I've used my keeper for two cycles (I've had it for 4 months but keep losing it, which tells you how organized I am. :D) The troubles I have with it are for one, when it pops open I feel as though it is shwacking my cervix.. pretty much like getting smacked in the face with a glove. Then the suction is almost unbearable and I feel as though it is making my cramps worse.
Then on the first day of my period my flow is so heavy I have to empty it every single hour on the dot or else I have major leakage, and even if I'm on time sometimes it still leaks. I have cloth pads for protection, but like the idea of being free from the constant scrubbing and soaking involved with them. Another problem is I think it shwacked my IUD out of place, which means another joyful visit to my gyno. I've considered trying a different cup for my heavy days like the diva, but I fear the learning curve since I'm already have so much trouble with the keeper.. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I snipped the remaining 7mm of my Mooncup stem off the other day, as I knew I never used it to remove the cup so I thought I might as well... however I didn't consider for a second how much I used the stem for putting the cup in!  I tug on it etc to check the seal and when I tried using it stemless (just a little nub left) it was kinda hard to do!  D'oh!  Has anyone else done this (realising they were wrong to snip, not snipping in itself)?  Did you get used to it?

I'm using my new Lunette today, but I'll probably switch to my Mooncup UK (B) this evening as it'll be the start of the last 36 hours of my period and the Lunette will be overkill (and I still want to use my Mooncup because I *do* love it) so hopefully I'll get used to it stemless!

I'm getting on well with my Lunette.  It arrived yesterday lunchtime when I'd been on for 24 hours.  I was worried by the seemingly-vast size (I got the bigger cup for the capacity) when I saw it, but I just put it out of my mind, boiled it and tried... it worked first time (7 fold) without much discomfort going in.  I found it slightly harder to fold than my Mooncup, but the firmness meant that it popped open a bit quicker - more of a forceful pop than the Mooncup but not uncomfortable.  I got a seal first time.  It's very comfortable and I like the flat stem as it's not jabbing me at all I think it's a better design for comfort and ease of cleaning.

I kept it in 8 hours before my first emptying which is getting on for twice as long as with my Mooncup during the second day - I only emptied it because it had started to leak (just a drop but I felt it and went to empty).  When I looked I saw that it was only just past the first measuring line so I don't think it would've leaked except the position I was in (slouched on the sofa with my laptop on my tummy and my legs up on the back of the sofa) caused it to lose its seal somehow and I noticed when I stood up.  The same thing happens sometimes with the Mooncup.

I emptied it again just before bed (2am) to be sure, and then this morning I hadn't had any leaks at all.  I was up to just past the first line again.  After I had emptied and washed my cup I got my Mooncup out of the cabinet and filled my Lunette with water to the point it was at and emptied it into the Mooncup - it came up to the holes!  

Breaking the seal has been much harder than the Mooncup because it's longer, less squishy, and takes up more room; so it's more difficult to reach to hook a finger or thumb over the rim, but I've not had any pain on removal as I've used folded it to remove it like with the Mooncup.

The very smooth inside of the cup is nice from a hygiene point of view, BUT I've found a couple of times that the angle I'm holding the cup at causes the water to bounce straight out like a fountain (luckily not going all over me or the floor!) without filling it up!  So I'm going to have to be careful of the angle.

I'm now really really really REALLY excited about Shark Week coming around again so I can work out exactly how often I need to empty on each day - I'm hoping I might be able to empty just 4 times on the first day which will be a huge improvement from every 2 hours with my Mooncup!   I might even take a pencil and paper into the bathroom and make a chart for future reference!

