Menstrual cup discomfort and weird suction problem

Hello, I have recently bought the saalt small cup and have been using it during this last period. I bought it with a determination to make my periods change for the better. I am a teen and I have just recently gotten interested in menstrual cups and have been excited about them for a few weeks now. My hope is to be able to go to school all day without having to worry about my period as much.

So my first experience with the cup was ok. I used the punch down fold. It probably took 20 minutes to get in, and it burned really bad going in, but I was determined. I have only ever used tampons a few times. As needed, swimming and stuff. They always hurt me though, going in and coming out. I never knew why this was as the internet always said they should never hurt. Well I got the cup in eventually, but it leaked a bit. (I see now it was probably not open all the way.) but I didn’t really care, I was using a menstrual cup! I am pretty heavy on my first two days, so I decided to take it out after about 3 hours just to be safe.

The stem was almost poking out, so I could easily grab it. I had seen many YouTube videos on menstrual cups, so I thought I knew what I was doing. I gently tried to pull and wiggle it downwards, I felt some suction, which was somewhat painful. I just kept doing that and trying to get my fingers to grasp the base to break the suction but I could not get my fingers in at all to grab it, I was relaxing my muscles. I tried to get one finger in to hook it but it really hurt to push against the inside. I ended up getting it out and break the suction eventually but it was painful. It is not just the last part that is painful, when the rim comes out, but just about everything before that as well. It kind of perplexed me. I didn’t really care too much about the pain because it was normal for me with tampons and stuff so I just have been kind of doing the same thing over and over again, but I do wish there was a way to do it without pain.

As well as this I have had a hard time getting the cup to open inside of me. When I insert it, (I use the 7 fold now as it is less painful) it ends up basically flattened, not still folded, but flattened inside of me. It’s really weird. I have (with some effort) been able to open it every time. But when it suctions, it feels like a punch to the gut almost. :’) Before i found out this problem with opening it, (aka with the punch-down fold) i would just leave it in there still unknowingly folded, and about a few minutes to an hour after i inserted it, it would do this weird thing where it would randomly gain suction and open itself up inside of me. This is pretty excruciating for about half of a second, and then never happen again until i re-inserted it. I have looked online and it seems that no one else has this issue.

Also a bit of a sidenote, but i think the suction (when the cup is already inserted) is causing pain. Exactly after i insert the cup and get it open, sometimes i feel these cramps, which dont really feel like cramps, they feel like suction. I hope i’m not being sensitive or over dramatic. I am willing to deal with these things (as long as they don’t cause damage to my body) in order to use the cup. I just want to know if there is anything i can do to make my experience any better. I am so ready to convert to menstrual cups for the long term and fall in love with them. ❤️