thinkerjill (thinkerjill) wrote in menstrual_cups,
thinkerjill
thinkerjill
menstrual_cups

chafing/yeast?

I am fairly new to cups, I on on my 4th period with the Diva cup. I've been lurking here and am doing really well with it now, in terms of leaking/confidence emptying in public bathrooms, etc. I do the finger sweep around the top edge of the cup to make sure everything is in the right place (I saw several people here mention this) and that has made all the difference. About 1 in 4 times my cervix is outside the cup--so then I just try again. On my first period, I got a really bad yeast infection--I thought--right after it. I had been using baby wipes on the cup to clean it every time I emptied it. I think that time it was actually yeast, from the wipes, and I've gone to just rinsing with clear water most of the time, maybe washing with mild (homemade) soap twice a period. Anyway, I went to the doctor and cultured negative, but had all the itching and discomfort. Diflucan (twice!) seems to have helped, but I still feel itchy after eating sugar. I just realized this cycle that what I thought was an ongoing yeast infection is maybe chafing. The inside inch or so of my skin is still irritated, and it seems to be worse with the cup in. It is also rough and kinda bumpy there. I tried turning the Diva inside out, and it is SO much better. But inside out is annoying because it is harder to remove--I can get it out by hooking a finger over the top edge, but then it spills out all over my hand--and tries to re-invert when I put it in, so there's a dimple in the bottom of it.
I'm thinking I will try and get a different cup by next cycle, and I was looking at the meluna, because that ball stem looks a lot more comfortable, and it is a lot shorter than the diva--the diva stem is often just inside the opening--but it still has those grip rings around the bottom, and I don't know if those would irritate me or not. My thought is, since it is shorter they would be higher up, so it might be better. I seem to have a pretty low cervix, I can easily reach it, at least during my period. I also have a very heavy flow, I fill the diva to overflow overnight on my heavy night, and half full-to the 1/2 ounce line-in about 3 hours on heavy days.
Thank you for any help you can provide! I've learned a ton from this board already!
Tags: chafing/irritation, divacup, inside-out, meluna, teething troubles, yeast infections
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  • Leaking/cup recommendation?

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