So my co-worker got a DivaCup and she is very confused.  So I told her I would ask the experts. (that's you all)

She is 38 and had a child last year. She got the Size 2 DivaCup (over 30, post birth)  and she says it feels like the cup is falling out of her.  She can't tell if it's just the stem sticking out or if the cup itself is actually sticking out.

I have suggested that she try wearing the cup inside out (so the stem won't be protruding) to give her a better idea of whether it's the stem or not.  I also suggested that she do some kegels and see if that seemed to help with this falling out problem. 

I looked through previous posts, but I didn't see this issue (Or I didn't know where to look)

She really wants to love her menstrual cup and has asked me for a review of my lady cup as soon as it comes in because she is considering getting a different cup, but I don't know what to say in the mean time.


Any thoughts?

Thanks to everyone's suggestions here, I finally can say I'm converted.  I have a lunette, larger size, and it has taken me at least 6 or 7 cycles to get it to work for me.   I have a little more determination than most I think, but to those of you who are ready to give up after a month or two, don't!  Try to work through each problem and you'll find something that works.  I just want to post the few things that were key to making it work for me, hopefully it will help someone else.

1.  Folds.  I found pictures on this community of the various folds.  The c-fold that comes with the package is so not comfortable.  I use the punch down fold.

2.  Know your cervix.  Someone here made the point that the cervix should be in or at least above the cup.  I was having ridiculous leakage, so I decided to learn how to find my cervix.  Now, I check it's position periodically during my cycle, and "aim"  for that with the cup when I insert it.   I've also learned to feel around the cup to make sure my cervix isn't sticking out.  I couldn't do this at first though.  This helped me with positioning and took care of the major leakage problems.

3.  Itchiness/Burning.  I was getting an itchy/burny feeling around the entrance to my vagina, a few days into my period.  It was not yeast, and I finally ruled out that it wasn't irritation from insertion.  It didn't matter how diligently I washed my hands and cup, or what soap I used.   I had this problem even on the month I went without the cup (I had an IUD inserted that month and since the first IUD I had expelled on it's own, I didn't want to take any chances of aggravating it the first month.)  The non-cup month I still had my hand up there checking for the IUD strings every other day (I was paranoid about it expelling again), and that seemed to be enough to cause the itchiness.   I finally decided it must be an imbalance of bacteria and I stumbled on a solution.  I had a squeeze bottle of water, to which I added a 5-10 drops of a concoction I had on hand.  The concotion is called Advantage liquid concentrate from Wisdom of the Ages.  The ingredients are Distilled Water, Citrus Seed Extract (Grape seed I believe), green tea, and jasmine tea.  It is supposed to have antibacterial/antifungal properties.  I was using the mixture in the bottle to rinse my cup before reinserting it, but one night I was so uncomfortable I decided to give myself a little rinse with the bottle.  I woke up the next morning and the itchiness was GONE.  I was ecstatic.  Now, I rinse the cup and myself with the bottle whenever I empty the cup at home and I have no more discomfort.  I've also found that the rinsing after inserting the cup helps remove any residual blood around the cup without having to use lots of over-drying toilet paper.  This helps reduce spotting.

I'm now a happy convert to the cup, though I still have trouble with my lunette beginning to leak any time the contents reach the lowest measuring line.  I'm thinking the angle at which the cup sits causes the contents to spill over when it reaches a certain fullness.  Any suggestions that might get me a little longer between emptying on heavy flow days?  When I remove the cup, it sure sounds like it's "sealed", but that doesn't seem to stop the spillage.  Also, my activities don't seem to have any effect one way or the other, like if I'm lying down or really active.

I'm tempted to try the Lady Cup (larger size), thinking the softer material might be easier inserting and removing.  And since I can't seem to actually use the full capacity of the lunette, I wouldn't really be giving that up.  Anyone tried both the Lunette and the Lady Cup?  Any comments one way or the other?

Good luck to new cup converts and thanks in advance for any suggestions.

 

So I guess the background details are, I’m a 19 year old virgin, and I'm new to menstrual cups.  I started with the Small Diva Cup (which I hated and thought was too large and painful and had death suction and even laying down didn’t help insertion--I could never even get the thing actually inside me), thought I must have a tiny vagina, panicked, then read rave reviews about the tiny Lady Cup, and bought one (in the Small size), even though I’m a broke college student.

