Hi! 

I have been looking for cup pouches that expressed ME.  The pouches that come with the cups are "ok" but I wanted something with a bit more color and flair. 

I found a lady who makes some really nice ones and her prices were very resonable to me.   She even does custom work!  I told her what I had been looking for and she helped me find the material to make them.  Her name is Jane, and she is so wonderful to work with and I love my pouches so much!   I wanted to spread the word. 

Her website is  http://www.etsy.com/shop/lovealittle?page=1

Thanks!! 

D

 First, is it normal for there to be a lot of clear fluid in the cup?  I had assumed it would all just look like blood, but there is definitely a clear layer at the top.
Second, I can't insert the thing correctly, and it's really getting frustrating.  I can get it in and it feels like it makes a seal, but it won't turn and when I check it with my finger it seems to be smooshed flat.  I can also feel some pressure, and the stem shifts to the side as I'm wearing it.  My only guess is that maybe I aimed it up instead of back, but would that really cause that much of a problem?  
After putting it in and yanking it out four or five times and STILL not getting it right I think I need some help before I try again.
And it's a Diva cup if that matters.

Hey ladies, I've checked through the FAQ, but I'm still curious about a few things. Right now I'm mostly concerned about the length of a cup. After checking out that epic chart post, I REALLY wanted either a Fleurcup or Lunette, because they seemed to be a good size/capacity, but it looks like I can't get one because I'm in the US (and please correct me if I'm wrong). I was going to settle for the small Diva cup, because it seemed easiest to buy, but it's length seems scary haha.

I should probably mention that I'm 20 years old, and a virgin. I know it's lame, but I'm too grossed out to check where my cervix is during my period. Outside of my period though, I can get the entire length of my middle finger in without hitting anything. So, now I'm looking at either the small Miacup or Medium MeLuna. The Yuuki would probably be a decent fit, but I really wanted one in a pretty color. The color isn't really a dealbreaker or anything, I just have silly priorities.

Also, I really wanted something with a decent capacity, only because I tend to be a heavy sleeper, so I'd be worried about wearing one overnight. Is over sleeping ever a problem for anyone? Would the cup overflow or anything like that?

Some of you may remember that about a year ago (I think) LadyCup had a problem with their cups splitting, so they sold their defective batch as "trial" cups very cheaply and only guaranteed one use out of them.  Well, I bought one (size small), but I didn't use it very much because although I liked the smoothness of it for my light days, I had the hardest time removing it.  This cycle I was just getting the hang of it, but then today I noticed a small tear by one of the holes.  :(  I guess it will be back to the small Lunette and the cloth pads next cycle.

I like my small Lunette, but it doesn't have a high enough capacity for my heaviest day, and then on my lighter days I'm sore and there's less lubrication so I want something completely smooth.  Someday when I have a job (I'm a student right now), I want to get Fleurcups in both sizes.

I guess this post doesn't really have a point to it, but I don't have anyone that I can complain to or commiserate with in person.  :) 

 Hi all!

So, I got my Meluna today.  I had a Keeper, but returned it.  Am hoping the Meluna will work for me (though I won't find out for sure till about 3/26).  I have vulva vestibuldynia, which means I have pain when there is pressure against my vulva area.  This makes many "female" things tricky for me, including menstrual cup use.  Getting things in and out is difficult.  I found the Keeper WAY TOO HARD, and the stem was a NIGHTMARE.  I just did a dry run with the medium Meluna ball stem.  I did not leave it in long at all.  Got it in, got panicked about getting it out, got it out.  The getting out part was tricky, but I think it could get better.  The good news is that it was super comfortable, not irritating to my vulva.  I'm still afraid I'll have problems, b/c of my condition, but I'm hopeful.

Any tips on being able to tell if your seal is good?  Is it just a matter of not having leaks?

Anyone else on here have vulva pain?

Thanks!

There are nice miacup video
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Miacup/15878129230?v=wall#!/video/video.php?v=25620206100&ref=mf

Hello, I have only been using my moon cup for a few of weeks now. I don't want to give it up, but am wondering if anyone else has developed hemorrhoids because of it's use? I have a retrograde uterus, aka tilted.

