Help! Moon Cup Removal (not for the faint of heart)

I've read most of the threads I could find about menstrual cups. I've just begun using one and for the most part, I LOVE it :D

Okay, so the part I don't like: the painful removal :( :(

I have only used it for one cycle and insertion is find and it functions beautifully (besides the fact that I may have trimmed the stem too short...and now it pokes me but I am too terrified to cut it completely off). But when it comes time to remove it, yikes!! :eek:

The pain from removal does subside rather quickly although from repeated abuse, it hurts over time so I had to take a break :( I try to relax my muscles, etc. and have done some research from blogs online but there's only so much pain I can handle in one five to seven day time period!

Any tips, tricks or suggestions? I'm really loving the rest of it but the thought of having to remove it is such a deterrent...I may have to give it up :(

Oh, details. I am using the Keeper Moon Cup, Style B and have never given birth.

Am I the only one this happens to? Does it the pain subside over time?

I am extremely comfortable with my body and do not have issues with TMI so please share (and PM me if it's too personal, etc).

Thanks!!! :D

Where, exactly, is it hurting? With the Diva cup, I have to be careful for it not to "pop" out - I kind of have to pinch and ease a part of it out, and basically bring it out at an angle. That hurts much less for me - not completely comfortable, but no worse than removing a tampon. Honestly, because this method causes some spillage - I end up just taking 2 showers a day during my cycle and doing it in the shower. Would love to find a way to avoid that but....

CA

Hey Ana,

I'm so happy to hear that your using the moon cup. I've been using my keeper size B for about 6 months, and I will never go back to pads or tampons. Ever!

You said you were having pain when taking the cup out. Could you be more specific? I know it may be odd to explain it in such detail, but it could really help me help you.

Is the pain from when you push out the cup?... or reach in to pull it out?

Also, do you tend to wear your cup high into the vagina, or do you tend to wear it down low - near the opening of the vagina? This would just give me some insight as well...


There will be some discomfort after the first cycle of use. It took me three cycles of use till I had insertion, sealing, and removal down comfortably. Be patient, it will take some time getting used to it.

If my questions are too personal I would definately talk to you via message.

Hmm, I'm not sure exactly what kind of pain you're experiencing but I hope you find some relief. That does not sound fun.

I'm wondering if it's from the suction effect the cup has. When I first used mine and took it out, I didn't break the seal and it felt like I going to turn myself inside out! It was quite unpleasant. Now, like CA, I just make sure to pinch the bottom and start to take it out at a bit of an angle. It even helps to push one side of the wall in with a finger to break the seal. If that makes sense.

Good luck! I hope you find a solution. I had a few bumps in the road with mine, but I absolutely love it now.

But I never want to freak anyone out too much. I guess if you clicked on the link and knew it was about the moon cup, that should have forewarned you enough ;)

So the pain specifics:

Surprisingly, I have not had any of this "suction pain" I read about...even when I push and pull it down to the entrance for removal.

For removal, I already use my muscles to push it out partly and can reach inside fine. My pain occurs when the rim/fatter part at the top is at the cusp of coming out of the narrowest part of the opening. It hurts and stings a lot in the front. I read somewhere that you have to "pull it down, not out" but I am not sure what that means, exactly. I also read that you have to wiggle it....but I don't know what that means exactly, either.

I also attempted to fold it back up the same way I inserted it (i.e. punch down fold) but could not keep it close enough to the entrance to use only one hand (I was holding it by the stem with one hand and using the other to retrieve it) and then things get complicated with space. I was also unable to get my finger around the rim enough to push it in. Is there a fold that is easier to do for extraction?

Mine does not easily release the suction so squeezing the base is futile. I usually have to get a hold of a good part of the cup (i.e. top-middle or the rim) to release it.

I also read that it becomes more pliable over time. Has anyone found this true of the moon cup (or diva cup)?

I use a Diva cup and like some else said, once I grab a hold of it, I gently squeeze it a little as I remove it. My cycles are infrequent and short when they do occur so I have not noticed a softening of the latex.


I never tried a Moon cup, but I am wondering if you might do better with a smaller one? Or maybe put some lube on it when you insert it???

