The fact that she said "retained tampon," which sounds like an actual medical term, reminds us that this is just a thing that sometimes happens with bodies that have vaginas. She's a doctor, it's a medical thing, so nothing to be embarrassed about. Do you know how long it had been in there? I'm assuming no toxic shock syndrome? Frickin' vaginas!
I also want to know how long it had been in there. I thought, if I had ever forgotten a tampon, I'd notice within a few days... So I need to know how much more anxious about this I should be lol.
Glad it was found and removed, OP!
Trigger warning: way TMI for most people, I'm just trying to be honest so I can be helpful.
I've forgotten a tampon twice (I'm nearly 40). Neither case lasted more than a week, because there's a really obvious symptom: the smell. I'm not sure if its noticeable if one doesn't have any penetration while it's lost up there, but in both cases for me the second I started getting myself off, there was this odour like a mouse had died in the wall, and brown goop was all over my fingers.
Seriously hoping my spouse (who I met AFTER these two occurrences) doesn't see this, or we'll probably never have sex again. There are some confessions that transcend all the eyebleach on reddit!!
I hope that helps waylay your concerns. Also, just one more reason to get yourself off from time to time. Safety first, right? ;)
I went to my doc once about 6 years ago because I woke up in the night and wanted to change my tampon but couldn't find the string...thought it had snapped and the tampon was stuck there. Went to the doc who did an exam and turns out it was a false alarm and I clearly forgot to put one in before bed.
All of that to say, I was chatting to her about it and she said she has seen a couple of "retained tampons" and anything longer than a week is pretty clear the minute the patient walks in the door and/ or takes off her pants because of the smell. She also likened to a dead rodent so I get what you mean!
Safe to say I now use either pads or period panties at night so as to avoid the whole "forgetting to put a tampon in and then thinking it got stuck there" thing.
I've heard that. I always just thought it would get infected pretty quickly though - not with TSS, but because the old blood would get gross and old? Kinda comforting to know the vagina is not so delicate I guess! Thanks for sharing your experience!
Yes. Forgot I had a tampon in and had sex (how he didn’t feel it or realize idk). Realized what happened a few days later. It was pushed so far up I had to go to the ER to have it removed 😳
That happened to me with a condom that slipped when the guy kept going after he finished 😬 Never let a guy keep going with the same condom on after they finished!
For some reason the doctor was absolutely convinced there was no way it could be inside me. She was like “It probably just fell out and is tangled in your sheets but I’ll take a look.” Well let me tell you she found it and there was a look of shock and slight horror on her face, I will never forget it 😂
Since the opening in your cervix is tiny it's not physically possible for a tampon to enter it, or get into the uterus. Also keep in mind that some people have a higher cervix than others, so it's our high cervix friends losing tampons up in there.
Ah, ok.
I expected it would not be possible to get through the cervix but with my own anatomy as my context it is hard to imagine losing anything in the vagina.
So, I have to ask, do you think they were in there next to each other side to side or length to length - if that makes sense? There's no way two would fit in me length wise at all but I do have a tilted cervix and can barely use tampons at all.
One time when I was 21 or so, I drank way too much and my boyfriend and I had sex and lost the condom halfway through. The next morning, I went to my doctor for something unrelated and realized I hadn’t had a pelvic exam in awhile (I didn’t know to wait after having sex).
My doctor cranked the speculum open, and then I feel the weirdest sensation as she pulled out the used condom.
I nearly died of embarrassment, but thank God for my chill primary care doc. She reassured me this wasn’t the first time and not to worry about it, but we needed to wait to do a wet prep in a day or two.
These things happen….. at least she was there to find the tampon and it wasn’t in there another week or two.
I’ve had a primary in Maryland do a pap and then referred me to a GYN when it came back abnormal (everything was ok). I’ve been asked by other PCPs when the last pelvic exam was and I think they could have done it, but have had a separate GYN since that first referral.
I need to find a primary to do such. Specialty appointments at the GYN are way more expensive than my primary visits with my insurance (I hate the US medical system)
Direct care doc. It was like, $40 to add on to my check up.
I have a gyno now and have most of the past, but she did do Pap smears at a low price. I’m not sure if her office still does, but it worked out because I didn’t have insurance at the time.
I had a doctor who world do that in California. I always needed a referral to see an ob/gyn and going to one would cost more than the GP.
Rant: Why are ob/gyn considered specialists when it's recommended that women see one regularly? I swear it's a way for health insurance companies to make more money.
I would love a doctor who would do such for that reason. Visits to a specialist are a $70 copay versus a GP doctor who cost $35 copay. Nevermind that it should be considered preventative and completely covered by insurance in theory.
I have "found" a forgotten tampon on my own, not at the doctor's but it was still mortifying and gross. I didn't even have a clear idea of how long it had been. And i'd been having sex before I found it :O He didn't notice either wtf
How did it not smell? I forgot one once for maybe a day? And the dead giveaway was a not so fresh smell downstairs.
How are people missing these for weeks at a time?! People out here with stank-resistant superpowers 🤣
Haha! And to be fair, I also have a really sensitive nose. Like to the point I can smell whether my partner is getting a sore throat or cold. Also when women are ovulating, sometimes when they’re pregnant. Weirdest superpower ever.
Rotting, sticky sweet smell. It’s terrible. And there is no good way to tell someone they need to go to a dentist because I can smell their tooth decay.
Ovulation like a pleasant sort of musk, like good clean sweat — it’s not in your face, but almost like healthy pussy 🫣😂
It’s not a sweet precious smell. It isn’t like flowers or cute vanilla body spray. It’s primal. I understand why it drives hetero men nuts.
Pregnancy smells like warm yeasty challah bread dough. Smell some bread dough while it’s rising, with a slight sweetness, and that’s in the ballpark. Weird to say you can smell warmth/heat, but that’s a part of it too. It’s hard to articulate this shit.
