Been troubleshooting for months. Every cup leaks. So frustrated.
I’ve been using menstrual cups for almost 5 years total. The first one I used was the Diva cup size 1. It worked mostly well for me, but would leak on the first day or two and sometimes at night. After having had that for a while, I decided to replace it with a different kind of cup to try to find a more perfect fit. Unfortunately I threw the Diva Cup away, big regret now. I haven’t had a cup work consistently for me in the first 2 days of my period since.
The next cup I tried is the Pixie Cup in Large. I thought if I got large it might fix the leakage issue but this did not work. It leaked more than the Diva cup ever did. Sometimes I felt like I was unable to get the cup to open, it would feel completely crushed inside of my body. This led me to think maybe bigger wasn’t the way to go. So next I tried the Pixie cup in small. I also identified at that time, that I think my cervix might be off to the side a bit, or move often during my period. In the past I couldn’t find it at all, but now it feels fairly low and off to the side.
The next cup I tried is Pixie sent me their Luxe Large to try. However I think the material is too soft, as I can’t get it to open up inside me at all. It just stays crushed and kind of flat.
I also tried the Lily cup in size large. With this cup, I did feel like I was able to get it open and that it had a good seal, as it was tough to pull down on. A couple of the times on day 1 of my cycle I felt like it really worked, but I would still get some leakage down the sides. And then at night it has gone horribly and leaked a lot even when it felt like the seal was good.
I’ve tried the U fold (what I always used to use with the Diva), the 7 fold, and the punch down fold.
I’m really at a loss and I feel like I’ll never get this to work again. I don’t know what to do because I’m suffering but I really hate tampons and don’t want to go back. I have tried softcups and they also leak for me.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Hi there,
I’ve been experimenting with menstrual cup, and I got the techniques that work for me by the 2nd period.
I watched many youtube videos. It helps to mix and match the tips that people give, and see if it works for you. So, here goes some of my observations:
1. Get it inside of you:
Use punch-down method, once the tip of the fold is inside of your vagina, slowly release your grip. Very very gently hold the end of the cup, maybe even a slight squeeze, and rotate it for half a circle or full round. What works for me is that as long as it does not collapse here, I can send it up, where it has space to open.
2. Check if it collapse:
Many people experience that pop open, but I don’t. I also couldn’t manage to run my finger 1 round, or even reaching the rim to make it open. So I can only check if it collapse. The sound of collapsing is when it leaks air, and it will go completely squashed, releasing quite some air. The sound is quite obvious.
3. Push and pull:
Once it’s somewhere deeper, beyond the pubic bone (I didn’t know what this is, but realize that this space doesn’t help my cup open, the bone squishes my cup!), push your cup in with 1 finger, and then give your stem a few tucks. You CAN feel the suction.
The firmness of your cup matters too. You can try a relatively small cup, but firm, so high chance is that it will eventually open inside of you. You can try small, see if it collects most of the blood at all with your insertion method. Once you got around with how to best insert it and collect blood, try bigger one or more firm model.
I have not measured my cervix so I am one that doesn’t know its position, but my cup works this way.
I hope this helps.
