Hi everyone, I'm considering switching to using a menstrual cup instead of other sanitary products. I'm well aware of the environmental and economic value of them and am very tempted but am unsure how I would manage on a practical level.
I've looked a few things up and know that TSS is still a risk with menstrual cups (in fact recent research suggest it is a higher risk with menstrual cups than with tampons), and so you still have to change it every 8 hours minimum. Which would mean I would have to empty it during the work day. I'm not sure I would feel entirely comfortable doing this. Can anyone who uses one and works tell me how they go about emptying and cleaning in the workplace?
The other question i have is how the brands compare, what are the real differences between them and why did people choose the brand that they did? and also any advice about the sizing? I'm not sure where to stat on that.
Any advice, practical information and experiences/recommendations welcome. I've read the FAQs on some of the manufacturer websites but they are very clinical and don't really seem to answer the practicalities. Apologies if anyone thinks it IS unreasonable to ask for personal accounts, but I'm not sure how else to get the information I need.
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Hello. This thread is a little old now. Take a look at our round-up of Mumsnetters’ favourite menstrual cups - with a handy guide to finding and using the right cup for you - for more up-to-date advice. MNHQ.
AIBU?
to ask for practical advice/info on menstrual cups?
soupforbrains · 08/11/2017 09:46
I wrote out some extensive advice on this for one of my friends about a year ago - copied and pasted here. Sorry it's so long, but I think it's good to have as much information as possible and I think that they are fabulous and everyone should be using one, so I get a little excited when people show an interest 
...
I just got the basic "right size" Mooncup while I was at uni (their sizing was by age and whether you'd given birth), which served me well for ages and I was very, very pleased with it. But then I didn't have periods for ages because of the pill, and when I started again I had some niggles with my old Mooncup and when I looked online there seemed to be a massive range available that weren't 10 years ago. I'm now using a MeLuna.
So I then discovered that there are all sorts of things to take into account when choosing! But before you get overwhelmed, remember that I started with just whatever was available in Boots at the time and was very pleased with it, so I imagine that the differences that they all make are fairly minor and you can't go horrendously wrong.
A brief breakdown:
*Length - this depends on where your cervix sits. There are instructions on how to determine this on the second website that I've linked below. I'm not entirely sure that I got mine right!
*Capacity - this depends on how heavy your flow is
*Base type - the cups usually have something sticking out of the end which helps to keep them upright and also gives you something to grip when taking them out. The Mooncup has a stem which you cut to the correct length, and this was what I was looking to avoid the second time around. Others have a ball (which I went for) or a hoop, and some don't have anything at all.
*Material type - practically all of them are medical grade silicone or something similar, and unlikely to be made of something that could cause problems, but probably best to check just in case
*Stiffness - some of the cups are harder and some are softer. Harder ones are easier to insert correctly because they "pop out" more readily. (You have to fold them to insert and then the top ring should pop out to expand the whole thing ready to seal and collect blood). Softer ones are more likely to remain folded once you've inserted, which can be a pain because then you have to keep trying and it can be incredibly frustrating. The Mooncup is fairly hard, and I never had a problem with inserting it at all. I didn't even realise that it could be an issue! But the MeLuna, which I deliberately chose to be softer because I was trying to reduce the irritation that the Mooncup had been causing, does cause problems and I find that I'm taking longer to insert it correctly even with loads of practice. My advice would be to go for as hard as you feel you can cope with.
Using one:
I cannot stress enough how much better it is than tampons. When for whatever reason I end up having to use a tampon I can hardly bear how it feels anymore. It just feels healthier, more natural and better for the environment. Plus cheaper! And more convenient because you don't have to carry around extra tampons and guess how many you'll need for a trip etc. However, don't believe all the hype:
*You will probably still need to use pantyliners. I don't remember this happening so much with the Mooncup, so maybe it's because the MeLuna is softer, but I do still get some slight leakage and having panyliners as a backup is definitely worth it. But it's not like tampons where the leaking is an indication that it's full - the leaking just seems to happen regardless, and it's not enough that you have to change the pantyliners very often. It really is very, very slight (more like staining than leaking) and I've never had it "overflow" and need to dash to the loo or anything like that.
(A follow on to that, is that I've also switched to reusable pantyliners. That's a separate discussion!)
*I am not able to go without emptying it all day early on. This depends on your flow, but quite a few people out there will say that you never need to change it at work because it lasts all day. This is unlikely to be true for the first day or so of your period, so you will need to work out how to use it at work. I usually need to empty it once at work on day one and day two.