I posted this on IUD Divas...but thought I'd share it here too as I learned everything I know about cups here! Thanks!
I've had my paragard since Feb 08. The insertion was painful but mostly just felt super-weird [i've never had kids nor been pregnant].
My period is longer, stronger and meaner now that I have the Paragard - but it's totally worth it.  And my period has gotten less intense with each month. [The first two months were pretty insane]

Anyhow, I'd never really heard much about menstrual cups until I started doing research about IUDs. I finally got a Lunette in May 08 -- I picked that one because it's supposedly ok to use with IUDs. I love love love it. It was kinda hard to get used to it - but it's so much better than tampons! Not to mention greener etc. I highly recommend use of a menstrual cup with IUDs. I didn't start using one til after my third period. I'd been using tampons and I don't really see how tampons are any safer than a menstrual cup! Especially with my heavy-ass paragard period, I was blood-letting through super & superplus obs like every 3 hours.

Now before I switched to the Lunette, I was sorta worried about strings and expulsion cause I definitely could feel the strings more when I was on my period [cause the cervix sits lower or whatever]. Plus my BF [who's not huge or anything] could totally feel them and said they were really pokey. so I had my gyno trim my strings at  my yearly appt.  Awesome! Now I don't worry at all about yanking it out AND my bf can't feel pokey strings anymore. Everybody wins!

I've just started my second cycle with my DivaCup :]

Usually I'd be happy about this (I get to learn more and gain experience), but I'm spending all day with three guys and my best friend. I'm going swimming with these three guys (ugh!) and then going to a movie with the guys and my friend. And since this is my first day and my second cycle, there are going to be plenty of trips to the bathroom (I have fairly heavy flows) and the trips will most likely be long since I'm still getting used to things.

I'm stressing out, and actually pretty close to just wearing tampons for the day. Someone talk me out of it.

But on a more optimistic side, I really do love my cup and take the opportunity to discuss it with anyone who asks. I'm still baffled by girls who call it "gross." I don't think having a period is the most clean thing in the world, but it's a natural process and I wouldn't go so far as to call it "gross" or "disgusting." I think pulling out a bloody wad of cotton is worse than dumping out the blood.

Things that happen with tampons that don't happen with cups:

I was camping with one of my best friends. I was getting ready in front of the mirror and she was in one of the stalls. I suddenly heard this horrified gasp from the stall and asked what was wrong. The night before, she had put in a tampon while she already had one in. It really, really freaked her out.

The rest of that trip was pretty bad for her. Leaking, cramps and making me carry tampons in my backpack because she refused to carry a purse. Granted, a cup won't completely take away leaking and it certainly won't eliminate cramps. However, I've basically talked her into getting one but the price is scaring her away.

I am so glad I found this forum, it has so much good info. I just got a Diva Cup(model 2, I'm 33 and have had 3 c-sections) and Insteads and used them both with varying success yesterday and today. I have a pretty heavy flow on day 1-2 which I think caused some of the issues yesterday. I usually wear Super Plus ob tampons and change them every 3 hrs. on Day 1. So I thought I'd be able to wear the Diva longer than that but yesterday after 2 hrs. I went to the bathroom to pee and while peeing I saw a few drops of blood fall into the toilet so I decided to check the cup. It was filled to the upper line-15ml I think. Is that normal?  That was my pattern for the rest of the day- every 2-3 hrs I'd go check for leaks/spotting and there was always at least a drop or two of blood on the toilet paper or usually more (sometimes I'd pee first and sometimes not) so I'd remove and it was always filled above the bottom line and usually closer to the top line(and that was with quite a bit of spillage going on). I am fairly sure I was getting the placement ok- couldn't feel it inside, could turn the cup or run a finger around and it was fully open and seemed sealed well, found my cervix and aimed that way-it seemed to be inside the cup.  I was concerned that I was wearing it too low after seeing how many people talked about wearing it higher but I can't get it in any farther! I trimmed the stem a bit and it doesn't poke me or bother me but if I look with a mirror I can see the stem right inside my opening. I can push the cup out pretty easily with my muscles but doing kegels and wiggling, shoving does nothing to make it go farther in. It doesn't hurt to push it but it just won't go anywhere. Does this mean I just have a shorter canal than some people?
    Is it possible to remove a half full or more Diva cup without a huge mess? I have to pinch/fold the cup when I'm removing it for comfort(first time it popped out at full size and yowza it hurt!) and the blood just gushes out. Not a big deal at home but no way could I do this in a public restroom. 
    I had similar removal issues with the Instead but even worse. I was peeing and all of a sudden-gush. I quickly removed it but the baggie was flattened and practically empty. How can you keep the bag from being squeezed/flattened when you remove it? I was keeping it level and steady but it still made a mess. And does urinating cause your muscles to bear down enough to break the seal on a Diva(hence the leakage I experienced) or pop an Instead out of place?  I did not have any spotting on my pantyliner at all yesterday or today so I don't think I was having true leakage issues. Today my flow has lessened and I've had less problems but I would like to know if this all sounds like normal heavy flow issues that will always happen or if it sounds like I was doing something wrong? Thanks for any comments/advice.