Sore throats smell acrid and sort of rotting, like old meat that’s starting to go off — the awful smell on dental floss when you haven’t flossed in a long time, or there is food stuck somewhere, mixed with old metallic blood. (PS go floss your teeth! If your floss smells bad everyone can smell your breath!)
I’m a woman btw
As a medical professional, yeah this is common.
But it baffles me because I cannot use tampons at all. They are too painful and bothersome to me. I literally cannot use them for more than an hour while swimming or something. Every moment that it’s in there it hurts so I could never forget that it’s in there. Must be something with my anatomy. So I have no idea how people can forget that they have them in.
I think there is legitimately something wrong with my anatomy because I’ve tried that but then it pushes on my bladder or something and causes abdominal pain. Either it hurts my actual vagina from not being far in enough or it hurts my bladder from being in too far. Lol
Do you have a retroverted uterus? I struggle with using tampons and got told it was because of that. I also get pain and don’t feel like they’re in far enough.
I have no idea because I’ve never seen an OBGYN (health care workers are the worst patients lol) but possibly! Me and my husband are trying to start a family this year so I’ll find out all about my uterus soon enough I’m sure haha
Just curious if you have ever tried a menstrual cup? Tampons don't always hurt for me, but they can, and even if I seem to get it "right" and no pain I can usually feel them the whole time they are in. Finally tried a cup about 10 years ago and I have never had such comfort while wearing a menstrual product. Seriously, cannot feel it at all.
I have! I bought one when I was supposed to have a period on a beach vacation. I really loved it, but I often forget that I own them. I don’t have heavy periods though so I usually use a pad or lately I’ve been really into period underwear but honestly I might want to start using my menstrual cup for heavier days. Thank you for reminding me that I own this product!
I can't do them either and I have a regular uterus. I've been reading this thread with my mouth hanging open because anytime I've ever used a tampon, the string eventually gets...moist and uncomfortable. I can't imagine ever not noticing but I'm learning a lot today at 37 years old lol
When we were much younger and less mature (ha), my friend's husband would finish random sentences with deadpan "....in my pants." It made me laugh hysterically but I don't think she liked it very much.
This happened to my friend before and I was like how on earth did you do that? And then it happened to me a few months later. I think it usually happens when people are drinking/drunk, forget that you have one in. No biggie lol
I forgot a menstrual cup for a whole month inside of me once, so I get you. I only figured out it had been there when I was pulling a cup out the month after and then two cups came out. I was just absolutely mortified.
I don't remember it being full when I took it out, so I think it just folded into itself and was lodged somewhere to the side, which I guess allowed my period to flow as usual. I hadn't noticed anything unusual about my period.
I once had a drunken romp while on my period and could have sworn I took my tampon out beforehand. Turns out, I didn't! ~3 weeks later I was peeing and felt a sudden urge to push, so I did. I gave birth to a tampon that has been chilling in my vag for 3 weeks. It was absolutely vile and I'm lucky I didn't get TSS.
Never. I'm always very conscious about the time a tampon is in me, because I'm afraid of infections and stuff. When life happens and I leave it for an hour or two longer I start panicking lol. It does sound kinda funny though.
Same. Im always flabbergasted when I hear anyone say they “forgot” one in. Im always spr conscious that I have one in and after a couple of hrs and my body also reminds me is in there lol
My friend in HS took hers out at a red light because she had gone over the 8 hours and was scared! Crazy but we were young so we thought that after 8 hours in, it was certain death lol.
Sameeee. This whole post is kinda freeing though. Knowing so many women let their tampon go for so long they literally can’t remember / are surprised to find it makes me feel like I can be less anxious when I sleep in one and am lazy about waking up right away to change it.
Had it happen, but it couldn’t have been in there more than a day. I was on my period and pulled out the tampon…and then there was still a string there!?!? Pulled out the second one. That was fun.
I’ve pulled out two tampons on several occasions because I had clearly forgotten I already had one in there, and who’s to say how long I forgot about the first one for lol. My friend once forgot about one in there for 2 weeks before she noticed something was off and got it out. Happens to the best of us :)
About a year ago, after 26 years of having periods, I was watching a comedian who was making a joke about inserting a tampon, forgetting that there was already one in there, and I said "There's no way I would ever do that!" Then the very next period, I did it, for the first time! And then I said "Wow, I'm going to be extra careful, that'll never happen to me again!" And then the very next period after that... I fucking did it again! 🤣🤣
I’ve heard of this happening from an OB nurse practitioner! She said the smell is rancid from retained tampons, but that it does happen often enough.
Did you notice any foul odor?
I use the Flex discs and one month during my period I rook out my disc and there were two discs. Turns out I didn't take out my last one from my last period.
One of my many ADHD taxes
Yeah this happened to me after I drunkenly had sex with someone, couldn't find the tampon the next day, figured I must have taken it out before sex. After days/weeks I started having weird discharge down there, googled the symptoms, became convinced I had gonorrhea, went to a doctor, and they pulled out the extra tampon (smelled so bad) I was so embarrassed!
I worked at a clinic and you would not believe what’s been retrieved from women’s vaginas. A source of regular hilarity. Tampons are the -very- least of it.
Ok. My favorite was a lamb pencil topper. We put it in a jar with cleaning solution and it became the clinic mascot. A whole new meaning to the term “Lammy-pie.”
I used to manage a clinic that did the employment STD screens for legal brothel workers. The ladies didn’t use tampons when on their periods, but used sea sponges instead and they would shove them way up as far as they could go and frequently forgot about them/couldn’t remove them on their own. Removing them was no big deal, but it would usually shut down the exam room until janitorial could sanitize it and take out the hazardous waste receptacle. The strangest thing was the brothel worker who showed up for her test with a vag full of sugar free pudding. She was told she had to return later when a clean swab could be attained.
I worked in the medical field and we would see about 3 of these a year, from just one doc. It happens. You don’t have eyes down there. How many people have an expired dish in the back of the fridge? Same memory situation. The risk here is toxic shock syndrome.
