Smelly periods (sorry)

[ItsNiceItsDifferentItsUnusual]

I had dc2 12 months ago and since then my periods have smelt really unpleasant (first one came 6 weeks pp). Not the keyword 'offensive' that seems to trigger thoughts about possible infection, but not nice. My bleeding postpartum also didn't smell good, which wasn't a problem with dc1.

Has anyone had this? I'm not sure if it's something I need to chat to a GP about or if it's just one of those changes. I don't have any signs of infection but like I said, the blood itself smells unpleasant, and I can smell it on myself even through clothes etc. I'm concerned other people can too.

How often do you change pads / tampons? Sometimes it helps to be rigid about timescales (every 2 hours works for me) to prevent the bacteria from building up enough to make it smell. Alternatively it could be thrush or vaginitis. You need to see a GP really

Thank you, that's an interesting thought. I use a mooncup and probably empty it every 6 hours? Perhaps I need to do that more often.

Ah mooncups. Yes definitely change it more often. Anything that goes in or on the vagina causes bacteria to breed.

I wouldn’t use a mooncup in this situation.

I would only use sanitary towels so that everything can get out of your body as soon as possible. Blood coming down will bring bacteria down and out, all onto the sanitary towel, outside your body. Whereas the mooncup will leave all this stuff inside your body for longer where it is nice and warm for the bacteria to multiply.

Mooncups can smell horrible after a while. Avoid. Try using towels - even washable ones if being eco friendly is important to you - and I think you'll find it's the moon cup that's been causing the smell

Thank you. I wore a towel overnight (I tend to anyway once my flow slows) and there's no smell at all this morning. So it looks as though it is the mooncup, which is a real shame as I otherwise love it.

Have you given your cup a good sterilise? Does the actual cup smell at all? How long have you had it, does it need replacing?

It's perfectly safe to leave a cup in for a lot longer than 6 hours, it's not a bacteria magnet, the material they are made from is totally inert, before it comes into contact with the air (unless you've left you cup in for days and days) menstrual bloody should not really smell apart from being a bit iron-y.

Gobblers I sterilise it every month, tend to alternate by hot or cold sterilising. The cup itself doesn't smell at all.

It's strange. The blood smells awful post day 2 of using the cup - when my flow slows down. As I mentioned upthread, I've been wearing a pad since last night and the smell has completely gone.

It may be that I wear the cup for the first two days when I bleed the most, and I don't notice a smell, then switch to pads for the remainder.

Sorry - other answer. I've had the cup about 4 years but have only been using it since the birth of dc2 12 months ago.