Yay! You made it! In this blog I’m sharing what I use instead of pads during my menstrual cycle.
Thanks for clicking the link this blog. If you we haven’t met, Hi! My name is Natty and I’m a natural Fertility Coach. I help women increase their fertility naturally with coaching, selfcare and femininity because I believe we can be fertile forever like men, but sexier!
So what do I use instead of pads? That is the topic of this blog. Because I want to let all my Fertility Babes know that the pads and feminine products in your local pharmacy isle are not all that is available to you.
Infact, many of those items, although convenient, can contribute to fertility challenges such as uterine fibroids, PCOS, endometriosis, cysts, polyps, adenomyosis and more than I can mention here.
But they also contribute to many menstrual issues due to the dyes, bleach, plastics and other synthetic and irritating materials found in them.
If you follow me on social media, then you know that every now and then I post about how menstrual pads can play a factor in infertility fibroids and more as well as the dangers modern pads.
And each time, I get similar responses of women wanting to know more and what exactly I use.
I want to say first of all that what I use is my personal choice and is not something I’m telling you, you have to use.
I have not always used these methods and I may change them as I see fit and meets my needs
So Natty, What do you use?
I hear you, and I promise I will tell you by the end of this blog, but first I need to tell you why I don’t use pads and why I use what I use.
The reason I don’t use pads anymore is for several reasons. I used to have tremendous period pain that would last anywhere from four to five days and bleeding that was no less than seven days.
My periods would leave me balled up and bed ridden, wishing I was a boy–I had my period since I was nine!
There were times I would literally feel the blood drawing upwards out of my thighs during my period and those were the worst. When I think back, for all I know, I probably had fibrods or endometriosis, because it was bad.
But I noticed once I stopped eating meat and became vegetarian that my menstrual cramps dramatically decreased. They were still there, I still felt pain at the onset of my period, but my period pain went from a ten and experiencing pain the day before my period until the second day after it started, to just slight pain the day of my period for a few hours or like a three.
This was not planned. To be honest, I never even thought much about it or linked the diet change to my decreased pain, because to be honest, I still felt pain, it just wasn’t as much.
At that time I was still wearing regular pads. I even remember once my Mom being upset with me because I didn’t have pads one time when she came over. Little did she or I know that there would be a day when that would be the norm.
Fast forward to my most recent diet change about 6 years ago when I went vegan. This time I definitely noticed the difference in my period.
No pain!
No cramping!
None whatsoever!
So what changed? The only thing I can attribute this to is eating a much lighter, plant-based vegan diet. Instead of eating lots of rice, pasta, bread and starch as a vegetarian, as a vegan, I was eating tons of veggies, fruit, salads and just eating less period.
And I wasn’t hungry either and craved food less too. I lost weight–again–and it was just plain hard not to notice the dramatic decrease in the length of time I was actually bleeding.
I went from 7 days then to 5 and now I have regular 4 day periods.
So, with lighter, shorter periods, I really didn’t have a need for extra absorption pads–that could soak up all of the water during Katrina–or the little pantyliners to catch an extra two to three days of brown blood. That’s just not part of my reality anymore.
But when I did use pads, there were days when I would run out. And I don’t know about you, but I hate the look and feel of those emergency pads for a dollar in public bathrooms. So when I would run out or unexpectedly get my period early while I was out, I would reach for toilet paper, roll a bunch of it up and shape it until it was comfortable enough to wear until I could get somewhere to buy some pads.
I’m not sure exactly when I started doing this habitually, but sometime within the last four years, I began doing this more. I’ve actually gotten better at it and shaping the pads, because trust me, there is a wrong way, and that could be uncomfortable especially if you are not using the softest toilet paper.
Is this the best option for the planet? Landfills and environment? I don’t know but I know that my vagina is not irritated by any plastic or glue in pads like it use to be, and I am thankful for that.
I can also get a better sense of what is going on with my body during my period because I can see what is coming out of me. I used to have serious blood clots but most would get completely absorbed by the ‘ultra absorbant pads that the only for me to tell I had clots, was when it fell out in the toilet. Sorry if that’s too much information, but it’s true.
Now I know I don’t have any heavy clotting because I can see that and my period blood is not masked by the ultra absorption of the pads.
Okay so that’s just one alternative to pads that I have tried, but it’s the one that I use most now.
The other three methods I have used are cloth based and include
- Clothing – I will sometimes wear clothes that I don’t need while Menstruating and throw them out after. (They actually sell popular reusable underwear like this now.)
- Fabric pads – I have sewn my own disposable cloth pads. (These are also pretty popular now too!)
- Crochet pads – I’ve crocheted pads during my crocheting days and reused them.
And I have actually tried one more way…
This last alternative to pads that I have tried for my periods is a bit more controversial, but allow me to explain.
Two words..
Free bleeding!
I know, I know, black women don’t do that.
Yeah, okay, but I did! I admit, it’s not my favorite method and I haven’t really done it more than once or twice. The reason I did it is similar to why I don’t use regular pads–my flow is much lighter.
So there are times during my period where I don’t need a pad and only need to wipe during bathroom visits, but again, it’s rare that I rely on this method because sometimes I do need something.
Now that you know what I use instead of pads what do you think about this?
When I started to go pad free, I wasn’t aware of the movement to go pad free or cloth pads, or menstrual cups or free bleeding. I did what felt right, used what I had and made it work.
But I wouldn’t be able to do any of this if my period was heavy, long or painful. I just wasn’t in the right mindset before when it was. But changing my diet was a major game changer and improved my menstrual fertility for the better.
If you are experiencing long, heavy painful periods and think you could never go pad free, pain-free or have a shorter flow, you’d be surprised how your body would react to simple diet, selfcare and lifestyle changes such as going vegan, vegetarian.
Even doing regular selfcare routines like yoni steaming can have an almost immediate effect on your cycle. Yoni steaming has actually helped many women address their periods, fibroids and more.
If you want help improving your menstrual fertility or enhancing your fertility naturally, I would love to help. Simply schedule a free 15 minute call to see how I can help and let’s get started HERE!
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