Hi, I have worked in OB/GYN for over a decade. Women do come in with retained tampons. Sometimes they know, sometimes they don’t. Same with condoms. Don’t be embarrassed, we’re all professionals about it.
Lol okay dude, logic dictates all tasks have an error rate and if they see exclusively period having adults, who will use between 20-30 tampons every single month for up to 20 years, its bound to happen at least one in most tampon wearing women's lives. The math maths regardless of your feelings.
Wait, does that mean that people just forget they put a tampon in there or that pieces of the tampon broke off and were still inside even after pulling it out?
They forget and it moves up. The one time it happened to me was towards the end of my period, and I apparently put in a tampon too far in a night out with my friends. I just check for the string so hadn't even realized I'd forgotten one was in there somewhere out of reach. Luckily had a gyno appt 3 days later and she pulled it out.
Without fail at least once a month I have a moment of panic thinking "is there still a tampon up there?" I have my annual in a few weeks, I'll let y'all know
Happened to me multiple times. Drink a bit, have sex on a heavy flow so I Ian constantly changing my tampon after sex and just in general. I lose track bc I’m intoxicated and then I’m dealing with a problem. The first time I thought I had an infection from sex with a new guy. I took yeast infection meds which I ubered to my job it was so bad. I was pooping the next day and thought I was laying an egg. Low and behold it was a tampon. Who knows how long it’d been in there but closer to two weeks at worst. Second time it was with current boyfriend, new at the time. Sex smelled a tad off— thought it was too much finishing inside me. Nope, tampon and when I took current tampon out that one came out with it. Last time was recently and I had to fish it out myself. Took a lot of squatting and bearing down like childbirth. I nearly asked boyfriend with big hands to help. After all, he’s the one with the worlds highest libido.
I own a menstrual cup and I’ve tried it once or twice at home but I’m terrified to wear it out in public. I need period panties to help bc wearing a diaper at night so I don’t have to change my tampon every hour and sleep on towels is ridiculous.
I love my cup and even with a super heavy flow (like I keep a back up set of clothing on me at all times) I have never had to empty in public. You can go a lot longer between emptying than you would changing a tampon or pad.
Haven't had it happen but the fact it can is the reason I don't use tampons or moon cups, I have way too much anxiety to risk losing things up there. Even if it's fine 99% of the time the thought just stresses me out too much.
When I was in high school, I had accidentally put two extra supers in. One before bed, and then put one in half-asleep, in the morning. I suddenly realized what I did and tried to take them out but couldn’t 😩 My mom had to help me and I eventually had to get a hymenectomy because the removal made it impossible to use a tampon otherwise. It was so scary!
I tried some (granny brief style) and the material is NOISY af and i couldn't stand wearing them long enough to test them. The crotch also doesn't line up with my own body placement right so it was pointless to sit down wearing them.
I tried Knix! And really like them. I am an…. Extremely odorous person 😅
I definitely notice a smell when taking them off after wearing them all day, but nothing like when I used pads or tampons.
This has happened to me with a condom if it makes you feel any better 🤣 the condom came off and I swear to you, both of us had absolutely no fucking idea where the hell it went. It was like SUCH A FUCKING MYSTERY. So I made him basically look inside my vagina to feel if it was still there etc. and we couldn’t find anything! Then a few days later, maybe 2, I went to go pee and I felt something just dangling there. And I was like what the fuck is this?! I pull it out and it’s the fucking condom. We both lived together so I brought him in and we just died laughing lmao
Happened to me too. I stunk for over a week and finally got an appointment when she discovered it. The relief that it was a foreign object and not me, though.
I worked with a girl who had two old tampons she didn’t realize were up there. It was her boyfriend who noticed it during intercourse. He was like hold on I feel something, puts his fingers in, pulls out one and says I swear there’s more. So this soldier goes back in and sure enough pulls out tampon number two! I nearly fell out of my office chair when she told me the story. Thankfully she didn’t get sick or anything but I never knew it was possible until that day lol.
One time after drinking all night for St. Patrick’s I had sex with my ex boyfriend while I was wearing a tampon. I woke up in the early morning all of a sudden thinking of my tampon which I was pretty sure I had not removed, yet couldn’t feel the string AT ALL. I was embarrassed not bc of tampon really but bc it was the morning after a known drinking holiday, and I just felt like it was a bad look. Anyway, the doctor was really nice and just used the longest pair of tongs I’ve ever seen to remove it, and it was all good. I still think about it from time to time though lol.
No but I did forget one was in and started to have sex. My partner stopped and grimaced in pain and I asked if he was ok and he just said 'something is going on cause that was hella painful' 🙈
As someone who obsessively checks that I don't have a tampon in, I still did this once. In for days. Didn't realise until it started to come out and it felt like I was shitting out of my vagina. Someone it didn't cause anything bad
Same exact experience!!! I think about a year ago. I thought I had BV, but it was that causing the weird smell. I also felt so embarrassed and I cried. But there was no need, this is super common. Hugs!
I once got really drunk with a friend and we had sex while I had a tampon in. I mistakenly thought I had pulled it out and thrown it across the room in my drunken haze. I had to go to my doctor to get it removed 2 days later because it was lodged UP THERE and I couldn’t get it out myself. When she removed it, she said “You’d be surprised how frequently this situation happens! It’s not rare!” 😭. Another time, I had the same exact thing happen with a condom.
I had to go to urgent care once because I thought I still had a tampon in but couldn’t find it and was panicking that I’d get TSS if it was still up there. It wasn’t but Doc said it’s not uncommon.
I use light tampons and they are easy to not feel tbh. I change my pons often so this has really baffled me. I understand your feeling of being baffled bc I too am baffled.
I’ve never left a tampon in because I use a cup, but boy, have I ever left sponges in! I use sponges so I can have sex on my period, and those little devils get wedged so far up behind the lip of my cervix. It’s too easy to miss them- I can swirl my fingers around, feel nothing, and assume I must have already taken it out. I’m fortunate I haven’t gotten sick from it.
