Another Lost Tampon Story
Posted by Rachel on January 26, 2008
ER Stories notes that most of the time, when women come in to the emergency department thinking they have a lost tampon stuck in their vagina, they’ve actually just forgotten that they removed it.
Seriously, though, a vagina is not like a rectum. There is only so far those suckers can go. I assure you, you can probably remove it yourself without troubling your local overloaded emergency department. Just don’t try anything crazy, like kitchen tongs or plungers.
brittney said
Once in high school I went to remove my tampon only to find ANOTHER one in there. I had not replaced the other one, just added to it! These were those teeny junior tampons that are very small, but in my high school mind I was MORTIFIED.
ajeley said
a few weeks ago i had horrific moment of clarity in which i ‘remembered’ i had not taken my tampax out! i swished around for a bit but couldnt find it. in the end i assumed i removed if but had forgotten but a few dat later i had the most foul smelling discharge. the two were not contected in my mind beacause you sometimes get this after a period. then i had sex and had the most horrific stabbibg pains in my abdomen. again after your period your prettys sensitive so t thought my bf was just performig really well. lol
this was like three weeks ago and i still have pain in my (period cramp area) but i dont wanna waste the docs time.
what to do……
Jayne said
I am getting the same sort of thing. I have left a tampon in before once years ago and was getting a brown gooey discharge and a terrible odor. I went to take a tampon out the other night and it was not there. I could have sworn I put one it but i checked and checked again and it was gone without a trace. I am spotting with that same odor now. Its red and dark brown and smells a bit like baby feces
reide said
GO TO THE DOCTOR. I had this happen to me a few years ago. The tampon had been in me for a week before I realized something was wrong, (foul odor and discharge) and got a last minute doctor appointment. She said if I’d waited any longer, the infection could have spread to my ovaries and I’d have had to go to the emergency room.
You can contract toxic shock syndrome which can be fatal, or cause in fertility. You are not wasting the doctor’s time!
v.riley said
Boy it seems anyone using tampons this happen to and we all have our stories. we have different stories with the same symthomes. We were all relieved when we found that problem. It makes you never want to use a tampon again! Thanks to this website I found my tampon I and a thousand more women did Thanks for all of your stories. You saved my life.
Courtney said
SOLUTION:
This has happened to me twice in the last 6 years. Both times, It didn’t occur to me it might be a stuck tampon. This last time I went to the doctor and mentioned the “what if” scenario of leaving a tampon inside. SHe did a pelvic exam and found nothing. So sick with the foul odor I decided to take a bath and after 30 minutes of soaking, I took a shower. Surpise Surprise Surprise, as I’m cleaning myself, I could feel it.
If you think you have a stuck tampon, a bath may dislodge it and bring it down far enough for you to “push” it out then grab the disgusting thing and throw it in the toilet.
I still suggest calling your doctor as you can get an infection. But if you want to skip the embarrassment of a doctor yanking it out, this may work for you also.
whoops said
I went to the doctor today to figure out why I was having foul smelling discharge. Turns out I left behind a tampon at least a couple weeks ago. I was totally embarrassed, but surprised that I hadn’t known especially when my husband and I had sex at least a few times since my period! When the tampon came out, the room stunk so badly my doctor had to spray air freshener. My doctor said that TSS would be unlikely, that she hadn’t seen a case in years since they took super absorbency tampons off the market. But, how embarrassing!
vivivan said
how did they pull it out of your body??
Ty Smith said
The same thing happened to me in 06 when i was pregnant. went to this new doctor for my first check up. i was 5 months pregnant, still getting a period. they did the normal check and behold a tampon still in me. i was wondering what the smell was about when i would go to the bathroom. the doctors office was lit up. i was so embarrassed. never had anything happen to me like that, and i always try to keep myself fresh. at least im not the only one, things happen. im cool now though!
Perhaps You Should Keep Notes on What You Put in Your Vagina « Women’s Health News said
[...] that I can’t really wrap my mind around. I’ve previously mentioned stories of “lost” tampons and even a woman who forgot about a baggie of cocaine she forgot she was vaginally stashing. The [...]
You should be worried! said
I had sex while on a period several times one night and on one occasion did not remember removing the tampon. I went to my GP who checked and comfirmed I must have as there was not one in me. I visited the Gu unit over the following 2 months. was treated for BV (not a sexually transmitted disease) expressed concerns that i felt my periods where more smelly and the bloody seemed different but still no tampon!! 8 months on and two days into a period I wake during the night feeling sickly, whilst in the toilet i wipe my self and in horror find a piece of tampon has been expelled. It stinks..! I rang the emergency doctor as its a saturday and they want to see me……….. will write the out come when i know.im scared to death……..tampons can get lost.
Rachel said
Unless your cervix was wide open in active labor or you have a fistula, I doubt it went anywhere.
Doc Gurley said
I can promise you, your tampon did not go anywhere. As a physician who has removed more than a few lost tampons, I can say that any doc that makes you feel embarrassed (like using the air freshener while you’re still in the room) or discusses the issue with implications of blame (as in saying something about not seeing “a case in years since they took super absorbency tampons off the market”) needs a big Wet Noodle Slap upside the head. Vaginas are not all alike, but many are full of folds and indents. “Losing” a tampon happens when one get truly forgotten, or when one gets tucked up into a fold (sometimes hard-to-reach, even with a light and speculum). When a tampon stays there for weeks, you body goes to work, doing its best to protect you–it coats the tampon with white blood cells (pus) and starts a heroic (heroine-ic?) effort to breakdown and budge this enormous object. The vagina’s soft mucosal cells that the tampon is flattened against get irritated and raw. Women tolerate this remarkably well–TSS is unheard-of in this setting, and once the tampon is removed, healing occurs quickly. The smell also tends to go away rapidly – it’s probably mostly the decayed blood in the tampon (however, a peanut up a kid’s nose also has that same hideous smell after a few days). A “lost” tampon tends to fall to pieces on removal. Self-care afterwards includes: 1) don’t douche–your body will flush whatever it needs to out and douching is not going to help your normal bacteria any; 2) consider helping your vagina’s normal germs re-populate by eating yogurt with live bacteria; and 3) use sanitary napkins for discharge/periods for the next few days. Obviously see your healthcare person right away for continuing discharge, fever or crampy pains. Also make sure the tampon issue doesn’t distract you or your provider from checking you out for other infections/STDs if it’s warranted.
Trina said
Thank you so much.. I just now got back from my ob/gyn after weeks of dealing with a foul smell, im sorry but it actually smelt as though something crawled up in me and died. I am very prone to BV so i assumed thats what it was. I have taken flagyl several times and it was gone within a day, not this time however upon seeing my doc he said well we found the problem you forgot to take out a tampon, this tampon has been inside me for three plus weeks…Oh my gosh i feel so embarrassed…. GREAT i thought now i must be getting old (38).lol… I am on my period now and took out a tampon i had put in there prior to going to see him not knowing of course one was already hiding in there… im sooo humiliated…
I noticed you said not to douche let the body heal on its own…well he told me to douche right away which i found odd to say the least…. but i did as he requested so i guess we shall see what happens since i know my body and i know how easily i get BV… I dont know if this is routine or not but my doc just sent me on my way with no antibiotics at all.. I told him ive had the same headache for three days and should this be of concern with the whole TSS thing,, he bascially told me to take tylenol and douche..
Rachel said
Doc Gurley, thank you for this.
Lola said
Last week my boyfriend and i went out to dinner and had a lot to drink. The next day I could not remember if we had sex or not (I know this sounds bad). I was at the end of my period and I remember pulling my tampon out earlier that evening. However, we had sex the next day and there was this awful smell and it really started to hurt. I also just came down with a cold. I tried to ‘fish’ as they say for the tampoon but did not feel anything. My gyno can not see me until next week. I don’t know if I left a tampon in there or if these symptoms are part of a bacterial infection, especaily with it being right after my period. There is a bit of discharge everyday and a slight smell. Should I be worried that a tampon is still up there, or could this be a bacterial infection?
Rowan said
It could be either, but whatever you do make sure you get yourself checked out. Good luck
Kate said
about 3 weeks ago i had quite a lot to drink and couldnt remember if i removed my tampon, when i went to the toilet the string wasn;t there and just persumed ide removed it. A week later i had sex with my boyfriend and there was an awful smell!! i didnt think 4 a second it could be a lost tampon. The smelly discharged continued and i started to think i had some sort of infection. This morning i went to the toilet and i saw something coming out of my vagina, it was a the tampon i lost weeks ago!! the smell was awful!!! Tampon’s can get lost but it did work its way out itself!
Pedrita said
Wow, after hearing all these horror stories, i wanted to share with all the women in the world, my greatest find in the world (well, one of them). I swear I am not involved in the company by any means.. I just love the diva cup though, it is a silicon-based flexible cup that you squeeze into your vagina, and then when its in, it pops open, to collect the menstrual waste. They have two sizes, for those that have had a baby already, and for those that have not given birth yet.
I have had my diva cup for two years now, without any problems. You can never forget it up there, because it is too big to forget (but it is not uncomfortable), also you never put more waste into the environment anymore, or give money to the huge corporations for creating all this waste. It is reusable for LIFE!!!!!! i think it has a warranty too… anyhow- i just rinse mine w/ soap and water, but i think you can boil it for sterilization too (check the instructions).
the best thing too.. if your on some sort of crazy long trip (I went hiking in a costa rican jungle for 8 hours), you don’t have to worry about overflow or changing the diva. (I still change it about three times a day when I can anyhow.. just to feel clean).
and if you are into gardening.. i heard the menstrual blood is great for growing things… for those that aren’t grossed out anyhow (im not).
please buy a diva cup, save the environment and your money!
http//:www.divacup.com/
any questions could probably be addressed there, like i said- im not involved in the company at all.. im just a very proud customer!
lots of feminine love!
Jenna said
“without troubling your local overloaded emergency department”
THIS STATEMENT IS ENTIRELY MISGUIDED. As a daughter of an Emergency Room Physician I have been told many times about women with tampons “lost” in their vagina and have been reminded each and every time that if something of the sort ever happens to me, I am to see the ER immediately. Yes, you will probably have to wait many an hour while people with more “urgent” problems go first, but implying that women who lost their tampons should not visit the ER is not only ignorant, but irresponsible. Next time I should hope you choose your words more carefully.
-Jenna
Rachel said
Jenna,
This post was in response to a piece at the blog of a practicing ED physician who stated, “Usually, it is one of those small ones and the string got pushed up inside somehow. Very often there is nothing there – the patient simply forgot that they had already taken it out.” If you forget that you’ve already removed a tampon or the string is simply a little bit hard to reach, that’s not really an emergency – now, if you leave one in for weeks, that might be a different story. Doc Gurley has some thoughts on this above.
Ty said
its not always that the string is hard to reach, but it goes in between the butt cheeks as well. i’ve had my share of strings between the cheeks a few times. maybe from sitting.
McKayla said
okay so this is really weird because now is the second time that i wake up and their is no string up there i really dont know what to do. Well i’ve been having a discharged and it has a smell that i cannot resist is embarassing because everytime me and my fiance have sex afterwards theirs a bad smell so im pretty sure i have a lost tampon even though i tryed to reach up there i cant find anything helppp..