I'm a twenty year old college student who has decided to buy a menstrual cup. I have seen the options offered, and from the reviews I've read, the Ladycup and the Lunette tend to be the most comfortable. Apart from occasional 'private time', I am a virgin but I think I have a good sense of how my vagina works. On my period, I tend to have a very heavy first day with the flow getting thinner and lighter until the 7th day when it all ends. I want to get a cup that can hold a large capacity, but at the same time I don't want a cup that is too narrow or too difficult to put in. So, I'm  a bit stuck. I've looked at the capacity charts, but unfortunately I do not know exactly how much blood I let out during my period. Any suggestions?

SO have have 2 questions for you. I am just ending my second cycle w/ my Diva and quite enjoy it. Though I haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet. I'm still spotting lightly, but that is way better then before.

The first being when you bleed into the cup, large amounts, do you feel the air being pushed out of your cup? I can. And it kinda feels like mini queefs. Is it 'cause I'm doing something wrong?

The second being how much do you bleed each month? I have a Paragard IUD and bleed quite heavily each cycle. I'm just trying to find out what is normal.

Hello,

I just got my Diva cup a day or two ago and took it for a test run (I'm not menstruating but I wanted to see and feel how it works before my bleeding starts) and i have have a few questions.

First being when you have your cup in does it have to push your cervix back? My cervix sits almost at the opening of my vagina at the beginning of my cycle and when I put it in today it was pushed back. Just wondering.

Also how do you go about cleaning your cup if you have a very very heavy flow? I bleed through ultra super tampons in under four hours on days 2 and 3 and sometimes 4 of my period and I can fill a supper long pad in under 6 with no tampon. SO I will not be able to get up to clean my cup in warm water because then I think I may have blood running down my leg otherwise. Do I just wipe it clean and clean it really well at the end of my cycle?

Otherwise my test run went off without a hitch. I was able to get it in, positioned where I wanted it, get my IUD strings out of the way, and get it back out again.

Thanks for the help!

Hello ladies - I am on my first day/cycle with the diva cup.  So far so good.  I was able to insert it and so far have not experienced leakage!  Woo Hoo!!  Anyway -  I switched to the cup because I have a very heavy flow and was experiencing a lot of leakage with tampons and a friend suggested the cup.  (Diva size 2 - I have 2 kids)  My question is for others with heavier flow - how often do you empty your cup on your heavy days?  I am looking for an average so I know where to start.  Sorry if this has been asked and answered.  I did check the memories and didn't really find the answer.  TIA!

Hey all!

I posted a few days ago about receiving my DivaCup in the mail. I was very excited about getting to try it out when my period arrived -- which was due to be yesterday, and it arrived right on time. The only problem was, I wasn't able to get it boiled before then, so I decided to wait until next month to put her to work. :)

In hindsight, that's....probably a good thing, considering what happened very early this morning.

Around 3 AM, I was playing Sims 2 on my laptop when I felt this....sensation. Like something was...well, sorry for the TMI, but like something was kind of sliding out of me. I knew from experience it was probably a rush of blood, so I bolted for the bathroom to see if I coulld get my pad changed before my pajama pants got ruined.