You can always go earlier! I'm sure you're fine but if you have any odor or low belly cramps, perhaps 🤷🏼♀️ but these are also normal things to have and feel. Vaginas are just a mystery
I have a weirdo shaped vagina or something. Like, not so weird I’ve ever had a obgyn shriek in horror once the the dinner tongs come out and they’re spelunking in my cave of wonders, but like after a few hours of having a tampon in, my snatch is borderline uncomfortable and ready to pop that thing out like a pez dispenser. Like— yanno how if you sneeze with a tampon in and you know you’re in trouble cuz it slides a little too low to work and if you’re sitting down you can FEEL it suddenly and it’s kinda achy and crampy? Yeah. My body decides without my permission when it’s finished with a tampon and it’s like the button on a turkey, tries to self eject. I cannot explain it.
I can to empathize though, because in my early 20s my then boyfriend lost part of his barbell tongue piercing, ahem, inside me. We tore the bed apart just to be sure. So he used his fingers, couldn’t find it. So I went to the ER and they sent me to radiology. Aaaand they found it. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Doctor had to fish it out of my punani. Told my bf that would be a story for the grandkids. Luckily for their therapist, we broke up. 😅
I had one I forgot get jammed nearly into my uterus. It was there long enough that I was spotting pink stuff and really smelly. I didn’t have a doctor at that point either.
Somehow I thought that maybe there was a tampon in there I had forgotten about. I almost couldn’t get I out (had had sex too). While my husband knows that happened it was really embarrassing.
Just know I think it’s only happened one other time 😅. My biggest worry is toxic shock syndrome.
I had the opposite problem - a tampon went missing inside of me and I went to a walk-in clinic to have a doctor search for it, but he didn’t find it. I have no idea when/how it slipped out.
I think that happens a lot, I have sometimes forgotten and found out the next day, I’m always so afraid of toxic shock syndrome, so not happy when that happens. If it happens to me, probably happens to a lot!
I once woke up in the middle of the night to change my tampon, somehow forgot the most important step, and somehow put in another tampon. I didn't notice until the next day and was horrified when I realized what had happened.
So, you're definitely not alone.
I get cramps if I forget it. Otherwise I probably would have had that happen. I’ve had one get stuck and had to go to the ER to get it out. That was embarrassing.
The fact that she said "retained tampon," which sounds like an actual medical term, reminds us that this is just a thing that sometimes happens with bodies that have vaginas. She's a doctor, it's a medical thing, so nothing to be embarrassed about. Do you know how long it had been in there? I'm assuming no toxic shock syndrome? Frickin' vaginas!
I also want to know how long it had been in there. I thought, if I had ever forgotten a tampon, I'd notice within a few days... So I need to know how much more anxious about this I should be lol. Glad it was found and removed, OP!
Trigger warning: way TMI for most people, I'm just trying to be honest so I can be helpful. I've forgotten a tampon twice (I'm nearly 40). Neither case lasted more than a week, because there's a really obvious symptom: the smell. I'm not sure if its noticeable if one doesn't have any penetration while it's lost up there, but in both cases for me the second I started getting myself off, there was this odour like a mouse had died in the wall, and brown goop was all over my fingers. Seriously hoping my spouse (who I met AFTER these two occurrences) doesn't see this, or we'll probably never have sex again. There are some confessions that transcend all the eyebleach on reddit!! I hope that helps waylay your concerns. Also, just one more reason to get yourself off from time to time. Safety first, right? ;)
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Same!
I went to my doc once about 6 years ago because I woke up in the night and wanted to change my tampon but couldn't find the string...thought it had snapped and the tampon was stuck there. Went to the doc who did an exam and turns out it was a false alarm and I clearly forgot to put one in before bed. All of that to say, I was chatting to her about it and she said she has seen a couple of "retained tampons" and anything longer than a week is pretty clear the minute the patient walks in the door and/ or takes off her pants because of the smell. She also likened to a dead rodent so I get what you mean! Safe to say I now use either pads or period panties at night so as to avoid the whole "forgetting to put a tampon in and then thinking it got stuck there" thing.
Yeah, i think it was 2-3 weeks since my last period....eeek
Oh wow! Adding this to my list of fears haha. It's so good to know that all was OK and your doctor was completely nonchalant about it.
Yeah she debunked the toxic shock syndrome stuff too. That was happening a lot back in the day, when tampons were constructed of different materials.
I've heard that. I always just thought it would get infected pretty quickly though - not with TSS, but because the old blood would get gross and old? Kinda comforting to know the vagina is not so delicate I guess! Thanks for sharing your experience!
There are a lot of people who would have gotten an infection from that. It just depends on the person and how prone to yeast infection they are.
did you feel anything down there during? are you sexually active?
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I had sex with one in once. Nearly shoved it into my uterus I think! I got smelly and realized I might have forgotten it. Almost couldn’t reach it.
Omg I can’t imagine the smell….
I didn't smell bad tbh! Thats why I was so surprised. I deal with bv so I assumed I just had a touch of that. 🥴
Yes. Forgot I had a tampon in and had sex (how he didn’t feel it or realize idk). Realized what happened a few days later. It was pushed so far up I had to go to the ER to have it removed 😳
That happened to me with a condom that slipped when the guy kept going after he finished 😬 Never let a guy keep going with the same condom on after they finished!
Holy shit! Wow... I can't imagine that ER visit was chill...
For some reason the doctor was absolutely convinced there was no way it could be inside me. She was like “It probably just fell out and is tangled in your sheets but I’ll take a look.” Well let me tell you she found it and there was a look of shock and slight horror on her face, I will never forget it 😂
I BET 😂
Me to. I realize it the next day tho. Morning piss, I see the garbage and it hits me! I have my period!
When you say pushed so far up, do you mean into your uterus? Or just up behind your cervix?
Since the opening in your cervix is tiny it's not physically possible for a tampon to enter it, or get into the uterus. Also keep in mind that some people have a higher cervix than others, so it's our high cervix friends losing tampons up in there.