I feel like I must be doing something wrong! Everyone else seems to RAVE about the Lady Cup, and true, it’s VERY soft (MUCH moreso than the awful painful Diva Cup) and foldable and tiny and inserts so easily.

But...

guys i don't know what's going on!

i've been using the diva cup for a year and a couple of months. i've been meaning to switch because i still leak after trying multiple folds, moving it around, running toilet paper's around the opening to make sure excess blood isn't there, and all that jazz. but i haven't yet.

just wanted to give background that the first 3-4 days have always sucked for me. but this is the first time it's hurt so much that i don't want to put in my cup again.

yesterday(day 4) during the middle of the day my vagina hurt around the part that was at the end of the cup. it felt like it was being poked by sharp finger nails or something like that. it also felt like it was really dry despite the fact that i'm bleeding. i took it out in the shower and after i wiped myself in the shower it felt dry down there. i have some lube so i figured maybe if i put some on that'd help, i put it on and it felt kinda rough compared to normal...kinda because it wasn't extremly rough. during the middle of my period sometimes i stop bleeding for a couple of minutes/hours and then it starts up again, and since it 'stopped' i figure to not wear it.

my bleeding started again(like normal)this morning so i figured i should put it back in, but it still feels really dry and somewhat sore.

anyone expereince this? what's going on?!

some extra info:
1.i tried different folds once but not really the whole period..this period i've been constantly using the punch fold.
2.i had to change in public twice this period, whereas i usually haven't in the past.
3.after i take it out, i get toilet paper and wipe around my vagina to take away the blood in hopes that this will decrease the amount of bleeding on my underwear. also whenever i did see some bleeding come through i took a toilet paper and ran some of it around my cup/vagina area to make sure there's not any remains from there while the cup was still in me.
4. i had sex multiple times without lube 2 weeks and a couple of days before my period. the last time this happened it was my first time having piv sex and it ended up leaving my vagina irritated and it had a tear. this time i did it without lube because i ordered some and it didn't come in and i didn't want to spend money when i knew i was getting a big sampler pack in a couple of days. after that i didn't notice any bad effects the week after, so i figure if i had a tear or anything like that that would irritate my vagina i'd already know(the last time it happened a couple of days latter). but just want to put it out incase that could have been the case.

these are the only different things i can really recall about this round of period. so can someone help me, it hurts :( and i don't want to stop using a cup just because it hurts and i don't want to put it in! i defiantly can't(would really hate to)go back to the regular pads/tampons out there. thanks for help/suggestions.

Hi all, I'm new to the community :)

I've checked the memories and such, but haven't found a solution for the problem that I'm having. I'm 23, have never given birth, and I've got a Mooncup in the smaller size. The first time I used it the stem poked out, pinched and made me very sore when I sat down. I cut the stem off little by little, and have finally removed it entirely. The thing is, it still feels as if the cup is just too big for me. It seals perfectly, and I'm pretty sure it's in the right position, but the cup sits so low that it hurts when I sit, and I physically don't have the space to push it any higher!! I'm a small person generally, but I know most people seem to have no problem. I really want to make the Mooncup work for me.

Any suggestions, please?!

When a friend of mine got pregnant, after running her old silicone cup* through her dishwasher, she gave it to me. I tried it twice & spent approximately two hours each time, being rather uncomfortable before I took it out & went back to my trusty tampons. Mostly, it felt like it was sitting too low in me, especially when I sat down. Before more of you ask: the "tail" or "stem" has already been removed... :)
I have a latex sensitivity, & much prefer tampons to pads. If available, I will purchase Ob over other brands as many feel too "long". I have very light periods & often find that (other than the one "heavy to me" day) a light/regular tampon will last me an entire 8 hours without even coming close to needing to be changed, so it would be particularly happy-making to me to be able to find something more appropriate...

*possibly a DivaCup, but I can't quite remember for sure.

Hi,

So.  I have gone back into the tagged archives and read up on latex allergies developing with use of the Keeper (what I currently use) as well as reading some outside sources. 

I have a quick question that I didn't really see addressed anywhere else:  for those of you who experienced a reaction, was your general pain/discomfort/itchyness internal, external, or both? 

The last couple periods, I ended up with some nasty itchy discomfort but only externally.  I went to the doctor to talk about a possibility of a reaction to the latex and she said that, internally, I was totally fine and healthy and didn't look like I was having any sort of reaction.  But externally, my skin was just really freaking irritated.

