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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU not to understand tampons?

117 replies

Secretlifeofme · 11/05/2018 06:47

I have really heavy periods and up until this year I always just used pads, but recently thought I'd try tampons. However I don't understand the appeal! Issues I have are :
They don't absorb my heavy flow properly, even changing every 2 hours, so I have to wear a pad as well anyway
Putting them in feels weird
Taking them out is messy! How do people do it without getting blood everywhere?

Am I doing it wrong? I don't understand why they're so popular given the above points, but maybe I'm missing something Confused

OP posts:
TinyTear · 11/05/2018 10:17

I tried tampons for the first time last month (in my 40s) as i didn't like the idea and don't mind pads...
But next month on holiday i will be on and want to swim so had to give it a go...

I can cope... but still don't like it... so i might stick to my pads and when i go to the pool or beach, stick one in just for a few hours and then back to pads. Sigh...

I have had it with having children, can I just stop it all already??

NoYouDontHaveThat · 11/05/2018 10:21

I much prefer tampons. Towels make me want to vom.

StandardsHighSquatsLow · 11/05/2018 10:25

I'm in the mooncup camp. It is a little gross to start with but you soon get used to it... Literally been a game-changer, I'll never go back to tampons or pads now. You'd be surprised at how much they hold as well so you'd probably end up changing it lot less frequently than you're changing tampons and pads now.

Zaphodsotherhead · 11/05/2018 10:28

Plus, with tampons I could wear two at a time on heavier days to give myself a bit of extra leeway, and/or wear a pad at the same time. If you just wear pads you've nowhere else to go on those 'floody' heavy first few days, apart from maternity pads and feeling like you're wearing a wet nappy.

DuchyDuke · 11/05/2018 10:29

Tampons aren’t suitable for heavy clotty periods or if you get contractions.

ParisUSM · 11/05/2018 10:32

I wouldn't wear two tampons at a time, I'd be using tranexamic acid instead. I wear a pad with my tampon in case of flooding, problem in perimenopause is that you never know when you might flood.

I do find clots get stuck behind the tampon and are really painful.

DownWithThisSortaThing · 11/05/2018 10:46

Wearing 2 tampons at a time is not a good idea and increases the risk of TSS

bunbunny · 11/05/2018 10:49

Another vote for Lil-lets - try the orange Ultra high absorbancy. The only downside I have discovered is that they only sell them in the boxes of 10 instead of the boxes of 20 or more like the other sizes!

You also need to work out the angle that you need to insert it at - depends if you're sitting or standing I guess and everyone is different but if you get the angle wrong then it's just not going to work or feel comfortable (think of those kid's shape sorter toys - if you try to put the cylinder shape through the circular hole sideways first rather than circle end first then it doesn't work! Bit simplistic but think about it and how it relates to you personally to work out the best angle...)

Even with the Ultra (and they're not sold everywhere unfortunately) I sometimes need to change them every hour, plus have a pad for back up - but if I didn't I'd need at least 3 pads in that time, so it's still an improvement.

As for the fibroids - I have several friends that spent a lot of time and money TTC/IVF when they had fibroids that they were told to ignore and that wouldn't make a difference. None of them got pg with fibroids - they only conceived after they sorted out the fibroids. Some had big fibroids while others had smaller ones.

CorvusUmbranox · 11/05/2018 10:51

Thanks everyone. Actually I didn't say I had tried a cup and it leaked confused I am not interested in trying a cup I'm afraid, the idea grosses me out.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive but I find a cup much less messy to deal with than tampons and pads. But if it's not for you it's not for you.

RestingBitchFaced · 11/05/2018 11:40

Another vote for lilettes. I prefer the non-applicator ones. Get some loo roll ready to put the used tampon in, wrap it inside before binning. I hate pads, and the feeling of the blood coming out, feels like it's going to leak everywhere

Idontbelieveinthemoon · 11/05/2018 11:55

I know the mooncup isn't everyone's ideal but for my heavy periods it really is a game-changer. I'm on tranexamic acid (and have had mefenamic acid prior to that) but neither helps enormously and my periods are, at times, to the point where I can flood inside 45 minutes. It's not ideal in a classroom at all.