Cyndi said
I have a similar story….I had a really busy day with lots on my plate today being a Sunday. I went to take out my tampon and couldnt find the string. I got a little freaked out and asked my husband if he wanted to play doctor? he is a saint. he tried several times to find it with no luck. he said he felt as far up as my cervex but felt no tampon. could it be so far up that he could not feel it? can it go farther than the cervex? I asked him to do this because he has longer fingers than I do. I called the nurse in the ER and she said she could not give me advice over the phone. now in the mean time me and my husband have had sex because we thought there was nothing there. but I am still worried that there could be on up there. I honestly dont remember taking one out.
sabby said
i had the same thing happen and it was embarrassing. I didn’t have my period for at least a week and my bf and i had lots of sex and every time we did it hurt. I noticed that i had a fowl burning tar smell and i was at the doc office a few weeks ago and everything was good. So i went online and i read that i probably forgotten my tampon. I felt and had my bf feel…and nothing. So i sat on the toilet with my legs spread apart, and pushed….pushed like i was delivering a baby. After a minute or two if pushing I stuck my fingers up there and pushed some more. When i did that i could feel something that wasn’t me…..sure enough it was a tampon. ewwwwwwwwww it was so embarrassing…. maybe that will help you. Its nice to know that im not the only one out there that has done this….
nicole said
similar story….not sure i lost one but really am starting to think that i forgot to take it out. I just remember at the end of my period, it seemed like it went away but then a little blood here and there. It may have been after sex – can’t remember. I have had sex with my husband a handful of times since then and the first time I thought I might have lost a tampon was when there was pain during sex and i had to get on top. looked for it afterwards – nothing found – assumed I was crazy and i must have taken it out. Sex since that first time has been great – easy and multiple orgasms – could this little tampon be helping the cause pushing against my cervix? I’ve done my best at searching to no avail but it does feel a little swollen in there….could this be my body’s way of reacting and protecting? my husband is going to play doctor this afternoon…..really would like to take care of it before then! any advice? It does seem like there is some out-of-reach territory for me.
Mooty said
Oh my goodness, I am so relieved to see these messages. Last weekend my boyfriend and I were building up to having sex and after having his fingers inside me delicately told me that i ‘felt different up there’. I tried to see what he was referring to but as his fingers are longer than mine I couldn’t feel anything weird. I hadn’t had my period for over a week so didn’t even think it was a tampon.
I went for a smear test on Wednesday and mentioned it to the nurse who said that other than some white residue I looked normal, she asked if I was itchy, I said no and that was that. This morning I went to the toilet, felt something weird and a tampon popped out! It must have been in there for TWO WEEKS!
Not knowing what to do I thought I’d check online before running out to buy a douche but on Dr Gurley’s advice I won’t. Dr Gurley is so right – my body did ‘coat the tampon with white blood cells’.
I just feel so embarrassed, there’s white residue that smells awful, how long will it take for my body’s bacteria to get me back to normal? I’m not uncomfortable, sore or anything else – I honestly had no idea it was up there. Shocked!
Ashley Catherine Martin said
So my story is a little different than the ones above. So earlier that day i had put in a tampon and i had horrible cramps.I repeadtedly told my boyfriend that i was feeling horrible but I couldn’t resist him and we ended up having sex that night. Halfway through intercourse i remembered that my tampon was in, but i didn’t feel like it was hindering our sex so i just disregarded it. The next couple weeks roll by and im at work and we start getting this horrible scent around the office. Well the scent finally gets so bad that my boss calls a city worker to come down and investigate the lurking ordors. They scanned the premisis and eventually (after hours of texting plumbing) they were able to pin point the odor to my office. Once they were in my office talking about the smell it became so apparent! Mortified by the smell i ran to the bathroom about ready to throw up thinking there was a dead rat lurking in my office..only to find that the scent followed me. So i went to the bathroom to throw up but ended up going pee and out popped a 3 week old disgusting tampon in the toilet. I freaked out and fished it out and ended up passing out in the bathroom from the smell. A coworker later found me in the stall with the brown tampon in hand….lets just say they found what they were looking for.
Rhonda Helper said
This sounds like an urban legend if ever I’ve heard one!
Debbie said
Well don’t feel bad. I have been to the ER last week for adominal pain, fever,Headache, vomiting and aches and pains… kinda like the flu symptoms. So they gave me a shot of morphine and something for nausea and sent me home. My liver blood test came back high. So these was thursday. I went the weekend with still nausea and headache until Monday morning I went to the Doctor and she admitted me to the Hospital for dehydration. I went home on tuesday, but I still had the adominal pain and nausea. I went back to the Doctor today thursday one week later from the ER visit and she decided to do a Pelvic Exam and when she started she said do you want to take your tampon out??? I was sooo embarrased. I said I’m off my period I don’t have one in she said yes you do here is the string. She had me pull it out and and it was really gross!! The smell was bad. I was just wondering if I was getting close to the Toxic Shock Syndrome. She gave me a shot of Rocephen and two antibiotics. I do feel better but still embarrassed by the whole thing…
Jennifer said
Reading the stories above made me feel quite relieved! I just finally ‘found’ my tampon. I had used one of the small tampons at the end of my last period- needless to say I worked at evening, and drank and went home with a ‘friend’ of mine- we has sex and the next morning I couldn’t remember taking out the tampon. I figured I had because I didn’t feel any difference when we had sex. I felt around up ‘there’ and couldn’t feel anything so I had taken it out. I had sex later on in the week and everything still seemed fine. I started my period again and used tampons, but several days ago there was this foul smell I noticed at work- I hoped no one noticed- then yesterday it got really strong and this morning I woke up and knew something was up, I felt up there again and there was the tampon, but it was far up, almost out of fingers reach- it took me several hours on and off, but finally I pulled it out- UGH! that smell is soo overpowering and embaressing- I’m so relieved now that its out and I didn’t have to go to a doctor!
LLK said
so i think that i have a tampon “lost” up there. when i went to change it yesterday i couldn’t find the string. i don’t remember if i forgot to put one in or if it got sucked up there. i put another tampon in later because i assumed that i was still going to be bleeding seeing as its only my 3rd day but i have stopped completely. i fished around up there for awhile then i had my boyfriend look because his fingers are longer than mine and he couldn’t find anything either. after the search was over we had sex, now im starting to think that the sex pushed it even further up there. does anyone know of any exercises that i can do to try to get it out?
Lisa said
OK – this is gross but I just had to do it, that is why I ma on this page looking for reassurance that I dont need to go to a dr. To get the dang thing out sit on the toilet with your legs spread as wide as you can, lean over and get 2 or 3 fingers up inside as far as you can. Feel around. You should be able to feel the difference between your live tissue (smooth, elastic and warm) and the moldy tampon (textured, firm and warm). I could feel mine but I could not get a grip on it. I finally was able to pinh the end of it and it hurt when I tugged on it so I quit pulling. I ran my finger around the circumference of the end of the tampon to lossen it up and make sure that it really was a tampon. Then I pushed with the inner muscles (in childbirth it is called bearing down) sort of like trying to poop but from the front! As you bear down the mass should move downward and you can gradually get a grip on it an pull the disgusing thing out. I suggest starting with a clean toilet bowl with clean water as you will want to rinse your hand off between attempts. This is a truly disgusting proceedure that I had to do one other time about 25 years ago. Good luck and dont be surpised if the smell follows you around for awhile and you will need pads for the discharge. I have scrubbed my hands 3x with a brush and soap and still cant get the smell off!
Andrea said
OK. So I’m not the only one. My period was ending – I was at work. I took the old tampon out and put the new one in at work. I guess my period was about over becuase it didnt go in easy. I had to relax my muscles, and I think I may have put it in too far, the string was shorter. But I didnt worry about it.
I came home and dont remember sing the bathroom at all before I feel asleep in a chair. I went to bed after my 10 year old woke me up. I had to go first thing this morning. I started to take the tampon out, but had to pee so bad I figured I’d wait till I finished. (sorry to be gross, but I want to tell every detail in case someone can advise me). Then I had to poop. After all this, I felt for the string and the thing is gone.
I’m almost not positive I didnt take it out, but about 90 sure I did not – unless I got up from sleep and went to the bathroom – I was extrememly tired last night.
I have tried baring down, squatting – and I did feel a hard fleshy thing come down a bit but it feels like it’s part of my inner vagina.
I’m scared out my mind now. I think I’m going to get a gynocologist. This happened once before years ago – and I never found it – ever. Went to the doctor and he promised nothing was there.
I have sparatic periods so I dont think that’s going to tell me anything.
Any advice? Am I crazy? – from the stories on here – I’m starting to think that this thing really has the capability to disappear – but to where???
Kirsten said
I have to agree with what Lisa wrote! My best friend called me about an hour ago with the same problem everyone on here has had..or close….she got drunk last night had sex with her boyfriend and had forgotten all about her tampon in her drunken stupor. I came over because after hours of her trying to “fish” it out, her vagina was staging a protest and was raw and swollen. I was ready to dive in and help (with the aid of surgical gloves and tweezers) when I decided we should google the situation first and see what we could find, especially since she doesn’t have health insurance.
We scanned all of the advice and she went to the bathroom, sat on the toilet and beared down while reaching in with 2 fingers and TADA!!!! tampon!!!! This worked…so for any of you looking for a way to resolve this issue without having to go to the doctor…there you go! If this doesn’t work…don’t wait weeks and then go to the doctor…go ASAP…don’t risk your vagina!!!!
She is feeling much better even if she does look a bit like a used up porn star from the waist down for the moment!!!
ASF said
Hi, im slightly scared.. yesterday i had a tampon in and i fell asleep around 5pm. I havent been sleeping well the last couple days so I slept for a long time, like 13 HOURS!!! This morning i went to take out my tampon and its GONE.. i felt around for it, but i cant find anything. I put on a pad this time instead of a tampon and im still bleeding.. could i have somehow taken my tampon out and just forgot or is it really up there filled up (its been 15+ hours now) and im just leaking blood still..
Lauren said
Its good to hear this has happened to others. Just went to the dr. today feeling like something was wrong with my bladder (pressure), maybe an infection? Also told her that more disturbing was the stinky bleeding and smell occuring only during sex (a total turnoff)…she puts in the speculum and finds an OLD tampon from 12 days ago…smelling like something dead. How disgusting and embarrassing. She gave me 7 days of antibiotics.
Cindy said
One method to try getting it out is to squat and bear down while searching with your fingers. It will make your vagina a bit shorter.
Katie said
HA! I’m sorry…these posts are just making me smile and making me feel less like an idiot. My husband started complaining of a “smell” yesterday and mentioned it again today after we had sex. (I also was noticing a “funk” about myself.) And I had noticed a brown discharge on the sheets afterwards. The first time I thought I was still just spotting after my period, but today I knew it wasn’t. I’m on my second week of active pills. So we went to the Internet to see if something was wrong with either of us. Among other things, I read that it could be due to a lost tampon. On a whim about ten minutes ago, I decided to go to the restroom just to see if that was the problem. Lo and behold, after shoving the fingers up there, I could feel the tampon and was able to pull it out. SOOOO relieved I didn’t have to go to a doctor or get TSS before I noticed it. Haha… truly, this is *kind of* a humorous, albeit it serious and potentially dangerous, situation. Now debating whether to clue my husband in to my stupidity or not…
Ahhh, the joys of being a woman.
Tami said
LOL!!! I went to the gyno today thinking I just had regular vaginosis but nope…it was a lost tampon. It had been in there for over a month. Just by reading everyone’s posts, I see a similarity here. Maybe we shouldn’t get drunk while on our periods!!! LOL. I have to admit that it was so embarrassing but mainly because my gyno is ridiculously hot
brittan said
Ugh. I wish I could SEE up there. And I wish I could remember! Last month, I read all these horror stories about lost tampons and thought, “Well, I’m DEFINITELY going to keep track of mine!” Except now I can’t remember if I took my tampon out yesterday. It was a really, really busy day (a 6 AM to 2AM kinda day) and I can’t remember where or when I took it out. I used a tampon today and had no trouble inserting or taking it out. I’m still bleeding. I think maybe I took it out, but I didn’t remember anything about yesterday’s tampon until this evening. I tried “feeling around” but, well, I don’t usually stick my fingers up my vagina. I have a general idea of what it “should” feel like but I am not 100% sure if it feels “different” now. I tried to use the mirror to see, but obviously I can’t see in so that isn’t much help. I’m pretty much a super-virgin so it’s really uncomfortable for one finger, much less the ‘move two in a sweeping motion’ recommended action. This is awful. I just wish I could remember. Plus, I’ve never been to a gyno and I really do not want this to be my first visit. So I guess I’ll just…wait…
Lisa said
If you are old enough to have your period you are old enough that you should be going to a gyno regularly to check for cervical cancer, stds and all the other wonderful things that happen to women. Pardon me but this borders on pure stupidity.