My doctor recommended that I go back to tampons for a couple months to see if this problem reoccurs but...I've used tampons or pads or a combination of both since I started bleeding and this has NEVER happened to me.  So.  I've decided to switch to a silicone cup, instead.  I am just curious if my irritation is similar to those who have latex allergies/sensitivities or this is some anomalous development.

Thank you!

So way back in like late August, I bought my first menstrual cup, the DivaCup. It was the one that was most easily accessible to me, being that I live in Canada. I've had at least [based on a period being about five days long] eight to ten periods to get used to it [had like a two and a half month period, and yes, I've never been so grateful for a cup in all of my life]. 

Now, I do like the Diva. My main problems with it is that sometimes, I have a hard time getting it to pop open and seal, which is not good when you have class everyday. Also, for the first two or three days of my period, my cervix sits relatively low [I can feel it without inserting my index finger all the way]. Because the Diva is fairly long, that makes it sit lower than is comfortable for me. I can feel the end of it rubbing against my entrance, which means I either just have to ignore it or consistently push it back up. Even as I sit here, it's doing that to me, and it's driving me fricking crazy.

My period tends to be moderate on day one, heavy on day two and three, and then moderate for day four and five before tapering off to very light for six and sometimes seven.

I don't particularly want a Keeper, neither the latex one or the non-latex one. I was thinking about the Mooncup UK, because I've seen a lot of positive posts about it, but I wasn't sure about the Lunette, either. Whichever one I'll decide on, I'll search for the cheapest version possible. Based on what my problems with the Diva are, can anyone advise me on a second cup?

I started using Instead when I changed to bc pills that give me rather light periods--light enough that tampons are painful to remove (even regular ones for eight hours) but heavy enough I need something... and I hate pads. It took me a few months to get the hang of Instead, and when I did... I decided to change to a Diva Cup. (One-time purchase and good for the environment? Woot.)

Anyway, I haven't quite yet gotten the hang of putting it in and taking it out (origami fold seems to work best, but it pops open before I get it high enough and I can't figure out how to scoot it up once it's open), and I've ended up a little... irritated. (In more ways than one!) I used petroleum jelly on my irritated skin, but I'm worried about hurting my cup. I know oil-based creams are damaging to rubber like the Keeper, but will my DivaCup be okay if it gets petroleum jelly on it?

I know the Diva Cup can't be worn during sex (and I never quite figured out how the Instead work with sex. Unless I had it in totally wrong, which I don't think at the end at least since it never leaked or slipped or anything, it just seems it would get in the way and be painful for my boy.), but what about right after sex (without a condom)? It just weirds me out a little to think of it catching all the semen and holding it inside of me. It always seemed to me that I got more irritated if I but in tampon in after sex, though I suppose this could have had something to do with the tampons drying me out. Anyone experience more irritation wearing the DivaCup right after sex?

And my final question sounds really silly, but... Are DivaCups microwave safe? Not just to put in alone, but inside a cup/bowl of water to boil. I'm in college, and not only do not have a pan to dedicate to boiling my cup, but also use a communal kitchen, which I imagine will result in:

Cute guy from #17: Hey, there. Making something tasty?
Me: Uh... not really.
Cute guy: Sure you are. It smell great. Can I try some? (Reaches for pan lid)
Me: No... uh... I'd prefer you didn't do th--
Cute guy: (drops pan lid and backs away with look of horror and disgust and runs away upstairs)

To avoid such a senario, I would like to boil it in a mug or something in my microwave. Anyone else do this or know if it's safe for the cup?

Thanks.

I've been using a diva/mooncup with Lunapads for almost two years now.

I'm several days into my period. I still have it, but it's in the "wouldn't fill the cup even if I didn't take it out for the next three days phase".


My vagina is irritated. It had hurt for a couple days, but I live at school and don't own/lost a hand mirror. I finally got the courage to ask a friend to borrow her mirror (she guessed exactly what I needed to look at with it, but hey, I converted her to divas so I win).
First the first time, the area around my vulva (regular skin and surrounding skin) and the lower part of the opening (which touches the rim and part of the stem is RED). One area looked like it was close to slitting open, but I'm not sure and am trying not to touch my vagina, but it hurts.

I didn't do anything out of the ordinary for me and my routine, save for boil my mooncup after a recent toilet mishap (this has happened before).

