Dancing around the mooncup

[alias_sqbr]

About a year ago I decided to investigate alternative menstrual products, partly out of eco-sensiblity but mainly because they sounded really useful.

Years and years ago I bought a felt pad (I think it was a Rad Pad, but if so they have drastically changed their designs) from a closing down sale at a hippy store, which I was pretty happy with until I left it to soak in a bucket and forgot about it, at which point it went mouldy and I threw it out. They said to just fold it around your underwear and let friction hold it up but I also used a safety pin. It was pretty bulky but cottony "wings" were a nice change from plastic. I should hunt down a replacement.

Now apart from the environmental angle, something which struck me recently is that there might be a way to avoid the annoying situation of being stuck at someone's house and unable to (a)Replace your pad or (b)get rid of it. So my next purchases had these issues in mind.

I then bought Eenee Eco Pads. These are just cotton pads with no sticky section which are held on by friction inside a small harness which clicks onto your underwear. These are terrible, at least for me: they keep falling out! Or at the very least getting all squished and misshapen. Still, it is useful just being able to flush them down the toilet.

Finally, the Mooncup: a latex cup which acts kind of like a tampon which you empty and rinse to re-use. I kept hearing good things, so I ordered one online. I am definitely quite happy with it. It took a little getting used to and emptying it is rather..visceral but it's So Convenient for when I'm out: If I have private access to a sink I can empty it and clean it without needing a bin or extra pads etc and even if all there is a is a toilet (as at work: I am not pouring this stuff down the sink where my workmates can see. Eww) I can just wipe it out. I've always found tampons uncomfortable and the Mooncup doesn't bother me the same way, and as an absent minded person it's happily not a risk for toxic shock EDIT: so apparently it is.

The one problem with the Mooncup is that it's kind of expensive given it doesn't work well for everyone. There's a cheaper version called a "Keeper" they had for sale at the Maylands Environment House (where I got the Eenee from) but I don't know how good it is.

EDIT: Lots of very useful information in the comments! Thanks you guys!

Comments

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

Instead of looking for methods to absorb my periods environmentally friendlyly, I look for methods to stop them happening at all (or at least, stop them happening for more than 2 weeks in every 4, which would be great for me...)

Mirena going in in 2 hours. Eeep.

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

Ooooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

[alias_sqbr]

Ow! Hope you feel better soon!

That's an IUD right? My mum had such a terrible experience with hers she made me vow never to get one, but this was about 15 years ago.

I have an implanon, which makes some women's periods stop but just made mine really irregular :/

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

yep it's pretty much an IUD made out of something similar to implanon, so having the effects of a copper IUD along with the effects of implanon but at a higher dosage where it counts. I had an implanon up until today and originally it stopped my periods but after a while stopped doing that and they went back to 'normal' (which for me, is irregular and long, woo). Mirena significantly reduces bleeding (in most women) and sometimes completely stops it, so here's hoping.

One of the doctors who put my mirena in (I got two docs because one was learning how) said that her first IUD (which was 30-40 years ago) turned out to be the cause of a whole heap of infections, septic miscarriages and deaths, and the doctor who'd invented it kept it all secret for ages, but eventually ended up being jailed.

[penchaft.livejournal.com]

Don't see this nurse! (http://www.journalfen.net/community/unfunnybusiness/70313.html)

[alias_sqbr]

Good luck! (And I second penchaft's advice though I think you're pretty safe all these thousands of miles away :))

[pooxs.livejournal.com]

I'm on depo vera*, which has made mine stop completely, although apparantly it's 1/3 stop, 1/3 normal, 1/3 spotting all the time. so not such great odds for everyone, and takes quite a while to get out of your system.

* injection that lasts 12weeks

[alias_sqbr]

Ooh, yeah, you'd be annoyed if you were one of the spotting types and had to wait it out.

[evil-megz.livejournal.com]

I'm avoiding depo because it'd only be a matter of time til I forgot to go in for my next shot, and while I'm sure they are probably somewhat effective beyond the 3 months, I wouldn't want to risk it. Also I expect it has a somewhat similar effect on bleeding in individuals as implanon.

[pooxs.livejournal.com]

yeah, I forgot once, because my old doctors would send me a reminder letter a week before, but my current (inept) doctors don't do preventative type stuff.

it was 6months before I remembered (luckily wasn't getting any, so not an issue), and I didn't have my period once in that time, so it stays in the system waaaaay longer than those 12weeks in me. then they made me pee on a stick to prove I wasn't pregnant *mutter*