Lilla said
I started to get discharge a couple of days ago with blood in it, not fresh. Today I went for a smear test just to get everything checked out. After the smear test I was talking to my mother who asked if I had ever forgotten to remove a tampon. Weirdly during my last period I did have one of those days when I was sure that I had put a tampon in but couldn’t find one, so I just put another one in and didn’t really give it much thought. When I had my smear test the nurse said she did see a lot of mucus which wasn’t normal but couldn’t give me a reason for it. Now I am wondering whether i have a tampon inside me, or would the nurse have definitely seen this, I definitely can’t feel one at all, and I havent noticed any smells?????
Lisa said
OK… I feel better reading everyones notes. I have been on my period for 3 days and thought it smelled like something died. I finally realized: “I wonder if I left a tampon in there last month”. Holy crap… I did. I have been having cramps for weeks. I kept expecting my period to start. I guess I should see the doctor? How embarrasing!
:o( said
I’m really paranoid, I have a horrible feeling that I’ve left a tampon up there. My fingers are too small to reach very far up and I have tried using longer things but I don’t want to end up tearing myself since I am still a virgin. What should I do? Maybe I am just paranoid.
Maggie said
No sex, no boyfriend, none of that fun stuff you other ladies are experiencing, but I still think I might have one stuck. I’ve fished, I’ve checked, I’ve written it off a few times as sleep walking/taking it out wilst I wasn’t quite awake. And it’s been since January (six months). No strong smell, so I’m still not certain there is a problem, but I did stop having periods three months ago (not all that uncommon for me, but all the same). So. I’m back to thinking it might be M.I.A. and that perhaps the dryness and the pain, not to mention the “no-flo” thing might all be part of it. Any idea’s ladies? Doc? Rachael? ‘Cause, uh yeah, I’m not going to go spend $120 (no insurance) with my Doc unless I’m absolutely certain I have to. Yup. Not gonna happen.
Lisa said
Lets see – pain, yes. missing tampon for 5 months, possibly. changes in vaginal condition, yes. No period for 3 months, yes. too cheap to go to the doc, well dear you could have something a lot more serious than a missing tampon. There are so many health concerns and deadly situations that involve the area in concern I just cant see how you can brush it off like that. If there is no smell there is no lost tampon – these things make you smell like a small animal died inside you and is coming out one brown drip at a time. totally disgusting.
How about one of those free clinics?
cherry said
God, you will never know how much all of your stories have helped me this morning. I had been noticing a bad smell for the last couple of days, and for some strange reason last night, whilst watching tv, i suddenly had this sickening thought that I had I left a tampon up there from Friday night! I stuck my fingers up there as far as they would go and sure enough there one was. I got it out with no problems, but had a sleepless night worrying that I could have TSS, although I had only had backaches and headaches for the last 3 days, or had i now made myself infirtile. I am still waiting for a call back from my GP, as I really just want to mention it to him, but all of your stories have really helped me. Does anybody happen to know if this can cause you to be infirtile?
Kalli said
I have a slight abdominal pain and wondering if maybe i left a tampon in before we had sex two weeks ago? Has anyone else experienced pain from this? No smell and no insurance to go to the doctor
cherry said
Hi Kalli
I had a abdominal pain on my left hand side and also, a headache and lower back pain, which I couldnt explain.
If I was you, I would try laying on your back, and seeing if you can fine anything. Once I removed it, the pains went away.
Cherry
Amanda said
I too just had a bout similar to those mentioned above. I kept feeling lower abdominal pain, I also had foul smelling dark red turning to brown discharge after sex and randomly throughout the day. I had finished my period 4 days earlier so I was confused and worried I may have left a tampon in or put another one in shoving the first farther up. I just went in for an exam. The doctor found one lodged up inside of me and my blood pressure was low. I didnt necessarily feel sick, but the smell, the very minor pain and the discharge was enough to be alarmed for me. The doctor said I was very smart in coming in so that I could avoid a “staph” infection that can be linked to TSS. She prescribed me metronidazole and ciprofloxacin (antibiotics) for the possible infection. We will see how things go in the next few days. But please, all of you make sure to get things checked out if you feel different or abnormal, I’m so glad that I did.
amy said
God! Was I ever glad to find this!
My period ended 4 days ago, and two days later, i started spotting, and noticed this horrible odor, that just got stronger and stronger over the next two days. The ’spotting’ changed to this horrible, brownish, thick discharge, and i was starting to become really embarrassed and concerned.
This morning, it occurred to me that it could be a tampon. See, I usually use the super absorbency, but I tend to get horrible cramps. So, when I started this time, I decided to try the regular absorbency. I guess, being used to the larger size, it was easy for me to not feel anything.
I had sex with my boyfriend, the day my period stopped, and neither of us noticed anything.
Thanks so much to all who have commented here, for making me feel, well, not-quite-so-stupid-and-humiliated. Special thanks to Doc Gurley!
Felecia said
I read these “tamponic” episodes and I am so relieved,and grateful that I’m not alone. I felt incredibly stupid, especially since I’m over 40 that I should have known better.I had blamed my fiance for the nasty odor(after sex) and was skeptical if he’d cheated. He was offended that I even suggested that(rightfully so)but I had no other explanation.I had my OMG moment on the potty too, it just “plopped” out. How disgusting.It had to be in there since my last period end of April.This was the most shocking embarrassing thing that has EVER happened to me. I didn’t bother with the gyn because the odor stopped and dr’s tend to over prescribe antibiotics. I feel fine no fever, no headache, and no abdominal pain.I douched this morning (first time since incident)and everything seems ok. Dr. Gurley, would you still suggest antibiotic? If so would doxycycline be okay?
tara robinson said
so heres d story i was ouv it one nite an decided to hav sex but i was so ouv d brains dat i forgot i was going true my mensrual cycle an i had a tampon in but decided to go ahead wit d sex anyway(not remembering)i tink its still up der any ideas how to get it out??im soooo scared
tara dennan said
hi my names tara im so glad to see that other people have gone trough this crisis.i had my period and d last day i taut i had taken my tampon out,i didnt really feel any different but i start noticing a smell i tink it cud be up there a week but i only noticed it 2day ive read the stories written above but i still dont know wat to do its scary!! does anyone know wat i should do iv tried to get it out an i cant,, will i go to the hospital
katelynnk said
Well, I don’t feel so stupid now. I started my period on Thursday of last week it lasted only 2 days so I thought. My husband had a blow up fight and after words we made up and had sex. In the middle I freaked said I forgot to take out my tampon. I checked couldn’t find it he checked nothing there. So I assumed I just forgot to put one in. Well Wednesday I start smelling this awful odor I was spotting a little which I usually do after my period ends so I figured just hormonal imbalance or something so then today it was even worse and even more discharge. I was sitting watching tv when it hit me that maybe I did have a tampon in and I should check again. Sure enough I did. It was so far up I didn’t know if I could get it out I finally dug it out and it was the most horrific odor I have ever smelled in my entire life.My husband and I have had sex 3 times before I found it so I can only imagine how much bacteria is in there. Now I am waiting for tomorrow to call my doctor and admit what I had done and find out what else I need to do.
Felecia said
I’m so happy to be a woman , to find the safety and sanity in our numbers by the willingness of all to be open and vulnerable with discussing something so painfully private.Thanks to everyone who shared a story,no matter how embarrassing your contribution helped someone somewhere.As, for myself I feel fine,relieved, and immensely grateful. No more tampons for me, I’m strictly a “pad” lady after this scary episode. Good luck, and health one and all.
Snickers said
Thanks for all the info ladies! Want to hear my story? Well , here it goes. I am an avid fisherwomen. Two weeks ago I had my period , I was just finishing up when it was time to pack up the camper and the boat and head to the river to do some fishing, I just brought three tampons with me and used them just in case. I got my stuff unpacked, grabbed my beer, changed my tampon ,thinking I better keep one in so I don’t ruin my fancy swimming suit. Later on after a good day of fishing, kids sleeping, had sex with my man, woke up the next day, put one in, and thought I don’t remember taking the other one out? Well, that thought lastest about a millisecond and I was off fishing. Day after day went by ,in the boat, catching lots of fish. Had many friends,family and well deserving employees coming in and out to see us for a little R&R. After 10 days, it had been way to long without gettin a little. So we found the privacy to make a little love and the minute we finished, I’m like, “Honey you seriously need to wash your ass!!, He’s Like,, Whatever!!, its not me!!” “Well it sure the hecks not me, I’ve made it all my life without any problems with a smelly ass or anything else!! Well it turned into this actually funny arguement, the kids are like “Mom what are you guys talking about!!!! I said we are arguing about whose got the stinky butt!!! They laughed. We had been camping a long time and may I brag.. a pretty clean family. I said to my hubby, “Well if it is me, are you going to be like the guy whose wife accidently shits in the hottub and he can never look at her the same and leaves her!! And that was the end, I left for home. I got to the shower, I wondered if it is me??!!! Washed my hair, shaved, and just for the clean of it, I put my finger in there and said OMG, way up there was the foul smelling monster!!!! I got it out!! He was driving home and called. I was so embarassed,but told him anyways. I made it really dramatic, ” I could have died of toxic shock in my sleep!!” I could hear him gag on the other end of the phone. “Well sweety(gag)I am glad(gag) your okay!!!
Well, low and behold, it took a couple days, but LOVE is back in the air,not the smell. On a more serious note, while the tampon was in there I notice my stomach and legs seemed much bigger, swollen, like rapid weight gain. lower back pain, headaches and after I got it out, my body felt like I had just removed a big sliver, very weird discomfort. Today the discomfort was better. but now I have some strange abdominal pain. Do I need antibiotics? I was pretty freaked out from the whole experience, I actually checked to make sure there wasn’t another one up there. Is that possible and I just can’t feel it? If the discomfort doesn’t go away, I am headed to to my Obgyn!! I hope going to doctor even makes a difference after hearing some of the eight month to the doctor stories and not finding anything! Poor things!!! I am just really glad I am not alone, thanks for your stories and if you have any advice, I would be happy to hear it. Oh! by the way, I douched, immediately for the first time in my life, warm water and a little vinegar, I couldn’t live with that odor a second longer. Live well Tampon Trekkies!! P.S. I can’t believe my first reply online is the stuck tampon blogs!! Oh well, still felt good not to be alone. You know what they say, everything is for a reason, Now we know how incredibly good we all do smell on our good days!!! I sure won’t sweat the little stinks anymore and neither will my man. STANKY!!!!
Dumb girl! said
I’m on my period now and lol I went to take my tampon out and couldnt find the string… yea.. so I thought “ok I must have gotten it out sometime before”. The next day (today) I go to put in another tampon and it just doesnt feel right. So I think “ok I’m not messing with this anymore” and I just use a pad. Well I went shopping and stuff and was feeling pain. I went home to find that the tampon had been in there all day!