I'm a virgin. Sex related stuff isn't a compounding variable.

When I took my mooncup out in the shower today, I didn't dare try to put it in. I'm doing pads for now and will probably try cups next period as usual.

What should I do to fix the irritation?

I bought some (store brand) desitin, because I remember my mom putting desitin on me when I was little (I have a good memory, see, so I do remember this). I smeared it around everywhere I could touch that felt red (no mirror, I gave it back).

Good idea? Bad idea? Should I buy something else?

I've never had irritation problems in the five years I used plastic pads, but I thought I should stick with cloth because plastic pads irritate the sensitive among us already.

And maybe this is the wrong community for this, but how do you get desitin off fingers, cloth pads and pubes?

What would I expect to see if the soreness was from something else?

Hello! I'm new to this community, and I've already found help here. I've just started using my beautiful divacup, and found inserting it rather tricky until I read about the 7-fold and tried that. Now it slips in a lot easier. Thanks!

All in all I like my cup, and I WANT to love it, but sadly its a little unfriendly to my vagina. It causes my cramps to get worse, and the most bothersome thing is that it pokes me. Somehow it pokes and irritates the right wall of my vagina. I've been trying to push it further up, but it doesn't want to move. I've also tried rotating it into a better positions, but soon enough its back to poking me. I've also cut some of the stem off. What am I doing wrong? :(

I've been using my Diva Cup for a few cycles now (I think it is 4 or 5, but I can't exactly remember!) and I've never had any problems. I've never had leaking or any insertion/removal problems. It's been amazing. I love my cup more than I ever though I could love a menstrual product. :)

However, this period has been a bit frustrating. It's more a problem with me than with my cup. I hadn't been able to clean it properly the first few days, and I also didn't have any lube available. I think this caused some sort of irritation in my vagina, and I'm a bit concerned. It's been sort of itchy and sore for the past few days. I properly cleaned it, and have been cleaning it each time I change it (2-3 times a day) and the itchiness has reduced greatly, but the soreness is still there. For reference, I use Cetaphil face cleanser to wash it. Anyway, I'm wondering if this soreness is abnormal. It feels almost as if I had rough sex and then got my period... which, didn't happen. It's getting better now that I'm back to using lube, but at the same time, it still hurts. Will it go away when I stop using the cup? I'll be done with my period in a day or so, so I can endure it until then if that's all it is. Has anyone else had soreness like this?

My second question is: I've noticed a bit of a funky smell on my cup... It sort of smells like a moldy towel. It's very faint. I boil it in diluted hydrogen peroxide at the end of my period. I was thinking of using tea tree oil instead (I'm nearly out of hydrogen peroxide), in hopes that this would get rid of the funky smell. Has anyone else had a stinky cup? Did you use anything to get rid of the stink? Also... if you've used tea tree oil, how much did you use? I read to use one or two drops in water, but in how much water? How long do you soak it for?

Thanks for your help!

thanks so much for the quick responses!!!!

my original post is below and a lot of you thought it might be a latex allergy, but here is my question though - i don't think i've ever had a problem with laxtex condoms... (reg. condoms are laxtex right?) or blowing up balloons, etc.  i tried the test of rubbing my keeper on the inside of my wrist and it didn't really turn pink or red.  is it possible the keeper could just be causing me yeast infections?  and only recently, but not before?

i generally just use sensitive skin unscented soap to wash it during my cycle and then recently the vinegar solution.

THIS WAS MY ORIGINAL POST:
I have been using a keeper for about 5 cycles now, and i finally have insertion-removal down, but lately it seems like every period causes me irritation and itching.  i had increasingly been noticing that i was getting itchy during my period and irritated like my vagina was swollen.  this last period, the itching was very intense (no discharge or abnormal smells) but i did a OTC yeast infection insertion and it cleared up.  (i did the yeast infection med like the last day of my period)  (also i have never had a yeast infection before so i started thinking the keeper caused it...before i was just washing it with soap, but now inbetween periods, i do a vinegar solution and during the period, i use soap)

i am on my period again now and after one day of using the keeper, i am feeling irritated and itching again.  i had mentioned this to my gynecologist and she had said for general irritation to try olive oil and try to stay away from dri-weave pads (which i use as back-up to the keeper)  i think maybe initial irritation is possibly from the last bit of stem on my keeper which i am going to trim again, and the itching could maybe be from the pads, but it seems like more than that. 

now, i am just wondering if i have developed an allergy to the keeper? if it is giving me yeast infections?  it;s not going to save me money if it gives me yeast infections every month and more importantly it is very uncomfortable!  i don't want to have to switch to something else or stop using it or more importantly jump to conclusions.  so, i was wondering if someone else has any thoughts?

thanks in advance for making my period better...

