Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As this was my first menstrual cup I waited a couple months to write this review to give a more accurate picture. TLDR: Lena is a great alternative to pads and tampons if you are comfortable with your body. For new cup users, be patient, it takes time to learn how to use a cup correctly. Long review: Not to get too graphic but I can equate my period to shark week or the red wedding (for your GOT fans) for a number of reasons. Because of this I was looking for an alternative to traditional pads and tampons. Between comfort, cost (roughly $12 per period for tampons and pads), and sheer horribleness of a period I wanted an alternative. I remembered years back (when I was younger and slightly more stupid) a friend mentioned a menstrual cup. I also remember the horrified look I gave her as she described it to me. Only after years of suffering, learning how to get blood out of just about everything, trying washable pads, and hearing my husband drop strategically placed hints (thank Reddit for his contribution) I decided to do some research. After numerous blog reviews, amazon reviews, reddit reviews, and more, I was overwhelmed. At one point I burst out laughing when one cup (not Lena) claimed it “reduced menstrual flow” (are these things fracking magic?). Overall Lena seemed to get good reviews, customers raved about the customer service, size choice, and for some reason the phrase “medical grade” silicone seemed to put my brain at ease. Keep in mind I still remained highly skeptical, after all, if these things are so amazing why haven’t I heard of them more often? Ordering: I ordered the two cup pack as I wasn’t sure what size I would prefer, I’d never used one of these things before but it suggested a large cup for “heavy” flow. The cups came in the mail fairly quickly. The packaged was pretty cute (like that really matters in the long run). I appreciated the “have a better period” phrase instead of the “have a great period” nonsense you read on tampon boxes (seriously, frack you tampon marketing departments). My first impression when pulling these out: “I’m supposed to stick this where???” While the dimensions were clearly listed on amazon I guess it hadn’t really hit home how big these would be (I mean I have adult toys smaller than these). But keep in mind that the Lena small is actually one of the smaller cups available to women. I’ll admit that as a person who rarely shoves objects up their lady parts I was a bit daunted. I read all the instructions carefully, even googled a couple methods and prepared myself to give the smaller cup a try. I was starting to spot and wanted to figure it out before the real deal. Comfort: I can honestly say that my first couple experiences were not pleasant, mainly because it took me a while to figure out how to insert and position the cup correctly. I’m not a virgin, never given birth before, but again I’m pretty new to the idea. The main thing I learned: if you feel uncomfortable, if you feel muscle spasms, if you feel like you can’t pee, if you feel anything other than nothing or close to nothing – take it out and try again… Seriously it’s not worth the “is it suppose to feel this awful???”, be patient, like everything it takes practice and confidence, and sometimes shorter nails. I choose to keep the stem on for the first couple of tries to help position and pull it out (and for the love of god make sure you break the seal before pulling it out). I found the steam to be uncomfortable, kinda like a dry tampon string. As I became more confident I’ve now trimmed the stem down to a small nub which has infinitely increased the comfortability. Leakage: As for periods, I generally get some leakage if I don’t use the cup back to back. I had leakage if I wore the small cup over night (I generally get up and change pads/tampons during night time) without emptying it. For some reason I found the cup begins to leak when it’s 2/3 full. During my heavier days I found myself rinsing the small cup every 4 hours or so to prevent leakage. I believe if I wore the larger cup I would be able to wear it longer with fewer leaks. But wearing a washable pad, panty liner, or period panty seemed to eliminate my worries with the smaller cup (sweet blessed freedom of not running to the bathroom every 2 hours to make sure I hadn’t bleed through my overnight pad and tampon). Overall this was a huge step up from pads and tampons. And surprisingly enough I have found my flow and cramps drastically decrease when I use the cup (IS THIS THING FRACKING MAGIC???). I’m not saying this will happen for you, my experience could be for an unrelated reason, or simply altered perception. Cleaning: I’ve never tried to deal with this in a public restroom, and I’m going to avoid ever doing so if I can. I have adult toy cleaner that I use during shark week and I boil it in a cup of water in the microwave at the end of a cycle. Seriously it’s insanely easy to deal with. The best thing? You don’t get the “battle field smell” (or what I assume a battlefield would smell like after a blood bath) that I normally associate with my period. Looking over the other reviews. I’ve never tried yoga during my period so I can’t really speak to the debate of wearing this during yoga, except to ask who does yoga on their period? I’m normally curled around a heating pad in the fetal position praying for a quick death. Comfort and leaking, again it takes time to learn how to position the cup correctly. Even times when I thought I had the technique down I would have a set back. As for the “ew” factor, as one commercial famously said “periods don’t have glitter”. I’ve had to cleaned blood out of underwear, pants, showers, floors, bathroom rugs, walls, cars, office chairs (you name it and I’ve probably been scrubbing blood out of it at some point). This is by far one of the few things that has made my period better. So unless your periods involve rainbows you’ll have to get over the blood because this is your life for the next 20-30 years…