Improper Joshing » Blog Archive » When the boy has had too much tequila and he is just FURIOUS said
[...] But what’s probably more fun about GoogleBattles.com is the searches other people have tried. Sex vs. feta? “Psoriasis food” vs. “psoriasis diet”? By the way, wang and dong are basically tied at about 100 million hits each. Meanwhile, felch beats “mars bar party” by over half a million. Is there no justice in this world. *** Part Two. Here is a list of women who lost tampons inside of them. Themselves. TSS in the HOUSE! http://womenshealthnews.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/another-lost-tampon-story/ [...]
amanda said
Oh my goodnes! It’s actually 2:00 a.m. now and I just returned from the emergency room, and I just had to come on here and post. Thank you all for your detailed accounts about your tampon scares… boy have I had one!! And now that its over (or so I think) I have to add to the list…
Two nights ago I just got my period right before leaving the house for a party. I put a tampon in and sure enough, I ended up taking a couple shots at the party. Drunk, I changed my tampon at some point, not totally conscience of whether or not I had removed the first one.
Later in the evening I worked endlessly to “fish” it out, as I remembered once before nearly losing a tampon inside of my but just 5 or so minutes of determination did the trick that time. After an hour or so I gave up extremely discouraged, and convinved myself that I simply forgot that I had removed the tampon, though I swore having no recollection.
Yesterday was alright, I had my concerns about what was going on in there, only to continue to ignore my uncomfortability and lack of bleeding–something rare when I have my period.
So finally, today, at work, I began to feel a little uncomfortable again and decided to really do some digging. This just led to more discomfort and a very uneasy mind. Googling the issue led me here where I realized its common nature of a problem and contemptlated visiting the ER or waiting for a more professional/personalized setting gynocologist.
When I got home, I spent two hours searching, hoping for some success like some of you guys, but no such luck. Out of frustration, I went to the ER where after a miserable 4 hour stay, a pelvic exam revealed I in fact, had no sign of a foreign object in there.
The PA suggested an inflamation of the cervix from either an infection from sex or any of what had occurred in the past few days. I am now on two anti-biotics to fight whatever it is that found its way in there, probably all unecessarily caused.
My question is if I should follow up with gynocolist with more expertise? I am at a slight ease of mind knowing an infection is what could have caused my discomfort… but I would truly hate to endure another, otherwise pointless, doctor visit.
Also, should I be alarmed at this infection? Or is it something to be expected with all the unprofessional poking and proding of my own.
Thank you all for the help, I am looking into that divacup… those damn tampons have caused quite a misery for me!
Julissa said
Okay, so I told my boyfriend I was on my period. Clearly he didn’t really care. We tried to do it from the back and instead he found the way into my vaginal hole. It felt great so I didn’t really care. Then once we were finished I noticed we done it through the vaginal hole, I freaked out! I was looking all over the place for my tampon. I even stuck my finger up my hole. I didn’t feel it, I eventually stopped looking for it. I forgot about it. About a couple days later I noticed I’ve been getting a horrible oder and brownish//reddish discharge coming out. So I’m thinking its my period again! So I didn’t really freak out. But the oder was nasty. About 3-4 weeks later, I used the restroom and the tampon that got lost came out! It was so weird, and I was so amazed! Hopefully that was the end of that. So ladies if you have a tampon on… Don’t have sex! Or unless you want to take it out and have a big mess!
Vanessa said
I have been laughing at these stories and feel so much better about my embarrassing story. I got back from the doc today, and I am so embarrassed. About three days ago, I started getting really itchy and I began to notice a really strong odor. I used some yeast infection medicine and its helped before. I put in the ovule and when I pulled out the insert, a thin, yellow liquid came out. I thought it was strange but I had had sex with my husband so I thought it was from that. Two days later, my husband said he felt a weird, dry patch and asked if I had left a tampon in. I said no way and the next day he didn’t notice it. Well, the smell began to get really bad, and it was really itchy. It was keeping me up at night. I thought I had bacterial vaginosis, so I made an appointment with the doc. Well, with the speculum, she found the problem, a tampon. I thought it was just a piece that had broken off, but it was the whole thing. It smelled horrid and I was really embarrassed. The doc was nice, said it happens a lot and is nothing. They tested me for BV and I didn’t have an infection. I wouldn’t be worried about TSS, its extremely rare now days, but you may have an infection, so its worth a doctors visit. Just don’t freak out, its not a big deal, embarrassing, but not a death sentence. I already feel better, the smell is gone, still a little itchy.
Mandi said
My gosh! So, glad to hear these stories!! Just 4 months ago i found out i was pregnant… I had been feeling weak and tired ( normal for pregnancy), but also having severe dizzy spells where i had to sit down and i would have some sort of hot flash!! Eventually, after letting it go thinking it’s just because i’m pregnant- they wanted to do a full exam to see why that wa happening along with the bad odor…what do you know- as some of you said, the whole room smelled awful!! The doctorsaid” miss, i think you lost something” dangling the tampon over me with his forecepts!! I was sooo embarassed..not to mention it must have been there for 5 months at that point!! If i never would have been pregnant- i would have probably never known about that tampon until something very bad may have happened! Of course i’m bad about going to the doctor when something may be wrong, and that’s why my pregnancy helped me a lot- not to mention that was another visit for the check ups i needed- putting off because doctor visits are soo expensive! My hospital charged me over $2000 for that day for a sonogram, pap and removing the tampon and you wonder why i may avoid something like that!! Well, thanks everyone! I really thought i had a rare case there.
Penny said
I’m happy to hear i’m not the only one. I forgot I had a tampon on and just forgot about it until three weeks later I started to get worried and made a doctors appointment for the following week. I decided to check myself one last time before i payed this doctor for something that i can do. I tell you when I pulled it out it had a terrible smell like you would never believe i’m so thankful for this site and that others know what i was going through.
ashley said
Come on ladies,
Im sure everyone learned how to insert a tapon from there mother useing hand motions with a lot of “umms” and “kind of likes” but maybe you werent told that a tampon does not have to be inserted so far up that there is only and inch of the strigh hangin out. i am an industrial desighner and yes they do employ people to design these nessisary sanitary items. the idea of the tampon alpicator is to give to tatical guides that allow you to insert the tapom at the right depth (the lip around the bottom of each part). you should be inserting the tampon while holding the applicator like a doctor holds a suringe, beetween your two fingers with you thumb on the plunger. this position give you a limited range of motion ensuring the person using it is not able to over do it.leave you self some room. the majority of the string shold be exposed tuched safly in your panties.
The women who are forgetting their tampos left and right, get it together! the problem may be that you are using a high aboebacy tapon on your light days so you never actualy fully saturate the tampon. that is the relese mechisim for tampons the full saturation of the menstrial fluids give the tampon the resistanc to friction needed to remove it comfotably, maybe you should try using light pads. they now have the pads which are very slim with the core that collects the discarch and turns it into gel to reduce leaks. this might save you a trip to the E.R. and a $500 doctor bill!
Junebug said
Hi, i feel better knowing i’m not alone! About almost two weeks ago, i was wearing a tampon and went out with some friends. Needless to say, afterwards there was way too much tequila and i ended up getting way too friendly with a guy friend of mine. The next day i was thinking that i must’ve removed the tampon, surely i didn’t have sex with it in?? So starting the next day i started smelling something, and it seemed to get worse each day, i also noticed browninsh spotting which was weird….and today, i decided to check again, let me tell u, it was not easy to find. It was soo far up i barely could pull it out, and it was hard to recognize what it was too (since i’m not used to sticking fingers up there). But i was able to and boy was it nasty, now i’m worried about TSS or something?? No more tequila for me!!
Jennifer said
I was having female issues and thought I had contrated bacterial vaginitis. I went to a new GYN and she thought, after describing my symptoms, that was what I had. During a pap exam, she exclaimed she found my problem! A forgotten tampon. I almost died. It was a new brand, those small Obi or something or other. She said she does see this happen to other women. My mother told me it happend to her once. Glad I’m not alone!
Sandy said
These stories are crazy. I would have never believed a lady wouldn’t know if she had a tampon in or not until it happened to me. I have been married for 15 years and last night I forgot about my tampon and had sex with my husband. It was the very end of my period , I was shopping all day with the kids and totally forgot about it. The strange thing was that the sex was really good. I didn’t realize the tampon was there until I went to the bathroom and then felt a string against my leg . I pulled it and freaked out. It came out fine. But my husband and I couldn’t believe that just happened and neither of us noticed it. We laughed and just can’t figure out where the tampon went and just how far back it must have got pushed. I so glad it was a happy ending for me because it sounds like this mishap could have been allot worse and very painful.
LoubyLoo said
I have just suffered the total embarrassment of visiting the practise nurse to have a ‘lost’ tampon removed….the smell was absolutely putrid….dead rat dosn’t even come close……
The thing has been there for 12 days…..I had no idea. It was embedded under my cervix and curled round the shape of it. I noticed a really bad discharge and smell a few days ago, and the smell just got worse…eventually I had a little feel around when I was in the bath and hey presto, I felt it…..
It did not have a string on it when it was removed so I will be ultra careful in future to check they have strings on them. This has never ever happened to me before ( im in my forties). I have a very active sex life, but neither of us knew it was there, the tampon was so high up I couldn’t feel it. It didn’t hurt to remove it, but the smell was the worst I have ever come across. I was mortified when the nurse said she has to send it off to be tested, luckily the lady doctor said just take swabs from it. It did in fact look like a dead bald rat….
I asked for air freshener and nearly choked us fumigating the room…lol….
The nurse herself lost one for 5 days and says it is more common than you think….and condoms can get stuck up there….and one poor lady had a cap that wouldnt come out….so us ladies dont half go through it….lol… The nurse was lovely and laughed so hard when I kept saying ‘I can I go yet?’ whilst she was doing the paperwork, I practically ran out of there…lol…
Sophia said
This is such a relief to me! My period ended about 2 and a half weeks ago, and for the past 2 weeks, I’ve had the grossest discharge, that even stained black panties. It was freaking me out, and then a few days ago, I started feeling like I had a tampon in, but I wrote it off because I was sure that I couldn’t have left one in. Then, last night, I finally checked, and, ew, I found one. I got pretty anxious because I get worried about TSS when I leave a tampon in for over eight hours. I felt fine, but was sure I was going to die until I found this. Thanks for sharing your experiences.
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[...] Posts How to Do a Pelvic ExamAnother Lost Tampon StoryRepHresh? ReNo.Instead Softcup as a Fertility Aid?Bloody Baby Pictures Banned by [...]
Stephanie. said
I can’t remember whether I put a tampon in this morning or not but it seems unusual for me to forget.
I went to go and change it before only to find that there’s nothing there. I’ve had a bit of a feel around and look down there but there’s no evidence of a tampon.
I have no idea whether it’s lost or not.
Any ideas on a plan of action?
Susanna said
The encouraging part is that you don’t necessarily go into toxic shock right away, or have blood poisoning. Sometimes I’ve found pieces of tampon afterwards that have stuck to the walls when I have pulled the tampon out prematurely. We really should have longer fingers.
Nowadays pads are so good that I’ve switched to them.
The medical info on this thread was really enlightening. Why do you have to come to a site like this to hear it for the first time?
Jaimee said
I recently had a very odd period, ended yesterday… lasted 3 days only (started mid morning on Friday and ended mid day on Sunday; mine usually last 5 days or so), was orange-reddish, not dark red like it usually is, and I had some significantly larger clots than usual (maybe like the size of a pea) with a bit of white mixed in with them, to top it off the cramps were almost unbearable, I was taking 3 extra strength Midol every 3 hours and the scariest part… I averaged about 18 tampons in 3 days, thats 6 tampons in one day.. this coming from a girl who only uses about 2 a day normally… I’m SLIGHTLY spotting today, but not enough to even wear a tampon and its a dark brown..which is the only fairly normal part of this period. Any ideas?