When I got to the bathroom, I saw that I had passed the biggest clot I've ever seen. It was actually kind of terrifying. And it was nearly black. I know it's normal to have black clots at times, but man. This was unlike anything I've ever seen. I've had clots before (and they've become more common since I started on POPs in November) but this was....wow. Like I said, I was a bit scared, frankly. If I wasn't 1000% sure I wasn't pregnant, I would have thought I was having a miscarriage....

And then, after I cleaned up and came back to my room, I started wondering. If I'd had my DivaCup in, I seriously, seriously doubt that the cup could have held this thing. Plus, it was gelatinous, so I don't even think it would have gone into the cup. I'm actually really thankful I wasn't wearing my cup last night, because I feel like that thing was better off out of me than in.

So that brings me to my question: Does anyone know how the cup deals with clots? Like I said, clots of varying sizes are common during my period these days, and I can only assume that they'll be something I'll have to deal with (although hopefully nothing like the monster I passed last night.) I just want to know if I'll be able to use my cup after all, or if it'll have to be stuck in a drawer forever.

Hello!

So I made a couple of posts earlier on talking about how I went from Insteads to a size 1 Diva Cup to a size 2 Mooncup (US) (even though I'm 21, and have never given birth).

After just completing my cycle, I think I've found it, I think I've found "the one".

SOLUTION: In the first couple of hours I had the cup in, it leaked. I just don't get the whole, "push it in until it's comfortable". Having tried everything with my divacup, I thought back to my Insteads. With Insteads you place the rim of the cup behind your pubic bone, so I figured, maybe the same would work with my mooncup. I turn the cup 360 both ways, make sure it pops open and I push it in until the base of the cup is under the pubic bone. Then I kegel it to make sure it pushes right under it. I haven't leaked since.

I just completed my cycle with amazing, life-changing results. I kind of figured it would leak no matter which cup I used because of my ridiclously heavy flow. But even with a heavy cycle, there was NO leakage! Even while sleeping! How happy was I?!

So that's it. I've read tons of ways to stop leaking, and I haven't seen anything like this, unless I missed it. In which case, the only new info I can add is I LOVE MY MOONCUP <3.

I just got over my first period with the mooncup UK. It was a learning experience that's for sure! I had to wear a pad for the first two days because I was so heavy that I would leak. But using one pad a day as opposed to 15 is still pretty sweet. The last 3 days I didn't need to use a pad at all as I was really light.

The main problem I had with using pads was the smell. My last two or three days are usually really stinky. With the cup I didn't have to worry about it. I didn't stink at all which was really nice. But now I have a problem. My cup smells bad.

I tried to wash it with water but can't get the smell to go away. I'm going to search the memories and tags for suggestions on what to clean it with. I think I've read that Dr. Bronners is really good though I don't know where to buy some around here. I'm thinking of washing it with baking soda and water. I know that baking soda is a good deodorizor as well as a good cleanser. Any suggestions that I might not find in the memories?

EDIT: The hydrogen peroxide and water solution worked great. Thanks everyone!

Hello everyone. Last month I bought a mooncup. I'm due any day now and have started using it just incase. I love it so far, then again I haven't had my period yet. I have one concern after reading posts on heavy flows.

I bleed somewhat heavy the first two days. I usually go through a super absorbant pad every 2 hours. How often will I have to empty the cup? I keep on reading about leaks and I'm becomming very concerned. I have a friend who uses a diva cup and she only has to change it twice a day. Though to be honest I don't know how heavy she gets.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Hi all!

So I made a post about a month ago, describing my "not-so good luck" with Insteads.

So I got my divacup, pre-childbirth because I'm 21 and have never had a child (I might mention that I got my cup from betterlife.com- $22 in total, and it took only 2 days to arrive) . I didn't really have any trouble getting it in or removing it. I used the origami method (put it in a little horizontally,rotated it 360 degrees both ways, pulled it down a bit, and pushed it back.) It was working great until my heavier than all get out flow hit and I had major leakage (my period usually lasts 3 1/2 days, if that gives you an idea). I figured it was in right because some did catch in the cup and it worked before the heavy flow hit, and on light days.

