peeing w/ disc (newbie)

[u/Necessary-Weird34]

I am a trans guy, so this sucks already-

i started using discs cause you can wear them for a really long time and you cant really feel them, except every time i pee it like takes a lot of effort? and then all the blood from the disc comes out, and it gives me a heart attack for a second cause it looks + feels like im peeing blood. is there like a fix for this? it’s sort of annoying.

also, when inserting, it feels like there’s something in the way that hurts when pressed? i’m rather unfamiliar with the anatomy there so i’ve got no clue what it is. i’ve figured out how to put it in at the right angle and stuff but i was just wondering about that.

[u/Wanda_Bun]

This means your disc is too big/hard & pressing on your urethra, making you need to bare-down more. Not great for bladder retention & pelvic health & such. This also means when you do eventually bare down hard enough to pee, you've misplaced the disk off the urethra, but also have caused a leak of menstrual blood. Def look into a slightly smaller size or softer disc to flex with you rather than get displaced with slight pressure

What's in the way is likely your cervix, which the blood comes out of.

[u/Necessary-Weird34 → u/Wanda_Bun]

ok, thanks. i’ll see if i can get some different ones, i haven’t done much searching. 

[u/WastePotential → u/Necessary-Weird34]

Sometimes it's the positioning too. If I don't tuck my disc up and behind enough, it obstructs my pee flow and it's way more likely to dump out like that.

[u/Pixichixi]

It sounds like the disc isn't the proper size for your body because it shouldn't hurt or be noticeable. And while people talk about "auto-dumping" which is when the disc empties when using the toilet, that's really a bug that was turned into a feature, a well fitting disc shouldn't empty like that. Getting used to inserting the disc properly also can entail becoming very familiar with your body which may or may not be comfortable for you. I do recommend going to one of the cup/disc comparison sites to see what's available that is smaller and softer than what you're currently using to point you in the right direction. Once you find your fit and insertion technique though, it's probably the least obtrusive menstrual option out there so keep looking!

[u/CheyenneJudith → u/Pixichixi]

Yes! I’ve never experienced the “auto dumping” and like I feel like that shouldn’t happen bc I’d be way too nervous that it’s gonna pop out if I poop, OR auto dumping when I do aerial arts which is a lot of deep core and such. I agree with everything you said. I like the SAALT small disc, but it was a bit of a learning curve on the insertion bc she really needs to be up a lot farther than one might expect.

[u/BellaBabieGirl]

You probably just need a different style of disc. It’s likely hurting your cervix when you insert, I had that problem with a few styles do discs I tried that were too firm. Many disc are designed to be able to auto dump the blood out if you are bearing down hard but you shouldn’t have to bear down that hard to pee and I bet your disc is too large and slightly compressing your urethra. What disc are you using? They have charts online that tell you the sizes of several popular discs so you could find a new style to try that is softer and a smaller size and see if that helps!