Sorry, I dont think I was much help :(

The first couple of times I removed the Diva cup, I had what sounds like the same painful experience. Now I do it the way firenze11 described (break the suction by collapsing the side before pulling it out) and I have no discomfort at all.

HTH.

Since we're in the TMI territory, I have a question.

Do your hands get messy during removal, and does that pose a problem in public restrooms?

I can't imagine walking out of a stall to wash my hands with blood on them. Do you wipe them with TP first, or is it not an issue?

Or do you just avoid public restrooms when using a cup? (That seems undoable for me.)

Karen

I'm beyond it now... but when I used a Diva cup (and before that a Keeper) my hands never got messy.

The two things that were somewhat of an issue in public restrooms were (1) remembering to wash my hands BEFORE going into the stall, and (2) wanting to rinse the cup before re-inserting it. Without rinsing, it isn't perfectly clean on the outside after emptying, so whatever I was wearing would get a little stained unless I wore a liner (which kind of defeats the purpose of the cup). Staining was always really minimal and not at all a concern with cycling shorts. Also, rinsing before insertion helps lubricate it, clean or not. I guess you could bring a water bottle into the stall to squirt it off, but I never tried that.

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

Since we're in the TMI territory, I have a question.

Do your hands get messy during removal, and does that pose a problem in public restrooms?

I can't imagine walking out of a stall to wash my hands with blood on them. Do you wipe them with TP first, or is it not an issue?

Or do you just avoid public restrooms when using a cup? (That seems undoable for me.)

Karen

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I'll hop on the TMI bus!

I've made a few very unsuccessful attempts at using a menstrual cup, so I finally opted to switch to "applicator-free" tampons (and machine-washable cloth pads... I ordered those a couple weeks ago but as they're made-to-order by an independent seamstress, I haven't gotten them yet... I hope they're worth the wait, though :D) to at least try to reduce waste a little bit. This does result in some mess, sometimes. It it's substantial (like, wouldn't easily be able to pull up my pants without leaving blood on the waist band or something), I'll take a square of TP and swab off first...but if it's just a little bit, I'll just take it to the sink. Personally, I feel like anyone who's looking that closely at my hands and is concerned that I have a little bit of my own body fluid on them can kiss my heinie :p but I understand not everyone is so open about menstruation or whatnot.

Of course, I turn on the faucet with the back of my wrist or something similar to make sure said bodily fluids don't contact the handle, but that's just kind of how I normally turn on faucets anyway.

Yeah, I don't touch anything with anything in a public restroom, if I can avoid it. From the looks of the wall behind the flusher, I'm not the only one who uses a foot.

However, I am frequently in public restrooms with small children, and sometimes they are boys. Sometimes they are 8 years old. Sometimes the mother in the stall is screaming at the 8-year-old boy not to move to where she can't see his feet! Sometimes the 8-year-old boy is embarrassed enough.

I can't imagine what a mother like that would say if I came out of the stall with bloody hands, and a Diva Cup and rinsed it in the sink. And besides, how do you get your pants up enough to come out without putting it down? I have enough trouble with pads. I don't use tampons if I can help it.

Thanks for the enlightening discussion.

Karen

I am considering trying one of these. Do you still wear a liner in case of spotting? How long can you really use one before emptying? My first two days are brutal, I think it could be really messy at work.

Unless your periods are EXTREMELY heavy (as in: changing super-absorbant pads every 90 minutes) you shouldn't have to empty the cup mid-day, thus the bathroom problem is moot...

I think there's a irrational fear surrounding public restrooms. The first day of my period is super heavy and I end up emptying my keeper 3 times a day. If I do need to go into a public restroom, I empty the contents, take toilet paper and clean it out a bit, and clean the outside of the cup. If my fingers get red on them I wipe them off and go wash my hands. People don't spy on each other in the restroom.

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I am considering trying one of these. Do you still wear a liner in case of spotting? How long can you really use one before emptying? My first two days are brutal, I think it could be really messy at work.

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When I'm on my period I wear only black underpants. It only makes sense, even with tampons you can have leakage, its no different with the cup. Every women is different. As with tampons, some need slims, regulars, or supers. So just as with tampons, different women can leave in cups for different times. For me I know my first day is super heavy (see above). After my first period, I empty it in the morning and at night. If your worried about TSS, you don't have to be. None of the cups on the market (Moon Cup, Keeper, Diva) have been linked to TSS. The bacteria that cause TSS don't thrive in cup environments.

