u/iliketheletters

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So, I (17F) have literally only today got a menstrual cup for the first time. I've never used it before, never used anything other than pads actually. However, pads used to give me terrible rashes and butt acne, which would take weeks to fade. I'm not on my period currently, though I did want to see how comfortable i would be with using the mc. I managed to insert it with minimal pain, really, and it seemed to do the trick in the first couple tries. I did have a few questions, however, that I'm hoping can be answered.

1. How often do I need to clean and remove the menstrual cup? Can it be a catalyst for toxic shock syndrome like tampons, or does it only need to be taken out and cleaned when it is 1/2 or 3/4 filled? I have a terrible sleep schedule so sometimes (on exams nights) i don't sleep for a couple nights in a row, and sometimes (after exams, lol) i sleep for 10-12 hours in a row. Is it safe to have the cup in for that duration of time, or should I keep using pads? For reference, i am using small sized cups said to hold upto 15ml.

2. How do I tell if the cup has properly opened up inside? When i put it in today, it didn't make a popping sound and it didn't *feel* like something popped open inside, but when u san my finger along the sides and bottom of the cup, there were no dents or anything to make it seem like it wasn't open (i cant quite get my finger to reach the rim to check).

3. Is it truly leak free? My school uniform is all white (white shirt and skirt) so any leakage is quite obvious. I also don't want to ruin the uniform. Should I wear a smaller pad along with the cup to school just in case, or is it completely fine to only use a cup?

Thats all I can really think of, thanks if advance to those who answer!

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So I (17F) and my friend (16M, let's call him J) are in the same school, have been since last year. He's a close friend of mine, one of my best friends, rather. We were both in the same section of 10th last year, and are in the same section for 11th this year.

Now, I have never had any kind of romantic feeling or anything for J, he has always just been a close friend of mine. Like our humour matches up, we're pretty much like playfully mean to each other and all that.

Now a few weeks ago, our gc was talking about going to the mall in our city for a meetup before a lot of the kids left for 11th. I wanted to go, but a few of the people who went I dont have a good relationship with, and I'd feel awkward. So I told J this, like jokingly that "oh now my plans are ruined, I wanted to go out" and he responds with "oh yeah I wanted to go too, let's just go together separately from the group". I agreed, because it seemed like a good way to hang out. So we go there, and he's trying to be like almost strangely polite and stuff, not like how he normally is. I thought, ok thats just because we're in public right now. Now we hung out, he wouldn't really let me pay for like coffee and stuff (I did manage to pay still, so yay 🫶). Whilst I was leaving, he said *something* about a date, but I didn't hear him over the traffic, and it felt weird asking about it later.

A few days ago, he told me he apparently had a crush on me last year in 10th grade. I was really shocked, because I'd never suspected anything like that. I asked him if he still felt that way, and he said no and I was really relieved tbh. I dont like him romantically, and probably never will, but I don't want to loose one of my best friends, so it was a relief to hear he didn't feel that way anymore.

So, there's a trend going abt rn about may 13th, that the date sounds like "mein tera" in Hindi, and everyone posts their significant lover or crush or wtv to the song on their stories. Now, I obv didn't have anyone to post (I've never dated, and i dont plan to before entering college) so i just kind of let it be. But J posts a reel on his story that says "either post me to this song on your story or block me" and on the bottom it says "sending this to her at 30 likes" and i thought it was fun. So today, at school, i ask him who the girl is he wanted to send that to, and he kept avoiding the question. A mutual friend of ours was teasing him abt it in front of me at the canteen and it was just a funny thing, so I didn't think much of it, really.

But after school, we were waiting for our cars to come pick us up, he asks me if I could post him on my close friends story. I agree, thinking it's just for like moral support or like if anyone asks he can just say my name or wtv idk. So I post the reel, and then he says I have to post a picture of him with the song not the reel. I dont have a picture of him in my phone though, so I said I couldn't do that, and after a bit of going back and forth, he says to just leave it.

Idk if he likes me, I hope not, but I just don't know.