I Love My Mooncup

[adjectivegail]

I just want to talk about my mooncup (again - I talked about it before, in my own journal).

Were you ever told, when learning about the menstrual cycle at school, that a period isn't really blood? I was, but I didn't really believe it because, y'know, it looks like blood. Except that last week my period came round again and on my heaviest day, my mooncup got filled to lower rim in 5 hours. And when I took it out, before I dumped it, I realised that there was a layer of dark, dark red stuff at the bottom and the rest of it was a practically clear, colourless liquid. And I remembered that periods aren't really blood, and I thought it was pretty cool that it was my mooncup that showed me that.

I really love my mooncup. It's leaked just once, during the night when I had a heavy flow, and only a little bit; I still managed to get to the bathroom without any mishap, and since my flow's slowed down I haven't had any trouble at all. And speaking of flow, I really like being able to see just how much is being expelled; I'm surprised at how different day 2 (my heaviest day) was from day 3 (the start of the tailing off, I guess).

I think the absolutely best thing about my mooncup is that I don't have to use pads. When I was using tampons, I always had to use sanitary towels as back-up, because the tampon wouldn't quite catch all of it. And I hate sanitary towels, they're bulky and uncomfortable and no matter how careful I am about how I move, they'll bunch up and twist and stick to themselves and have to be changed again. I've used one pad during this period, and that's it. And for someone who's broke this month, that's a nice thing to think about.

I've also been surprised this month by how easy I've found my mooncup to use; last month I spent ages in the bathroom each time because I had to check that it was sitting right and had opened up properly to form the seal. This month, I seem to have got the knack of it and it's been really, really easy.

So... yeah. That's why I love my mooncup :)

Comments

[babybloodheart.livejournal.com]

Thats odd, never known someone to get clear fluid and the blood seperate out like that. It is blood.

[adjectivegail]

It was definitely 2 layers, I was reminded of how oil and water won't mix. I figured that probably all the heavy stuff had fallen to the bottom or something, but even if regular blood did that over 5 hours, it wouldn't be mostly clear, would it?

I was taught that periods were mostly the stuff that lined the womb and some cushioning fluid but not much blood... was I taught wrong?

[babybloodheart.livejournal.com]

During menstruation the uterus lining sheds, that is the lumps you see when you menstruate, that is the main waste that is expelled during menstruation. Blood is secondary to this, but it is there and it is what comes out when you are menstruating – this is why it is called menstrual blood.

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

My divacup fills almost to the rim almost every day and has for every day for the last month (yeah, I know. *sigh*) and it's defintely never had any clear liquid in it. It's dark, dark, dark (nearly black) thick blood.

[adjectivegail]

Errr... Am I supposed to start worrying about my period being weird and not like a proper period, at this point?

*worries*

[opalcat.livejournal.com]

It couldn't hurt to talk to your doctor.

[aislynn99.livejournal.com]

If you want to talk to your doctor, feel free, but when blood sits for a while it separates into a large clump of red blood cells, and a mostly clear fluid called either serum or plasma, I can't remember. But if your cup wasn't that full and you weren't too active, and the blood had time to settle out, then what you saw is perfectly normal. I wouldn't worry too much :-)

Oh, and while mostly what you shed is uterine lining, it is made up of blood and tissue. So you weren't taught wrong, necessarily, because it's not ALL blood, but there is some blood in it. Okey dokey? :-)

[adjectivegail]

Thank you :)

I don't have very much faith in my GP... the first time I saw him I explained that I'd been prescribed dianette at uni for my PCOS and could I have a repeat 'scrip please, and he just wrote me a 6 month supply and sent me on my way - despite the fact that my medical file was still 250 miles away at my university, he'd never seen me before, and he didn't ask me how long I'd been on the pill or do a blood pressure test or any of the other things my doc at uni had done... I know a lot of people complain that their doctors take too long to give them what they need, but I really felt he went a bit far the other way!

[ruggrat.livejournal.com]

I've definitely experienced this phenomenon...