I still can't get tampons to work. (I tried when my period started when I was out without my cup. I went with stuffing my underwear with toilet paper and rushing home. Now, I just pop in the cup a couple days before I anticipate my period.)

I would often do the same thing, pre-cup. I have to say, I now don't have the feel of the blood sliding out of me (and I am so much happier not to have that feeling). I pee a bit more often with my cup in, since the Lunette puts a little pressure on my bladder (although I've figured out how to angle it so that it's pretty much not noticeable, unless I'm lying down). And I, for once, can go to the bathroom without leaking at all. My only issue with leaking is lying down (and a cloth pantyliner covers all my bases on my heavy nights).

ive never worn a tampon, they hurt too much. hard to explain, but "mommy" size cups dont hurt as much as tampons do

Question 1
I was a tampon user from my first period, but my 'daughter' hadn't used tampons before using a cup, she suffered from vaginismus so found tampons impossible to use. Cups were difficult, but after a few months she was fine with them.

I see many people recommending not using a cup until after using a tampon, but your vagina is going to be the same after using a tampon as it was before. Tampons and cups are different, if anything using tampons may hinder some women as they're so used to using tampons that using cups is not only new but very different from what they're used to. Although, it may mean you're used to your vagina and inserting something into your vagina (non-applicators being more hands-on).

Question 2
It is possible to squeeze out blood and urine, but the blood will simply go into the cup - some women may find that squeezing may break the seal. It's not normally a problem and if it is an issue then using a different cup can help, it really shouldn't cause leaking...if it did we'd all leak! The blood you loose is going to be the same no matter what, even if the cup does fill up faster it wouldn't be by much and it would still hold more flow and have the suction in place to prevent leaking.

I have never been able to use tampons succesfully, but after a couple days I was able to use a cup with no problem. I could NEVER get tampons to stay in place and it was SO frustrating haha.

It would probably just make the cup fill up faster... but then the blood that you squeeze out is hanging out in your vagina probably (especially for pads) and not coming directly out of your cervix... I would assume? So it might happen at the same rate anyway. I find I have to use the bathroom more with my cup because it presses on my urethra and I can't empty all the way. It hasn't been a problem yet, though, I just drink lots of extra water to make sure I don't get a UTI.

I could never NOT feel tampons, and a lot of the time, my flow wasn't heavy enough to saturate them, so when I tried to remove them it was really dry and uncomfortable. Part of what I like about cups is the silicone, which isn't raspy like cotton.

I would say no applicators, because you have to be okay with getting all up in your bits.

As to the second, I'm not sure, since when I'm on the toilet, I usually take the precaution of emptying the cup anyway. *shrug*

I managed to insert a tampon exactly once when I was maybe sixteen, hated it, and immediately pulled it out. I never actually used them, but I hated disposable pads, and my search for SOMETHING better led me to cups.

I have NEVER been able to use tampons, not even after I had children. They never fit properly and they dried me out so badly that I felt disgusting, that or they leaked.
I had no problems using my cup the for the first time. Granted I've only used it for one period because I became pregnant right after my last cycle that I used the cup!

Have you ever considered cloth pads? Maybe if you got yourself a nice cup and some cloth liners you might feel better about being on your period.

Never used tampons or anything that would require insertion. Went straight from 6 years of pads to a cup, got it down pat within a good month of practice.

The blood you squeeze out will likely go straight into the cup, but it probably won't be as much as you're used to using pads because blood doesn't have to slowly drip down your vaginal canal with cups - it's right there to catch whatever comes right out of your cervix. If the cup is large enough compared to your body, it tends to be easier/more comfortable (to me) to push out the last bit of urine if you remove the cup first. If you're pushing down hard enough, the cup may move down a bit under the force but as long as the suction is still at work, it will reposition itself where it should sit when you relax.

I had only used tampons very rarely, and not until I was 19! I thought I was a freak of nature because they felt so weird and I hated them. :X

So, yeah, that's about 8 years of pad usage and maybe 10 tampons in the few months before getting my cup.

When I wear a pad, I do the same thing. I squeeze out some of the blood by contracting my vagina. In think, though, this would only squeeze out some blood that was hanging out in the vagina. Since my cup goes right over my cervix, and and occupies most of the space in my vagina, there is no need to squeeze blood out. It goes directly from the cervix into the cup, and my vagina stays pretty blood-free.

1. Never used tampons, they kind of freaked me out.

2. If you squeeze/bear down too much, you might break the suction since that's one way to start getting your cup out.

1) Tampons can help you learn how your vagina is shaped, especially non-applicator ones, but I don't feel they're "required reading" or anything.

2) The muscles used to urinate are not the same ones that you use to "squeeze out" menstrual blood. It takes a while to learn the difference, but you can definitely pee without squeezing your vaginal muscles and risking squeezing out the cup. Or if that's what you like, you can always either keep a finger on the cup so it doesn't fall out (though you'd likely pee on your hand if peeing while squeezing your vaginal muscles), or you can remove the cup before peeing and then reinsert it. For me personally it took a while to learn the difference between the muscles used for bowel movements and the vaginal muscles, so I was always worried I'd squeese out the cup while taking a crap. :-P

There is a difference in that? I always have to take my cup out for a crap and I think that's the main reason why I get sick of my cup the last few days.

