Mooncup stuck please please help

[Franklyfrost]

Used a moon cup for the first time and can not get it out. I can feel the stem and part of the side of the cup (it’s sort of a bit sideways?) but it’s really high up- I can touch it with the tip of my middle finger. How am I supposed to grip it and pull it out. I’ve read a few articles and none of the tips- change position etc help. I can’t reach up there with forefinger and thumb. I was very late to show with my pregnancies and someone said it was because my cervix faced a certain way (backwards I think) could it be that? Please please help. I’m having visions of my partner, barbecue tongs and a plastic sheet. It’s a brand called hey girls in the large size. (I should have stuck to my rule and not trusted anyone who calls a woman a girl…). But please help, posting in aibu for traffic because I’ve been squatting in the bath for half an hour now and am having a mini panic but if you want a question how’s this: maybe tell customers clearly on the packet it might be impossible to get the mooncup out. AIBU

If your partner's fingers are longer than yours then you need to try to break the suction and move the cup back into the right position to remove it. Do you have any lube at all? Could he nip and get some from the supermarket?

Don't panic, there is no rush. I know it is easier said than done but try to relax. I would honestly ask him to do it. He will find it easier just access wise, sorry, but true.

And yes I am a cup user.

Glad you got it sorted. Mine got completely stuck so I ended up going to the doctors where the receptionist wanted to know what was so urgent so I had to write it in a piece of paper rather than announce it to the waiting room 🤷‍♀️ never used it again

Long nose pliers?

Cross posts, well done.

I’m scrawny so not because of fat in this case although I can see how fat in the way wouldn’t help.

I have always found those stems bloody useless. I cut them off completely now and just slide my finger up and squeeze. Yes, it’s messier but I had the same full on panic attack the first time I used one and couldn’t get it out.

I appreciate you might be scared to give it a go now which is understandable. I think the best time to really try it out is when you are at for the weekend so you can test it’s anti-leaking powers and practice with removal and inserting (it really does get so much easier - like second nature).

So pleased for you. Your blushes are spared in not having to go A&E.

I’ll have to ask the nurse that does the cervical screening what makes me such a freak, no way would mooncups be marketable if they worked like that for everyone

No helpful advice OP but sending huge sympathy your way. My sister bought me a mooncup (she absolutely raves about hers) but oh my God. I’ve never known anything like the stress and the panic and the pain of trying to use the damned fucking thing.

To put that in context I’ve had numerous invasive fertility investigations, 3 pregnancies, 3 C section deliveries and 2 abscesses - and I would rank the stress, pain and sheer sweating tearful panic of trying to extract the mooncup above every single one.

I eventually got mine out - after an hour of sweaty stress and tears, I finally managed to break the suction. I was almost hyperventilating by the end.

I do know that I have a particularly tight cervix - despite having carried 3 full term babies, at my last smear test the nurse looked confused and said she presumed I’d never had children - so maybe that’s why.

But Christ alive, never again. Tampax all the way. I don’t care about the health risks of those, or the poor sodding environment, quite frankly - that mooncup is never coming near me not ever never!!

I am glad you got it sorted and hope you have now chucked it safely into the bin xx

So glad you got it sorted!!

In my much younger days I was a hopelessly naive eco-activist and was determined to use a mooncup to save the environment.

Had it fail catastrophically in a filthy squat / welding workshop in the middle of a multi-day protest in Copenhagen in December. Fucking freezing, there was no heating, no hot water and I was locked in a seriously unhygienic bathroom using scraps of loo roll to sponge blood off my hands and pants whilst some angry anarchists banged on the door and yelled at me to hurry up.

Never used the fucking thing again.

Thank goodness you got it out, is there a garage or corner shop you or dh can get to.

I’ve had one since I was 17 and it happened to me then. I think all of us mooncup users have been there once and it’s the pure panic which makes it worse.

Trust that you WILL get it out. It does become second nature in time but it is a learning cure.

My best friend got one and got so panicked she couldn’t get it out. She was saying she was going to go to A&E. and I suggested we go for a few drinks and try and again later. The drinks really helped and she got it out fine later lol. Unfortunately she has been too scared to carry on with it.

Yaaay glad you’ve managed to get it out OP! I totally sympathise - I started using a mooncup around the end of last year, and the first few times I used it, it was tricky!! Hope you manage to find some tampons and pads - it’s always a nightmare when your period comes unexpectedly! Are there any other shops nearby your family/friends could nip out to, if you don’t feel up to it?

Glad it’s out!

I once had a similar incident with a condom and had to get the practice nurse on the case

Anyone reading this in future should know it’s much easier to remove a mooncup if you wee and poo with it in first if you’re desperate. Being “full” can send mine hiding (Christ, that’s sexy…)

Been there!

Used it again though and so glad I did. I think the trick is just to place it inside you. Don’t push it up. I find it then works it’s way to a decent place. I still occasionally have to go fishing but now I don’t panic and that really does help.

Glad you managed to sort it. I once lost a tampon string and got in such a panic. I was in the loo at a chess tournament with another mother, who is a gynecologist consultant, standing outside the loo giving me directions on what to do...

For now, stick a pair of folded socks doen your knickers and send your DH out for tampons. I find socks better than loo roll in an emergency.

Well done! It can be a right fucking nightmare.

As much as I liked the idea of a 'moon up
I'm a fat T. rex. & I decided it was not a good idea for me to use them!

Glad you retrieved it. It'll probably get easier and it's probably better to try it when your period is a bit heavier.

We’re rural so the shops a sensible driving distance are closed now. I’ve been crafted myself a pad with a flannel and some pipe cleaners (which a child helpfully left in the bathroom). Tomorrow I might drive to the shop or face the cup again. Not sure which but I’m feeling so much happier (if a bit bruised) now

Been there 🙋‍♀️ full on panic attack thinking I would end up getting it surgically removed.
I still use mine and my trick to them now is tying some cotton (even used dental floss) to the stem so I never have to worry about not being able to grasp the stem again. If it wiggles up too far for me to reach, I gently pull the cotton until I can reach the stem. I cut the cotton off after each period and tie it again the next month.

Oh god, I had the same experience. Awful things!

Glad you got it sorted. The same thing happened to me when I tried a mooncup, I was horrified and it took me absolutely ages to get the bloody thing out!!

It went straight in the bin afterwards.

If you try using it again, wait until your flow is lighter (day 4?) so you don't end up looking like an abattoir worker. I had the odd tricky moment, but it saved me a fortune and lasted from my mid 30s to the menopause.

I chopped the stem off mine when I used one. Just grabbed the bottom and pinched it ,twist and remove. Bear down if necessary.

@Three0fivepointfour thanks I’ll try that if I’m feeling brave tomorrow

@Iknowtheanswer at a chess tournament guided by a gynaecologist?! That is great.