I decided to try out dollar tree last month, they’re paper applicator and fine. $1.25 for 8 and a reasonable alternative.

Signed,
Lifelong OB tampon fan

I just ordered some OBs from Amazon - whew! I’ve been using the Cora ones and they’re fine, but I do miss the OBs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I use the Cora perfect fit disk now. Tried a period cup, but I much prefer the disk.

Can you write a little more about the disk and the difference from the cup?

Not PP but disks don’t stay in place with suction. They get wedged up there. I got them to use this summer when I was due for my period over our beach trip. It works well but can be difficult to remove.

i started using OB tampons when i got my period while on vacation in Greece and they were the only ones I could find. then, after i had my first kid, they were the only tampons that i could use comfortably. everything else just... didn't fit. i have hunted the OB ultra tampons for the last three years. they occasionally had them at my safeway, but no more. they carried them at CVS for a while, but they have basically no tampons at all at this point.

I like the Cora super-plus tampons well enough. They're not as good as the ultras (i found some in a purse this week and felt like i won the lottery), but they are good enough. i have only found the applicator-free pack one time, so i just buy the applicator kind and throw the applicator away (i don't use it).

For the poster who said their fingers get bloody - yeah that happens. but you just wash it off (in a private bathroom) or wipe it off on toilet paper and then wash your hands (in a public stall) on lighter days it doesn't happen.

I miss my OBs.

I order them from Amazon also. I don't want to use anything with a forever plastic applicator. The plastics situation is a crisis. It's in breast milk now, most of the oceans and ocean life.

Anonymous wrote:For OBs, the other thing to do before inserting it, flare the bottom with the using the string, at 4 points along the bottom. This helps with leaking. Maybe would help with the lack of Ultra and use Supers with this method instead.

I just realized that I’ve done this (flaring tampon) as long as I can remember, but have no clue whether I started because I heard it would make the tampon more absorbent or easier to insert or something else.

For OBs, the other thing to do before inserting it, flare the bottom with the using the string, at 4 points along the bottom. This helps with leaking. Maybe would help with the lack of Ultra and use Supers with this method instead.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:please explain why you like OB. And how heck you get it in there, because I've tried and could never do it.

They are much more comfortable than any other brand I've tried. You insert them with your finger. NBD.

I can't get it in far enough. oh well

Anonymous wrote:I use the Cora perfect fit disk now. Tried a period cup, but I much prefer the disk.

Can you write a little more about the disk and the difference from the cup?

I use the Cora perfect fit disk now. Tried a period cup, but I much prefer the disk.

Also, if you don’t need to be having periods, get an IUD. My too heavy periods are gone. Bliss.

Anonymous wrote:I switched from OB to a cup. After the initial learning curve I've come to love it.

+1!

Anonymous wrote:please explain why you like OB. And how heck you get it in there, because I've tried and could never do it.

Originally I liked OB tampons because they took up less space than tampons with applicators, and were less wasteful (especially compared to tampons with plastic applicators). Maybe I would have had trouble using them if they were the first tampons I tried, but once I was used to ones with applicators, it didn't seem like a big deal to insert OBs.

Then, in my late 30s my periods changed from a more balanced flow that started off somewhat heavy and gradually decreased, to a really sharp increase in flow starting a few hours in and lasting for 36-48 hours before decreasing to a very light flow for the rest of the time. The first time it happened, I was so freaked out by the super-heavy flow I called my obgyn to make sure it was okay.

At that point OB Ultra became the only tampons that could last me 1.5 hours during awake time and 6 hours when sleeping. I've tried cups with mixed success, have not found the perfect balance of "large enough not to overflow but small enough to be comfortable" and am definitely not comfortable working out with one or sleeping with one.