Feminine Hygiene Products

Submitted by osmari on May 22, 2013 - 1:36pm
Body: 

I am in a hurry but thought I should share the following with you:

Years ago I subscribed to www.mercola.com

Yesterday, I read an article that made me instantly rethink what I have been doing. If like me, you have been using tampons to keep your prolapse in (or for menstrual cycles) or if you use pads, you might want to read the first article "Women Beware: Most Feminine Hygiene Products Contain Toxic Ingredients"....they are filled with dioxins, petrochemical additives, pesticides and plasticizing chemicals linked to endocrine disruptions etc. It states that one conventional sanitary pad contains the equivalent of about 4 plastic bags! In the video, two pads are set on fire...check the results.

It seems that putting chemicals on your skin might be worse than eating them as they are absorbed straight into the bloodstream without filtering of any kind. Apparently we could be absorbing GMOs via tampons. There is no disclosure in labelling; at the end of the article we are encouraged to take action to sign a petition to make labelling clear. The long article is worth a read. I always knew tampons were "risky" and rarely them during my youth; who knew I would be using them decades later for prolapse, instead of a pessary. It wasn't until I read the entire article and saw the video that I realized I need to change AGAIN!

If you want to read the info, check asap incase it is difficult to locate later as Dr. Mercola adds new topics almost daily.

Forum:

Gillian52

May 23, 2013 - 8:10am

I was one of his patients a few years ago.
I had a really bad experience a couple of months ago when my prolapse symptoms became very obvious for the first time. I had put on one of those popular maxi pads ( for urinary incontinence/leakage) since I was going to a social function. Apparently, that pad caused horrible irritation and now, in hindsight, I'm thinking that it irritated my cervix since it was so scrunched up against my vaginal opening. Anyway, I've since purchased organic cotton pads to use. Another thing I've noticed is that if I use any popular soap, I also have irritation and discomfort. I purchased some ' Everyday Shea' body wash, unscented and I only use it now for feminine cleansing and I've not had any irritation since.

123Butterfly

May 25, 2013 - 12:31pm

Thanks for sharing, Osmari.
At the moment I'm still breastfeeding, so I don't need tampons or pads. But this time will be over one day. So, what to use then? Is a mooncup ok?

osmari

May 25, 2013 - 3:34pm

Hi, I went back to the site and the following are listed: Natracare (I think that is the one they burned along with the popular brand to show the difference), Diva Cup (is that like the Mooncup??), Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Organic Cotton Tampons, Glad Rags Organic Pads, Organyc 100% Organic Cotton Tampons. I am personally not familiar with any as I only used the popular brand until I read the article. I was using it about 50% of the time to keep my prolapse in as I don't want to use a pessary anymore. Now I am relying on the exercises even though I am very uncomfortable without the support of the pessary and tampons. It seems I am not disciplined enough to do the exercises every day!!

All the best to you Butterfly, your proplapse is likely `new" and not as bad/low as mine so I am hoping you can find improvement soon....mine is 8 years old and I am much older than you are. Unfortunatley, I did not find this site until a few months ago. How lucky we all are to have discovered Christine!

Surviving60

May 25, 2013 - 4:02pm

Osmari, it's OK if you can't exercise every day. I don't! Sometimes it's a matter of discipline and sometimes there just isn't time or the right opportunity. As long as you are practicing WW posture all your waking hours, guarding the lumbar curvature as much as possible, you are doing the work. The workouts are only a relatively small portion of your day anyway. Posture is forever and always! And once you really learn those workout moves, especially standing ones, it's amazing how easy it is to incorporate them into your day. - Surviving

osmari

May 25, 2013 - 6:10pm

Thanks for your encouragement; you are are always so helpful with your comments and the information you provide to all of us on this site. (I hope that you also get "help" when you need it). You are my role model, it seems to me that you have learned to live with your celes and have accepted them "with comfort" as your reality. As you have, I want to stablize my situation and thanks to your attitude, I feel I can live with my reality also. I was quite "freaked out" before I discovered this site and you have had a large part in my new attitude. Thanks again.

123Butterfly

May 26, 2013 - 1:53am

I think a Diva Cup is a Mooncup :-).
Yes, my prolapse is new, but it feels so bad, that I'm wearing a pessary. I have three children and I don't trust my body enough to handle the daily "work" without it :-(. I wish, I could have your courage and throw the pessary away...
BTW, I think, it isn't a question of how old or new your prolapse is, as long as you're willing to do something. I wish you all the best, too. Believe in you and your body (something I also have to learn). So many women here have made similar experiences and are feeling more comfortable now. We should believe that we will be one of them someday ;-).

louiseds

May 26, 2013 - 2:49am

... go on for years, Butterfly. I have been on this site for about ten years. I still get little temporary setbacks that I can attribute to something I have been doing, but they always get better again, and I still get nice little surprises too, about what I can do without getting symptoms.

Louise

123Butterfly

May 26, 2013 - 4:21am

Louise, that every day, week, month, year it can get better. Because of you and all other women here, I believe that everything is possible. That is what makes me go on even on a bad day :-).

Brick2012

June 7, 2013 - 4:56pm

Hello all,

I have not been on in a while. Been enjoying my grand daughter and working like crazy. Thanks to tips from this site I am coping with my prolapse and have many good days.

There is hope you just have to pay attention to your body a little more than you used to.
Brick

Brick2012

June 7, 2013 - 4:58pm

Hey all,
I was wondering about tampons. Are you all using them for rectocele? Do they help?
Does use large ones on small ones?
I am curious.
Brick

Surviving60

June 7, 2013 - 5:38pm

Hi Brick, so great to hear from you and to know that you are doing well. You are so right - this is manageable, but the work doesn't do itself!

I tried a tampon once, and it was awful. Very uncomfortable and didn't want to stay put. This didn't surprise me, since one of the earliest signs I had that something wasn't right was that tampons would sometimes expel themselves. - surviving

louiseds

June 9, 2013 - 10:15pm

I have never used them for prolapse, Brick, but I know that many women have. Not sure whether it was for cystocele or rectocele. You might be able to find them by searching for 'tampons' using the search box.

Tampons come in one basic shape, but once they fill with water they end up all sorts of different shapes! Could I suggest that you experiment with various brands and grades?

So what do you do with the other 19 tampons in the packet if that brand doesn't work? You could end up with a cupboard full of unusable tampons. I suggest that you pray that no water gets into the cupboard!!!

Thread them into necklaces? Do not water dye them first!

Water dye them, dry them, and make them into tassels for bookmarks for Chick Lit Novels?

Hang them in fruit trees to deter birds. Give each tampon an umbrella in case of rain.

Christmas decorations for the tree!

Mix them with soil when planting trees, so they will act as water reservoirs to drought proof the tree. Warning. Do not use too many with one sapling or it might rise out of the ground with the first rains. :-(

Donate them to women's charities.

Birthday candles with a difference????

Soak in old cooking oil and use as firelighters?

Any other suggestions?

sadie mae

June 17, 2013 - 1:40pm

Tampons suck all the natural moisture out of the vagina and the conventional ones do undergo bleaching process, etc. Also not so great for the vagina. At least use the unbleached if you use them. I use a diva cup (another brand similar to the moon cup) but I feel like sometimes it makes my rectocele push out more. This last period I was using pads more. I like the environmental aspects of the menstrual cups if they don't feel weird for you.