Tiffany said
Ok I am glad I have found my way to this website……… my story is ……… I got extremely drunk last week…..I was at the end of my period…… I know I put in a tampon before going out with this guy. Well to make the long story short…….I basically passed out and next thing I know is he is having sex with me and going down on me…… then I threw up……..and then I remember we had sex again. Next day……..I felt very embarrassed and upset that this occured but I just blamed myself for this crazy behavior and then started to remember that I had a tampon in there………Now I am wondering if he took it out before he had sex with me…..or what……..did he go down on me first and then wouldnt he realize that I had my tampon in there…I dont feel any discomfort at this time. I tried to search up there and I cant find anything. I am scared and embarrassed to talk to anybody about this because it was just totally messed up. I dont want to call this guy because I just want to forget about that whole night ever happened. Any suggestions……
Stacie said
I am at the end of my period and after using a ‘mini’ tampax pearl tampon, half of it is inside of me?? I have felt around like crazy and can not feel or find anything???
I simply pulled the string to remove the tampon and half of it must have broke off during removal???
Help…I don’t know what to do????!!!
Tieshena said
Hello,
I have a similar situation. My period came on Tuesday morning. When I returned home from the doctor with my daughter, I remember removing the tampon and changing it. I also remember that there was only a little bit of blood. Normally when this happens, I just put on a panyliner, until I see the normal flow. However, I don’t remember if I put on another tampon. I really believe I did, because I was going to the gym and I remember thinking to myself. ok put on a tampon so that you can be protected just in case it gets heavy.
I don’t remember if I put one on or was it that I did in fact put one on but did not remove it after the gym. The next morning, my period wasn’t on anymore. It was just that smell and a little streak of blood. So then I started thinking, am I pregnant? It’s weird because I got all of the symptoms I usually get when my period is comming on, but after researching early signs of pregnancy, these symptoms can also be pregnancy related. I also have a weird smell, but I always do at the end of my period.
I am confused as hell!!!! Was this just an abnormal period (which has never happended to me before in life) or am I pregnant but the test didn’t give the right response or is there a tampon stuck in mw that is preventing a true test response, leaving this smell amd stopped my period?
Jilllllllllll said
I was worried for a couple weeks that I had Bacterial Vaginosis because I had sex with someone new and then my discharge started smelling rancid a few days later. It was like something died up there. It was so disgusting and I couldn’t feel sexy at all because of it. My jeans got gross quick…I’ll usually wear them more than once before I wash them. I was even afraid that I might have contracted something worse because this new sex partner had a penis ring and the condom broke and … I just don’t understand why you would have a penis ring unless you have sex with tons of women. When it broke he swore up and down that he didn’t have anything…but I don’t really trust anyone anymore. Kinda sad. Anyways, I had to wait about a month until I saw my gynecologist. My period smelled absolutely WEIRD and AWFUL and I was convinced that I was dying and that I would never be the same again and that I should have never ended the monogamous relationship I had with my ex. That way, I wouldn’t need to deal with possible assholes who didn’t care about whether I got an STD or not. I didn’t think it was possible that I had a tampon stuck up there because I felt around for one even though I didn’t think I’d find anything. The guy didn’t feel anything either.
Anyways, I had my appointment with my gynno the other day…and to our surprise…there it was…a tampon. I think it had to be in there for 2 months. Because my period smelled around the time I made the call to the doctor…and the tampon had to spend more time in there to get that disgusting…it had to be in there from the month previous, and then I didn’t get it taken out until a few days ago. I’m amazed. I was so happy that I wasn’t dying or anything. I kind of felt like shouting out in the streets “IT WAS JUST A STUCK TAMPON!”
lrn said
Tiffany,
OMG, I had the same experience completely! I barely remember the night- I remember hating it and him being so aggressive. My vag was killing me when I came to the next morning, and my seat was completely wet. But I could not find my tampon at all. I fished around with no luck. I couldn’t tell what I was touching anyway, because I was so sore. I was too embarrassed to talk to anyone, though. I didn’t know the guy at all. So, I assumed he must have removed it. While trying to figure out if I drunkenly encouraged him or fought against him- my vagina kept hurting and this smell seemed to be haunting me. I kept having to go pee but I couldn’t, and I was alarmed that my period had just mysteriously stopped after only 3 days.
A full 48 hours later, I woke up in the middle of the night to try and assuage my bladder. It was so sore and painful that it hit me instantly- YES, MY TAMPON WAS LODGED INSIDE ME. It took hours before I finally felt it and even longer before I was able to pull it out ( THE most disgusting thing ever).
This was last night- I’m still sore and having bladder issues. I’m hoping my vagina resolves itself so I don’t have to make the financial and emotional sacrifice of visiting the hospital. Should I seek help?
(The worst part is that I’m GAY, I don’t even like men!)
Laur said
Okay, so after reading all these, i’m so curious. I definitely need some advice. So, last month, I had sex while on the very end of my period, the last few days. We had been drinking and i’m sure I took the tampon out first. But i’m not sure if i put a new one in and we had sex a second time or not. Now, almost a month later, i’ve been going to the doctors. I thought i had a yeast infection due to the irritation around my vagina, I got medicin, but still no relief. Also, the doctor called me yesterday to say that they found bacteria in my urine and put me on a medication for it. Do you think that this could all be caused by a lost tampon, or am i completely exaggerating this?
Nanay said
Hello, I was going crazy because I know i put a tampon on this morning around 9 and I went to school and work. I had to pee while i was at work and i was trying to hold it in for like an hour. when i finally went to pee, i had to bent over bc the bathroom was nasty. i went back to work after a few minute i feel my underwear is wet and I couldn’t find my tampon string. when I come home I look for my tampon and I couldn’t find it and my boyfriend helped me he still couldn’t find it. what should i do? I have no insurance
Debie said
Ok so I read most of these stories…
I didnt get drunk
I didnt forget if i pulled it out…
I guess I did pull and the string broke.. I didnt realize it didnt all come out…
its been there for 2 months….
I started to develop an order, it stunk and to have sex became increasingly painful…
I pee’d all the time, couldnt hold it in
I had the worst bowel movements ever they all hurt… then this morning at 5 am as my new ritual made me
I sat pushing with the worst tummy ache and then a poop came out from where it shouldnt have felt to come out {does that make sence lol}i looked at what was left in the bowl and omfg their it was a friking tampon!
after being grossed out
I have no insurance so I will watch how I feel
BUT
I SWEAR I WILL NEVER WEAR ANOTHER TAMPON AGAIN!
Stay away from them all, for our own health, screw convenience
I dont care if TSS hasnt been around since super absorbency Tampons…
To think the string can break and a chunk of it left inside unknown…
JUST SAY NO THANKS
CJ said
Funny. Alcohol seems to be a culprit in many of these stories. I keep reading them and I’m like, “me too!”
I swear someone needs to develop a Web site and archive these stories forever. I had the same issue… alcohol, and over zealous boyfriend and a faulty memory.
The tampon showed up 4 days later. I think excersizing helped a great deal. Stretching too. My god the horror but thank God for the WB cells.
tennd said
I’m in my 50’s and had my period since I was 10, used tampons since then, I usually just feel around and pull. I did remember several times in previous months feeling for a string, and then checking with my finger. Not finding one, and thinking oh yaaa its always very light, and I wear a small pad, I must have removed it. I use the mini ones because my period is so light.
It started about 2 months ago. My stomach was getting very bloated and I had constant IBS symptoms. I felt like I was pregnant, I peed all the time in dribbles, cramped and continually felt more and more fatigued.
At about 5am yesterday, I woke up with what I thought was food poisoning. Nauseas I ran to the bathroom and evacuated my bowel very fast in EXTREME pain. Grabbing for the pail to puke, I didn’t, but I felt like I was gonna die. I had chills, I was freezing and shaking. My husband said see if I can go back to sleep. I laid in bed feeling like death.
About one hour after that I ran back to the bathroom and dribbled a pee, and when I wiped I felt a string. A STRING?!?!?! My period was over for a week, and had no recollection of a search for a string this period. I pulled out a OMG..tampon (if you can call it that). I can’t flush them where I live so I took a look at the diseased thing in disbelief. I am thinking it was in for 2 months.
I will NEVER use tampons again. It’s been a day, and I feel so much better.
I am so happy to find this site and know I am not alone.
allison said
i’m probably overreacting, but i think i lost a tampon. my fiance checked and didnt feel anything weird up there, and i dont have any feelings of sickness/discomfort. since neither of us felt anything strange should i just assume i did take it out and forgot?
Hanna said
So, I’m 16 and I remember putting my tampon in before swim practice.
At swim practice we did ab work/ jumping drills before we swam.
To make sure my tampon string was hidden before I took my shorts off I went in the bathroom…to discover my tampon was gone.
Now I’m not sure if I put another one in..cause when I went to the bathroom later that night I saw a tampon sitting on the bathtub ledge…which means I could have put it there and forgot to put it in.
But I am pretty sure I put it in… I’m just not 100 precent positive.
I think I remember wiping and then putting it in..
So, I’m going to the gyno tomorrow and getting it removed..if theres one in there.
I will feel totally stupid if I don’t have one in there.
I’ve been crying all day because I’ve been reaching up there for 2 hours trying to find one…but I can’t.
I’m scared, I don’t want to have a doctor looking at my vagina…
thats awkward as hell…
what happens if my vagina is like deformed er nasty? I don’t want anyone to see it!
argh.
what do i do?
Hanna said
I mean! Should I wait for it to come out?
or go to the Doctor.
Amy said
I’m 16 too… I remember putting a tampon in yesterday before school. I’ve been really stressed and busy, and extremely tired. Last night I was watching a movie and I fell asleep. I remember going to bed pretty vaguely. I woke up really late this morning and suddenly remembered my tampon! I went to the toilet expecting it to be there and it’s freaking not!!! I know that I could have maybe taken it out last night when I got ready for bed… But I really cannot remember =( I don’t know what to do. I remember taking one out… But I cant think if it was yesterday or the day before. What should I do??? I’ve had a tampon almost get lost before, but I found it. This tampon is seriously not up there! Plus my period has completely stopped. It was due to stop butnot so suddenly like it has. There is not a sign of blood. Plus I have no discomfort. I’m pretty worried.. and I seriously don’t want to go to the doctor =( Please help
:(:(
Hanna said
Same here! I can’t find mine but i KNOW i put one in, and I’m not a part of a doctor so I have to go to the ER tomorrow even though I put it in a couple of days ago.
And if I didn’t put one in I am going to feel stupid
ashley said
last night i went to sleep and i went to change my tampon this morning and it wasnt there should i be worried?
;( said
it amazes me there’s like eight hundred stories about this yet i’ve never heard of it happening until i thought it happened to me.
i went to bed last night and i remember having a tampon in but i’m not entirely sure whether or not i did. anyway, i got a phone call the next morning so i got up and i put them on hold while i went to the bathroom. i don’t remember taking it out and i put another tampon in so it just got pushed up in there further. i had a mini panic attack and started feeling around and i’m not even entirely sure what it’s supposed to feel like to begin with so i’m freaking out. i’m like uber virgin so stuffing two fingers up there to do some “fishing” is out of the question. my abdomen hurts and my period is normally very heavy but my flow has randomly stopped and it’s only the third day. i’m only seventeen and i’ve never been to a gyno before but it looks like i’m going to have to go just to be sure. how horrific, i’m never using tampons again.
sheron said
somebody somewhere on this site asked if there were some exercises you could do if you thought you had left a tampon in situ! Apologies if someone has already replied on this but I didn’t read all the posts (3 hours later)! Well basically, you have to do what you would do if you were delivering a baby and that is to bear down using your back muscles like you have constipation. Try not to give your self piles (heamorroids?) in the process though! Good luck – it does work – after all lots of babies are born – not smelly with strings attached though lol
noel said
I was so relieved and felt alot better after finding this website and reading alot of stories…i went to the emergency room today bcuz i figured that i had a bacterial infection again. im 5 months pregnant and had had a pap smear 2 months ago when i first found out i had one. ive been having a horrible odor and discharge. well they did another pap smear and told me that they had found and took out a tampon! i couldnt believe it i told them i hadnt had my period since the beginning of may cuz im pregnant. they were pretty mean about it and i felt really bad and embarrased. i couldnt figure out how i could have left one in and not noticed especially after 5 months and how 2 months ago when i had a pap smear they hadnt noticed it. im so glad tho to no im not the only one and that i didnt get tss. now i no why i would get sharp pains sometimes after sex. and why the odor wouldnt go away.
glad im not alone in this said
Wow sooooo glad i found this site. I had noticed a discharge and foul smell for a couple MONTHS,,,,im a single mom working full time and going to school full time, no time for dr visits. So i put it off and off until I started bleeding while having sex. So finally i made an appointment. I went in today, i thought it was simply bacterial vaginosis, the dr wanted to do a pelvic exam just to be sure,,,,,so as soon as she started she said problem found, i was like huh? And she said i had a tampon lodged way up around my cervix. So now im on antibiotics to be on the safe side. I do remember going to change my tampon about 3 months ago and it wasnt there, i just assumed i had removed it and didnt realize i did. Wrong. I feel so lucky that i didnt end up with some horrible horrible infection. I was mortified but she reassured me that im not the first woman this has happened to and i certainly wont be the last, reading these messages has definately made me feel better that im not alone in this.