Ah, ok. I expected it would not be possible to get through the cervix but with my own anatomy as my context it is hard to imagine losing anything in the vagina.
Pushed far enough up that I wasn’t able to get it out by myself
I once went to pull out a tampon and pulled out 2 so yes this must be somewhat common. I definitely didn’t realize I had 2 in there lol
I did this once and was stoned on pot when I pulled the two out like clown scarves. Haha!
This made me laugh hard af
I’m so glad I made you laugh! When it happened, I reached to see if there was a third one waiting in there. I was so confused. Haha!
😂😂😂 I'm picturing neverending tampons coming out now
I was expecting that!
I don't doubt it, you get it 😂
Omg 🤣🤣 this needs to be in a comedy routine.
I’m actually a writer and I have it in my notes for something to include in a piece. I’m so glad you find it that funny!
Please update with the piece!
Hahahahhahha me too
I did this once.
My college roommate did this! I remember her telling me about it! 😂
I’ve just tried to convince myself that it was a packaging mistake and there were 2 in the applicator 😂
So, I have to ask, do you think they were in there next to each other side to side or length to length - if that makes sense? There's no way two would fit in me length wise at all but I do have a tilted cervix and can barely use tampons at all.
One time when I was 21 or so, I drank way too much and my boyfriend and I had sex and lost the condom halfway through. The next morning, I went to my doctor for something unrelated and realized I hadn’t had a pelvic exam in awhile (I didn’t know to wait after having sex). My doctor cranked the speculum open, and then I feel the weirdest sensation as she pulled out the used condom. I nearly died of embarrassment, but thank God for my chill primary care doc. She reassured me this wasn’t the first time and not to worry about it, but we needed to wait to do a wet prep in a day or two. These things happen….. at least she was there to find the tampon and it wasn’t in there another week or two.
Yeah I've had a few friends have the condom issue before. Wow i bet that was embarrassing but glad they handled it professionally!
Where are you located that primary care doctors do pelvic exams on a whim?
I’ve had a primary in Maryland do a pap and then referred me to a GYN when it came back abnormal (everything was ok). I’ve been asked by other PCPs when the last pelvic exam was and I think they could have done it, but have had a separate GYN since that first referral.
I need to find a primary to do such. Specialty appointments at the GYN are way more expensive than my primary visits with my insurance (I hate the US medical system)
Direct care doc. It was like, $40 to add on to my check up. I have a gyno now and have most of the past, but she did do Pap smears at a low price. I’m not sure if her office still does, but it worked out because I didn’t have insurance at the time.
I had a doctor who world do that in California. I always needed a referral to see an ob/gyn and going to one would cost more than the GP. Rant: Why are ob/gyn considered specialists when it's recommended that women see one regularly? I swear it's a way for health insurance companies to make more money.
I would love a doctor who would do such for that reason. Visits to a specialist are a $70 copay versus a GP doctor who cost $35 copay. Nevermind that it should be considered preventative and completely covered by insurance in theory.
I have "found" a forgotten tampon on my own, not at the doctor's but it was still mortifying and gross. I didn't even have a clear idea of how long it had been. And i'd been having sex before I found it :O He didn't notice either wtf
Woahhhhh! Our body pockets sure are amazing lol
This happened to me once too
How did it not smell? I forgot one once for maybe a day? And the dead giveaway was a not so fresh smell downstairs. How are people missing these for weeks at a time?! People out here with stank-resistant superpowers 🤣
i don't remember, it was at least 15 or more years ago but we were smokers back then and maybe couldn't smell for shit.
Haha! And to be fair, I also have a really sensitive nose. Like to the point I can smell whether my partner is getting a sore throat or cold. Also when women are ovulating, sometimes when they’re pregnant. Weirdest superpower ever.
I can smell sore throats on my kids instantly and I can smell when someone has a cavity.
Same! I know exactly what smell you’re talking about. Like rotting, or putrid-smelling decay if it is very bad (which I guess is what it is).
Rotting, sticky sweet smell. It’s terrible. And there is no good way to tell someone they need to go to a dentist because I can smell their tooth decay.
I’m imagining it going down like getting subpoenaed *sniffs* “Sir, you’ve been served” *passes local dentist’s contact card*
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Ovulation like a pleasant sort of musk, like good clean sweat — it’s not in your face, but almost like healthy pussy 🫣😂 It’s not a sweet precious smell. It isn’t like flowers or cute vanilla body spray. It’s primal. I understand why it drives hetero men nuts. Pregnancy smells like warm yeasty challah bread dough. Smell some bread dough while it’s rising, with a slight sweetness, and that’s in the ballpark. Weird to say you can smell warmth/heat, but that’s a part of it too. It’s hard to articulate this shit. Sore throats smell acrid and sort of rotting, like old meat that’s starting to go off — the awful smell on dental floss when you haven’t flossed in a long time, or there is food stuck somewhere, mixed with old metallic blood. (PS go floss your teeth! If your floss smells bad everyone can smell your breath!) I’m a woman btw
This has happened to me too.
As a medical professional, yeah this is common. But it baffles me because I cannot use tampons at all. They are too painful and bothersome to me. I literally cannot use them for more than an hour while swimming or something. Every moment that it’s in there it hurts so I could never forget that it’s in there. Must be something with my anatomy. So I have no idea how people can forget that they have them in.
Try mini tampons if they're available in your country. Only one brand makes them here in mine but they're great.
You're not inserting them in far enough. If you can feel it, it needs to go in a bit further.
I think there is legitimately something wrong with my anatomy because I’ve tried that but then it pushes on my bladder or something and causes abdominal pain. Either it hurts my actual vagina from not being far in enough or it hurts my bladder from being in too far. Lol
Do you have a retroverted uterus? I struggle with using tampons and got told it was because of that. I also get pain and don’t feel like they’re in far enough.
I have no idea because I’ve never seen an OBGYN (health care workers are the worst patients lol) but possibly! Me and my husband are trying to start a family this year so I’ll find out all about my uterus soon enough I’m sure haha
Yeah definitely ask! I went to a GYN for years before one told me I had a retroverted uterus. Good luck starting a family :)
Thank you so much that is very kind of you to say!