You really have to get to know yourself all over again. Remember when you first used tampons? It can be difficult, trying, but overall a good transition. Plus unlike tampons, the various cups wont: dry you out, make you poor, be full of pesticides, fertilizers, hormones, you wont make waste, less to carry in your bag, enlightening... etc.

Are they suitable for large women? I'm about 120lbs overweight, and I have trouble wearing tampons because of my size. They just hurt. It's hard to get one to "sit" right and I usually end up pulling them out and just wearing big overnight pads all the time. My first two days are extremely heavy, then a light day, then a no day, then another light day and I'm done. Those first two days, though, I'm changing the very large pads every couple of hours. I sleep on a thick towel to protect my sheets from leaks.

Would these cups be suitable for me, do you think?

Thanks!

Roxy

channlluv, in my completely unmedical opinion, I don't see why it would be a problem for you to use a Diva cup or Moon cup. My experience with it has been exactly as what was described in other threads: there's a "learning curve" until you get used to it, just like there was with tampons. (Only I had been using tampons for so long that I forgot there was a time when I thought it was weird and icky, too! :D ) So be patient at first, wear a pad as a backup until you get the hang of it. I say give it a try. For me, it's been a 100% positive change.

I use the Instead cups, and re-use them about ten times. I will probably be moving over to the diva cup soon, but I still have a whole box of insteads to go through.

To answer the public restroom question, I came up with a really good solution. I pack a sandwich baggie with a torn strip of newspaper folded up inside. I bring a clean Instead cup with me to work, and when it's time to swap, I empty the first, dab with toilet paper, wrap in the newspaper, put in the plastic sandwich bag. This easily slips into my pocket or bag. I get home and wash and rinse both bag and cup and chuck the newsprint. Seems like a pain but it really isn't. Although I guess the rinsing and washing does have some carbon footprint, it's better than landfilling wrappers and pads and tampons (in my mind.)

Non-painful placement of the cup is easy once you find your "rim bone" as my oby/gyn likes to call it when she prescribed me with my first diaphram. It's up and in toward the belly button, and a properly fitting Instead cup (not sure about diva and moon) sits right on that ledge. Getting it out is easy - go up to the ledge, scrunch like you are doing an ab crunch, and get a finger between you and the rim. Easy peasey (and practice makes perfect.)

Using a gel may help you with this. Although, I have a funny story about a slippery diaphram that got away from me once... I think it might be too much information, though! :D

I'm a regular crime scene from Dexter.

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Originally Posted by malkin

I'm a regular crime scene from Dexter.

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Ha!

I had a friend who once said that she had to mop the walls and ceiling...

(feh! I feel faint.) :p

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Originally Posted by Grog

Unless your periods are EXTREMELY heavy (as in: changing super-absorbant pads every 90 minutes) you shouldn't have to empty the cup mid-day, thus the bathroom problem is moot...

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I don't consider my periods "super" heavy, but I do have one day per cycle where I found that I had to change the Diva Cup once during the work day (10+ hours including my commute), In a public restroom, that was just too difficult. I had the problem others have mentioned of messy hands and no way to get my undies and pants back up and get to a sink without worrying about blood getting here and there. I tried taking a water bottle into the stall to wash off with, but that was too hard to remember and execute. I like the idea of the cup for environmental reasons, but one day a month, it just doesn't work for me for this reason -- I went back to tampons.

I personally am looking forward to menopause!

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Originally Posted by emily_in_nc

I personally am looking forward to menopause!

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Amen, Sister!

I second the Instead cup. With it, there's no tail, no suction, just a much easier way to deal with a period! :D

Wow!

I am so happy to hear that these cups have become so popular. I only have irregular periods now, every 3 months, 6 months or whatever. (I am 49) So I don't think I will invest in one of these.

There was a disposable cup I tried (Is it called Instead?) But it leaked for me whenever I changed posture.

I am so glad that there is that much less dioxin in the water, from all you lovely ladies using these cups.