I figured it may be the suction so I widened the holes a little. Still no change.

So I'm thinking I should go back and order the Diva Cup size 2? (I could care less how big my vagina is, as long as the cup can catch my heavy flow!) But if it's a problem with suction, that maybe I should get the mooncup uk? Since a lot of people complain about it having too much suction? Or should I wait and see what happens until my next period? Or am I doing something wrong? Also, if anyone knows of a cheap place to buy the mooncup/keeper please let me know.

Thanks, in advance.

So I was recently told about the joy of using a menstrual cup.

At 21, I had never even heard of something like a menstrual cup. I mean, even in school, they only tell you about pads and tampons.

After hearing about menstrual cups, I thought "my period woes are solved!". Though my period is short, I leak like crazy. Even the super-plus tampons only work for 30 mins.

So hoping to find a cup at the store, I see the Insteads. I know people have had problems with them in the past,but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try.

I give Insteads a C-.

I started my period 2 days ago, and suffice to say, Insteads are crap when it comes to women with heavier flows. I've leaked from the first day and I'm about 98% percent sure, they're in right. If I lie down, they leak more. It's not so bad with a lighter flow,but IMO, using tampons aren't either. The whole reason I wanted to make the switch from tampons to cups is to control my heavy flow.

Needless to say, the Insteads will be making their way to a women's shelter, and I'll be ordering a Diva Cup for next month.

Hey, they say the average woman bleeds yadayadayada ml of blood each period..

And I was wondering as to whether or not this is true?
I've seen many women post on here or girlspace.com that they are definately over the line of what they say.


My divacup shows that I bleed over 10ml a day, I think.
The number below the rim...
and I was wondering if this means I bleed more than most women, and whether or not I should go to the doctors and consider birth control.


Thanks!
ALC.

Howdy! New here (But I'm sure you could tell)

I've been reading up on cups for months but have only recently decided to make the switch. I do have some concerns though. Please forgive me if this is in the memories, my dinosaur computer really limited what I could see (Being replaced in a few days thank goodness.)

I do apologize if this is too much for you to stand reading.

I am looking into getting a menstrual cup, but am not sure if they'll work for me. I've used 'Instead', but they leak on me really badly on my heavy flow days! And I mean badly, as in an hour after I insert it... or if I change positions (from sitting to standing, or vice versa), and GUSH. Not fun.

So my questions are these: will a menstrual cup work for me, and if so, what brand will probably work best for me and my lovely heavy flow?

Thank you so much for your advice!

Lori

 So, this isn't exactly on-topic, but I'll also add a lunette update...  

After coming back here to read and sharing some suggestions or advice with other cuppers, my period finally came!  I told someone about my diva cup in comparison with my lunette cup, and lamenting the fact that it had been 55 days since my last period, so things were actually a little hard to remember, and the, yesterday, lo and behold, tiny little cramps and a little blood!  Hooray!  Here it comes!!  

I've been travelling, and I'll blame this really long cycle on that.  I just moved from the midwest to Spain to teach English in a primary school.  I'm living with another English teacher who's from here and her husband.  I was delighted to note that there were 2 mooncup UKs (one of each size) in their boxes in the bathroom when I got here!  There's not even a trash can in the bathroom, and it took me a while to realize that if I used tampons, that would be a problem.  

Now, for my comparison!  


Like others say, my lunette popped open right away really nicely.  The first time it surprised me and popped open too soon, but now it works really well.  I don't have to spend that time fiddling around with it to get it in the right place like I did with the diva cup every time.  

I haven't trimmed the stems on either of my cups, and the lunette stem is pretty comfortable even if it's sticking out a little, if I turn it so that it lines up with my vagina (the stem is not hollow or round!).  I was thinking about maybe trimming it, but so far I haven't felt the need to do so.  