*Emptying it in public: At home it's simple, because you presumably have a sink near your loo and you can rinse it out easily before putting it back in. In public loos or at work it's harder because there don't tend to be sinks in the stall. Some people take in water bottles, and I happen to have a very small two stall loo on my floor where I can risk darting out to the sink and back again quickly, but if necessary you really can just wipe it clean with loo roll. It's not ideal and a bit gross, but it's fine to do it occasionally and you probably won't need to more than once or twice per period.
*Cleaning it: you need to be conscientious about cleaning it after and before each period. I used to buy Milton's chlorine sterilizer, but more recently I've discovered that you can boil it in the microwave which is much quicker. Don't over boil it, as it could go floppy!
*A logistical issue: The blood, which you empty straight into the toilet, doesn't always flush away the first time and you can end up with some sitting at the bottom which you then need to have a quick scrub at with a loo brush, or try flushing again. What I do is put a bit of loo roll down first, then empty onto the loo roll, then flush straight away while rinsing the cup out in the sink. That way the blood doesn't have time to settle.
First time you use it, don't get discouraged! Give it at least three periods to settle in. If you still don't like it after that, then I'd say give up. But it's awkward and weird and gross at first, and probably difficult to insert easily and will seem like more effort than it's worth. But it's totally worth it! It definitely gets easier with practice. I'd also recommend starting it on a weekend so that you've got lots of time to get it in and get used to it, and to figure out how often you need to change it.
This doesn't feel like a hugely great sell on my part. I'm assuming that you'll get all the positives if you do a bit of googling, and it's better to be honest about the downsides. But even if I haven't gone into them in depth, I really do think that the positives far outweigh the negatives
Resources:
I think that this is one of the blogs I used when I was trying to find a less "stiff" brand, because she has a (very unscientific) list of her impressions of stiffness at the bottom of this entry, and most comparison charts don't seem to include that info:
menstrualcupinfo.wordpress.com/cup-stiffness-comparison-chart/
This website seems to be incredibly extensive, and probably has everything that you need if you want to explore a bit. I've linked to their comparison chart which should be useful for deciding which brand to try:
putacupinit.com/metricchart/
Otherwise, there's tons and tons of stuff out there on Google. The main brand in America is DivaCup, so you'll read a lot about that one, and people comparing other brands to that one.
janinlondon this is rather what I was worried about, and how to manage that in shared toilets at work! Thanks for your input.
Thanks scrufette and cora very useful feedback.
Marmite Thanks! LOTS of useful information there although it concerns me that both yourself and Time talk about not emptying it during the working day at all. I must admit I had initially assumed this was the main attraction for Menstrual cups (aside from environment/economic) but all the brands advise emptying every 4-8 hours and I've since found that this is because as I've mentioned Menstrual cups are even more likely to cause TSS than tampons and so MUST be emptied/cleaned every 8 hours as a minimum.
If it was a 'wear it all day' sort of thing then I'd definitely give it a go and emptying/changing at home doesn't bother me in the slightest. but we have only communal handwash basins (Cora you made me lol at the idea of no cubicles and a sort of Roman style communal loo ) I could probably use the ground floor disabled toilet though.
Can anyone give me any further feedback on the stem/loop/ball/none aspect of their cups? This is a bit which interests me. I currently use tampons, but am very sensative to when they are just a bit too low down and find it VERY uncomfortable so the idea of being able to 'feel' anything inside me is quite offputting. I assume that the cups themselves settle in the same region as the tampon would so wouldn't be noticeable but the stems cause me to hesitate.
Also Marmite I had assumed that with the right size and fit there would be no leakage. I find pads and pantyliners quite uncomfortable and don't use any at the moment, I would find having to use these all the time very offputting. is regular leakage common?
I never got on with mine, had enough leaks for no obvious reason that it put me off - nothing major but lost trust in it hehe. Found I sometimes just couldn't get it positioned right no matter how much fiddling, so still had to buy tampons as a back up option etc.
The final straw was once dropping it on removal... 
Luckily at home so could wash the blood off the walls without suspicion!
I use a Mooncup and never have problems with leakage. At work I either find a toilet with a basin in the cubicle, or simply empty it and give it a wipe with some toilet paper and reinsert. I wouldn't recommend that until you're used to it though because it can be a bit messy until you've got the hang of it!
Re flow and TSS. I frequently leave mine in longer than 8 hours . Mainly overnight, but also at the tail end when flow is light. Mind you, I've also left a fair few tampons in more than 8 hours over the years. I've survived!
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