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Original poster

To leave a tampon in for 3 days?

116 replies

Tiddlywinkly · 27/12/2021 20:08

Sorry, posting for traffic. I'm freaking out. Any medics around please? TMI warning.

I went for a run xmas afternoon and I forgot to take out my tampon. There was no string that I could see to prompt me and it was towards the end of my flow.

I developed a cold on xmas day and I've had one since. I can't smell a lot, but I kept smelling something 'off' and asked dh multiple times, but he said there wasn't. There's been browny/black blood droplets which I thought was odd.

Anyway, cut to tonight and I thought I would check and there was a tampon in me which had lost its string. I've managed to get it out and I'm sat in the bath.

Other than a cold, I've had no temperature or anything. I'm so shocked. First time in 30 years this has occurred. Has this happened to anyone else? Am I out of the woods for TSS? Any advice welcomed thank you.

OP posts:
quixote9 · 27/12/2021 22:31

As others have said, keep checking temperature. A big difference between TSS and cold is sudden huge temperature spike. Since you haven't had one yet, you're probably fine. If it were me, I'd think I was past the TSS stage by now. You're in the most danger when the bacteria-breeding tampon is still in place. Once it's out, if there's no damage to the vaginal walls and the mucous membranes are healthy, you should be past the worst possibilities.

Haudyourwheesht · 27/12/2021 22:32

Love Mumsnet:

"I accidentally left a tampon inside me for a week'.

Mumsnet: PCR, definitely.

Haggisfish3 · 27/12/2021 22:33

Glad you have gone to be seen. Peace of mind is worth a lot.

waterlego · 27/12/2021 22:36

Yikes at 3 months @Slumcat! 🤢

Lex345 · 27/12/2021 22:38

Really glad you got seen OP and you are right better safe than sorry I am sure everything will be OK and you are in the best possible hands 😊

LuluBlakey1 · 27/12/2021 22:38

I left one for 10 days. No string. Had no idea it was there. An odd smell alerted me. DH was on a course in York, straight to his mum and dad's for the weekend near Leeds and then had a cold. He couldn't smell anything. I realised what it was and could not get it out.
Went to A and E and they could not get it out without giving me gas and air. The smell when it came out! I was mortified but they said it is really common. I had no other symptoms and was sent home to have a long bath with some diluted dettol in it.
I wouldn't worry after 3 days.

Slumcat · 27/12/2021 22:40

I really felt sorry for her she was so mortified as she had obviously had two periods since, we just triple bin bag them and take them straight out - it’s so so common

Sienna9522 · 27/12/2021 22:40

TSS is so rare. I wouldn’t worry. It’s out now. If you had TSS you’d know about it for sure. Just watch out for worsening symptoms - high temp, nausea etc.

ThesecondLEM · 27/12/2021 22:41

So a student midwife diagnosing online.
MNHQ this has got to stop

Darbs76 · 27/12/2021 22:43

Glad you went in, better to be safe than sorry

Esspee · 27/12/2021 22:50

So glad you are seeking medical help.

Rosebel · 27/12/2021 22:56

My sister did this and it was the following month when trying to insert a tampon that the old one fell out!
Having said that she'd noticed the smell and saw a doctor who prescribed antibiotics which lessened but didn't get rid of the day smell.
She was totally fine but maybe be only because she was on antibiotics. I'd ring 111 just for peace of mind.

SimpsonsXmasBoogie · 27/12/2021 23:18

I've done this when I was 19. Almost a month later my GP extracted it... I'd made an appointment because of the funny smell and the weird discharge... we were both very surprised and disgusted to find that up there... Envy

I was absolutely fine but obviously you should always check with your doctor if something like this has happened.

Allthepickles · 27/12/2021 23:24

It’s happened to me too, over a week and all was fine. Put 2 in at once on a different occasion too, so first one was in there a while, again fine.
25 years of periods, I don’t think making an error twice in that time is too unusual, seems pretty common.

Catra · 27/12/2021 23:35

Erm... I've had one up there for 3 weeks before, let alone 3 days, and I was fine Blush

For me, it was a case of forgetting to take one out before putting another one in. I've done the same with contact lenses, but that's more immediately obvious because a lens over a second lens obviously equals blurred vision.

SirVixofVixHall · 27/12/2021 23:39

@Tiddlywinkly

Hi all. Thank you for your replies. I rang 111 who told me to go to A&E to be on the safe side as on top of a headache/cough etc I had a night sweat last night and I've been very tired.

I'm sat waiting to be seen. Better to be safe than sorry!

Headache, cough, tired and night sweats all key symptoms of Omicron OP. Much more likely than TSS after only three days. Have you had a PCR ?
NarcissaMalfoysManicure · 27/12/2021 23:43

Some of you are mingers. How do you just forget and not notice the smell???

GrumpyPanda · 27/12/2021 23:52

Happened to me once. Heavy flow, no string, so thought I'd already removed it and stuffed in a second tampon after it. Took me a couple days to realize. Quite icky by that time but no harm done.

HoneyFlowers · 27/12/2021 23:55

Omg this happened to me on a camping trip in Scotland. I put a tampon in and forgot I had so put another one in. Then carried on as usual for days with one in one out. Then there was a terrible terrible smell and then I think the string started to fall out. I pulled it and was shocked at what I found I was retching!!! I put it in the camp toilet bin and it stunk the whole place out. Anyway long story short, everything was fine.

waterlego · 28/12/2021 00:18

@NarcissaMalfoysManicure

Some of you are mingers. How do you just forget and not notice the smell???
Try reading the thread. The answers are all here!
IamnotwhouthinkIam · 28/12/2021 00:18

@NarcissaMalfoysManicure

Some of you are mingers. How do you just forget and not notice the smell???
It can easily happen if you are having a very busy or stressful time in your life - it's got nothing to do with being a "minger", people are still washing down there daily!

Bear in mind that for most they will have never noticed a smell like that before (it's only once you've done it, you realise what it is!) but if the string has gone and/or it is wedged very high sideways, you might not feel anything up there when you check to make sure.

Plus most women can still easily fit another tampon up there during their period (or even have sex or in my case a vaginal scan before IVF) without feeling any discomfort or blockage, so it wouldn't always be every womens first thought - especially if you have been using tampons for 30 years and never done it before!

It's only as the tampon works it way downwards or out the vagina or if you go for a check up for a vaginal infection due to the symptoms, that many women realise whats happened.

HailAdrian · 28/12/2021 00:20

I left mine in for a good couple of weeks once 🤢 I was fine but yuck.

MissMaple82 · 28/12/2021 00:22

Don't worry you'll be fine, this has happened to me before, you'd be surprised how many ppl it has happened to

scarpa · 28/12/2021 00:43

@heelforheelandtoefortoe

I can't imagine ever forgetting I had a tampon inside me Confused

Aside from being dangerous, its also very manky

Surely you would only forget if you weren't someone who changed regularly anyway, or had a disability that affects your memory or understanding?

Aren't you quite the Head Girl of Vaginas?
scarpa · 28/12/2021 00:44

Been there myself OP - including putting a second one in!

Glad you're getting seen just to be safe :)