[hello_pitty]

Well I've been a pad user for as long as I have had my periods. I tried tampons every now and then but I seem to use them wrong and end up going back to pads. I like using tampons, it beats using a big bulky pad that ends up leaking. Also I get really "raw" and itchy from using pads by my 3-4th day of menstration.

Now my problem is, is that I think i put them in wrong. I can't put them in while sitting on the toilet, or even standing/squatting. I can only seem to put them in correctly if I lay down on the ground, but obviously I can't do this in a public restroom!! When ever i put them in "normally" they leak and it seems like i'm not wearing them at all...and when I take the tampon out, it's barely "wet"!!

I have a Gyno appointment on Monday Dec.22nd. So what should I ask her? Can she show me how to put them in without laying down? Maybe im one of the few women who have a wierd shaped or bigger inner vagina? I am a bigger girl BTW and I am sexually active (alot) with my fiance.

I just want to not have to use pads anymore, and it's such a hassle to use the cloth ones, I work a full time job as a janitor and I don't have time to wash and maintain cloth pads ugh! I heard about the diva cup, but right now I don't have a credit card so I can't order one.

Oh, also, should I be worried that my mother can't use tampons because she gets TSS? I don't know about my grandmother because she used pads only. My 2 aunts use tampons all the time without problems and so do my female cousins.

Thanks.
Cree

[heathers1974]

Hey there to a fellow Canadian!

Actually I am in the same boat as you...I've never been comfortable using tampons...about the only time I will basically force myself to wear one is if I am going swimming when I have my period.

They've just never fit right and I've tried every possible brand and combination of inserting them. I've had 2 kids and if anything it has only gotten worse if and when I use one. I wouldn't say I have a humongus vagina but even before having kids I was never overly tight and having 2 large vaginal births didn't help matters...plus having a hubby with over 9" and big girth I am sure has also kept my vagina and the opening less than overly tight. I did ask my OBGYN awhile back about this and she basically said the same thing that we're all made differently downthere and that having regular sex with a well endowed man and 2 vaginal births (she also said that it is hereditary and I've asked my sister and she is the same way) ensured that I wouldn't be a snug fit and that tampons should only be used for a short time...which is fine by me...I guess I am in the minority by preferring pads...even if Tampons fit properly I would most likely continue to use pads.

Feel free to msg me if you want to chat further about this.

Take care ok.

Heather

[yorkielass]

tampons

It took me a while to get used to using tampons too and every time i used one it was very painful and had to remove it but i got used to them eventually.i found it hard like you to insert them sitting on the toilet ect and the only comfortable way for me was one foot on seat one on the floor.The best ones to use are Tampax and they can come in a pack that will be suitable for your weekly flow such has normal for the first day regular,super or super plus if you have a heavy flow.If you still have problems go and have that talk with someone about tampons like you said you'd do.

yorkielass

[WildChild]

Your cervix maybe a little to one side, asking the doc is a great idea, she can show and have you try it right there. They should go in comfortably. Change them every four hours to avoid TSS.

[Ruth]

I feel very comfortable wearing tampons and inserting them is not a problem at all, but still I have decided to only use them once in a while, when I do sports, because I have read about how many health risks they pose. Most tampons are made of rayon, a synthetic material, which is a better absorbent than cotton but is not as healthy. They, the rayon is bleached, and because of this process it releases dioxin, which can cause cancer. You won't feel anything but this dioxin, once it entered your body it stays there and adds up over time. That is why I don't want to use tampons often.

I prefer to use pads. If they are good quality they won't leak, you'll feel comfortable and they are also healthy. The ones I like best are Anion.

[DaraVose]

The TSS issue is not what it once was. There were certain brands 20 to 30 years ago that had major issues with causing TSS; those are no longer on the market, and tampons are now made in a different way. I have never heard of heredity being a factor in increasing your chances of TSS (although I beg someone to correct me if I'm offering wrong information here, because it's an important subject).

Like another poster has already mentioned before me, I always get the best placement with one foot on the floor and the other propped on the seat of the toilet. Not the most graceful, but certainly easier to pull off in a public restroom than laying on the floor.

[Ruth]

Dara, are you sure tampons don't pose health risks, other than TSS? And if you are looking for answers, don't search on the sites of the companies that produce tampons.

[DaraVose]

I meant in no way to imply that TSS is the only health risk with tampons. I simply was indicating that the TSS warnings on tampons are as such because of a time when there were MAJOR problems with TSS, as opposed to the minute amount of women who get TSS with the "safer" products today. Of course, the TSS risk is still there and it's important for women who use tampons to be familiar with the symptoms and know what to do. Just as there is no "safe" sex, only "safer" sex, there is no 100% safe tampon.

With that being said, I do personally prefer tampons because with my heavy cycle, I feel they provide more protection (frequently have a problem with leaking pads), and despite trying many, many brands of pads, I have always had a problem with irritation that I don't have with tampons.

There are always risks of other possible bacterial infections any time you put something into your body, such as a tampon. Additionally, there's the risk of injury, which I can testify to first hand, having once forgotten to remove a tampon "in the heat of the moment." During the deed, I realized that I was experiencing additional pain, but as it was the first period after a miscarriage and ovarian cyst, I dismissed it as soreness from those factors. Then, afterward, I remembered the tampon and flipped out. It took me a while, but I did get it removed, and I did not wear them for the rest of my cycle.

[Ruth]

I can see why you and so many other women prefer tampons. It's a pity sanitary pads producers are doing a bad job. Pads shouldn't be leaking and shouldn't produce irritation either. The irritation is due to the fact that they are not breathable. And the leaking is because of the poor quality absorbent materials they use. I've tried so many and, believe me, I know how it is. I don't even want to start to talk more specifically about what I noticed wrong in different very famous brands, because that would take too many pages.

To get to the good part, the good news is that I finally found some great pads (Anion Love Moon sanitary napkins produced by Winalite). They are made of high quality healthy materials, they won't leak and will allow air flow, so you won't get irritations.

These pads can be ordered online and they have a promotion going on right now. They will send you some free samples if you are willing to try them. Let me know if you want me to give you more details. If you try them, I'm sure you'll be very satisfied with them.

[DaraVose]

I'd definitely be interested in trying those, Ruth. Truth is, sometimes you just have to wear pads anyway, so I keep experimenting. We've opened a new discount health food store that carries many products, so I'll be looking there, too.