I have had an IUD for about a year and a half and the spotting and discharge is almost daily and has never stopped completely. I was told that this can happen with the Mirena and it's just how it is. The purpose for getting the IUD was due to extremely heavy periods that it seemed nothing would contain. The heavy periods have been gone, but the nusiance of daily spotting-type activity (sometimes just clearish-pink) remains. I felt that it wasn't healthy for me, the environment, or my wallet to keep the tampon industry alive the way that I have been. I also couldn't afford the natural cotton tampons any longer and had to get the least expensive ones.

I started researching menstrual cups and then saw one in a store and made my purchase of a moon cup while on vacation. Admittedly, I bought the wrong size by accident. I have not had children and I bought the A size. I had watched videos online of how to insert it and felt pretty ready to try it. I have had no leakage or noticeable problems from it. I have to use it everyday and sometimes at night, but I give my body a break if nothing much is happening.

Then suddenly to my dismay, I have developed hemorrhoids. I have never had such pain and discomfort. I don't hang out on the toilet. I have a good diet and take extra fiber and drink lots of water. I also do not bear down to get the moon cup out. I haven't had the need. I have really thought long and hard of anything possible that I could have done differently to cause the hemorrhoids and the moon cup is the only major change.

I would really appreciate any advice or information or just really any comment :) because I could really use it. Thanks!

Hi guys! ^^ Just a quick update because my Fleurcup finally came today after waiting for a week (and in fact exactly on the first day of my period - really good timing)! I just boiled it and put it in, no problems with suction (I hope) and hopefully the day will end without leakage. Tried the C, punch down and seven fold, but sticked with C as it was easier to insert than the others and made my cup NOT pop open halfway ^^
The first time inserting I felt around up there and kind of thought "well, there's something wrong!", pulled it out again and promptly sprinkled the toilet door with blood... But anyway, I hope I'll get the hang of it soon (especially since I had no time for dry-runs)!
Man, I was never happier about getting my period, because not only can I use my cup from the first day, but I could also insert my very first NuvaRing, so yay to that.

Oh, and I forgot to ask: I bought the large one, but when I had ripped the package open and held it in hands, I was actually surprised how small it seemed (was then surprised again when I inserted it, because it's absolutely not too small). Anyone else felt like that?

I cannot be happier that I have a menstrual cup, and that I get to spend my tampon and pad budget on wine and chocolate instead!!! =)

that is all.

Just wondering, if the cup is difficult to pop open does that mean it's too large or??? I can get it to open but I have to push from one side or another and squeeze it. I have 2 kids but I had c section both times. I'm still new and love using the diva but maybe it would be easier with a smaller cup?

 

Hi, everyone!
I've seen many photos of the Lunette Selene, but still I want to ask anyone who has it - is 'Selene' written anywhere on the cup, or the bag, or anywhere except for the writing on the box the cup comes in with...?

I got my large meluna ring stem from the bulk order a few weeks ago (Thanks Kelley!!), 2 days shy of my period ending. Being sort of gun shy now since I had to have my small diva removed for me 3 times, I didn't bother trying the meluna then. However, curiousity is getting the best of me now. I tried the punch down fold....didn't open. I can't get it in with the C fold. I tried extreme 7, I think, but then I had to pee and was scared that I wasn't going to be able to get it out, so I removed it. I think it did open because I hurt some afterwards.

I'm not really sure of the other folds. *shrug* What folds are are you gals using for your large melunas?