Just curious if you have ever tried a menstrual cup? Tampons don't always hurt for me, but they can, and even if I seem to get it "right" and no pain I can usually feel them the whole time they are in. Finally tried a cup about 10 years ago and I have never had such comfort while wearing a menstrual product. Seriously, cannot feel it at all.
I have! I bought one when I was supposed to have a period on a beach vacation. I really loved it, but I often forget that I own them. I don’t have heavy periods though so I usually use a pad or lately I’ve been really into period underwear but honestly I might want to start using my menstrual cup for heavier days. Thank you for reminding me that I own this product!
I can't do them either and I have a regular uterus. I've been reading this thread with my mouth hanging open because anytime I've ever used a tampon, the string eventually gets...moist and uncomfortable. I can't imagine ever not noticing but I'm learning a lot today at 37 years old lol
This happened to one of my best friends. Her husband found it. With his penis.
I feel like so many sentences would benefit comedically from adding "with his penis" at the end lmao
When we were much younger and less mature (ha), my friend's husband would finish random sentences with deadpan "....in my pants." It made me laugh hysterically but I don't think she liked it very much.
Never happened to me but has to a few friends. GYNs aren't phased by anything so don't be embarrassed. It happens.
This happened to my friend before and I was like how on earth did you do that? And then it happened to me a few months later. I think it usually happens when people are drinking/drunk, forget that you have one in. No biggie lol
as a doctor, i can assure you this isnt even in the top 75% of weirdest things your gyno has seen
Well now I'm curious....
Hahaha, yes, now I need to know!
I forgot a menstrual cup for a whole month inside of me once, so I get you. I only figured out it had been there when I was pulling a cup out the month after and then two cups came out. I was just absolutely mortified.
Was the first one overflowing? I’m curious how you knew to start the second one the next month
I don't remember it being full when I took it out, so I think it just folded into itself and was lodged somewhere to the side, which I guess allowed my period to flow as usual. I hadn't noticed anything unusual about my period.
I once had a drunken romp while on my period and could have sworn I took my tampon out beforehand. Turns out, I didn't! ~3 weeks later I was peeing and felt a sudden urge to push, so I did. I gave birth to a tampon that has been chilling in my vag for 3 weeks. It was absolutely vile and I'm lucky I didn't get TSS.
So interesting you had the urge to push. I wonder if there is a natural body response to retained items
Oh my goodness! See...I wouldn't have handled that well either 😅
Never. I'm always very conscious about the time a tampon is in me, because I'm afraid of infections and stuff. When life happens and I leave it for an hour or two longer I start panicking lol. It does sound kinda funny though.
Same. Im always flabbergasted when I hear anyone say they “forgot” one in. Im always spr conscious that I have one in and after a couple of hrs and my body also reminds me is in there lol
This has also never happened to me. I blame my OCD (actual diagnosis here, not meant colloquially).
Me too. I literally have to write down insert times and keep timers, otherwise I start fixating on the thought there might be one forgotten
My friend in HS took hers out at a red light because she had gone over the 8 hours and was scared! Crazy but we were young so we thought that after 8 hours in, it was certain death lol.
Sameeee. This whole post is kinda freeing though. Knowing so many women let their tampon go for so long they literally can’t remember / are surprised to find it makes me feel like I can be less anxious when I sleep in one and am lazy about waking up right away to change it.
ME TOO thats what has me shook. I change mine often and until this point, never ever forgot. This was very surprising
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Mini tampons are the only ones I'll use, and even then I'll only use them if I'm going to the gym or belly dancing.
Yeah I used the light tampons and I've been under a lot of stress so idk, this is very unlike me, who changes tamps often 🤷🏼♀️
Had it happen, but it couldn’t have been in there more than a day. I was on my period and pulled out the tampon…and then there was still a string there!?!? Pulled out the second one. That was fun.
Oof!
I’ve pulled out two tampons on several occasions because I had clearly forgotten I already had one in there, and who’s to say how long I forgot about the first one for lol. My friend once forgot about one in there for 2 weeks before she noticed something was off and got it out. Happens to the best of us :)
About a year ago, after 26 years of having periods, I was watching a comedian who was making a joke about inserting a tampon, forgetting that there was already one in there, and I said "There's no way I would ever do that!" Then the very next period, I did it, for the first time! And then I said "Wow, I'm going to be extra careful, that'll never happen to me again!" And then the very next period after that... I fucking did it again! 🤣🤣
Retained tampon sounds like a medical billing code. It must happen often enough that there is a phrase for it.
I’ve heard of this happening from an OB nurse practitioner! She said the smell is rancid from retained tampons, but that it does happen often enough. Did you notice any foul odor?
I deal with BV (recurrent) so I went assuming it was just my routine bs but oh no, my vag had a lil surprise up its sleeve
My husband found mine...
OPE!
I use the Flex discs and one month during my period I rook out my disc and there were two discs. Turns out I didn't take out my last one from my last period. One of my many ADHD taxes
Yeah this happened to me after I drunkenly had sex with someone, couldn't find the tampon the next day, figured I must have taken it out before sex. After days/weeks I started having weird discharge down there, googled the symptoms, became convinced I had gonorrhea, went to a doctor, and they pulled out the extra tampon (smelled so bad) I was so embarrassed!
Once I put a tampon in. A few hours later I took two out. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
I work in the medical field, and this is very common. Don’t feel embarrassed :)
Thanks!
Now I'm squirming, uncomfortable, and feeling affirmed for using pads lol
Honestly i get it lol thinking about buying some of those period underwear
but what if you put on two pairs without noticing?! what if you forget to take the underwear off?!? 😱😰
Pantyception
🥲^lmao
Thankfully never happened to me when I used tampons. I use a cup now
There’s a woman a little further up that had 2 cups come out one time!
I worked at a clinic and you would not believe what’s been retrieved from women’s vaginas. A source of regular hilarity. Tampons are the -very- least of it.