I have been using a keeper for about 5 cycles now, and i finally have insertion-removal down, but lately it seems like every period causes me irritation and itching.  i had increasingly been noticing that i was getting itchy during my period and irritated like my vagina was swollen.  this last period, the itching was very intense (no discharge or abnormal smells) but i did a OTC yeast infection insertion and it cleared up.  (i did the yeast infection med like the last day of my period)  (also i have never had a yeast infection before so i start thinking the keeper caused it...before i was just washing it with soap, but now inbetween periods, i do a vinegar solution and during the period, i use soap)

i am on my period again now and after one day of using the keeper, i am feeling irritated and itching again.  i had mentioned this to my gynecologist and she had said for general irritation to try olive oil and try to stay away from dri-weave pads (which i use as back-up to the keeper)  i think maybe initial irritation is possibly from the last bit of stem on my keeper which i am going to trim again, and the itching could maybe be from the pads, but it seems like more than that. 

now, i am just wondering if i have developed an allergy to the keeper? if it is giving me yeast infections?  it;s not going to save me money if it gives me yeast infections every month and more importantly it is very uncomfortable!  i don't want to have to switch to something else or stop using it or more importantly jump to conclusions.  so, i was wondering if someone else has any thoughts?

thanks in advance for making my period better...

My mother ended up being fine with the idea of menstrual cups despite some early hesitation and ordered me a Divacup off of LuckyVitamin.

I'm curious if any of you have been in the exact same situation and can offer feedback.

I used Insteads in high school but did so only a few times. They went in fine, felt fine, and I could get a hold of them to pull them out but as soon as I started to dig around in there, I started to get sore, because to hook my finger under the rim I had to reach pretty far. Pulling the Instead out left me feeling like someone had reached a fist up there and punched me in the cooter! Or like I'd just scrubbed myself with steel wool.

I also tend to get sore when anything like a finger or penis or whatever else I can get a hold of goes in there for more than about ten minutes, lube included (no lube = it ain't goin' in).

My question is, are any of the current reusable cups more gentle? I think it may have had to do with the rim of the Insteads back then being fairly firm and large, but I'm not sure. Has anyone had this problem with another method but found one which doesn't hurt?

Hello everyone,
I bought a Diva Cup  a few months ago. I so want to love the cup, but it hasn't been working out for me. My problem is that once the cup is in it tilts to one side and the stem pokes me. I guess my vagina is at angle because it always tilts to the same side and pokes me in the same place. The poking irritates my labia so much that I always end up taking it out within an hour.

I did trim the stem, but it is still long enough to poke me. I am reluctant to cut the rest of the stem off just in case I want to return the cup. Besides, I feel like the problem really stems from the fact that the cup sits at an angle rather than from the length of the cup stem.

I am doubtful that I am inserting it at an angle. I always make an effort to put it in centered. I also tried switching from the 7 fold to origami fold to see if that helped. With both folds, it feels centered immediately after I put it in but after normal activity I feel the stem start to poke.

Does the cup sit at an angle for anyone else? Do you think cutting the rest of the stem off will help?

I have one other, less pressing question. What do you do about residual blood? Since I put my cup in after I start menstruating, there is already blood there. I've been wearing panty liners with the cup but it seems to defeat the purpose of using the cup in the first place. What do you all do about this?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks so much!

Wow...  lots of information here.  I feel like i have been reading for hours.  But i have yet to find anyone with a story similar to mine. 

I just bought my DivaCup today, which the local co-op has in stock.  I say yay to that, but boo to my first experiences with this product.

It is so painful, that all i could do was sit and cry.  I gave up after 2 hours of trying.... 

Oh, it doesn't hurt to insert, it hurts once it is inserted.  I can get it in, as per the written instructions in the package.  I can't figure out if it is open or closed...  since all i can tell is that it feels like i put a square peg into a round hole! 

From what i can tell here, and other information i have researched, i should not be able to feel it.  But i can.  I don't know why. 