In my quest to own every cup in my size range, I have ordered myself a green, ball stemmed Meluna.
When I first started using cups, I went for capacity over comfort. An uncomfortable cup still felt better than any tampon. But now it's changed. Happen to anyone else? I care now about comfort. I just really like the way the medium is sized. But sometimes, I wonder just how wide you could make a cup? I, having a short canal, think it's too bad capacity is generally lost the shorter the cup is.
So my next question is: What are your size tolerances? I find a 50mm Femmecup is just fine, & a 52mm large Lunette I will feel resting just too low when I walk, though tolerable for a day. And the 53mm LadyCup is actually less noticeable. I prefer the 47 mm small Lunette & 46mm small LadyCup length the most.
I have noticed the small LadyCup & Lunette at 40 & 41mm wide, respectively, will release a heavy "slobber" if I jog or wear on my heavy day, and leaked once lying down. I have not tried any cups in the 42-44mm wide range yet. Yuuki's are spendy. But someday. No cup 45mm wide or over has ever leaked on me.

International Women's Day
March 8

Make a difference.  "Think globally and act locally."  Consider talking with your sisters, your girlfriends, and your daughters about healthier and safer menstrual alternatives.  Help make a difference in the lives of women you know. 

For more information about International Woman's Day, visit
www.internationalwomensday.com/about.asp


To celebrate,  Tickle Me Pink Store is offering a one day only special on March 8.

Purchase a Lunette Menstrual cup and receive a FREE "Party in My Pants" panti-liner with each cup.

Visit http://ticklemepinkstore.com

We are now shipping in the US and Canada.

I know this is a weird, childish, and possibly paranoid question, but this was my biggest concern when I started using cups 2 years ago.  ( concerns of a very personal nature behind the cut.  )

Hi everyone,

I have been trying to convert a friend of mine to using a menstrual cup for ages now and last night we again had a chat about it and she seemed a lot more open than she used to be. Her birthday is coming up and I jokingly threatened to buy her one for her birthday and she actually said I should.... so... I'm now trying to find one within my price range. I use the Diva size 2 (but also have size 1) and I showed her them both and she was freaked out by how large they are. She said it took her ages to even use tampons and she only uses slim mini's and finds anything larger is really uncomfortable. I believe the lunette is the most slim menstrual cup available, so I was thinking of buying her that but I just had a look and they retail at $50! I just really can't afford that much as I was also hoping to have some money left over to buy her a cloth pad or two as well. I bought my second Diva from iherb at a considerable discount and I am hoping that someone might know of a place where I can buy the Lunette at a lower price?? Iherb doesnt carry Lunette and I'm not having much luck finding somewhere else that does other than direct from Lunette themselves.

If anyone has any suggestions it'd be awesome. By the way I'm in Australia so the Lunette is $50 aussie dollars in case you're thinking I've got the price wrong!

Hello to everyone :-))

You may have already discussed about this..
Yesterday, I was looking for more information about the Indian Shecup, and found this shopsite on which we can see a side of the Shecup =
http://www.alibaba.com/product-tp/109395322/SHECUP_A_REVOLUTION_IN_SANITARY_CARE_.html

From this site, we access to another one (by clicking on the "Menstrual Cups (3)" sections above), the aliexpress one, on which another (unknown?) cup is presented.
Or even from this url =
http://www.alibaba.com/trade/search/3i1p5tyfchms/Menstrual_Cup.html

We see all the cups they sell.. many LadyCups. And at the bottom of the page, there are some cups categorized as "Moon cup" or "Lady Cup" or "Femme Cup" .. lol..
But to me, each time, they simply are the two sizes of another, a new cup.


Finally,on the following page, we see photos with these small and large cups.. There are clear and pink ones.
And we can read a brand, "Mini Angel" =
http://www.aliexpress.com/product-gs/245205783-Menstrual-Cup-Moon-cup-Reusable-Menstrual-Cup-Moon-Cup-wholesalers.html

It is written : "Place of Origin: Guangdong China (Mainland)".

