What tampons would you recommend for someone who hates tampons?

Years ago, I used menstrual cups called Instead. They are still sold in most drugstores and are about $8.00 a box. They say you can wear them up to 12hrs but I would change them every 2hrs, no mess ups.

I have no problems with tampons except that they have problems with me. My periods are sometimes so heavy that even with a super plus, I’ve got to wear a pad and be changing out the tampon every hour, I’d be way to paranoid to chance a beach outing with one.

almost sounds like you’re not using a strong enough absorbency. I prefer Tampax Pearl… they go up to Super absorbency.

If you’re inserting it correctly, you shouldn’t feel anything. So if you actually feel the “cotton object sitting inside your body” then you really didn’t insert it correctly, which would most certainly solve the mysteries of #2 and #3. Generally to avoid TSS you want to use the lowest absorbency for your flow, but like I mentioned, it sounds like you’re not using a strong enough one. Maybe try the Extra (usually green wrapper).

Well, if you can feel the tampon, you’re not inserting it in far enough. The best tampons I have ever used were the no applicator OB tampons. They are about $4 for a box of 45 or 50, and the best part is they are circular. This means that, unlike other tampons which open up into a large rectangle when they get wet, OB tampons open up in a tube shape. This is excellent news. I never had any leaks or discomfort when using OB.

Now for the downside: they have no applicator. This requires you to sorry for the description use your finger as an applicator, and get them up in there. ;-) This isn’t so bad when you can insert them at home, say, right after a shower. But I found them to be really hard to use in public restrooms. Still, if you’re going to the beach, put one in before you leave, and you can do it well.

Edit: Sorry about my immediate “you’re not inserting it in far enough”. I guess that’s our standard problem solver. Tampons suck, despite the fact that I love them. I hate days when I don’t get them in right. ;-)

If it’s just for the day and if you already have a diaphragm, you can use that with a panty liner for the “just in case”

I agree with all the advice offered by @poofandmook and I would like to suggest that you are sure to use a tampon with an applicator, that should make inserting it easier. Also, being sure to change the tampon regularly will cut your risk of TSS.

@Judi: I don’t have a diaphragm. (and you can’t go swimming in a panty liner)
@Les: Don’t be sorry for the description! :-) Please, everyone, describe away! I’m here to learn something!

I got Instead cups because of mu dislike of tampons, but got pregnant so I haven’t had a chance to use them.

My favorite brand is Tampax Pearl, like @poofandmook suggested. I just find they are most comfortable. Also, just because you can feel it, does not mean it is inserted improperly. You may have unique anatomy. I have a tilted uterus, and I know my cervix is in an odd spot (I’m told this by every gyno I see) so I think they just feel funny to me.

What brand are you currently using?

Tampax Pearl are good tampons, but another one I used to like were the Playtex Beyond tampons, because they had a contoured cardboard applicator. I think those also opened up in a cylinder shape. I can’t find them anymore where I live, though. I don’t know if they stopped making them.

@casheroo: I currently don’t use tampons. I hadn’t in years, until earlier today, when I tried one just so it wouldn’t be the first time tomorrow. It was tampax, slender, regular absorbency (what I had left over from high school). The “slender” thing might be why they were falling out. I remember trying my mom’s super something or other and that felt really icky, so she probably bought me those.

Wow, that actually turned out to be a really good question, @casheroo, because the word “slender“isn’t printed on the package, just the box, so I hadn’t thought about that until you asked, and I went and looked. Okay, I feel a lot more confident now.

I shall take the suggestions of the group and get a box of stronger absorbency tampax pearl.

Thanks everyone!!

I like girl talk. I haven’t had much of that lately. ‘Twas a pleasure, @La_chica_gomela !

not having a vagina I feel a little under experienced to answer this question but every woman I have known that has cared to share this information with me uses Lil-lets

It’s weird I never thought there were other ‘brands’ until now? I mean I knew there were, but I just never thought about them.

I’m going to have to go against the flow here sorry, I couldn’t resist and agree with @hungryhungryhortence – I’m menopausal now, so don’t have to deal with this anymore, but in my personal and professional opinion, some women just don’t do welll with tampons, myself included. I too had problems with tampon drift that became more pronounced after child bearing. I tried many brands and absorbencies. And I know I was inserting them correctly and deeply enough – I used to deliver babies, and now I do pelvic exams on a daily basis, so I’m pretty well acquainted with female anatomy in all its variations.
I don’t have any personal experience with menstrual cups, but some of my patients swear by them. If I still needed menstrual protection, I’d give cups a try. There’s more than one brand out there – I’ve heard good feedback on Keepers and Diva cups. I did a quick google search, and found this review of several cup brands
http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/648061.html

@RareDenver I’ve never heard of lil-lets, but they look like OB’s. The Lil website was from .uk, maybe that’s it.