There is a difference in that?

Do you mean in BM vs. vaginal muscles? A bowl movement uses muscles in the anal ring and in the rectum, while you do Kegels with muscles in the vagina. (I think; I'm not a biologist...) At the very least, you can "flex" the muscles differently so that it's possible to crap without expelling or shifting the cup. It definitely took me a while to isolate what I was doing for each particular thing (crapping vs. Kegels), but there's some difference between them. I tend to need more frequent BMs during my period than not, so learning the difference was quite useful.

Now that I think about it, learning to separate the two was very similar to how I learned how to wiggle my ears. I just sat around (on the toilet with my finger on the cup in the one case, in my fourth grade weather lesson in the other case) wiggling the different muscles and trying to feel what was happening when I flexed the different muscles. After a few weeks or months I was able to tell which "flexing" did which and I could focus on doing the right part only, and then after a few more weeks or months I was able to do that part well enough to make a difference.

In the case of wiggling my ears it took less than a year but more than a month of boring weather lessons for someone else to notice that I was wiggling my ears. (That was years ago so I can't remember exactly how long it took me, but I do know I found clouds immensely boring so even wiggling muscles I didn't entirely believe existed was more interesting. I wasn't fully convinced I was actually doing anything until another student yelled out, "hey, you just wiggled your ears, didn't you?!") In the case of the cup it took me 2-3 periods to not have to stick my finger on the cup while taking a crap.

I never used tampons before I switched from pads to cups. I think I tried maybe once or twice, but the string seemed very unhygienic to me, and I kept worrying that the tampon would fall out, I hated that you were supposed to change them really often because leaving them in was risky, etc. There was a steep learning curve for me in learning to insert a cup, but it was SO worth it.

Re: bleeding/peeing: when I wore pads I would also go to the bathroom more often, but that was because the sensation of blood trickling out felt a bit like incontinence. I'd wipe and feel dry for a while, then start to feel like I was wetting my pants again. That is not a problem anymore, now that I use a cup.

Personally, I'm 28 years old. I started with pads. Then switched to tampons when I was 20. Switched to cups almost ayear ago. When I talk to women on YouTube, I find that 80% of the time, women who use tampons are far more likely to be open to using cups. And women who use pads are more afraid (in general) of trying something internal. Strict pad users seem to be the hardest to convince, because not only do they have the same initial concerns and worries that most women have about cups, but they also have reserves against internal products in general, even tampons. I used to be like that, before I was 20-- terrified of internal items. It was because my mother said that when she tried tamons, it felt like she was pulling her guts out when she tried to remove it (now I know she was simply using too high an absorbency, and was too dry). Other owmen said it would stretch me out really bad (didn't lose my virginity until I was 23). But after I tried internals, I realized first hand that all the scary hype was a bunch of nonsense, and I really wish I would have gotten over my fear a lot sooner...

Some women need to readjust their cup after using the bathroom. But as for the blood, really, I find that a cup takes most of the blood out with it. It reaches up high and keeps blood off most of the vaginal walls. In a wierd way, its almost like being able to remove and clean your vagina, lol. So I find there's really not a wole lot of blood left up inside me after removal. Other women may have a different experience, but tha'ts me.

I think I used tampons maybe 3 or 4 times before getting a cup (on the few occasions I was brave enough to go swimming while on my period!). Other than that it was just pads for me. I don't know how, but I happened across a blog post on menstrual cups one day and since the chafing from pads was *really* starting to get on my nerves, that was enough to get me interested in cups. Anyways, once I found this community and read some posts about insertion/removal, I didn't have a problem getting the cup in or out. Honestly, I would never, ever go back and I wish I had known about cups when I first started menstruating...would have saved a *lot* of grief (the pain from my period cramps used to make me slightly suicidal...I think if I'd had a cup my periods would've been a lot more bearable). Now, I've got my younger sister using one (never used tampons - and she loves her cup!) AND my older sister who was really resistant to the idea at first is actually trying it out!

yes, the chafing! that's the main reason i'm looking into internal products.

do the women who work at these pad companies actually wear the products? *eye roll*

Have any of you become cup users after NEVER having used a tampon? Or are tampons like cup initiation?
-I have only used tampons a handful of times. The first few times HURT. The only times I tried a tampon again was in a period emergency in an airport and during summer camp. The only way I could get a tampon to sorta work was to stick it in there all the way up or something with my fingers even with applicator tampons. It really made applicators a moot point but I never know there were non applicators cause I just used what my mom always bought. Either way, I used always overnight thin pads all my life until I started this 4 year battle with cups (I'm still having difficulty.lol).


Does the motion of squeezing out blood or urine cause the cup to leak or shift, or does it make the cup fill up faster?
-I know on my heavy days, especially the fuller my cup, more blood leaks from my cup. Now, I've noticed with certain cups, they make me pee more. Also, I get really bad cramps and I've noticed that bowel movements help ease the pain. I'm guessing the "bearing down" sensation helps me(and it took 10 years to figure that out).

Also, one time with my "perpetually falling out" diva cup, that when it was sticking half way out, urine got into it. Freaked me out. But with a well fitted cup, that has never happened to me before. Thank goodness.