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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to still worry after a missing tampon was not found?

68 replies

Msidontknow · 05/08/2026 15:06

TMI so apologies in advance.
I started my periods yesterday. Wore a tampon and went to sleep, like I have done for the past 20 years.
This morning I couldn't find it. I dug deep I squatted I thoroughly searched based on internet doctors and found nothing. I searched Google and was directed to my local Sexual Clinic - was given an appointment for 11am - I was seen and the nurse (s) used two different types of spatulas to search for it and told me I have nothing.
they suggested it could have slipped out when I went to P this morning (granted I didn't check before I flushed for it in the toilet) but my toilet is getting blocked easily recently so it would not have even flushed that down so easily.
i mean in 20 years I've never lost one or had one fall out. In fact I wasn't even heavy enough last night for it to slip out. I'm so confused and worried. The nurses advised just to go home and carry on as normal and check for any signs before I come back such as fever temp inhale activity down there for me. I'm worried. 😟 I am 99% sure it's still inside me but where?? I do feel my period is lighter than it would've been but the nurses said there's nothing there. AIBU to be stressed or should I accept it's just fallen out without my knowing ?

OP posts:
ContractorQuestion · 05/08/2026 15:09

Is there any chance you didn’t put it in last night?

From experience I can tell you that if there is one lost in there you’re going to smell it rotting before it does you harm.

Changeusernames · 05/08/2026 15:10

You need to search online for a diagram of the female reproductive system to reassure yourself. You can not possibly have a tampon inside of you, if you had a internal
examine and one wasn’t found. It can’t have gone up higher than your vagina, You either didn’t put one in or you took it out. Both you could have done absentmindedly.

fashionqueen0123 · 05/08/2026 15:12

It can’t have gone anywhere else. You’d be able to feel it or they would have seen it - they would have seen your cervix. You must not have put one in

Kingdomofsleep · 05/08/2026 15:13

I sympathise because this is the kind of fleeting worry I have sometimes. I think it is very likely that you either didn't wear one, or absent mindedly took it out. Check the bin?

Do you have a partner? Did you take it out before sex and not put another in?

Kingdomofsleep · 05/08/2026 15:14

And yes to echo everyone else, it'd have been found if it was in there. There's nowhere for it to go

LoafofSellotape · 05/08/2026 15:15

It's not there or you've had an internal examination.

purplecorkheart · 05/08/2026 15:16

I suspect you did not put it in or could you have gone for a middle of the night wee and pulled/pushed it out then? Otherwise I would check your bed in case you pulled it out in your sleep (admittedly very unlikely).

The nurse would have seen it if it is still inside you.

Original poster
Msidontknow · 05/08/2026 15:17

i definately put one in I checked the bin for the case I had used after I doubted myself. I didn't go to the toilet in the night. I slept through. In the morning I didn't find it. Funnily enough the nurses advised showed me a model of the female reproductive system and explained before that there's no way for the tampon to go but AFTER the examination she told me to go keep an eye and come back if symptoms mentioned present themselves.

OP posts:
Brenna24 · 05/08/2026 15:17

I have sneezed one out while sitting on the toilet before, so don't discount having lost it down the toilet this morning without even realising.

BertieBotts · 05/08/2026 15:17

Check the bathroom bin to see if the packaging is in there? I think like others have said probably you never put it in.

Henbags · 05/08/2026 15:45

Apologies.. but nobody’s vagina is that big to not find a tampon with the use of presumably a speculum at your local clinic? After 2 children, my vagina is incredibly short so I have the opposite issue.

Idontjetwashthefucker · 05/08/2026 15:48

ContractorQuestion · 05/08/2026 15:09

Is there any chance you didn’t put it in last night?

From experience I can tell you that if there is one lost in there you’re going to smell it rotting before it does you harm.

I left one in accidentally on the last day of my period, went on holiday 2 weeks later and kept catching a whiff...had a ferret around but couldn't find anything. About a week later it slid out during a difficult poo, the smell OMG, I almost threw up

igelkott2026 · 05/08/2026 15:56

OP it can't get further than your cervix and the vagina is only 3-4 inches long. It's not in there. Honestly.

Crashthepot · 05/08/2026 16:06

Name change

When I was a junior doctor rotating via a&e, I saw a lady who was worried she'd lost her tampon.

I couldn't find with speculcum etc, but wasn't sure what to do called the gynae reg.

The gynaecologists response of 'how big does she think, and do you think, her vagina is to think it could still be lost in there?' has stuck with me for years!

Piccly · 05/08/2026 16:08

I think it's possible to eject one with a poo, and also agree with PP, if it's still there you will soon know by the smell.

Bakeittillyoumakeit · 05/08/2026 16:08

Someone I worked with thought they'd lost one too, never worked out what happened to it.

In case anyone's not aware, for a multitude of reasons, tampons should never be flushed down the toilet.

BillieWiper · 05/08/2026 16:09

It can't have burst through your cervix? So if the nurses went all the way up to the cervix, which they would have, then there's nothing in there. It's a one way street for something that big.

hyggetyggedotorg · 05/08/2026 16:18

As others have said, it came out when you had a pee.

The nurse used speculums, not spatulas & would have visualised the whole of the vagina. A tampon cannot travel through the cervix into the uterus.

In a nutshell. Don’t worry.

JudyTeeny · 05/08/2026 17:35

Idontjetwashthefucker · 05/08/2026 15:48

I left one in accidentally on the last day of my period, went on holiday 2 weeks later and kept catching a whiff...had a ferret around but couldn't find anything. About a week later it slid out during a difficult poo, the smell OMG, I almost threw up

Show quote history

That's grotesque but so fascinating!

Laurmolonlabe · 05/08/2026 23:33

The nurse didn't find it, it seems likely it is not there. Keep an eye on your temperature, and for any unusual smell- but try not to worry too much.

BauhausOfEliott · 06/08/2026 00:03

Not to be too crude about this but if you went for a poo, sometimes the, er, pushing can make a tampon slide out.

My friend had a ‘lost’ tampon. She went to the doctor when she noticed she had a bad smell there, thinking she had an infection, and the doctor didn’t actually find it the first time she examined her (albeit I don’t think she was actually looking for a tampon). It fell out on its own the day afterwards. Much to her surprise.

elfendom1 · 06/08/2026 00:24

you will smell it, so just wait.

Rainpigeon · 06/08/2026 00:38

Yup, it's happened to me, you'll definitely smell it if it's there! You've been checked thoroughly so it does sound unlikely.

Idontjetwashthefucker · 06/08/2026 05:13

JudyTeeny · 05/08/2026 17:35

That's grotesque but so fascinating!

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Oh it really was 🤮

Eumaybe · 06/08/2026 06:07

Is this serious? 🧐 Can’t imagine a woman in her 30s saying this.