save mooncup for lighter days

[PurpleElla]

I had similar problems with the moon cup so I investigated and got a mahina menstrual cup, they do it in a large size and I now get longer between changes and no leaking. As an added bonus they do it in purple.

[JasperDamerel]

I change mine in the morning and at bedtime for most of my period. I tend to have one day where it needs to be empties every couple of hours, and one day where I feel safer emptying it at lunchtime, but it isn't quite full by then. When my cup is full I feel a sort of popping/bubbling sensation which gives me enough warning time to make it to the loo, although on heavy days I tend to wear a back-up pad, which I used to do with tampons, too. In general, I find that my mooncup lasts around twice as long as a tampon.

How much is the all the time slight leaking? II only catches the blood from when it was put in, so if you have already been leaking, or you put it in after just using a pad, the blood that is already in your vagina doesn't get absorbed like it would with a tampon, so in those situations I will still have a little bit of blood when I wipe after using the loo, but it's spotting rather than leaking.

[Bouncearound]

Thanks all, it's really useful. There does seem to be an almost constant slight leak but as it gets full it gets heavier- I just thought I would get longer between changes! I'm using a size A as I'm over 30 and had three dc but I may try the B and see if it helps as I'm tired of tampons and pads

I must say its been an eye opener as to how much I actually lose!

[ItsAllGoingToBeFine]

Most of the time once AM once PM.

On horribly heavy first day if period days every 2 hours

And what Jasper said about blood already past the mooncup/spotting

[GreenSand]

I'd try a different brand.
Have a look here and see if anything looks useful

[emwithme]

Day 1 of period - every 6 to 8 hours (or just before & after bed).
Day 2 of period - every 45 minutes/hourly at the most - wear a pad on this day
Day 3 of period - every 6 to 8 hours
Days 4 - end of period - just before and after bed

[MummySparkle]

Are mooncups sized? If so you might need a larger one. I have a lunette model two and it holds loads. I think with cups it's a little bit of trial and error until you find the right one

[Bouncearound]

Looks like it's pretty normal then! I'm reluctant to keep trying different cups as they aren't cheap and a main reason for doing it was to economist a bit. It's definitely better than pads alone but it'd be nice if I wanted to go swimming etc- maybe it'll be better on lighter flow days!

[goodasitgets]

I would look at a meluna - I have a medium and a large or it might be an XL and they definitely have a bigger capacity

[NameChange30]

Bloody hell! Excuse the pun... But that's a lot of blood. Is there anything a GP could do to help with such heavy periods?

And I agree with PPs who suggested trying a different brand and bigger size. Meluna for example.

[NameChange30]

PS You already have the biggest mooncup so don't bother getting the other size, it's smaller!

[DancingDinosaur]

Crikey, I thought my periods were heavy but clearly not. I can go a minimum of 8 hours before emptying it and never have leakage problems. Maybe a different brand is the answer.

[BubsandMoo]

That does sound extremely heavy. For most of my period I can go 6-8 hours between empties and it'll still only be a third full, for one day (usually day 2 or 3) I'll check every 3-4 hours and it'll be around three quarters full. Never leaks. I'm over 30 but not given birth.

Average period is 30-80ml isn't it?

[BubsandMoo]

Oops pressed send. Meant to add that if a mooncup holds 30ml, it sounds like you have a much higher than average period volume. I'd def be down the GP I think- although you might need to be persistent, a lot of GPs (male and female) can be very dismissive of women raising concerns about abnormal menstruation.

[Bouncearound]

Thanks all, I hadn't really thought about how much I lost as it's always been like this, although some months are worse than others.its not too bad today but the last few days it was full at least four times a day- full to the brim! Im nearly always anemic so take iron tablets daily but I don't know what my levels are like at the moment.
I've had trouble with endometriosis in the past with some surgery that seemed to help and in my last pregnancy they found a cyst in an early scan but it hasn't been mentioned again so I forgot about it. I just thought it was 'normal'.
Fwiw I've been chatting to someone at mooncup and they've been really helpful. Still haven't resolved my issues but they've offered a full refund if I cant get on with it.

[stripytees]

That does sound like really heavy flow.

I change mine 4 times a day on two heavier days and 3 times other days but it's never even nearly full. And I consider my heavy flow days heavy!

[velmadinkly]

OP the mooncup has a relatively small capacity compared to other cups of similar size due to the positioning of the airholes within cup.The size A having a capacity of 15 mls to the holes. The large fleurcup with similar dimensions to the mooncup has a 28.5ml capacity to the airholes. The fleurcup is also half the price of a mooncup.

If I was you I would take up mooncup in their offer of a refund and get yourself a fleurcup or something similar, but this would be after having a visit to the gp, at least you have now measured how much blood you lose, so they can't disregard you and fob you off.