Definitely try Tampax Pearl in a higher absorbency. I don’t buy them since I like cardboard applicators (I guess I’d rather use up trees than waste plastic) but whenever I borrow a tampon from someone and it’s a Pearl it makes me a little happy. By far the best tampon I’ve ever tried.

I’ve never heard of a tampon slipping out, and I always figured if you feel it, then you’re doing something wrong. Have your gynecologists mentioned if you have unusually shaped anatomy?

I can absolutely affirm that tampons can slip (or ooze) out. They can flow out and they can even sneeze out. I have had them fill up and simply fall out with heaviness only 15 minutes after insertion. At those times I was going through several per hour. And no, I was not doing anything wrong. I had decades of experience, had tried various brands, etc. I had what you would call heavy flow, with plenty of those globs. (Not any more, thank goodness, and never have I missed it for one nanosecond.)

I am sorry to say this, @La_chica_gomela, but under those conditions I would not have dreamed of going near the water. There were times when I couldn’t even leave the house. If I did, it was a major risk. There was one unforgettable time, attending a concert in an arena on that first heavy day. In addition to the superest tampon I could find, I was wearing a maxipad and everything. I had a persistent cough at the time, and I coughed and felt it shoot out of me, all sticky and thick and warm. The lines to the bathroom were huge. This is on my list of experiences I would never want to repeat.

@Likeradar, it realy isn’t about anatomy, more about muscle tone and sometimes as @Jeruba said, about heaviness.
Most of us women are so susceptible to self criticism with any hint that there’s something wrong with how we’re shaped or how we look. Having trouble wearing tampons really is a variation of normal. very heavy flow, on the other hand, not necessarily.

@MagsRags I’ve been told by doctors that its my anatomy and not muscle tone.

I’m sorry if I came off judgmental in saying she didn’t have it in properly… I was going by your average, everyday female anatomy when I said that.

@poofandmook I didn’t think you sounded judgmental in the least, that was my first thought too. The first time I used a tampon it didn’t work at all, felt uncomfortable, and fell out – once I figured out how to do it right it worked perfectly.

@casheroo, a “tilted” uterus usually refers to a retroverted uterus, a variation of normal in which the upper part of the uterus leans to the back. Anteverted uterus is most common, where the fundus (upper uterus) tilts to the front. A uterus can also be anteflexed (bent on itself toward the front), retroflexed (bent to the back) or miltary (positioned straight up).

The position of the uterus does affect the angle of the vagina, and therefore affects the best way to direct the tampon as you insert it. For most women, aiming it up and back in the general direction of the sacrum works best, because the cervix is back there. If the uterus is retroverted, the cervix is positioned closer to the bladder, so the angle of the vagina is more vertical. So that part of the process is anatomical.

I second the comment of being sure to get it up there far enough. That’s a big part of the leakage problem. If you’re feeling it, it’s not positioned right. You should never be able to feel a tampon in. The brand I used to use whan I had periods was the Kotex Super Plus. The way I ended up, I needed a super DUPER plus, but they did the best. Playtex was too small for me. If you’re not completely secure in what you use, I’d stay out of the water. The last thing you want to do is leave a trail! ;-/

Well I had a really fun day at the beach. Luckily my period was mostly over by then, so I was less apprehensive than if it had been the beginning. Thanks for your help, everyone! I bought the Tampax Pearl Super, and I made sure to read all the instructions and follow them exactly. I couldn’t feel it at all when I first put it in, but I did start to be able to after a few hours, which was a little uncomfortable, but other than, it went great.

@La_chica_gomela Good. Glad everything went well & that there were no incidents. :-)

I read the thread fast, and I know you already had your weekend, but I had something to add, that I think was not mentioned. Kotex and Tampax are like a cylinder, Playtex spreads open more in the vaginal canal and might prevent leakage better. Might be worth a try in the future? I think tampons are up there with the top ten best inventions. Using pads makes me feel like I have my period, tampons take away that feeling for the most part. Also, get unscented. Everyone is right that you should not be able to feel it, gotta get it up in there. :).

My problem with tampons is that even though I put them in correctly and don’t feel them, but they still leak. I understand that it could have to do with having a heavy flow, but even on my lightest of days I still have leaks after 15 minutes of wearing the darn fool thing. Any thoughts?

@tcdancer: Since you’re having a different issue, and since this thread is three months old, it might be in your best interests to ask your question as a brand new one with its own thread.