Okay, so it's my first period on Paragard, fourth day, and I am freaking flooding! Holy crap, I can't believe how much I'm bleeding. I always used Instead softcups, and though I might risk it with them in the future, I'm not willing to try them this early on. I need to get my gyno to trim my strings shorter before I can even think about it anyway. I ordered some cloth pads about a month ago but I obviously didn't order nearly enough because I am going through them faster than I can wash them and use them again. I've even had to swipe some tampons from the stash at work and from my roommate, and I go through a Super Plus tampon in a matter of a few hours. Once upon a time, that would last me up to 12. Anyway, the tampons really feel icky after being used to cups and I just don't like using them.
Here's the worst part! I'm a massage therapist, and I'm leaving in just a few hours to drive all through the night from Huntsville, AL to Asheville, NC for a weekend long Shiatsu workshop. These tampons are making me dry out and cramp, and I can't really buy disposable pads because when you're wearing one of those lying on the massage table they make crunchy noises!! Embarrassing!! For this reason, I'd also really like to find a cup so I can completely undress or wear a thong in order to receive massage.
So my question is, where can I buy cups or pads in person??? Do any of you reading this happen to be somewhere along my route and feel like selling some pads or cups (even [clean] used!) Do places like Trader Joe's sell any reusable menstrual products? I've never been to one because there aren't any near me, but I bet there might be one in the Asheville area. ANY help and/or advice would be much appreciated! I'll be keeping up with your responses on my phone the whole way! THANK YOU!
X-posted to
menstrual_cups, cloth_pads and iud_divas, the latter mostly just to share my experience. For the record, this is the only negative part of having the Paragard so far. Other than this, I love it!