Karen said
This site helped me figure out the problem I was having! In early August, right after sex with my husband, I had discharge with the most foul odor either of us had ever smelled in our lives–something like poop mixed with hormones and a dead animal smell. … Needless to say, it freaked us out, and my immediate thought was that I might have some horrible tumor or cancer. But I had just had a Well Woman exam two weeks before, and everything was fine. I called my ob-gyn, and she said maybe it was hormonal (I’m 46) and to wait it out and see if I had further symptoms. The next symptom I had was when I got my August period and it smelled awful, too. I also was having periodic discharge with the same smell. I started Googling and found this website, and did a self-exam to see if it could be a lost tampon. I didn’t find anything the first time. Meanwhile, my husband worked up the nerve to have sex with me again, and once again I had the same horrible odor and discharge right after sex. Then, my September period smelled the same way. I called my ob-gyn again, and they scheduled a biopsy and sonogram. A few days prior to the appointment, I did another self-exam, and this time I found it–the lost tampon–wrapped up in a fold of skin. It was the most horrible, nasty, stinky thing … I wrapped it in two plastic bags and immediately took it outside to the trash!!!! I figured out it had been there since late July–between the time I had my Well Woman exam and the occasion when my husband and I first noticed the foul odor. I called my ob-gyn’s office again to tell them the outcome. They said that infections are common after discovering a lost tampon, and to come in if I had any symptoms. But fortunately it cleared up and the odor was gone within a week. I did douche a couple of times, which they advise against doing, but I didn’t have any further problems. … I know it’s gross to talk about, but we should spread the word to our women-friends, because it obviously happens more often than you would think. A lot of women would be relieved to know it could be such a silly, simple thing, before they spend a lot of money on expensive diagnostic tests. Thank you, everyone who shared their experience on this site!
Elle said
Wow… I am so relieved to know that I am not the only person that has lost a tampon. I used a small light tampon as my period was finishing. I had dranken one night, and had sex. I totally thought that I had taken the tampon out. I noticed a foul odour, but thought that it was just because I had finished my period. Two weeks later, I was dress shopping with the girls, and got a horrible whiff of something in my change room. Later on that evening I had realized that I was the cause of this smell. I thought it was a forgotten tampon, but when I tried to search for it, I found nothing. I tried the next day, and there it was. The smell was sooo bad, even my underware smelt bad. I showered and took baths constantly afterwards, and the smell disappeared within 5 days.
ZoeD said
Ok…So I would swear on anything that I put a tampon in yeserday afternoon, but when I got home last night I couldn’t find one. I reached in and felt around, etc, no tampon. So my husband says I must not have put one in. I’m “know” I did. So then he fishes around, and says it’s not there. So I try to put a tampon on and it doesn’t want to go in. After a few minutes, I think screw it and go to bed. But I got up this morning thinking I know I put one in yesterday, so I fish around some more, my husband fishes around even more…So I think theres one in there, he says there isn’t. I can kinda feel something, but he says its from over fishing around…So I guess I will wait…I will be absolutely mortified and upset with myself if I start having a foul oder the next few days…thanks for letting me vent about this.
Mary said
My situation: Like many of you, I had forgotten whether or not I removed my tampon after a night of drinking and STARTED to have sex with my boyfriend. It dawned on me that I should probably go check before going any further so I ran to the toilet but did not see/feel anything. I feel stupid asking but would it require my boyfriend to be fully inserted in order for my tampon to get lost? I was worried so I didn’t have sex for about a week, hoping if there was a tampon, it would eject itself. Again, I felt nothing. It’s been nearly a month and I’m about to start my period again. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been feeling sharp pains in my abdomen.. especially during sex. The only thing different about my situation is I haven’t noticed any foul odors. I don’t know if I’m being hypersensitive and just suffering from indigestion.. but I’d like to know how easy or difficult it is to wedge a tampon up into the cervix.
SarahRyan said
I NEED ADVICE PLEASE!
Thanks for posting all your stories you made me feel much better! Yesterday around 7.30pm I thought I changed my tampon but then at around 12pm there was blood all over my legs. I’m towards the end of my period so it’s possible that there had been no blood before that. I was only lying on the couch during that time so I assume it didnt go anywhere. I immediately checked and couldnt see or feel anything. I then decided to put another tampon in slowly to see if it would meet the possible old one and it went in very easily – i was careful to use no force as this was how I found a missing tampon before. I vaguely remember taking one out and its possible I didn’t put another in as my tampons aren’t kept in that bathroom. However I asked someone about it and they freaked out saying I have to go straight to ER but the more I think about it the less I think there’s one in there. Is it ok to leave it for now and go to the doc if there’s a bad smell? Thanks!!
Ashley said
Thankfully, all of these stories (I don’t like to call them “horror” stories; it just sounds scary) sound slightly similar to mine, so I feel a little reassured and not so embarrassed about mine.
My story goes like this though. Almost more then 2 weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were at his house after we went out to eat. After a few drinks (and a blaze or two..shhh!), we began to get…freaky (but not completly yet). I, of course, was on my period at the time too, and I told him this, but he said he didn’t care and we could just go in the shower and do it. I checked real quick to see if my tampon was still in there, but I didn’t feel or see a string so figured i’d already taken it out, and obviously since I was a little intoxicated, I didn’t really care to double check…and to this day, i’m still not sure if it was out or not.
Well, since those 2 weeks have went by (I figured my period had stopped, since I should have been at the end of my cycle when we intially had sex that one time), my boyfriend and I have continued to do what we always do, and progressively, my vagina has started to smell more and more as the days have gone by, and now it smells like there’s a dead animal inside me or something. it’s disgusting. and not only that, but today I feel almost sick and fatigued, and I have horrible cramps. For awhile, I thought maybe I had a bacterial infection or something, but the smell definitely isn’t a fishy smell. its a RANK death smell.
I’m worried that I might get more sick if I don’t get it checked, but I have no way of making an appointment soon, and I’ve already tried seeing if anything is up there, but I can’t reach far enough. What should I do? Will I die????
Ashley said
btw, I know i’m not going to die, idk why I said that…But, i’m pretty sure I do have a tampon up in there, after reading all these stories that sound almost identical to mine. I’m just glad that I don’t have some sort of STD or that bacterial vaginosis thing that I thought I had…
Karen said
To Ashley – My advice is to do another self-exam … the smell you described sounds just like what I went through, and it was a lost tampon. You may not find it the first time (I didn’t either), but the cheapest thing to do would be to try again.
Theresa said
My story is similar to Rachel’s. Long story short…I ended up going to ER after being concerned about the rotten smell along with brown blood and not knowing why. It got taken out and that was it. I felt like a big deal to me, was not a big deal to them. I probably expected some testing done or antibiotics for some kind of infection if any found. I walked out in pain and felt lost, not taken care of, afraid and wondering about an infection. I followed up with my doctor and she told me everything was good. A few months later, it was time for my pap test and she gave the news of having high numbers with cervical cancerous cells without knowing the stage of it. I was referred to a specialist to have a LEEP procedure done and it was right on time. After that I had to have frequent paps done and they were always negative. For the following year and a half, I kept complaining to my Doctor about excessive bleeding with clots during periods that I wouldn’t even bother planning going anywhere. I had to change doctors do to moving and I started my nag with my new doctor even though my pas would negative, I felt this was not normal. She finally said that I should see a specialist to maybe be put on a method for less periods a year or what ever the specialist would recommend. Before my first visit, I started bleeding between periods and it was a weird bleeding. My scare came back because I googled it up and found out this could be due to cancer. I called the specialist before I even met her to give her heads up on what kind of exams she may want to do. She did a pap, urine exam and because of the results from the urine test, she decided to do a biopsy way higher than where the pap can go. Three day later I get a call from her stating that my pap was very normal but that my biopsy was showing endometrial cancer and that she was sorry she could not tell me what was the stage of it until after my radical hysterectomy. My surgery was two weeks after and to me, it was like for ever. The tumor was almost where the cervix ends and the doctor was surprised because she thought the problem was in the uterus. There was a lot to celebrate after getting the pathology results back and all the struggle about healing afterwards, was worth it because the healing part ( I had a lot of trouble with healing that I had to get a second surgery ) is another long story. I had this done two years ago at age of 35. Sometimes you just have to listen to your body and even if its just to make sure there is nothing wrong (peace of mind). Take care of your self and each other….
Theresa said
I think that the tampon’s string should be strong enough not to fall or just avoid them. I also don’t think tampons give you cancer, but the miss use of them. Stuck waters will always grow bacteria and a lost tampon does not allow your body to clean itself.
mel said
omg.. i’ve been usin tampax for 3 yrs since started. Never have i ever lost one.. ever! Had a drink one nite.. well a bit too much (which i’ve done b4 with a tampax) then go home then went toilet for pee ( always renew after pee most times) then me and boyfriend .. well one thing leads to enother (thinking im jus about off now anyway). Then in mornin, i just could not remember if i took it out or not. So straight away got a mirror lol, had a look .. nothing there. well i was so happy because i really was freaking out. BUT then TWO days later i really was so sick because of the most nasty horrible smelly smell i have never ever had in my young life. So then it came back to me ( did i take that tampax out) omg, ran 4 the mirror and…. there it was after a little look. Oh i feel so sick when i saw it i puked… but i felt so much better as i was a bit sore. Now i no why! Really dont want to use them ever again!
mishi said
It all started with having sex a few days after my period…sex with my boyfriend that is and he went down on me and stopped suddenly….i thought nothing of and we carried on having sexual intercourse…while we were busy i smelt the most horriffic smell and it couldnt have come from him I knew this. We then stopped and I asked him what the smell was and he said it was me which is why he couldnt carry on down there earlier! I was so embarrassed….thought it was just a one time thing or something. for the next week i began discharging like once a day and it smelt like rotten fish!…..i would shower like 10 times a day and eventually looked it up on the internet thinking I had some infection. Tried to get an appointment with the doctor but she was never available. So today I go to the loo and put my finger up there to try and see if I can feel anything different coz of the infection I must have and lo and behoold a bloody smelly tampon! It took a couple of minutes to pull it out but OMG how disgusting! Not too sure if I still gotta go to doctors but just to be safe I think it would be wise. Thank goodness Its not something else more serious Im definately relieved!
