So like have you ever been completely grossed out by something but yet completely enthralled by the concept of it as well? Yeah that pretty much sums up how I felt about trying the menstrual cup for the first time. Though I was somewhat intrigued by the concept, I was pretty much anti-menstrual cups. I feel like though, in order for one to truly understand my experience, so far, you have to have a general understanding of my cycle and why I was so against menstrual cups. Bare with me, it may get a little graphic here.

So two years ago, I had a terrible cycle in April. I had never felt this type of pain before. I knew that something was off. I couldn’t exactly say with all certainty what was going on, but in my gut I believed that I had fibroids. Now two things to explain really quick. The first thing is that fibroids are uterine tumors that are noncancerous but can cause for a woman’s menstrual cycle to be absolutely crazy most months. The second thing is that fibroids are mostly found in African American women and are usually hereditary.

“I am an African American woman and fibroids run in my family. The fear immediately set in.”

I went to the ER one night in April and explained what I was experiencing. I explained to the doctor that I believe I could possibly have fibroids due to what I just explained above. The doctor explicity told me that I was “too young” to have fibroids. Because of this, he decided against doing an ultrasound on me. At that moment, I knew that I needed to advocate for myself as a Black woman when it came to white doctors, especially white male doctors. So I did. I demanded that I have an ultrasound. The results came back. To his surprise, I was “the youngest person he’s ever seen with a fibroid.”

Here I am, 23 years old, with a fibroid. Though it was very small, it was causing me major trouble every month. So I made the switch to cotton, organic pads and tampons. I feel like I noticed a slight difference but a year later, I found myself getting yet another ultrasound due to intense pain and heavy bleeding again. I received a call a week or so after the doctor’s visit stating that they had found another fibroid. So here I am now with two fibroids and not sure how to handle it. Of course the doctors pushed birth control, which I was totally against for multiple reasons. We can get into that in another post but know that birth control was not an option. Since I made that decision, I knew that I needed to figure out the best way to handle this. I actually felt this unction to get in tune with my body.Knowledge is power and I knew I needed to be knowledgeable about my body if I was going to figure out natural remedies for the fibroids and the effects. How can I notice when something is off with my flow? I needed a way to determine how much blood I was losing, the color, the consistency, the clotting, etc. I needed to know everything! What a better way to do that than with a menstrual cup.

“There was only one catch…I was utterly disgusted with the thought of menstrual cups.”

You mean to tell me that Im going to shove a cup up my vagina and get my fingers all bloody? You also mean to tell me that when I take it out I’m going to see every drop of menstrual GUNK that came out of me?! Yeah I wanted zero parts. But one day, during one of my cycles, my body started to reject tampons. I know, it sounds crazy. Keep reading. I was putting in a tampon and it wouldn’t go in. Like you know how it won’t release completely from the applicator? Yeah this happened to me like three times in a row, for multiple days during this cycle. I started my period at the age of 9 and that has never happened to me. I just knew then that I needed to give the menstrual cup a try. So I did.

I have now used the menstrual cup for two cycles and I can honestly say that its growing on me. The first cycle, I was so grossed out and so infatuated at the same time. I may have gagged a time or two when taking it out but I was so proud of myself when I would get it in successfully with no leakage. The second cycle was a little rough due to intense cramping from my cycle and heavy clotting. Yall, one time a clot came out in the cup and I almost passed out! It was just a lot but hey I made it through. I realized that bathroom time has been taking a little longer when I use the cup due to the cleaning of the cup. Though the cup can be worn up to 12 hours, for my own comfortability, I would take the cup out every three or four hours. Honestly by that time it was pretty much full anyways! With the cups, I’m learning that patience and cleanliness are two major keys. Take your time and clean everything, every time.

So am I going to continue to try it? Yes I am. God is doing something for me through this and I can honestly say, just the fact that I’m trying it speaks volumes about the personal growth I’m experiencing. I want to encourage you to hop on the growth train as well. Choo Choo, lets ride!

P.S. I use the Diva Cup in a size 2. They can be found at pretty much any retail store but I got mine from CVS!

Let me know, do you use a menstrual cup? If not, whats holding you back?

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