Need Advice!

[amalicious4]

I am 13, and I got my first period 4 days ago. I learned about menstrual cups in school about a month ago, and I was very interested, as all of my friends said periods were horrible. As I did more research, I was hooked onto it! Everyone said it was comfy and did the job better than anything else, as long as you got the right brand

Comments

[serpent_849]

i'm a virgin, 10 years older than you though ;) cup user since i was 20.
i think those complicated leaks (without an obvious reason) have a lot to do with your shape/fitness, and as far as i can tell it's quite rare for young users to report them. the length makes zero difference for insertion, so i'd advice against those "virgin cups". the friend who introduced me to cups used a mcuk as a virgin, and that one has a HUGE rim. i got the small lunette first but my anatomy is very unusual (insanely low cervix) so already on my second cycle i was using the large ladycup, and it was fine.

the folds you listed are all great. you may find that not all of them suit your cup or anatomy, though. i have to let my cup open as soon as the rim is in, so i can't use anything but the C-fold and what I call the 9 fold. btw read about the softness, but don't be discouraged, i just compiled a list of nearly everything you can do. pretty much everyone who sticks with it long enough (and has no medical condition making it difficult) eventually learns to insert a cup as fast as a tampon. (well, some people report a slow "steady" insertion taking up to 5 min, but it's very rare and once they get used to it, it's easier to just keep calm than fiddle with it and try to insert it faster)

speaking of tampons, i've never used them ;) you're going to know your body better than some virgins do. if it's really important to get the right cup from the beginning, try using applicator-free tampons for now. that's more similar to cups than those with an applicator.

also, i think it will be fair game to ask for one more cup if needed when your first one pays for itself (in a year maybe?)*. even if one just goes for what's available locally (especially the divacup), it's very common to be 80-90% satisfied with the cup and have no clue that there are so many options. most of us can use most cups, as it's said. unless your cup is horribly wrong for you, you'll be able to use it at least some of the time. for example my mum doesn't like using her cup at the end of her period, and she doesn't like the idea of sleeping with a cup inside. but she's still quite happy with her cup.
*since tampons are expensive, you could have a deal with mum that you use them as little as possible to save for a new cup. but that's very unlikely. i just know that in your situation i'd have found it comforting to know i still have options.

oh and consider getting cloth pads for now. you can even make your own. i don't think i'd have had the courage to use a cup at your age (and the available options wouldn't have worked for me), but i really wish i had known about cloth pads from the beginning.

[serpent_849]

*some things might have been unclear. i think it's quite unlikely that a soft cup will leak. however, even the so-called stiff ones are still rather soft (are insteads sold where you live? ALL cups are softer than the rim of the insteads).

i agree about not reccing the ladycup. there are many similar cups that have a better capacity and aren't slippery. i think one of them should be a great option. those having similar dimensions to the small lunette or medium meluna (the name doesn't matter! honestly! i think it's much more common to use the tiny melunas for the light days only, not as the main cup. it should've been called XS, really. even the reseller contacted me to make sure i knew what i was getting).

as for tampons, they are quite different, i hope this is clear. in my case, one of the initial difficulties was learning to insert something that isn't my own finger. i've heard some tampon users need a mirror in the beginning :D so, that's basically the main thing you can learn from using tampons.

[amalicious4]

Thank you! What about the fleurcup and the sckooncup?

[serpent_849]

i don't know anything about the sckooncup :(
as for the fleurcup, look at the comparison pictures. it has a fairly unusual shape for example, so go with your gut feeling. does it *look* like it'll be comfortable?
the meluna also has a similar shape btw.

also note that i wasn't saying the lunette was a bad cup or anything. i was upset when i realized it didn't work for me, really. i'm more of an exception tbh. it's short, medium-stiff and has a surprising capacity ♥ but it's very individual really, there are no good cups or bad cups.

[por_que_no]

I've never inspected the fleur or Sckoon in person, but those two look very similar in shape to the Si-Bell...I think the Fleur is supposed to be a little stiffer but the Sckoon is nice and soft. I like the Sckoon's colors but would need a much longer stem, and the Si-Bell had that nice long stem and also came in a bright pink limited edition...so I couldn't resist :)