Angela said
Just had baby #2 five months ago and my period has been a little screwy ever since. Here one minute gone the next but NEVER accompanied by an horrific smell until this month. I’ve been passing almost blackish colored blood ever since day one. I knew something wasn’t right but I somehow convinced myself that it was probably something postpardom related and would resolve itself (sounds pretty ignorant; I know!). I could no longer take the revolting smell so I decided to consult the ever-so-helpful www and came across this site. After reading a few stories I was convinced that a LT was the culprit. BINGO! Except this was a game that I wanted to play and I certainly didn’t come away with a prize that I proud of! So here’s Angela lost tampon removal method:
1. Drink Heavily (I’m not kidding! Smelly, horrible, disgusting, funky does not begin to describe the smell that’s about to envelope your nostrils!!!) Be prepared.
2. If you have any Vics chest run (yes the stuff for colds your mama put on you when you were little), coat your nostrils in it!
3. Lift your toilet lid and leave it open with you get in the shower.
3. Squat down on the shower floor with your tush between your ankles.
***If you have a seperate shower with a glass door, leave it open! You’ll thank me later:)
4. Fish around til you find it. If you’ve got my kinda luck then chances are it’s around a corner, under fold and hinding! Don’t give up…keep feeling your way around, you’ll know exactly what it is when you find it.
5. CLOSE YOUR EYES and pull with all your might! Took me several attempts. Don’t open your eyes until it’s out. Even then DON’T look at it!!! It’s not worth it…I promise!
6. Put it directly in the toilet and flush but don’t close the toilet lid or the smell with stay trapped in there til your husband goes to use the bathroom and comes out gagging:)
7. Wash yourself
8. Continue drinking and try not to ever think about it again.
***It’s been about and hour since I removed it and I stil can’t get the smell off my hands. I’ve tried washing them with bath soap, body wash, shampoo, dish soap, laundry detergent, bleach and even douced them in Febreeze but I can still smell traces of it!
I just keep shaking my head and thinking that I might laugh about this one day…
Lindsey said
Those wretched pearl tampons are the devil. Do not buy them unless you want to constantly worry about piece of them coming off inside of you! Several other people mentioned the pearls leaving pieces inside of them, too. Just last night I pulled mine out and it looked deformed like the top part had ripped off! I’m really pissed and really worried. Don’t have money for the doctor so I guess I’ll just wait and see if it comes out on its own. Also, that story about the stench at the chick’s office and then passing out with the nasty tampon in her hand and a coworker finding her was just about the most hysterical thing I’ve ever read!
dana said
After reading all these stories, I feel a lot better… I had drunken sex about a month ago with this guy who I hook up with often.. For the past 2 weeks I’ve been experiencing all of those symptoms (smell, discharge etc.) that ive just been SO SO embarrassed… ive never even been to the gyno before (im 19) and i just wasnt comfortable with going, I thought I had BV and i read it could go away on it’s own so i just left it.. i washed with antibacterial soap and all that stuff… finally today i got the nerve to call the doctor and go… she was like THERES A TAMPON IN THERE… and the tampon DID in fact cause BV because obviously, it was in there for a whole month. i was totally mortified the smell was terrrrible but i am so so happy because the smell was smelling uppp my dorm room and everyone noticed. i am so relieved!
cindy said
What a relief to read everyone’s stories. And some of them are hilarious too. After smelling this horrific smell for the last three days, and having absolutely no idea why I smelled so bad, I decided to by a douche and some special women’s soap. I quickly realized when I was douching that there was something horrible festering in there, and I immediately googled my problem. It took about 30 seconds for me to realize that I had a tampon jammed up there and quickly pulled it out. It was the most godawful thing I’ve ever seen. How did I do this? I remembered putting in a tampon a few days before and thinking that I hadn’t removed the prior one, as just a passing thought. I should have checked to be sure…wow…it’s so scary how many women have experienced this, and I imagine that very few women experience it more than once!
Thanks to all for making the rest of us feel better
nanay said
I still need help, its been two month since i couldn’t find my tampon, i went two different nurse practitioners and i had a pap smear and they couldn’t find the tampons. i was diagnose BV, WHICH IS BACTERIAL VAGINA infections. symptom include fishy smell and gray discharge, i took medication for it and i still smell like fish. I’m so embarrass i don’t know what to do. Iam a very clean person take shower at least twice per day. Does anybody have an idea what should i do
not sure said
Hello everyone. I agree that all these stories are helpful. I always get my period over the weekend, as that is when my sugar pills fall, and I usually drink on the weekends. Well, it’s been two months since I last got my period (due to the particular pill i’m on, this is normal), but that last tampon I don’t remember taking out but figured I did before bed and just didn’t remember. Anyways, I have felt around up there and I don’t think there is one, but not sure. Thought I might have felt one once but then it feels like it’s just part of my vagina. I have had none of the symptoms some of you had mentioned- discharge, smell, etc. If it’s been two months since a tampon COULD have been left in and I have no discharge or smell, does that mean that I most likely do not have one up there? Or could you not have any symptoms and still possibly have one stuck? Just not sure, any thoughts?
TessErin said
I just recently found two tampons and I’m freaked. My last period was round October 15. I’m kind of scared about it. I’m 18 and have been using tampons for years but I’ve never found one weeks later let alone two!
I’m scared. I’m not sure if I should tell my mom. And if I should, I won’t really have a chance until tomorrow night. I don’t know if there is reason for concern or not.
PLEASE give me advice on what I should do.
liza said
Sooo I came across this page looking for health advice because I just went to “pleasure” myself and stumbled upon a tampon stuck horizontally inside of me. After realizing what it was and getting it out I was so surprised. It had been in for five days and I had had sex with it in without knowing. There was no pain during sex and there was no smell so I was lucky, but I felt so dumb…and worried. After reading these though I feel tons better. I can’t believe more people aren’t aware this happens if its so common… I feel like I should have been briefed in middle school or something…lol
Sade said
LOL Wow so this site made me feel so much better. A few weeks ago I was having a wierd spottign and pain in my stomach. Then I started to get a terrible smell lol and Liek the other woman said lieka dead rat. i was like omg what the hell im dying. Went to the doctor today scared ass all hell for her to be like do you know you have a tampon in lol it was stuck sideways in there for weeks I had no idea. She said no sex for 2 weeks and to come back for a checkup in 3. Never knew this could happen i wish I found this site b4 I got embaressed lol. Im using pads form now on.
Beth said
Well, I was a bit relieved but frightened when I stumbled across this site. My last period was two weeks ago. I try to be really careful to always remember to remove used tampons before inserting new ones after finding two strings one time. I was very lucky, I removed both with no problem. But my worry began on my last day of my period two weeks ago when I went to insert a slimfit and when I did, i felt a very sharp pain, almost as if the tampon had gone all the way up to my abdomen (even though I know it can’t). Well several hours later, I removed that one and didn’t really feel any discomfort. Two days later, I had intercourse and asked my partner if he felt anything because I was still worried. He said no, so I figured I was probably okay. Well the next day, I started to get bladder infection symptoms, (I know this well because I have had many in the past) pressure, frequent urination, etc. I took 7 days of antibiotics and although I feel a little better, I am now experiencing a unique odor. An odor that I don’t normally smell. It makes me want to cross my legs and I wonder if others can smell it. It does not smell like death or anything like that, but it is a bit unpleasant because I don’t want ANY odor down there. It just is very noticeable to me. Anyway, the smell has been there the past 3 days. I was wondering if instead of a lost tampon it might be an imbalance from the antibiotics. I typically get yeast infections when taking antibiotics but this time I don’t itch and I don’t really have any unusual discharge. I am not having any cramps or brown discharge. So can this still be a lost tampon or something from the antibiotics or a still uncured UTI? Thanks so much for your input!!
Leslie said
so this site is both refreshing and scary… i had a lot to drink the other night.. and i ended up having sex with a good friend of mine… i am so worried about it because i am almost positive that i had a tampon in during intercourse unless i removed it while i was very intoxicated.. i’ve tried hard to find it, but i really dont feel anything.. its only been a few days.. i’ve been experiencing a stomach ache, but i think i might just be working myself up… im so embarraced of the situation, but does anyone have any advise on how to reach it if it is sideways? i have never felt around before all this, so i dont really know what normal is.. i just dont want anything bad to happen because of it.. i just recently moved so i dont even have a doctor around here so i’m not sure what to do
Mia said
OK. I like to use those little O.B. tampons and I guess I had forgotten I put one in. I haven’t had my period in 2 weeks. Anyway, I was with a guy last night and while fingering me, he asked if I had anything in “there.” I said, “no,” that he was probably just feeling a part of my anatomy (like perhaps cervix I was thinking), but he had me stick my finger in there and I could feel something. I excused myself to the bathroom only to pull out an old tampon. I tried to play it off, but was mortified. I need to keep better track of these things.
E said
Oh, my, goodness. I feel a hundred times better after reading this.
I’m a bit of a hypochondriac and every time I use tampons I feel that I am constantly aware of myself on the offchance that I may well get some form of TSS. I know the symptoms intimately as I memorised them in case it would happen.
I used a pearl tampon yesterday afternoon and forgot about it until 2 this morning: it must have been in there around 10-12 hours. Eugh. When I removed it, the top looked frayed and it did look shorter than they normally look when I remove them (as it’s an applicator, I don’t know what they look like when I put them in…), but I couldn’t be sure as I’d never used this absorbency before. I normally use normal tampons, but I’d borrowed this one from a friend so wasn’t entiiirely sure what it should look like. I had a guddle around but I have stupidly small hands and no boyfriend to ask for help (though whether he’d help me if I did is a whole nother issue entirely) so I couldn’t find anything. I’m not sure what it should feel like, either! I freaked out and have been checking for a fever all day in case of TSS (arg, no sign of it yet). Have been googling this kind of thing all afternoon and after reading this whole page I am feeling relieved. I am horrifically squeamish and have no intention of going to the doctor unless I have some kind of adverse reaction in the next few days. If I was right, though, I am not looking forward to “giving birth” to the tip of that tampon…
Thank you for making me laugh, I am far less worried! Hope the problems resolve themselves
Heather said
this exact thing happened to me this morning. it looks like you received some sort of answer. can you tell me what happened? i’m freaking out!!!
E said
Nothing – it was fine! I examined all the tampons I used from then on and they always look slightly frayed at the end.
Lila said
I think that I will become a record setter here, unfortunately for me.
2 month ago my daughter went into hospital and had a surgery and it all was overall very stressful experience for all of us. While she was still there I got my period and after that the nightmare of black discharge with the horrid smell. I blamed it on stress, I thought that something is going on with my hormonal balance. I tried to make an appointment with my doc but she was backed up for awhile and I was crazy with 3 toddlers and only finally got my GYN appointment set for today. Last night I was searching the info about smelly, dark discharge on the Internet and came across this topic. Today I explained everything to my and told her, that I suspect that this could be an old tampon issue, but she replied, that she’d smell me all the way from the hallway if it was. As soon as we got to the exam part she said: “You know, you were right, there’s a tampon there!” and looked in my papers and said: “Your period was only a week ago, so it’s not too old”, and I said, that I’m pretty sure that this one is from September…
The bottom line is that I got very lucky – no infection and even with that our sex life wasn’t so bad :0)))
But it’s all very embarrassing anyway. I decided not to tell to my husband what really happened.