And also : "made of the highest quality German medical silicone, used exclusively in the medical and food industry - from silicone aproved by the FDA
LadyCup comes in two sizes. Be careful to choose a suitable size according to the following information:

1. S(mall) - suitable for women who have not given birth to a child or women up to the age of 25 years
2. L(arge) - suitable for women who have given birth to a child or who are over the age of 25 years"

I was just really curious about something the past few days, as my period should be here any day now.  Well, this doesn't have to do 100% with cups per se, but I guess it could be kind of cup related.  I have a small indoor palm tree from Ikea and I've been thinking about using my menstrual blood and dumping it in with the soil.  Is this okay for my plant and do I have to dilute the blood before I feed the palm?  Also, I was wondering how bad the smell is, because the plant sits in my kitchen, and I'm sure my mom and brother would not appreciate the smell of blood radiating in the kitchen.  If it does smell, does diluting help?   OH!  And  I have a cat (neutered) and he is sometimes inside depending on the weather.  I'm afraid he'll become fascinated with the palm tree.  He's never been into the plant before, so I dout he'll start now, but I just don't want to ttake any chances.  Any tips to keep pets away?  I heard something about cayenne pepper...does cayenne pepper sauce work?  I never really heard of the idea of fertilizing plants with blood until after I heard about cups.  (I think a few ladies here do it, but the tag on the side doesn't like me right now)  I was fascinated by the idea and am all for giving it a try, so if someone can tell me how to go about this, I'd greatly appreciate it.  Thanks and have an awesome day!!

~Jen

Hi Everyone,

It's International Women's Day tomorrow (Monday 8th March) so to celebrate we are having a Sale!

Everything on www.lunette.com.au will be 10% off for the next 24hrs - Lunette, Selene, pads, wipes, washes, Starter Packs and Deluxe Packs.

Happy Shopping and have an awesome day!


Lunette Australia Team :)

India's new menstrual cup brand is called SheCup!  Just posting the link for everyone, so we can all go check it out!  For now that's all I know, but thank you to Laura from EasyCup for the information via Facebook!  :) 

http://shecup.com/shecup.html 

EDIT:  I just got a reply back from the company.  They say for now, SheCup only comes in one size and is offered in a light pink color.  The capacity up to the air holes is appx. 16 ml.  To the rim its appx. 28 ml. The stem is short rounded knob and the holes are located under the second rim. 

The pouch is made of pure un-dyed Khadi, for "keeping the product eco-friendly and also supporting the social cause of cottage industries."  The company also offers sterilizing soap strips for cleaning.

Drat!  Forgot to ask about size measurement, but Teresa listed some of that in comments below.  I'm supposed to be getting one of these cups soon, so I will offer up plenty of photos when/if I do.  Plus the usual review and video :)  -- Hugs everyone!

 

 After three cycles and much practicing i finally mastered the Divacup! It's working perfectly for me, no leaks, discomfort or problems removing. I also used it for the first time at school and it was incredibly easy. I wish I had known about them sooner. No more do I have to carry around bundles of tampons with me, feeling wasteful and grumpy all the while. Thanks to the people who answered my questions on my first post. Your advice helped greatly. 

My next purchase will prolly be some reusable pads. Im not really sure what type to buy, I was thinking about getting them on etsy. I also don't want really expensive ones though. If anyone has any suggestions i would appreciate it.

But basically i just wanted to express how wonderful menstrual cups are! If they haven't worked for you yet don't give up, the wait is worth it. 

I've been reading the archives and there are many posts with questions and remarks about suction -- especially from new cup users.

Suction is created when a cup is unfolding, and then again when you're trying to remove a cup.  And both times, it's a temporary condition that you want to alleviate ASAP.

Hold your hand facing up and squeeze your cup onto your palm.  There is suction until the cup fills and opens fully.  Once it's open, is there any more suction?  No.  The same thing happens when you insert your cup and unfold it.  There is suction until it fills with air and opens fully.  That air has to come from outside your vagina because it's like an empty balloon in there -- no air.  Then once the cup is open, there is no more suction -- for the same reason there wasn't when it was sitting open on your palm.

It is usually easiest to open the cup down low and then kegel and boost it up into place.  If you shove it deep and then try to open it, you'll struggle to get air deep enough to get into it.

Once the cup is fully open and in use, it is held in place by your vaginal walls and muscles -- not by suction.  Has suction somehow been created since it opened?  No, not unless you have somehow squished your cup.