It feels like it's scraping.  Lube did not help.  Warming it did not help.  Jumping around, wiggling did not help. 

I spent an hour standing, worried to sit down, when it pinched then felt like i had a rock in my vagina. 

Of course, i thought i should keep it in for a bit, see if i "got used" to it.  Well, it leaked all over the place.  I did have a backup pad, but i have a very heavy flow and, well, suffice it to say, it took me another couple of hours to clean up the mess of blood and clots and tears. 

What am i doing wrong?  Is it not opening?  Is it to low?  Too high?  Should i trim it and hope for the best?  Am i too fat for this product and that is why it doesn't work for me? 

I am so frustrated!!!!  I do NOT want to wear tampons anymore...  but i am back at them. 

When I woke up this morning, I noticed something felt weird, but not really painful, but it didn't feel right (like a pinch)...
Yesterday was my first day with my diva cup--and besides for it repositioning itself, sometimes to uncomfortable places (especially when I urinated), everything was fine. So I thought I'd be okay to sleep with it in...

I didn't notice blood on my underwear... but as soon as I looked in the toilet, there was blood--and it looked a bit different than my normal menstrual flow... When I went to remove my cup, there was blood on my fingers... This was the bright red blood like if your cut yourself..
In the past, I've had times when I've bleed from my period while in the bathroom, that was always a different, darker shade of red...
The thing is, when I went to remove the cup, the seal wasn't broken... And it took a bit more finessing to get it out--though it wasn't really any more painful than other times (still figuring out the removal process)...


So I'm wondering... could something have happened?
Or am I just confused and don't know my flow like I thought I did?

There still is this slight pain feeling, and without the cup in it feels sort of like there's a cut...
the stem's caused some pain, like it was rubbing or pinching part of my vagina--but I always thought it wasn't in high enough--but it felt high this morning...

(I took it out, and am now using a pad just for the remainder of the morning)

Any suggestions??


edit:
It began bleeding again... and after attempting to feel around, the blood is not coming from my vaginal opening... there's also this flappy skin/flesh near the opening that just doesn't seem right...
Could I have possibly torn part of the opening?
(I'm sort of doubting this, because it's not majorly painful--though I've had some really bad pains removing it yesterday...)
I'm more confused then ever... but this definitely doesn't seem like menstrual blood... I really do think something is bleeding now...
(12:26 EST/US)
/edit.

I tried the menstrual cup for a dry run yesterday and today my vagina feels ichy and a bit swollen. Could I be allergic to the cup, I have the mooncup so it seems unlikley and seems to fast to develop a yeast infection in one day. I wonder what it is?

http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/745474.html

that was me a couple months ago, mad as all hell. i gave up on the divacup [actually returned it today] and decided to try out a lunette. what a difference! it was so much easier to handle. it has worked wonderfully for me since i've had it. i am now on my third cycle with it and it wasnt until just yesterday that i started to notice something. i noticed i was itchy and there were these bumps that appeared. i think the stem of the cup is causing some irritation. the thing is though, i cut the stem off months ago. perhaps i didnt cut it off correctly but i've never had this problem until now. the cup feels like it's sitting lower than usual which would explain why the base is irritating me [but it's in there securely]. is there some way to kind of round the edges where the stem was? or is the stem not even the problem? anyone else having this kind of trouble? again, i love my lunette.

thanks for any advice/understanding that might come my way.

Hi! I have a Divacup and I read that it isn't supposed to be touching your cervix. Well, whenever I put my divacup in it tends to encase my cervix or push hard against the side of it, pushing against it which gives me an intense urge to pee and a hard time holding my urine in as well as some pain.
I'm pretty frustrated.
Does anyone have an answer to all of this?

edit: I have had the divacup for a while, almost a year(?)

Yesterday I bought a DivaCup and have used it the past couple days. I've noticed that it always tends to tilt to one side, making the stem poke at my right side. It usually doesn't bother me during the day, as I think moving around sets it back in place or I'm distracted or something. But certain (sitting) positions hurt, and I can't sleep with it in, cause the poking hurts. I put my finger in and play with it so it's in the right place. But it seems like it naturally goes off to the side again. I don't think it's something I'm doing wrong with insertion - as it's always the SAME side that it leans to and it does this even after I poke around and fix it. Anyone else have this problem? I'm wondering if I have an oddly shaped vaginal opening/canal or something... thanks. :)
x-posted

*Tugs shirt nervously* I've had my DivaCup (the smaller size) for a few months now and have used it for two periods. (Well, one day of one period and a full cycle of another.) The first time I had issues with my perineum tearing and when I removed it, I was dumb and didn't think to deflate it so it came out full-cup. I had to sit on the bathroom floor, shaking in pain for a while. The next month I'd had the brainwave to buy some lube and managed to remove it more or less properly. However, there's one issue that's followed me.

