Diva cups

[DaffodilUpsurper]

Am I the only one using Diva menstrual cups? I have started using the Diva cups and I just think they are bloody fantastic (excuse the pun!) I have used them now for a while and have not been able to discuss it as I'm too embarrassed. Honestly they are so much better than tampons. I'm saving so much money too. No dryness / itching and no leaking. I'm just so impressed. I once mentioned it to a group of friends and they all looked at me like some sort of gross alien. I've kept quiet since but would love to hear some views on those that have tried it. I read some bad online reviews originally about having trouble about getting it out and what proceeded to be a bit of a scary disaster zone but none of that happened for me. Is anyone else using them? What are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance

Why would the blood go all over your hands when you tip it down the toilet?
Obviously you might get a bit of blood on your fingers when you reach inside to grab hold of it, but even then it's hardly any. The blood is on the inside of the cup and you get hold of the outside.
Give it a try when you don't have your period. That way you can get the hang of it without the concerns about blood.

It's a learning curve at first. I tried it because I hate both tampons and pads.

Pros
Less painful periods (I have no idea why. I
Thought this was bollocks when told but it really isn't.)
Less changing needed
No tss risk
Far more comfortable than tampons
Can be put in before you come on properly and can be left in longer risk free
Cheaper
More environmentally conscious
No messy waste
No bin needed

Cons
Can take a while to get past the ick factor of seeing a pool of your own blood
Has a learning curve for insertion and removal. Took me about 3 months to get it right but I do find it super easy now. The learning curve is similar to tampons but it's non applicator. If you always use applicators there's a bigger culture shock
If you are a clutz and drop or spill it the results are spectacular. However in two years I've only done this once and that was the second month.

Yep, moon cups should sit around your cervix sealed against the vaginal wall. So the rim makes a circle around your cervix. That is how they work without leaking. That is also why you don't pull them down like a tampon to remove - it would have a sort of suction if correctly placed and could hurt. You just push in one side slightly so that it releases easily.

Many people imagine that their cervix is at the top of their vagina. It isn't. It is somewhere on the side. Often it is far lower than you would believe, less than halfway up- you can feel it with a finger. It feels like the tip of your nose.

So a moon cup actually lies at an angle in your vagina, more sideways than vertical. Cervixes seem to be particularly low down during a period - mine always was. However a mooncup will still work fine.

I have a diva and a lunette, I prefer the lunette but both are MILES better than Ramona or pads. Can't say I've noticed significant difference in pain or flow but so much more comfortable, convenient, cheaper and environmentally friendly.

Regarding public toilets, you tip down the toilet and then wipe the cup, you can even get special specific wipes but you don't really need them. I always have baby wipes on my person anyway so I can give my hands a wipe before I leave the stall and wash them in the sink.

I've been wanting to try a menstrual cup for ages as tampons really aggrivate my cramps and make my vag feel horrible - is the mooncup the best way to go? I'm concerned about being able to get it up there - tampons are a challenge already!

That's incorrect Haffiana - they are not meant to seal around the cervix - see below.

www.mooncup.co.uk/using-mooncup/where-do-i-position-my-mooncup/

DownWithThisSortaThing

Great picture!

It also depends how high or low your cervix is during your period, that will affect which one is best as well.

And they're not meant to lie sideways, they're meant to sit as low as they can upright in your vagina.

You're describing it like a limpet on your vaginal wall Haffiana

It should be like so (through cervices do come sometimes down a bit more than the pic illustrates)

It isn't like a limpet, no! Otherwise air in the moon cup could not be released as it is displaced by blood. However, whatever the Mooncup website says, the cup sits over the cervix. You can put your finger in and feel the cervix is surrounded.

It depends how high up your cervix is doesn't it? We're all different. It doesn't HAVE to sit around your cervix though. As long as it's held by the vaginal walls it should be as low as it can comfortably go without falling out.

Tried mooncup once, got it stuck. Never again

Same except I managed to remove it the first 2 times but then it acquired some kind of suction effect and the more I tried to remove it the higher it went, ended up at the doctors after begging the receptionist to give me any appointment straight away. She kept saying a moonwhat 😂😂😂

I was doing fine with my mooncup but then got a uti, and then another the next month. I'd like to try again though. I think I'd like a more flexible or softer cup. What would peeps recommend?

If the rim is not sitting snug against the vaginal walls it will leak.

In truth if you put it in low then it will find the right place all by itself because of its shape. You can do a Kegel to help it! The only problem will come if you push it in as high as poss like a tampon, and then it will open up above the cervix and not collect any blood at all.

Can you feel it when you sit down like a (all too familiar to me) poorly fitted tampon?

I just started reading this thread, went to the loo and realised that my period is about to start.
One of the biggest advantages of Mooncup for me is that you can stick it in before the big flow start. Unlike tampons.
I get some spotting on the first day, so put it in then.
Mine sits just behind the pubic bone. I can feel the bottom of it when wiping.
I haven't had a need to empty it in the public toilet yet. Only empty it in the morning and in the evening really.

One tip - make it wet before putting it in. It's easier to do it then. And if you feel it hasn't opened, twist it round and it should open.

I have used it for about year and a half now. So far I haven't had a wish to go back to tampons. Hate them.

I had been using a mooncup and absolutely loved it. But after an absence of periods it was fucking agoney taking it out. It actually split my fanjo a bit . Is their a softer rubber one available?

Mine definitely doesn't sit over my cervix and it is vertical! It usually sits quite low but occasionally rides further up. Just bear down slightly if it's too high.
Yes definitely wet it when you want to put it in.

@mylittlephoney there are softer ones. Need to look at one of the comparison site.

Maybe for some people it sits around their cervix, certainly not mine.

If I put mine over my cervix I'd need a coathanger to fish it out, my cervix is really quite high at all times haha. Mine sits so the base is jussst at the entrance basically (I removed all the stem - found it easier without)

Are some softer than others? I have a mooncup which I much prefer to tampons, but when I remove it sometimes I can't quite grip it well enough in a pinched position and it pings back whilst getting out which is painful! Wondering if I had a softer one it wouldn't be so bad?

Tried a mooncup and shredded my poor vulva in the process. The box said as I was over 30 (even though I'd not had a baby) I needed the larger size. The smaller size nearly ripped the skin at the fourchette! I have no problem with sex or tampons, but the mooncup was horrific. Getting it in was bad enough, trying to wrestle the damn thing out was agony

Meluna cup was significantly better - smaller and softer, didn't destroy my fanjo in the process

Still absolutely loathed it. Only reason I used it was because my Dr needed me to monitor my flow because of gynaecological treatment for intra uterine adhesions as part of my infertility treatment.

Absolutely no way would I use a cup again unless I absolutely had to. I don't have heavy periods so I only ever used the lightest of tampons anyway. Tampons and pantliners are so so much easier for me, no rummaging around inside to fish anything out - quicker and simpler than a menstrual cup.

Most people rave about them, but most definitely wasn't for me