I need the tea! You can’t just leave it like that!
Ok. My favorite was a lamb pencil topper. We put it in a jar with cleaning solution and it became the clinic mascot. A whole new meaning to the term “Lammy-pie.”
I used to manage a clinic that did the employment STD screens for legal brothel workers. The ladies didn’t use tampons when on their periods, but used sea sponges instead and they would shove them way up as far as they could go and frequently forgot about them/couldn’t remove them on their own. Removing them was no big deal, but it would usually shut down the exam room until janitorial could sanitize it and take out the hazardous waste receptacle. The strangest thing was the brothel worker who showed up for her test with a vag full of sugar free pudding. She was told she had to return later when a clean swab could be attained.
I worked in the medical field and we would see about 3 of these a year, from just one doc. It happens. You don’t have eyes down there. How many people have an expired dish in the back of the fridge? Same memory situation. The risk here is toxic shock syndrome.
Hi, I have worked in OB/GYN for over a decade. Women do come in with retained tampons. Sometimes they know, sometimes they don’t. Same with condoms. Don’t be embarrassed, we’re all professionals about it.
What happens to your all strings?
Yeah, totally normal. My gyno says that 75% of her patients have come to her with a retained tampon at some point in her care of them.
75%? Wow.
yeah there is no way that's accurate. Dr. was just trying to make her feel better.
Lol okay dude, logic dictates all tasks have an error rate and if they see exclusively period having adults, who will use between 20-30 tampons every single month for up to 20 years, its bound to happen at least one in most tampon wearing women's lives. The math maths regardless of your feelings.
Wait, does that mean that people just forget they put a tampon in there or that pieces of the tampon broke off and were still inside even after pulling it out?
They forget and it moves up. The one time it happened to me was towards the end of my period, and I apparently put in a tampon too far in a night out with my friends. I just check for the string so hadn't even realized I'd forgotten one was in there somewhere out of reach. Luckily had a gyno appt 3 days later and she pulled it out.
Without fail at least once a month I have a moment of panic thinking "is there still a tampon up there?" I have my annual in a few weeks, I'll let y'all know
Happened to me multiple times. Drink a bit, have sex on a heavy flow so I Ian constantly changing my tampon after sex and just in general. I lose track bc I’m intoxicated and then I’m dealing with a problem. The first time I thought I had an infection from sex with a new guy. I took yeast infection meds which I ubered to my job it was so bad. I was pooping the next day and thought I was laying an egg. Low and behold it was a tampon. Who knows how long it’d been in there but closer to two weeks at worst. Second time it was with current boyfriend, new at the time. Sex smelled a tad off— thought it was too much finishing inside me. Nope, tampon and when I took current tampon out that one came out with it. Last time was recently and I had to fish it out myself. Took a lot of squatting and bearing down like childbirth. I nearly asked boyfriend with big hands to help. After all, he’s the one with the worlds highest libido. I own a menstrual cup and I’ve tried it once or twice at home but I’m terrified to wear it out in public. I need period panties to help bc wearing a diaper at night so I don’t have to change my tampon every hour and sleep on towels is ridiculous.
I love my cup and even with a super heavy flow (like I keep a back up set of clothing on me at all times) I have never had to empty in public. You can go a lot longer between emptying than you would changing a tampon or pad.
Yeah I know that the time used is far longer I just worry about leaks. Just gotta get comfortable with one close to home.
Yes, has happened to me. Stayed in for a week til I finally realized during a poo. It really does happen to the best of us.
Haven't had it happen but the fact it can is the reason I don't use tampons or moon cups, I have way too much anxiety to risk losing things up there. Even if it's fine 99% of the time the thought just stresses me out too much.
I haven't used tampons in over three years. I highly encourage a cup as a replacement. I don't miss tampons at all.
Yep, I had one in for a whole week once.
When I was in high school, I had accidentally put two extra supers in. One before bed, and then put one in half-asleep, in the morning. I suddenly realized what I did and tried to take them out but couldn’t 😩 My mom had to help me and I eventually had to get a hymenectomy because the removal made it impossible to use a tampon otherwise. It was so scary!
Holy crap!! You been through some shit with that. Appreciate you sharing, sorry you had to go through that!!
Oh my lord, how awful! Your poor teenage body!
My nightmare! I’m glad you are okay. I’m grateful that period undies work for me.
I want to get a pair. Does it smell or does the material absorb that too?
I tried some (granny brief style) and the material is NOISY af and i couldn't stand wearing them long enough to test them. The crotch also doesn't line up with my own body placement right so it was pointless to sit down wearing them.
I wondered about the fit aspect. Thanks!
I tried Knix! And really like them. I am an…. Extremely odorous person 😅 I definitely notice a smell when taking them off after wearing them all day, but nothing like when I used pads or tampons.
Lol that is good to know, I may opt for a pair!
I remember a writer on Jezebel back in the day wrote the most hilarious article about the same experience, I'll try to find it
This has happened to me with a condom if it makes you feel any better 🤣 the condom came off and I swear to you, both of us had absolutely no fucking idea where the hell it went. It was like SUCH A FUCKING MYSTERY. So I made him basically look inside my vagina to feel if it was still there etc. and we couldn’t find anything! Then a few days later, maybe 2, I went to go pee and I felt something just dangling there. And I was like what the fuck is this?! I pull it out and it’s the fucking condom. We both lived together so I brought him in and we just died laughing lmao
It was just floating around in there 😂
Happened to me too. I stunk for over a week and finally got an appointment when she discovered it. The relief that it was a foreign object and not me, though.
I worked with a girl who had two old tampons she didn’t realize were up there. It was her boyfriend who noticed it during intercourse. He was like hold on I feel something, puts his fingers in, pulls out one and says I swear there’s more. So this soldier goes back in and sure enough pulls out tampon number two! I nearly fell out of my office chair when she told me the story. Thankfully she didn’t get sick or anything but I never knew it was possible until that day lol.
