DivaCup... the cause of my yeast infections?

Hey girls,

I'm in love with my DivaCup.. I absolutely love not having to pollute the environment with bloody tampons and I'm saving so much money on menstrual costs.. I've gotten used to it and it's now extremely comfortable to wear and I don't have many leaking problems (except for in the first two days, when my flow is very heavy and I can fill up the cup a few times a day..) I love the fact that it's so convienient when traveling and camping. It's my second love.. it really is.

But, I'm having some problems, too. The digging up in my vaginal area and the wearing of the DivaCup for long periods of time is wrecking havoc on my vagina..!!! I try to keep my Diva as clean as possible.. I wash her with water whenever I can and after my period ends I soak her in soap and wash the soap off with too-hot-to-stand water. But, regardless, during and after my period, I get this hellish yeast infection. It goes away after a fairly short bit of time after my period so I am almost completely positive that it's 'cause of my Diva for one reason or another.

Anyone else have this problem or at least know how to fix it? I don't want to give her up.. oh, please don't say that I have to give her up .

Thanks, ladies..!

 

That sounds unpleasant! Are you sure it's a yeast infection? Are you medicating it? It's my understanding that if it goes away without any medication, it most likely isn't yeast. If it's just really itchy and irritated, maybe you're having an allergic reaction to the plastic of the cup? You might try switching to a Keeper if you aren't allergic to that, and see if it makes a difference.

 

I was thinking that it might be an allergic reaction (possibly to the silicone it's made of or maybe the soap I'm using.. though, I do clean it pretty throughly.. or maybe, even possibly, an irratation to the leftover water on the cup?)

I really don't have enough spare money to switch to the Keeper.

 

ok, so maybe try switching soap. Something natural, like Dr. Bronner's, might be good. Or something locally made with your same water supply. As to the water residue in the cup, how's your local water supply? Do you drink it, does it smell, etc?

 

Yeah, I think I'll use my Tom's soap to clean it out from now on.

As for the water.. no, the water is perfectly fine well water. I drink it, it doesn't have a scent.. but I remember once forever ago my mother saying that her gyno said something about how too much water in the vagina can irritate it and always thought that to be true.

 

Yeah, but I don't think the couple drops we're talking about could make that much difference. You might want to start stashing away a couple bucks when you can, in case you do need to switch to a Keeper. In the meantime, see if changing soaps helps. Good luck!

 

Thanks for your suggestions, love

 

if you think it's yeast, or any bacteria/fungus...boil it!

 

Another post to add:

Soap, no matter how natural, is an irritant to your yoni. And when you soak your DC in soap, no matter how well you rinse it, there is still going to be residue that will irritate you.

It's best to wash it with a soap and rinse well, and then boil it after your period than to soak it in soap and try to rinse it all off.

 

I totally agree with this. There isn't much that irritates my skin, but that's a whole other story. Just last month, I was using a goat's milk soap that I had never used before (got some from my husband for Christmas) and it irritated me SO bad, I had to just leave it for my husband to use... and he's sensitive to a lot of soaps. I got a bad yeast infection from it, and EVERYTHING, even down my thighs, was all broke out and irritated. It never bothered any other parts (including my face), so I thought it would be fine... wrong.

 

soak it in hydrogen peroxide and then boil it at the begining of each period.

you might wanna leave it out for one cycle if youre not healed yet.
i heart my diva cup too but i have to leave it out at least part of the
cycle if i get a beast infection.
i made some cloth rags that i can wash and reuse if i need to.

 

Yeah, I get that crowning irritation as well. Repositioning it helps tremendously.

 

also too much cleansing can bring on a yeast infection..just try the water and boil it like a baby bottle. Leave the soap out of it. Body is made to discreat naturally. God didn't make douches etc..man did. Don't see many men making them for themselves now do ya? But honestly the soap is probally irritating so just stick to water...healthier that way too.