What do you use when you're at that time of the month?

[Ribbons]

That special feminine time..

As I am pre-T, the most I've gone without a period has been around 3 months; and that was simply because I was keeping myself stressed.

Menstruating is the bane of my existence. It's messy, gross, dirty, painful, wet.. I hate it. I'm not going to have children, so why do I do it?

I use pads but I've been thinking about trying out menstrual cups but.. The thought of it irks me. Putting something inside of me while I'm conscious? It sounds painful and horrific.

[Clay]

i'd go nuts with pads. it's the whole "wet" thing that bothers me most. tampons are fine with me, actually i got a sense of kinda "locking up" some hole that shouldn't be there in the first place.... but, uhm, i'm strange sometimes

[Sharky]

I use tampons. When you get the ones with the aplicater you really don't have that much contact with yourself and I can't feel them. I wish i had of forced myself to get over the fact that they go in me sooner. They make the whole experience easier to deal with. Not having to feel the wetness is great. No looking at your blood every time you pee. I can't smell it either. All you have to do is change it every few hours. You can forget your on your period.

[Sam-]

I used pads for about four years, I hated the thought of even trying to use a tampon. Ew. Didn't want nothin goin in there. But alas, I tried it about a year ago, and it's amazing. So much better, I can basically forget I'm bleeding. And I use ones with an applicator, so it's not like I have to touch anything down there. Tampons ftw.

[xAndrewx]

I use tampons. When you get the ones with the aplicater you really don't have that much contact with yourself and I can't feel them. I wish i had of forced myself to get over the fact that they go in me sooner. They make the whole experience easier to deal with. Not having to feel the wetness is great. No looking at your blood every time you pee. I can't smell it either. All you have to do is change it every few hours. You can forget your on your period.

Same here when I was pre-T. Plus you can get the small ones that can fit in your pocket without it being obvious.

[anibioman]

i hated that wet feeling using pads. so i se tampons it doesnt bother me as i dont really have much sensation around there not sure why. also i have a super heavy flow, but that time of the month doesnt really happen to often. last time it happened it was the 4th day of school ->-bleeped-<-ing sucked as it randomly started like 3rd period.

[Dane]

I just started shark week yesterday in gym class (while running the track. :/). Recently I started using tampax pearl tampons, as opposed to the icky pads I used to use. I swear, having this god forsaken hole bleed is one of the most inconvenient things ever. I want to go on that medication where you only get your period like 4 times a year, but I'm not sure if I'm too young for it or whatever. Sounds pretty nice though. Blarhg.

[Darth_Taco]

What a coincidence, I'm currently suffering from that right now :'P. I've done the cups before. They work great for most people, but my "man cave" is unusually small so they tend to slip out and then there's blood freaking everywhere! D: I've done pads too. My flow is also insanely heavy (to the point I'll pass out if I'm not on estrogen based birth control), so they just made things a million times worse since they couldn't possibly hold that much blood ;_;. I've finally caved and started using tampons after an incident where my boyfriend threatened to kill me because he didn't want to walk 3 miles after 8 hours of work to get me some cups xD. Finally, something that clogs that thing up and absorbs all the blood @_@! Now to figure out how to deal with cramps without a high dose of heroin...

[Sharky]

I just started shark week yesterday in gym class (while running the track. :/). Recently I started using tampax pearl tampons, as opposed to the icky pads I used to use. I swear, having this god forsaken hole bleed is one of the most inconvenient things ever. I want to go on that medication where you only get your period like 4 times a year, but I'm not sure if I'm too young for it or whatever. Sounds pretty nice though. Blarhg.

You can do the whole no periods thing with any pill. You just take the packs back to back with out stopping to let a period happen. I did that from 14 to 21

What a coincidence, I'm currently suffering from that right now :'P. I've done the cups before. They work great for most people, but my "man cave" is unusually small so they tend to slip out and then there's blood freaking everywhere! D: I've done pads too. My flow is also insanely heavy (to the point I'll pass out if I'm not on estrogen based birth control), so they just made things a million times worse since they couldn't possibly hold that much blood ;_;. I've finally caved and started using tampons after an incident where my boyfriend threatened to kill me because he didn't want to walk 3 miles after 8 hours of work to get me some cups xD. Finally, something that clogs that thing up and absorbs all the blood @_@! Now to figure out how to deal with cramps without a high dose of heroin...

I thought you were supposed to reuse thoes cups.

[Felix]

I've tried every kind of hormonal birth control, and it always changes me too much. My personality and sex drive get all out of whack. I was on depo provera for a couple years, and it was better than other things I tried. If you can tolerate it, it might be worth considering. I never had a period while on it.

I plan on switching to a mooncup as soon as I can save up the money. It's cheaper in the long run (30 dollars once vs 4 dollars a month), better for the environment, and not such a giveaway as tampons if someone sees me rummaging through my bag. I've never really worn underwear other than during a phase where I used boxers in middle school, so pads are not something I have much experience with.

