I'm supposed to shove that...up there? My Journey with Menstrual Cups

Pre-Warning - this blog post contains information about female health issues and may not be appropriate for those who just don't understand.

After the Fibroid bleeding episode, the Gynaecologist put me on a drug called Fibristal, which is supposed to shrink the fibroid, and also stops your menstrual cycle for 3 months.  I started this med right after I had the blood transfusions, and it took about a week to start working.  It stopped my period for the entire first round of three months, which may have been the best three months of my life, well besides being physically and emotionally run down, having no period for three months was amazing!  My gynaecologist had instructed me to stop taking the drug at the three month mark, let my body have a menstrual cycle, and then start the drug the first day of the next cycle (the first day you start to bleed).

When I stopped taking the drug, I thought I would instantly get my cycle.  Nope, turns out that it takes a while for the drug to come out of your system, for me it was two weeks.  For a whole two weeks before it started, I needed to wear a dreaded pad around because I wasn't sure if I was going to spontaneously start bleeding buckets.  My choice in pads has always been Kotex Security Ultra Thin Pads, Long without Wings.  They just seem to be the most comfortable (as if a pad could ever be called comfortable) for my body shape and activity level.

As for tampons, from the time I first started wearing them, I have always been a fan of o.b. Applicator Free Tampons, Super Plus.  For me they are the most comfortable going in, and the most comfortable coming out.  They are however the messiest!  It sometimes looks like a murder scene after using on a super heavy day.

On a side note, I swear to god I should have bought stock in Kotex and o.b. years ago.  To think about just how much feminine product has been used by just one person over the past 25 year (yes I started my period young, 9 to be exact), it blows my mind.  Just a quick calculation of $20 a month for 25 years times 12 months in a year is $6000.  Thanks Mom for fronting me on on the feminine products for the first decade!

About two weeks after I stopped taking Fibristal, I felt that familiar feeling of cramps and I knew my cycle would start any time.  The cycle started on a Friday after work, and it started out like usual, light the first couple of days.  As instructed by the doc, I started taking my second round of Fibristal on the first day of my cycle.  Stupid me thought it would stop within a day or so of taking the meds again.  I was sorely wrong, it actually lasted about 21 days and was mostly heavier than normal, but fortunately not bleeding to death heavy like the last one.

I had two episodes at work where I had huge clots accompanied by a flow of blood that soaked right through a super tampon and a ultra-long pad.  Luckily I was carrying around the hospital bag still because I was nervous I was going to have to go back to the hospital if I had a hemorrhaging event again.  I became very a tune to carrying my purse with me to all of my meetings, to the cafeteria, anywhere I went basically.

At day 14 (yes you read that right) of my cycle, I was seriously getting tired of dragging a pharmacy around with me every day.  I was at Shoppers Drug Mart picking up more pads and tampons and I saw the Diva Cup.  I had always heard about menstrual cups, but never really paid much attention to them.  I decided to read the boxes and maybe give one a try.

Who knew that menstrual cups had different sizes.  Shoppers Drug Mart had two sizes, the Diva Cup Model 1 Pre-Childbirth, which was for those who have not had a child ☑ and those who were under 30 ☒.  Sounds like this one was not for me.  I checked out the other box, the Diva Cup Model 2 Menstrual Cup, which was for those who had had a baby ☒, or were over 30 ☑.  Who knew that 30 was the magic age when your vagina expanded!  It seemed as if Model 2 was the one that I should try.  I checked out the price $40, which was a little shocking at first, but at least I would get Shoppers Optimum Points!  PS, you can get the Diva Cup for much cheaper online.  There are some Amazon links below if you want to check one out!

I took the Diva Cup home and thought I would give it a try while my husband was still at work.  After unwrapping the cup, I was a little shocked at how large it was.  I was thinking "I'm supposed to shove that...up there?"  It was like half the size of my hand.  The instructions were pretty intensive for a what seemed to be a rubber cup with a tail.

After I read through all of the instructions, I bravely tried inserting the cup in the curled position, which took a good couple of tries but it eventually went in and seemed to have popped in place.  To my surprise, I couldn't really feel it at all, which is amazing because I can feel pretty much ever tampon, especially those that are not o.b.

I left the cup in for a few hours before I tried taking it out.  I assumed that after a few hours, it would be filled to the brim based on how horrifyingly full tampons seem after a couple of hours.  I am not going to lie, yanking this thing out wasn't quite as easy as popping it in place.  I read the instructions again, because I was a little concerned about the "suctioning to your uterus" that I read about.  I was expecting a messy disaster with blood everywhere, so I busted out some baby wipes.  Why I have baby wipes you may ask; answer is dog paws!

So I sat on the toilet and got into a similar position as was in the graphic, and could feel the stem of the cup.  I fished around for a few minutes, not being able to grab the stem.  I pushed down just a little bit so the stem was a bit further out and then hooked the edging around the stem with my nails.  That seemed to be the magic...grabbing it with your nails.  Once I got a good grip on it, I pulled, which probably wasn't the smartest idea.  The cup, as it was designed to do, was suctioned to my insides.  Armed with the info from the pamphlet, I knew that I had to break the suction.  It seemed that squishing the bottom of the cup will break the seal.

Once the seal broke, it came out pretty effortlessly.  What I saw next was really the most shocking.  There was literally about a 10th of an ounce of blood in there, it looked like such a small amount.  Had I been wearing a tampon for that amount of time, it would have been filled to the brim and leaking onto a pad.  There was a tiny tiny amount of leakage onto the pad, like a drop.  I dumped the blood that had collected into the cup into the toilet, which immediately turned crimson red.  Who knew such a small amount of blood caused so much mess with normal feminine routines.  I cleaned out the cup as instructed and then popped it back in to wear overnight.

The next morning, I was shocked to see that I hadn't leaked at all during the night.  When I took the cup out, it had filled up about 1/4.  It was comfortable all night, I didn't feel it at all.  I proceeded to wear the cup pretty much day in and day out for about a week.  After the 3rd day I did start to get a bit irritated from the stem rubbing, but it wasn't nearly as bothersome as wearing a tampon.  I did learn a very important lesson, don't cut your nails when you are wearing the cup, it becomes almost impossible to get a hold of to pull out.

During the week of wearing the cup, I did have two days when I had the cup fill up completely.  The amount of blood and clots that was collected was about what I would have lost those couple of days I had big clots and pad spilling over episodes at work.  This time I could feel the cup filling up, and had enough time to get to a washroom and empty the cup.  Pulling the cup out when it is full was quite tricky, but it did not look like a crime scene like a pad/tampon combo does with this much blood.  My undies and pants were also spared leakage, which to me miraculous.

Overall my first experience with the menstrual cup has been great and seems to be the answer to some of my menstrual woes.  I probably won't be able to use the cup after my fibroid surgery so the next update probably won't be until the spring.  I hope you all gained some insight into menstrual cups and will give them at least a second thought.

Have a great night!

Jen xoxo