Tampons just don't suit me at all so the mooncup is the only thing that stops me from being totally housebound during a period.

mummyhaschangedhername · 11/05/2018 12:05

I am similar, very very heavy for first 2-3 days. I bleed through a super high absorption tampax in an hour to 2 hours, so like you I need a pad too ... I use one of my kids old nappies or incontinence pads in addition, I'm 34 with 4 children and this is the lightest and shortest my cycles have ever been been ... GP is useless, they just try me in the same medications or contraceptives every time even though I have tried everything over the years and I have a condition where I am losing my hearing and the hormones they speed up my hearing loss. So I have given up and just live with it. I've never not been anaemic in my life unless I have been pregnant 😂

I do use tampax in addition or else I'm sitting in a pool of my own blood. I used to use a mooncup but it would overflow which would be a bigger mess than the alternatives.

I am Just hoping menopause turns up sooner rather than later really.

I do now use reusable pads for after the first 2-3 days, because I get so raw and sore and pads make it worse, they are great and high absorbency but not enough for my first few days.

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 11/05/2018 12:24

Whatshallidonowpeople

Have you seen a GP about that?

crunchymint · 11/05/2018 14:27

Heavy periods can be very normal. I had investigations for my heavy periods, nothing wrong.

JamieVardysHavingAParty · 11/05/2018 15:17

Having to change tampons after less than an hour definitely merits investigation though.

Peanutbuttercups21 · 11/05/2018 22:51

In most other countries, Lillets are called OB, or they used to anyway

Same as Walkers (crisps) outside the UK is LAYS

For some reason Confused

NeeChee · 11/05/2018 23:06

It's only after reading threads like this that I realised how heavy my periods actually were. I now have a Mirena, and it's a lifesaver. I'd never want to go back to my natural periods, fortunately I'm not interested in having my own children so I shouldn't have to :)
I used Lilets Super Plus Extra along with pads as a backup. On my worst days, sometimes I would have to change tampons several times an hour. I recall changing, sitting back down on my sofa, and five minutes later realising I was flooding. It was so draining trying to sleep without moving a muscle (I found I bled much less if I stayed in one position).

Fabricwitch · 11/05/2018 23:10

I don't like using tampons but have psoriasis on my bits which flares up during my period and pads (even the organic cotton no chemical ones) can make it super painful. Sorry if that was TMI 😂 I really should try a mooncup..

SequinsOnEverything · 11/05/2018 23:12

Sorry op, for some reason I thought stringypotatoes post was from you.

UterusUterusGhali · 11/05/2018 23:13

I have very heavy periods and use both, max absorbency changed hourly.

But I agree tampons don't absorb the clots so it's just taking up the thin blood and I have to sit and pass the clots anyway.

They're ok when at work but I sit on incos too.

You shouldn't feel them. If they're problematic and don't need them just don't. Lots of people don't. :)

NC4Now · 11/05/2018 23:16

Loving the Lilets love on here.
Tampax seem to poke out in a really uncomfortable way. I prefer the applicator variety. I like to forget about my period where possible.

userofthiswebsite · 11/05/2018 23:20

I wish wish wish I'd heard about cups as a teen. I used Tampax all through teens and 20s into 30s when I heard about Mooncup.
I never found Tampax reliable but just didn't know there was any other alternative apart from pads which I never liked.
For those of you with daughters who are teens, do schools now make them aware of this 'third option' when having lessons about this sort of thing. It was 'A or B' when I was at school.

BuntyII · 11/05/2018 23:24

I don't really like Tampax either but Lidl own brand ones are really comfortable and absorbant

pickledparsnip · 11/05/2018 23:28

I'd be absolutely lost without tampons. I use them with towels for the first 4ish days. I bleed through a super one in about an hour during the heaviest bit, and am prone to flooding, so just using pads would be pointless and mean a bazillion more loo trips. Mefenamic acid has helped calm things down a bit though.
They just take a bit of practice. Been using them for years, but still sometimes make a mess. Hard not to when you bleed heavily.

Raven88 · 11/05/2018 23:33

Mine are heavy too and I tried tampons a few times but they just aren't for me I find them quite painful.