"Then why is it leaking?"  Because you've probably missed your cervix.  http://media-2.web.britannica.com/eb-media/03/55703-004-E9234DDA.jpg  If you shove the opening of your cup beyond the cervix to the back wall of your vagina, it will be like trying to fill your mug by pouring coffee down its side.

Then during the removal process, you need to "break the seal" at the rim so that suction does not occur.  If you don't let air into or above your cup and then you pull on it, what's going to happen?  Ouch!  The harder you pull, the more suction it will create on your cervix and vaginal walls.  To break that suction, you need air.  Where does that air come from?  Again, from outside your vagina.  It's an empty balloon in there, remember?  You need to create an air channel.  Once you get air into and/or above your cup, then is there any more suction?  Not unless you run out of air and create suction again.

So the key to both opening your cup and removing your cup is to get air into it.  Those are the only times that suction is created -- and both times, you want to relieve the suction ASAP.

So my mom is a part of this thing called MySurvey. You answer surveys online, you get points, etc. sometimes they send her surveys for me or the other members of the household. today, i got a survey about feminine hygiene products. immediately i started cackling, because I just knew I was going to screw up their statistics! Or I tried, at least. Sadly, I didn't get past the page where it said, "Which of the following products have you bought in the past three months?" and I clicked "have not bought pads or tampons in the past 3 months". HAHAHAHAA. Suckas. I love my diva and i'm NEVER going back! And i've got gladrags and other pantiliners now too, so I'm 100% reusable and it feels SO GOOD. XD

So after a lot of thought and research I finally ordered a medium purple ball Meluna. It was shipped on a Monday and I just got it on Wednesday (only 9 days from Germany to Wisconsin!). I was so excited when I saw the package in my mailbox I ran all the way back to my house! I opened the package right away and peeked into it. Imagine my surprise when I see a red ball cup sitting there. I was so disappointed! I reached in and pulled it out. As soon as I got it out I saw my purple cup laying underneath it. Surprised I took a better look at the red one and saw that it had "promo" with a smiley face written across the plastic zip lock bag. They sent me a free large ball Meluna! This totally made my day! I love this company! The only imperfection I could find in the "promo" cup was that there was a small slit on each side of the ball (like it had gotten pinched in something). That doesn't bother me at all, it's barely even noticeable!

I did a dry run with the medium purple Meluna right away. Everything went very smoothly. I used the punch down fold with it and it opened up right away for me and I was able to remove it with out a problem. I wore it off and on for two days without a problem (minus one incident where I accidentally dropped it in the toilet).
Today is my first dry run using the large red Meluna. I had to work a little harder to get that one to open up in me for some reason. The punch down fold didn't work, I ended up getting it open using the C fold and "stirring" around for a while. I can feel this cup. Maybe it's the prominent grip rings on the bottom, or maybe I'm just not long enough for it. Either way it's not uncomfortable, I can just tell it's there. Maybe it will get better with some practice.

Anyways, I just wanted to share my excitement with you guys! Sorry this is so long!

I bought my cup back in June; I did my research, listened to my f-list, the whole works.Given that, at the time, I was a 20 year old who was a virgin to penetrative sex, I knew that the Diva cup wasn't necessarily the best fit for me, but it was the cheapest and available in my area.  I made certain I knew how to insert it before my period started.

And then my period hit.

Folks, I comprehend that I failed at something here, but gods only knows what it was. I had a problem getting the cup to suction the first time, which resulted in leakage. (It was also uncomfortable.) I also had problems getting it out. The second time, it suctioned to my labia when I tried to pull it out, and wasn't that fun? Third time, it tried suctioning as soon as it was inside (which hurt like hell) and then tried suctioning when I pulled it back out.

It's been sitting in its bag since July; every once in a while, I glance its way and then decide it's really not worth the pain again.

I really, really want to like the cup. I've used applicator-less tampons for years and they're about the only thing I can tolerate on my period. But when it deigns to show, my period's starting to be too heavy for that to be an option (again), and I want to switch. But I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

I'm editing this to add: the other reason why I'm attempting despite my general failure at using this cup is because I technically have a diagnosis of PCOS and, as I said, when my period actually appears, it's heavy and painful.