Diva Cup

[amymisk]

thanks for the responses for the IUD questions. I guess I will have to give it a try!

[RoadRaven]

I'm a little skeptical as I've had problems getting tampons in since having my daughter. My cervix is retroverted and the Dr ALWAYS has a hard time finding it! Should be interesting when I try it!!

Hey there Jenn, I find them much more comfortable than tampons. Sometimes, tampons just don't fit well and feel uncomfortable. After working out the fold and tuck trick of placing a moon cup, I have never felt like it is poking into me, wedged sideways or anything like that.

Hopefully you find the same.

Tampons stick straight up towards your cervix. With a mooncup, your cervix is sort of... cradled... cupped... thats the best I can describe it as.

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Sounds just like a diaphragm to me. (Anyone here old enough to remember THOSE?) Is there a difference? Ahhh...the memories.....

P.S. Tip- you can tuck the tampon string just barely inside you if you are going to be riding, so it does not stick out at all. It's easy to fish it out quickly when you want to remove the tampon.

[doc]

Sounds just like a diaphragm to me. (Anyone here old enough to remember THOSE?) Is there a difference? Ahhh...the memories.....

P.S. Tip- you can tuck the tampon string just barely inside you if you are going to be riding, so it does not stick out at all. It's easy to fish it out quickly when you want to remove the tampon.

I was once a diaghram user. Blech. But the similarity is undeniable. Diva is way better.
Tampon - double blech. Hurts to put in if your dryish. Torture to take out if your flow is very light. No way is it going to last 12 or more hours as diva does. Nothing to dispose of. To me there is no comparison.

[Jenn]

Hey there Jenn, I find them much more comfortable than tampons. Sometimes, tampons just don't fit well and feel uncomfortable. After working out the fold and tuck trick of placing a moon cup, I have never felt like it is poking into me, wedged sideways or anything like that.

Hopefully you find the same.

Tampons stick straight up towards your cervix. With a mooncup, your cervix is sort of... cradled... cupped... thats the best I can describe it as.

Oh, thank you so much!! Having a child changed things, but it was a "running joke" with my DR....hmmm lets find your cervix today.
Thank you so much..I hope that the diva cup works as good.....if not I'm going with what you recommend!!! Thank you soooo much!!!

[mtkitchn]

Diva cup arrived the day before my period! Today it's getting its trial run. Not completely comfortable so I cut the stem a little. Was hard to get out the first time.
Might ride tomorrow and really check it out. If I can find motivation to ride in 110 degree weather.

[lizbids]

I'm so glad you guys like the Diva. I bought one but can't get used to it at the moment. I remember a gyno telling me I had a "small cervix," and when I asked what that meant, there was no answer. Nice, right?

So, do some of you feel that you don't have to turn it while it's inside you? Maybe I just have tighter muscles, but I just can't seem to do that. Like I find it almost impossible to be able to fit my fingers in there to really twist it. I gave up and wore a tampon because I was going to be late for work! I did just trim the stem, so maybe I can try later tomorrow or the next day. I'll keep y'all posted.

[ChickWithBrains]

A few thoughts:

It doesn't matter if your uterus is anteverted or retroverted ("tipped"): the keeper and diva are less likely to work well for women whose anatomy isn't the usual "pointing down when standing up." However, Instead might work really well, since the key is seating one edge of it around the cervix and the other against the pelvic anatomy -- pelvic bone or coccyx. For retroverted and "normal" women, the key is to angle *back* when inserting, and using a finger to tuck the "front" aspect up high enough to get it to catch under the pelvic bone. For anteverted women, the opposite: angle forward to go around the cervix, and with a finger tuck the back edge high enough against the upper and backmost part of the vagina, above the pelvic floor muscles. Slipping out tends to happen most in women with very relaxed pelvic floors (from childbirth, natural anatomy, big partners, or not enough kegels ) or if the cup hasn't been tucked up high enough once inserted. You've *got* to anchor it around the cervix and another anatomical point, or it WILL come out and you WILL leak. It doesn't need to be perpendicular to the vaginal canal, just needs to be anchored right.



Re: birth control pills and PCOS: the pills may make you regular and more predictable, but they don't "help" your body any other way. The periods you get on the pill aren't the same as natural periods. It's withdrawal bleeding, just a bodily response to the progesterone no longer being there. So if unpredectable but fewer periods are appealing to you, ditch the pills! But if the predictability is nice, keep 'em.

[RoadRaven]

Wow, Chick
I didn't know it was so complicated
I must be in my second year using the moon cup and I just pop it in, give the stem a tug to make sure its in far enough and away I go...

I have never thought about fit around my cervix - I assume it is "normal" as I have had 7 pregnancies and 5 live births and I assume some doctor or midwife might've said something

The only time I have "leakage" issues is during 36 hours or so when it is very heavy and if I don't change every hour... well, its messy.

So maybe it anchors itself by luck?

[ChickWithBrains]

It only sounds complicated -- you and I are the lucky ones who just happen to pop it in on the first try

[nafula]

Ordered mine just now. I've never used one before, but all the reviews here make it sound pretty good. I currently use the Instead soft cups, but they really seem to big for me at times. Hopefully because this sits differently it will work a little better.

By the way, I bought mine at luckyvitamin.com for $20 if anyone else is looking into it.

[coyote]

Thanks nafula I just went and ordered one too.

[Grog]

Hi all!

I'm now happily part of a trial study for the Diva Cup (they're comparing it to tampons) and I was glad I got to be in the "Diva" group. I logged my tampon/pads use for one month and now I have to log my Diva use for three months.

I know that I have a retroverted uterus and a short vagina from being probed a lot down there when I had my ovarian cysts. I have used tampons all my life without problem. It was okay to insert it but I can't seem to push the thing far enough. It's poking me a bit from the inside and I can definitely feel it when I'm walking. I just rode 1 km on my hybrid this morning to get to work and it wasn't great, although it wasn't painful. I've cut the stem a tiny bit, without much improvement.

I've gone through much of the thread so I'll keep trying (in any case I have to). I am assuming that I should get to the point when I don't feel it at all. We'll see. I'll try the other way to fold it that someone illustrated...

I'm also interested in the Moon Cup though, since it's supposed to be smaller, but dunno where to find it in Canada (or the US, if I can order online). Any suggestions?

[batsheva]

can't get it up there at all - far too big-- it feels like there is a bit rubber cup stuck in my wotsit-- which of course there is!! and super-painful to extract... exerts a whopping suction - ouch!!

tampons for riding much better if i tuck the string in a bit. perhaps it's 'cos i have not had kids and am 52 kilos (115lbs).

the diva cup is in the trash...

bat

[Grog]

can't get it up there at all - far too big-- it feels like there is a bit rubber cup stuck in my wotsit-- which of course there is!! and super-painful to extract... exerts a whopping suction - ouch!!

Have you tried breaking the suction (by pinching the sides) before pulling out the cup?