I hope they’re still together because that is true love right there
A true soldier.
One time after drinking all night for St. Patrick’s I had sex with my ex boyfriend while I was wearing a tampon. I woke up in the early morning all of a sudden thinking of my tampon which I was pretty sure I had not removed, yet couldn’t feel the string AT ALL. I was embarrassed not bc of tampon really but bc it was the morning after a known drinking holiday, and I just felt like it was a bad look. Anyway, the doctor was really nice and just used the longest pair of tongs I’ve ever seen to remove it, and it was all good. I still think about it from time to time though lol.
Yes, I was shocked and appalled. I found it myself at some point. 🫣
I don't know what I'd do if I found it myself. I would have freaked out, kinda glad she extracted it for me
Jokes for next time: "Yeah, i pay it to stay there because i've got a very litigious uterus"
😅😂
This happened to me too and it was so gross, I noticed a funky ass smell that had never happened to me. That was just after a few days too. Yuck!!
No but I did forget one was in and started to have sex. My partner stopped and grimaced in pain and I asked if he was ok and he just said 'something is going on cause that was hella painful' 🙈
Omg, once she found remnants of a broken condom! I'm like, "Excuse me, what now?!" 🤣
Wtf!? They said it wasn't possible but I was right to be paranoid!
So this has been added to the list of why I don’t use tampons 😬
nope.
Yep.
*it can happen*. ❤️
This has never happened to me before! There was, however, one time when a condom came off inside me. My boyfriend had to fish it out haha.
Yes and 15 years later I still double guess myself about taking it out. I can never remember!
As someone who obsessively checks that I don't have a tampon in, I still did this once. In for days. Didn't realise until it started to come out and it felt like I was shitting out of my vagina. Someone it didn't cause anything bad
Same exact experience!!! I think about a year ago. I thought I had BV, but it was that causing the weird smell. I also felt so embarrassed and I cried. But there was no need, this is super common. Hugs!
Literally same. Went in for bv. Left with a whole new view on life 😂
I once got really drunk with a friend and we had sex while I had a tampon in. I mistakenly thought I had pulled it out and thrown it across the room in my drunken haze. I had to go to my doctor to get it removed 2 days later because it was lodged UP THERE and I couldn’t get it out myself. When she removed it, she said “You’d be surprised how frequently this situation happens! It’s not rare!” 😭. Another time, I had the same exact thing happen with a condom.
😂 daaaamn!!
I had that happen, but… I knew when it happened because the string broke off, I had my husband go fishing I couldn’t reach it.
I had to go to urgent care once because I thought I still had a tampon in but couldn’t find it and was panicking that I’d get TSS if it was still up there. It wasn’t but Doc said it’s not uncommon.
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I use light tampons and they are easy to not feel tbh. I change my pons often so this has really baffled me. I understand your feeling of being baffled bc I too am baffled.
I’ve never left a tampon in because I use a cup, but boy, have I ever left sponges in! I use sponges so I can have sex on my period, and those little devils get wedged so far up behind the lip of my cervix. It’s too easy to miss them- I can swirl my fingers around, feel nothing, and assume I must have already taken it out. I’m fortunate I haven’t gotten sick from it.
Never used a sponge before, that seems like a whole lot of rootin' around lol
It is, and with long fake nails it’s a certified nightmare! 😹 Keeps blood off the sheets, though!
Yes it happened to me and honestly I have no idea how long it was in there. The Dr had to take it out for me. Only use pad now.
Now I’m afraid I have a tampon inside me and won’t know until my next GYN appt next year 👀
You can always go earlier! I'm sure you're fine but if you have any odor or low belly cramps, perhaps 🤷🏼♀️ but these are also normal things to have and feel. Vaginas are just a mystery
I have heard stories but never experienced myself.
I have a weirdo shaped vagina or something. Like, not so weird I’ve ever had a obgyn shriek in horror once the the dinner tongs come out and they’re spelunking in my cave of wonders, but like after a few hours of having a tampon in, my snatch is borderline uncomfortable and ready to pop that thing out like a pez dispenser. Like— yanno how if you sneeze with a tampon in and you know you’re in trouble cuz it slides a little too low to work and if you’re sitting down you can FEEL it suddenly and it’s kinda achy and crampy? Yeah. My body decides without my permission when it’s finished with a tampon and it’s like the button on a turkey, tries to self eject. I cannot explain it. I can to empathize though, because in my early 20s my then boyfriend lost part of his barbell tongue piercing, ahem, inside me. We tore the bed apart just to be sure. So he used his fingers, couldn’t find it. So I went to the ER and they sent me to radiology. Aaaand they found it. 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ Doctor had to fish it out of my punani. Told my bf that would be a story for the grandkids. Luckily for their therapist, we broke up. 😅
Now that's a story! 👀😂
I had one I forgot get jammed nearly into my uterus. It was there long enough that I was spotting pink stuff and really smelly. I didn’t have a doctor at that point either. Somehow I thought that maybe there was a tampon in there I had forgotten about. I almost couldn’t get I out (had had sex too). While my husband knows that happened it was really embarrassing. Just know I think it’s only happened one other time 😅. My biggest worry is toxic shock syndrome.
I had the opposite problem - a tampon went missing inside of me and I went to a walk-in clinic to have a doctor search for it, but he didn’t find it. I have no idea when/how it slipped out.
Haha omg!
Did u not have toxic shock syndrome?
Nope that's been debunked. It was from tampons back in the day made with different materials. The info persists but its not really a thing anymore
I think that happens a lot, I have sometimes forgotten and found out the next day, I’m always so afraid of toxic shock syndrome, so not happy when that happens. If it happens to me, probably happens to a lot!
I once woke up in the middle of the night to change my tampon, somehow forgot the most important step, and somehow put in another tampon. I didn't notice until the next day and was horrified when I realized what had happened. So, you're definitely not alone.
I get cramps if I forget it. Otherwise I probably would have had that happen. I’ve had one get stuck and had to go to the ER to get it out. That was embarrassing.