Hi ladies,
I've been lurking here for a few weeks now, and I just love this site; what a fantastic resource! I wish it had been around when I bought my small UK Mooncup in 2005. I never managed to insert it back then, so I just set it aside, but recently decided to have another go at it.
I'm still on the learning curve but things are going pretty well; pretty dramatic improvement as I go along. But, when I bear down to remove my cup, it ends up tilting at a crazy angle; I think my vagina "turns" near the entrance. My cup gets literally horizontal inside me, with the rim pointing backwards, and the stem pointing out in front of me. So the stem jabs me, which results in a dull ache for several days, and it itches a little at that spot too. I know the obvious answer to this is to cut the stem, but at least so far for me the stem is vital to getting the cup out; once the cup tilts horizontally, I reach in and bend the stem to the correct angle (the rest of the cup doesn't bend, only the stem), bear down again, and then the cup surges downward as it should. I'm not sure I could guide the cup to the correct angle very easily with no stem. Stupid paradox; I need the stem to fix the problem the stem is causing! =P
I should probably mention that my stem is about 14 mm long right now. The Mooncup itself, not counting the stem, is 50 mm, so 64 mm total. So my question is: should I try trimming or totally removing the stem? Would the rim of the cup likely sit in the same place, even if the stem is shorter, or does the bottom of the cup determine how high the cup rides? Or would it be better to get a longer cup (a longer total length, with the cup part longer and the stem shorter or non-existent)? The cup rides VERY high so I've been contemplating getting something longer anyway so my poor abs don't suffer with so much bearing down. Capacity is not an issue, my flow is not terribly heavy.
And let me stress again, this horizontal tilting/jabbing only happens after I've been bearing down awhile to get it out, and a little bit during bowl movements. Otherwise my cup rides quite high, and it's comfortable and I don't feel it at all. And I don't think any of this matters but I am 26, not a virgin, never pregnant.
Sorry if this was a bit rambling; any advice would be really appreciated! =)