I know this isn't an uncommon issue but looking at the memories and using ljseek hasn't yielded my specific question (although if I missed it, I'd be happy to have someone point it out). The stick jabs the hell out of me. I usually end up limping to the bathroom to adjust it frequently because it's poking me hard enough to cause sharp pain. However, I find that when the cup sits lower so that the stick is sticking out of my labia (just the very tip brushing them), I'm comfortable. I've tried a variety of methods to insert the cup higher but after a certain point, it just WON'T go. And I find that the cup sitting higher makes me feel nauseous (the few times I tried tampons they made me feel VERY nauseous). Even opening the cup makes my stomach lurch but once it's open and relatively low, it's not that bad. So pushing it higher doesn't seem to be an option for me. I also find that I don't have any problem with leakage at all when it's sitting low. I have a good seal. I've never been sexually active so it's possible that I have some over-tightness. So the only time I can actually be comfortable and not in pain with the cup in is when the tip of the stick is even with my labia. Unfortunately, the cup likes to sit in such a place that it seems to poke me the worst. If I put it in higher or lower, it always settles to that one place. So my real question is, how can I make the stick LONGER? A lot of people in my situation have just cut it off entirely but I find that I really need it to pull the cup out (in fact, I think I'd be in trouble if I even shortened it). I have to grasp it with my fingernails until I can reach the base. Pulling it out (even while in a good position and bearing down) is quite difficult so I really don't think cutting the stick is a good idea as I find I need the stick all the time.

So my question again: How do I make the stick longer so that I can wear it comfortably (or any other suggestions that I haven't mentioned here would be lovely as well)?

Sorry for the long, rambling entry but I wanted to include all the relevant information so I didn't have to clarify in the comments.

Edit: Based on the recommendations I've received, I'm going to see if there's any way for me to remove the cup using just base (by-passing the stem). From there I'll look into either beveling it or just cutting it off entirely (depending on how much I still feel I need the stick). If none of that works or I'm unable to do without the stick (and beveling its current length doesn't help), then I will look into getting a different brand cup with a longer stick length.

Thanks again to everyone for their help and support!

I have been using a lg. Diva for about 5 months.  Only problems I have really had, until last month, is I have pretty heavy periods and on my heavy days I can barely make it through a 2-hour class before it's overflowing.

Last month I satrted experiencing a lot of pain/soreness.  It's not like when I first got it and got sore because it took me 4 tries to get the cup situated, but it is this constant pain that becomes unbearable (even though it is only moderately uncomfortable at first, it just persists).  I had a procedure done, when I was 13, that caused a band of vag muscle, about 1/2 way up, to heal tighter than the rest, which prevented me from using tampons afterward (they just put so much pressure on it that I could not stand it).  With the diva, I found that if I got it to *pop* over that ridge, that it opens up and spins easily, and doesn't leak.  The stem sits just inside the opening, but doesn't really protrude.  

Well, now, I can't get it up there.  In fact, If I try to open it lower and push it up, it pushes on the ridge and irritates the heck out of me.  I tried leaving it in lower, but it feels like it is stretching me every which ways and still pushes against the ridge when I move and it hurts.  I can't pull it any lower or it'll hang out.

I am very upset, because I HATE pads!  I basically have to accept that I am going to stain almost everything I wear, because my period flows are intermittent, and I can seriously put on a fresh one, feel blood come out, and go back to discover that the pad is leaking.  A week after I had my first daughter, I wore depends and I took a 2 hour nap while on my period, I woke to find it soaked front to back. 

I am just about devastated this morning because I am wearing pajama pants and an icky pad.  Even though I just showered, I feel gross, I never feel that way with the cup.  This happened the first day last month, but I just waited for the soreness to go away overnight and gt it in the next morning.  This time, I have tried 3 seperate times, waiting for the soreness to subside, and it's not working...  HELP!