I was in a mens restroom today, and had already torn open a tampon wrapper when I had the thought "wait a minute. oh ->-bleeped-<-. who uses tampons in a mens room?" So then I was soothed by the thought that well I do. Yup. Some guys use tampons. Nothing to see here, move along.

[Felix]

Omg lol shark week. I just caught that. I shall start calling it that. Thank you.

[Vincent E.S.]

I have some sort of undiagnosed physiological issues that have caused me to not have periods for the past 2 1/2 years, so I've been forced onto birth control/hormone pills at various times to try and start it (I hope that never happens to any of you, because if something comes out, it's not blood, just a brown sludge which to me is much worse).

In any case, back when I had to deal with shark week, I primarily used pads because that's what my mother uses, so she apparently decided that nobody related to her would want anything different. It didn't take long for me to figure out that the wet feeling combined with being able to smell the unholy vaginal spewing made me feel much more depressed and jumpy than usual. So, I managed to get some tampons.

My tactic was to use a pad and a tampon at the same time while also stuffing my undies with toilet paper. That way, any leakages would be small and easily soaked up without me feeling or smelling it, thus allowing me to be a terrible person and leave the tampon in for at least a full day, which sounds gross, but I really didn't want to mess with that part of my body.

Edit: good grief how did my post get so long? Sorry for rambling. -.-

[Dane]

You can do the whole no periods thing with any pill. You just take the packs back to back with out stopping to let a period happen. I did that from 14 to 21

Are there any risks involved with doing that? Because it sounds pretty ideal to me. :3

I had never known about mooncups until now. Whoa, seems like an awesome alternative to having to carry around tampons or pads or whatever.

[Hayzer12]

Don't have periods ....lol well obviously I do.. Like once a year, so when I do have one I use pads. It's nasty, but I can't handle tampons.

[Kohitsu]

Growing up I always used disposable pads. Disgusting and smelly, and I always managed to bleed through my pants no matter what kind of disposable pad I used, ugh. It was so mortifying and embarressing. I never wanted to use tampons because of the fear of TSS (because knowing myself, I'd leave it in there for too long, and I bleed a lot). Now I use reuseable menstrual cups and cloth pads, they made dealing with that time of the month SUCH a relief! Reuseable cups have been a Godsend for me. I can leave it in there for 12-24 hours, depending on whether or not it's a heavy day, and it hasn't leaked once. It's like I don't have a period anymore! I like to use cloth pads as a "just in case" emergency or on really light days. They're so comfortable and soft just like wearing underwear. Menstrual cups probably aren't for everyone (I know of both transmen and cisgendered women who are appalled by the idea of touching that area during that time of the month), but if you can get past touching yourself intimately down there, reuseable menstrual cups are a life saver. Plus no more going down the feminine hygiene aisle at the grocery store! YES!!! 

[Darth_Taco]

I thought you were supposed to reuse thoes cups.

I didn't use the reusable ones, I used Instead Softcups because they're smaller and contain no latex, which I'm allergic to. These are disposable and don't prevent sex in a normal person. They're still too big for me though, so it was pointless XP.

[Keaira]

Please forgive my intrusion into this rather sensitive thread.

I dont know why this thread caught my eye but I can really understand how much it sucks. You guys have it pretty it hard too and sometimes while us girls are complaining about passing, our looks, etc. It can be too easy to forget that for you it's not just taking T have top surgery and that's it. You've got all the joys of having this hole in your body and all the exams that come with it. I had a friend who started a support group I went to a while back that told me he still had to get his exams, etc. *hugs*

on a lighter note, This thread also conjured up some interesting images. not on tampon usage but a bunch of guys  hanging out somewhere and having this discussion that you'd never expect to see. It could really screw with a cis-gendered person's mind. I have a warped imagination so please dont take my comment as offensive. 

[R.A.A]

I use tampons. I have about a moderate to heavy flow, depending on the month and tampons are the only things that I can stand. It's so much easier when I don't have to have all that blood just...sitting there on me. It freaks me out and I don't like feeling squishy--like I have a wet diaper on. Which is what it feels like to me.

Plus tampons are easier to carry around in my pocket when I don't have a backpack.

[Robert Scott]

I used tampons ... until recently when my doctor gave me depo --- and now I have no periods! YES!!!!  It's a form of birth control and it's one shot every six months --- my doctor gives it to all the transmen until T takes hold, while they go through counseling to get the letter - or folks like me that have too many medical crap that needs to be taken care of first.

[GentlemanRDP]

Since I'm on T, I don't have to worry about this anymore.

But I used to use pads. Couldn't stand the idea of tampons and putting something inside of me. Eugh. I tried them once, I lasted five minutes and took it out.