Flood in the ladygarden

February 19, 2009 9:51 AM

Can I use a mooncup with an IUD (Mirena)?

I have had very heavy periods since mine was inserted, to the point where staining through to my jeans is a regular occurence. I really want to use something that might help avoid this. Not too keen on tampons - haven't tried them since I was 12, but I irritate easily and am unsure about putting fibrous material inside my vagina.

posted by anonymous to health & fitness (10 comments total)

The FAQ says it's fine.

There should be no problem with an I.U.D as long as you remember to place the mooncup low down in the vagina and take care to release the seal properly when removing the mooncup. It’s a good idea to ask your GP/clinic if they can trim the IUD strings to keep them short. You should continue to check your IUD strings periodically to make sure it hasn't been dislodged.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:57 AM on February 19

When I was first in the market for one (I like the DivaCup, for what it's worth) I read a lot of forums, blogs where people were discussing this. There seemed to be a lot (higher than what you would expect, maybe it's a woman-conquering-nature thing) of people using cups and IUDs. Not my situation so I can't speak to it directly, but there are definitely a lot of anecdotes floating around the web about this exact thing. (It's been years, so I don't have any particular sources to point you to.) Do a few searches, though. Everything I read suggests it's completely fine.
posted by phunniemee at 10:11 AM on February 19

I do.

But take care when you remove it. You want to be very sure to break the suction before pulling down on the cup, to eliminate the risk of dislodging the IUD itself.

I love love love my IUD and I love love love my Divacup and I love love love that with a tiny bit more care than I had to take before getting the IUD, I can have them both living together in perfect harmony.

Not sure how long you've had your Mirena, by the way, but I found that my periods have lightened up quite a bit over the six or eight months or so that I've had mine.
posted by padraigin at 10:13 AM on February 19

This doesn't really answer your question, but if your periods are very heavy, tampons are unlikely to cause irritation. When the fibers become saturated, they lose their "grip" and the tampon can be removed very smoothly and easily. If you decide to try them, follow the directions carefully and be sure to insert the applicator fully before pushing the tampon through. (That was the problem I had when I was 12.) Because nothing is more uncomfortable than a tampon that hasn't been fully inserted.
posted by defreckled at 11:26 AM on February 19

You can. I did use it for a year with my IUD. HOWEVER a year later i tore it down while removing it hastily and had to walk to the ER with the IUD half out of my vagina. It hurt.

My advice: go for it but be REALLY careful.

*wishing i could post anonymously*
posted by Sijeka at 11:56 AM on February 19

I'm using my Divacup with my IUD right now! Haha, Sijeka, I've got you beat for TMI. :)

There's a whole section of the menstrual_cups LiveJournal community devoted to IUD questions:

http://community.livejournal.com/menstrual_cups/tag/iud

Like padraigin, my period has almost disappeared in the year since my IUD was inserted. In any case, yes, you can use them together, but be careful when removing the cup. Make sure to break suction before pulling it out, and make sure not to get the strings caught when you pinch the cup to pull it out. I've never had an issue myself.
posted by heatherann at 2:06 PM on February 19

If you have very heavy periods you will want to look into which cups have higher capacities. I recommend visiting the menstrual_cups community on LiveJournal. Here are two posts you may find useful:

Assorted size charts and information

IUD/cup use poll and information

Keep in mind that there is a learning curve as well as a physical comfort curve. My female friends who use cups tell me that it took them about three cycles, on average, for their bodies to adjust to the cups and for them to get the hang of insertion, removal, cleaning. Some of them had to try one or two different brands before finding one they liked. However, all of them said they would never go back to pads or tampons.
posted by jeeves at 2:19 PM on February 19

I started using a keeper, which looks like the same shape as the mooncup, but is gum rubber instead of silicone, at least seven years ago. For the last three years I've been using it with a Paraguard IUD. LOVE IT. I've always had a heavy day, and with the keeper it's no trouble.

I was worried about the thread issue, and read a lot of forums like Heatherann suggests trying to get a definative answer, but so far there's been no problem.
posted by saffry at 3:37 PM on February 19

The Diva Cup is AWESOME. And you can definitely use it with an IUD - I did. Even if you're not sure that you'd be interested in external protection, I would also recommend checking out cloth pads as an alternative, for nighttime use, or cloth liners as a back up for your cup.

Also, after a few months with a Mirena IUD, my periods pretty much stopped completely.
posted by jennyb at 3:43 PM on February 19

I am also doing so right now (but with a paraguard), yes, hi, TMI. I was using the cup for about a year before I got the IUD though, so didn't have the steeper learning curve of having to be aware of the IUD at the same time. As a parallel to the IUD tag at the LJ cups community, there is also the cups tag at IUD_divas, for more information.
posted by Lebannen at 5:53 PM on February 19