Okay girls, let’s talk about our period. Specifically, how we stop the flow. Over the years I have tried a lot of the brands of pads and tampons, even OB which comes without an applicator. Which kind of grossed me out, so it makes no sense that I would try the Diva Cup. But yet….
Every month I curse nature that I get my period and that it costs me so much money. Before having kids I had such a heavy and thick period that I would have to change my tampon every 3 hours. Since having kids, my period is still thick, but is a teensy shorter, by one or two days sometimes. However, since I have had kids, tampons don’t sit right, so they’re uncomfortable and I always wear a thin pad for leakage. Plus, every time I go pee, the tampon slips and I have to replace it. So I was going through a tampon every couple of hours (I drink 3 litres of water a day) and it was getting rather expensive. It didn’t matter what brand I tried. Every month I was spending $20-30 on tampons and pads, and cursing the manufacturers over the price.
Considering my unhappiness on throwing my money in the garbage, essentially, it makes sense that I would be intrigued by the idea of the reusable Diva Cup when I saw it. Diva Cup is a Canadian made, bell-shaped menstrual cup that is worn internally and sits fairly low in the vaginal canal, collecting your menstrual flow rather than absorbing it in to cotton. Sounds fun, right? I know it doesn’t and I had a lot of trepidation about trying the product. I read a bit online and a lot of pamphlets. I asked my doctor about it. She encouraged me to give it a go.
I bought mine at Superstore, and I was surprised to see there were two different shapes depending on if you have had kids or not.
Obviously, I chose the blue box since I have two lovely little monsters. I was very nervous about spending the money, but the amount is equal to two big boxes of tampons, so I went for it. It was $35 at the time I bought it and you only replace it every couple of years.
I took it home and opened it. I read the extensive instruction pamphlet from cover to cover. THIS is very important. It covers two ways to put it in, what to do to release it and empty it…even how to use it in a public bathroom.
There is a very large learning curve. The first time it leaked a bit because I had it in crooked. I also had to put it in, walk around, realize it was put in uncomfortably, go back to the bathroom and take it out to clean it and reinsert it. From the instructions I knew I would have to tip it out to empty it but I was so anxious about the whole process that I would yank it out too fast and not angle it. This left a bit of mess, as you can imagine, and made the clean up and reinsertion very arduous. Finally, I got it to go in right, and as I walked around I couldn’t even feel it in there! It sat comfortably and I felt accomplished for figuring it out.
During the first period, I played with different ways to insert it and finally learned how to tip it backwards when releasing it to eliminate any messiness. Inserting and turning it to make sure it won’t leak became no messier than inserting an o.b. tampon. I can wear it longer than a regular tampon, and my period is shorter because it isn’t getting slowly absorbed in to cotton, but allowed to drip freely down in to the cup…..which the first time I swear I could feel (very weird feeling), but don’t even notice now.
Cleaning it is simple too. I say this as a girl who doesn’t have a medium to light lady-like trickle down there, either. My periods are thick, heavy, and messy rivers until it suddenly puts on the brakes for the last day or two. So if cleaning is simple and do-able for me, you can too! I probably empty mine out twice a day just to be safe on the heaviest days.
By my third menstrual cycle, I was brave enough to wear it out in public and even had to empty and reinsert it in a public bathroom. It was a breeze! It was not the bloody horror show I had imagined. I was in and out with a clean diva cup reinserted and ready to go in record time; no fumbling. AND I didn’t have to drag my whole purse or a “discreet” mini bag with me to the bathroom. I still wear a thin pad with it in case it gets full or leaks a bit due to my own error in inserting it, but eventually I will phase that out.
It’s comfortable, and even though there is a learning curve, if you follow the instruction booklet, it is easy in no time. The first day of my cycle I always have a bit of a think about what worked last time, and off we go. Plus, every month when my cycle starts up and I’m not running to the store to spend $30 on cotton sticks I will throw away in two hours, I feel like I have beat the system. I highly recommend you try it and give it at least three menstrual cycles of practice before you write it off. Your bank account will thank you. (But the tampon companies probably won’t).
Have heard good reviews from a variety of athletes too 🙂
I used a cup to get pregnant. Worked on our first try. Just another positive to add to menstrual cups.
How did it help you do that?