With such a heavy flow, my cups leak no matter what I do really.  My mom gave me some lunapanties for my birthday though, and I got them just in time for the IUD, and I really love them.  The cup leakage is never much and the lunapanties are always enough to keep it under control.  It doesn't seem to be any different between the lunette and the diva.  

The length of the two cups is almost the same.  The lunette is a little shorter and squatter than the diva, and it's comfortable to wear.  I don't feel a size difference.  I'm 22 and have never been pregnant, and I'm pretty sure that the whole sizing reccommendation thing is a way to get some sort of an idea about which cup to get if you don't know at all, but really everybody's vaginas are different!  Sorry my thoughts here aren't more organized, but I'm excited!  Also, I took pictures of the diva cup and the lunette together for comparison, but they're not online yet.

So, I have PCOS (PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome), along with Insulin Resistance. Both of these combined allow me to go years without a period (uh, yay? Not.).. However, since I'm trying to get my period back on track (I miss it, really), I'm looking into getting a divacup/mooncup/blahblah.

- I'm allergic to latex, therefore any of the latex ones are out of the question.
- I'm a nanny, so I need something that
a) is big enough to leave in for an extended period of time (obviously no more than 8 hours, though it'd be more likely to be 5.. ish.)
b) doesn't require a lot of maintenance/cleaning/hiding in salty/vinegar-y solutions
- I have HUGE clots. Will this affect it?

Anyone else here have PCOS/IR? Both? Maybe? .. I know I seem to know next to nothing about the products, but I'm still iffy on them and don't have the time to really look at them for hours on end. I'm interested in the grippy-ridged, those are neeeeat. And the clearness. :D

Cheeeeeers,
Nanny 

Ok, so I had DivaCup for a year and it always leaked on my heavy days. So I finally decided to get a lunette and try it.
First day was OK. Lunette pops open much easier than diva, it's stiffer.
Then came the second day (the heaviest) of my period, and all hell broke loose! There is NO suction what so ever in lunette! None! Every time I stood up, I got that "bubbly" feeling down there which meant it was leaking. I went to the bathroom, blood in the toilet bowl and on the TP, I pull it out and it's only filled to the first notch (7,5 ml). This happend all day long. I took the half filled cup out, emptied it, put it back in and hoped that this time, it would be fine. An hour or two later it's leaking again! When it started leaking big time without any warning during my workout, 15 mins after I last emptied it, I had had it! I have no trust in my lunette at all any more!

As soon as I got home, I pulled the darn thing out and inserted my diva. And lo and behold, of course this was the first period EVER that my diva did not leak on me, not once! Now that I got a new cup and all. (And I thought nothing could be worse than my divacup...)

So now what do I do? I spent 25 € on this cup, that's only my weekly food budget. There is no return policy. Right now I'm thinking of spray painting it gold and using it as a christmas ornament. I'm so disappointed. In a few years when I'm richer I might try a mooncup. Honestly, there is not much difference in size or volume between diva and lunette. I guess the lesson is, if diva doesn't work for you, chances are small that lunette will either.

I also think I found the reason to why my cups leak all the time. I kept track on how much I bled this period (one of the good things with cups!) and it summed up to 115 ml. I checked a medicine book, it said normal amount is 30-50 ml. So I'm more then twice that. Congrats everyone whose cups work for you, you are normal bleeders. I just can't empty mine often enough to prevent it from leaking. *grumpy*

So I had one of those anti-cup moments last night/very early this morning, and believe you me, it was just about the grossest thing I've ever had to deal with. I'm actually surprised it didn't go as far as it did... Look behind the cut if you want details. >< I guess it wasn't really anti-cup so much as it was anti-period, now that I think about it. It didn't turn me off the cup or think it was less great... It just makes me want to kill the higher power who decided we need to have them.

