A lot of people seem to be interested in my thoughts of the Divacup so I thought I’d make a blog post! If you don’t know what a Divacup is, it’s a silicone menstrual cup in the shape of a funnel, but with the bottom closed off. When I was 15, before I went natural, I heard about the divacup and was interested. I bought a pack of two, gave one to a friend, and attempted to use it one day when I didn’t have my monthly present. It really intimidated me and I couldn’t seem to get it in correctly and comfortably. At that point I was fine using tampons, so I put the divacup away until this past week, aka like 3 years!
Both tampons and pads are bleached and most have chlorine. I had been using the seventh generation tampons, and although they aren’t whitened with bleach, they are still whitened (but chlorine free). I’ve actually heard tampons can cause your flow to be HEAVIER. I’m also super afraid of getting TSS from wearing tampons longer than 8 hours, as I know people that have gotten it. Tampons also leak when they get full, can cause cramps, etc.
So today was the first day I used it. I boiled it for 20 minutes in a pot of water this past weekend when I was home, as that’s how you’re supposed to clean it between uses. Between daily uses, just wash with a fragrance-free non-antibacterial soap. I use the unscented castile soap.
I had it in from 8:45 am this morning to 7:45 pm. I left it in the full 12 hours to see if there was any leakage at all. None, whatsoever. At all. I’ve heard that some people have a problem with the divacup suctioning, and if it doesn’t suction right, there was leakage, but mine did just fine. You wouldn’t even have to use a pad if you don’t want to. As for comfort, it felt awkward. I can definitely feels it’s there, and sometimes it felt like it was coming down and about to fall out, but I think that’s because I’m not used to it yet. The stem of it is also fairly-long and I could feel it pretty much all day. It wasn’t so bad, but I know some people do cut the stem off. I think I’m going to leave it unless it gets to be too annoying.
When I took it out, I was worried about the sides being messy, but they weren’t at all. Everything was just inside the cup. There are measurements on the side, and mine went up to about 1/3 full of the cup (the cup itself it still pretty tiny). I do live in a dorm, so I did have to wash it in the dorm sink. I just wrapped it in some toilet paper and washed it in the sink with my castile soap. I’m not planning on sleeping with it in as I like to give my muscles a break. (EDIT: within an hour of having it out, I put it back in. Didn't want to deal with the mess.) If you wash it in a public bathroom, you could bring some wipes to wipe the inside of the cup before bringing it out into the open to wash it out. BUT, since you can wear it for up to 12 hours, chances are you could time it out where you could hopefully be at home instead of work (if you work).
Overall I think menstrual cups are an awesome idea, so simple and clean and there’s nothing harmful or bad about them! I love that I can leave it in forever, not having to change tampons makes me feel like I don’t even have my monthly gift. There are a bunch of menstrual cups, not just the divacup, so feel free to research! :D
2ND DAY: Still loving it. Pushed it up a little higher today so the end of it doesn't hang as low. Sometimes it was uncomfortable still, but again, still getting used to it!