It was pretty gross, I'll admit. Sorry if I grossed anyone out, but I had to live through it.... I'm still glad I have the DivaCup, though, because it makes me wonder what would have happened otherwise. When I wore pads at night, I used to squeeze my vagina muscles to keep as much blood in as possible. In the morning, I'd usually see dark shapes at the bottom of the toilet through the water, so I figure that was part of this. I hope it never happens again, though. >< 

P.S. - Has anything like this ever happened to anyone else?

I've been using my diva cup for 3-4 cycles now and I love it! It's made everything so much easier, and I found it very easy to use (thanks to this community! haha). I only have to remove it about twice a day, maybe 3 on a heavy day, and it's never more than half full. I never have any leaks or anything, which I think is amazing compared to how it used to be with other methods. But my current cycle has been about 5 times heavier than usual (no joke). During the past 3 1/2 days I've had to remove it every 2-3 hours, except for during the night, and it's always full (and overflowing (sorry! I know that's gross!)). I've also been having some problems where it's leaked a lot! I decided this afternoon to go back to a tampon/pad combo because removing it so often was becoming painful.
I'm so frusterated I want to scream! I know this isn't really a Diva cup problem (except that I can't use my cup right now), but I know that most of you in here moniter how much you bleed pretty closely, and was wondering if this has happened to anyone since they started using their cup? Am I doomed?

So I have days where I feel like I am bleeding to death.  I was tired of going through tampons by the boxful.  I decided it was time to get a cup.  I had tried the Instead cups years ago and liked them, but found them expensive and wasteful as well.

A few days ago, my Diva arrived.  I was so excited!

I did a dry run.  I wore it for the better part of a day before my actual period.  I found the stem a bit long so I trimmed it.

This morning, I got my period.  And I was excited!  :D  In went the cup and off to work I went.  I find that I only notice it when I have to pee and shortly after I go pee.  Other than that, I don't really know that it is there.

Tomorrow will be my bleeding to death day.  We will see how well the cup performs on the day when I have been known to go through a Super tampon in 90 minutes or less.

Is it strange that I am also excited about being able to measure how much blood I actually expel?  ;) 

Hi! I've spent the entire morning reading entries reviewing Lunettes and such, and I think most of my questions are answered and my mind is mostly made up, but I decided to post anyway and share whatever I could on cups, as it's my first time posting here too.

I've used a divacup for almost 4 years now and never stopped to think that it might not be the right cup for me, I just used it. I'm 22 and have never been pregnant. I have the smaller size. It rarely leaks on me, it's comfortable, I haven't lost it (though I always wonder how I manage to keep track of something I only use once a month!), and I can't feel any of this suction everyone talks about. Getting used to it was tricky at first, but after a couple of months it was just fine. I've always had a fairly light flow, and my roommate and I bought ours together and used to compare how high we'd filled the cups at night before we went to bed, in a brutal competition to see who could fill theirs up the most. She always won.

I even like the pretty golden color my blood has left on the cup, though now I've read about ways to soak it in hydrogen peroxide to return it's new clear color. I took a couple of glamour shots of it once while procrastinating before homework too, I'll try to remember to share them with you later!

A couple of months ago, I got a copper IUD. My flow is now really heavy for the middle three days of my cycle, and I feel like I'm bailing buckets and buckets of blood out of my vagina. It's not really that bad, but I do have to empty my diva every few hours or it overflows. I was bumming around the internet a couple of days ago and decided to check up on this community which I had joined, but didn't read that often, and A HA! I'd never thought so much about my cup before. I think I've pretty much decided to go ahead and get the full sized lunette. Hopefully, the larger size will mean I'll have to empty it less on those heavy days, and the reported suction will make me less nervous about using it with the IUD. I'm not that nervous about it and haven't ever really felt the rumored strong suction of the diva, but if you ladies say there's less suction on the lunette then my IUD might appreciate that. Hopefully there won't be be any issues leaking or staying in. Do you think this is a good plan? Do any of you have experience with the capacity of the small diva compared to the big lunette? Thanks!