Tracy said
well now i dont feel as much of an idiot as i did before. Ended my period 1 1/2 weeks ago… apparently forgot to take my last tampon out, or put another one in and pushed one farther up and dont remember. I dont know.. anyways.. got drunk and ended up having sex with one of my best friends after his frat party. All during sex I noticed a really bad smell, and didnt know if it was me or him, but noticed slight bleeding afterwords and some discharge. I credited the bleeding with the soreness- him being well endowed. The discharge because it was right after my period. Well last night I got into the bathtub and noticed something a lil off… fished around.. and found a week and a half old tampon that smelled HORRIBLE! Freaked out and slightly embarrassed now… Was worried about TSS but no symptoms thus far- still wondering if I should tell him… im sure he was wondering what the smell was too…. SO EMBARRASSING!
nicole said
ok so here is my delima had a baby by c-sec 10wks ago went in for check up at 7wks did pap came back perfect made me wait 2 more wks to get iud do to unprot sex so about 2 days or so later started my period and on last day had sex hurt so bad i stopped then went for iud hurt going in 2 days later up all night puking headache and pain called went in they took it out thinkn i rejected it they swabbed me and sent me home with pain meds next day started gushn blood never bleed so bad went to er with horrific pain did pelvic screamed and cussed they did a ct and blood work thinkn they would find the bv hadnt startd the antib yet the nurse came in said no infects i thought that was strange and then came back askn if i had a tampon in cus the ct tech had askedi said no but then told her i really dont remember if i took out the last 1 so they didnt give me any answers said it was a bad yr for me and it was poss a blod clot sent me home with pain meds again and didnt mention anything else about a tampon this was about a wk ago still suffern bad pains stomach is swollen takn antib and not going away so now im wondern if it is possible they could have did 2 exams and put in an iud and this whole time ive had a tampon stuck cus y did they ask me that unless if it was a thought that was what it could of been and not a blood clot i have a nasty smell and bad pains like a cyst or infect in my tubes or something now am kinda havn that feeln u get if u put in a tampon and ur not bleedn enough to wear it or take it out to soon help i cant handle this pain anymore
nicole said
oh yeah they called after iud came out sayn i had a bv infec and gave me antib but hosp never found 1 even though i hadnt started them yet
nicole said
oh yeah they called after the iud came out and said they found a bv infect
Rose said
I had a really bad smelly vagina gor weeks and my mother thought it was thursh.
I had no idea what it was since i was having two showers a day.
Today I was sitting in my underwear on the floor legs crossed.
I suddenly noticed a string i puled it out and it was covered in this white stuff.
It smelt so bad.
IT wouldve been in there for 3-4 weeks.
Im Really scared i have TSS.
What Should I do?
ARRGH!
justagirl said
To Rose,
I would go to the doctor. Though some of these people say that they left their tampon in for months and then laugh it off as a joke, its not. Since its sounds like you can talk to your mother about, do so and then go to a doctor. If you are scared of the OBGYN or the emergency room, then go to a general practitioner(your family doctor) if you have one, and let them check on you. It sounds like the safest option. If it is smelly and white, that means that there is an infection and the your body was trying to fight it off right? That sounds like you need to go to the doctor. I am not an expert in any way, only an 18 year old girl. This site has made me feel better since just this morning I realized that I had left my tampon in about 14 hours. I freaked out at first, talked to my sister and she told me to relax, that a few hours isn’t a big deal but a few days is. I am still going to keep watch to check if I get symptoms. I am sure that I won’t but I am still going to be careful. These online people may make you feel better, but many of them find this stuff, not to be a joke neccessarily, but they don’t seem to realize the gravity their issues, they just basically say, well that sucked, also you don’t know the outcome of these people’s stories because these things just happened to them, they just pulled out their tampons, and think well that is the end of that. Everything is hear say, you don’t know these people, and everything I say is hear say because you don’t know me and you don’t have to take my advice. But i would say to use more common sense, look for symptoms, ask your mother, and go to the doctor. If you go to the doctor and are completely fine they you will know that for sure, which will ease your mind more than this site.
( I promise that I am not judging anyone, and your stories helped to make me feel more comfortable and I am glad that everyone shared their stories, but I think that most of you will agree that if she can go to the doctor, it would be in her best interest to do so.
jessica said
Last night I was with my bf and we had sex and i forgot to take my tampon out and i try to reach it but i cant find it… what can i do? pls help me
Jason said
As a thirt-two-year-old hetero male, I thought my threshold for tolerance of gynecological detail was pretty high. When I get done typing this, I’m going to collapse on the floor of my closet, curl into a fetal position, and whimper mindlessly to myself for at least twelve hours.
Kay said
Fuck off Jason.
anon said
omg
glad im not the only daft1
a few months back i was really drunk. i thought i had taken my tampon out and me and my bf had rough sex(very drunk) the next day we had sex again. by the following day there was a terrible smell(i was still on my period so continued to insert other tampons)by the next morning the smell was awful. i said to my boyfriend who agreed(i never smell down there and my bf says i have the cleanest he has known)anyway he tried to find it as i have a phobia about the feeling ov the inside ov my vagina
nothing!! so reluctantly went to uni and carried on my day still using tampons. omg the smell when i went to the toilet was awful(this was b4 i even took anytampons out(it hit u like pooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww<lol thats the only way i can explain it
so i went home asked my bf to look again
1 hour, me screamng coz he was poking about that much and hurrayyyy out he pulled a tampon….the smell was the worst smell i had ever smelt. awful. like death. the smell stayed for hours honestly
it was such a relief
needless t say ive never used them since
dont wana risk tht again
Lynne Cordero said
Oh I sure am glad I stumbled across this while googling. I usually have heavy periods, on and off, this one was particularly heavy, and in these cases I always use the “super absorbancy Tampax”. Well, I was inserting one today in the midst of being rushed, and lo and behold, I shoved the thing so far up there, the string also got tangled at the top. Now for those who think I can just reach my little fingers up there, lock hold, and pull, well I tried this, and let me just say, it has been sucked into the abyss. Does anyone have any ideas? I have no car, and am not about to call an ambulance or cab to the emergency room late at night for something like this. Maybe tweezers? Thanks
Susanna said
Jason, why are you and the other men here reading this? I’m not saying you shouldn’t, but what’s the attraction? Is this a user’s manual? Did you expect postings of vagina photos?
Christina said
Wow thank god for this blog!! I went to my doc 8 days ago because of an odour that I noticed right after my period ended…. I was mega paranoid that I had left a tampon in there as I felt some discomfort once my boyfriend and I had sex after it was over. She did an exam and took some samples… she told me that she could not see anything and told me it was Bacterial Vaginosis and put me on Metronizadale for a week. I told her my odour wasn’t fishy, but foul. But still she insisted after a 30 second examination, it was BV.
So after a week and there were no results, I started to think I may have chronic BV. Then by chance, I went back to the lost tampon theory of mine and began researching. I read that if you sit on the toilet and elevate your feet, knees pointing in the air (I used a bucket), and push, your body may naturally expel what your fingers can’t reach. Lo and behold after one minute I could reach in and feel the end of the tampon, just as Dr. Gurley described (THANK YOU!!!. I am going back to my doc tomorrow to let her know and to see if there are any other measures I should take to restore my natural balance. I’m so relieve,and yet furious that I had the right diagnosis in the first place.
Susanna said
Christina, wrap the tampon in plastic and take it with you!
So Worried... said
“Should I go to ER???”
I found a tampon that was lost for weeks.
It was actually my boyfriend who had found it and it’s so embarrassing… (didn’t tell him what it was..)
Then later I removed it myself a couple of days ago but I feel nauseous and have this cramp pain in the stomach… I’m dying to see a gyn but obviously I cannot at the moment because it’s holiday… And I feel too embarrassed to go to ER…
I just started taking anti-biotics and I hope this will help. Anyone any advice?? I’m so scared…
Cheyenne said
I think I may have a tampon stuck inside me! I can’t feel it with my fingers, but I can feel the shape of the tampon behind the tissue inside me. I’ve read that you can’t lose a tampon inside you because there’s nowhere for it to go, but I swear it’s up there! I can almost feel it in my abdomen. I don’t know what to do, I’m freaking out!! I had my boyfriend check it out, but he says it’s not there. I know I put one in this morning, and I didn’t take it out, but I did have a BM and he said maybe it came out then but I don’t think so. I’m scared!! Is there any possible way for it to go in the cervix? Because it almost feels like the tampon is behind that wall. Is the cervix usually hard? Because mine is. PLEASE SOMEONE WITH SOME KNOWLEDGE HELP ME!!
Sally said
OMG! This has helped so MUCH!!
My last period was 3 weeks ago, on the last day I got MEGA drunk (notice a theme here ladies? lol) and had sex with a friend.
Next morning I couldnt find a tampon and presumed I’d removed it, I do remember removing one that night but didnt realise I must have put another in (Yes I was that damn drunk!!)
So since then I’ve had lots of sex and it started to really smell after we were finished, to the point where we’d both kinda make excuses to leave the room!! (i’m going for a smoke! Oh yeah me too!!)
Sooooo last night me and my friend were hooking up again and the smell was just DISGUSTING but I’ve had no discharge so presumed that I was just washing too much and giving myself an inbalance, he mentioned it might be a “foreign object” but said he couldnt feel anything. I was blaming him for the smell, he was blaming me. Aguments happened and he walked home at 4am
at this point I decided to check myself and low and behold I find a tampon.
This smell is something I will NEVER forget. I washed my hands about 20 times, I showered, I have had every product known to man on my hands to get rid of the smell but it just will not go!! Evil. Pure evil.
Been to see the doc today and he’s given me some anti biotics so relieved its all sorted.
Its made me feel so stupid and embarrassed.
Betty said
I am so glad to find this site. I have had so many laughs that it’s easier now to forget that horrible odor.
Here’s my story… Had a very heavy period, went away over the holiday. Since it was heavy, I used so many tampons I couldn’t keep track. The flow lessened after 4 days and the period was over. Then during sex the other night, I smelt something disgusting, like many of you I thought it was my husband. The next day I saw a brownish drainage in my panties and thought maybe we were too rough or that my hormones were changing so I wore a pad. I did notice that the smell of the blood was different but let it go. The next day my 7 yo dgtr and I are sitting on her bed. I say ” Ughhhh, I smell butt! Did you wipe yourself and wash your hands?” I then procedure to smell her hands and outside of her pants- no funky odor. Poor kid! I’m smelling our feet- nothing. Check the garbage pail- nothing. Then I go to the bathroom, more brown stinky drainage. later something said “check for a tampon” There was nothing, but I didn’t go so deep. I had a douche in the house and used it thinking it was old period drainage that needed to be rinsed away. After that I had more brown stinky drainage- not less. I then though “oh my gosh, let me dig for a tampon” It was curved horizontally behind my cervix. Sooooo freakin disgusting. Like everyone siad- the smell was mortifying .It is amazing we all thought the smell was like something died- it really was. And like the others- it took several washings with strong soap to get the odor away. I couldn’t tell my husband, I was sooo embarassed and grossed out . I just wanted the whole thing to be over with. Of course I apologized to my dgtr and took credit for the smell, but didn’t give any details. It’s the next day and what a difference, I am so thrilled! THe best laugh here was the camping trip story, blaming her husband for a smelly but. I laughed so hard!
Hey- we learn something everyday- Hope this never happens to anyone again!
vivian said
God bless all you people and your stories!!! Just fished mine out after having the worst week ever because of odorous vag. Had drunken sex on the last day of my period and assumed I had removed the tampon because I ALWAYS remember to remove the tampon ESP. before sex. But yah, so drunk I forgot. Never even thought it could be that. I googled vagina odor and spent a night reading on WEB MD about STDs. I’ve been freaked out all week. They didn’t even mention it could be a tampon. Then I”m driving home tonight from work thinking, HEY, maybe I didn’t take it out. Now that I think about it, I never did have the usual end of my period. It just stopped. Usually when I stop bleeding I have a day or two of brownish discharge. But that didn’t happen this time. Suffice to say not a good beginning of the year worrying about pregnancy and STDs. Anyway, I just took it out an hour ago so I’m hoping the smell will go away soon. The tampon itself didn’t even really smell – it was hardly bled on and was pretty easy to get out. My vag didn’t even smell THAT bad – but it was a “different” smell. So it was completely foreign and disgusting to me. The tampon had been in for 9 days. I think it’s important to be aware of your scent and to be on top of things when they suddenly change. I knew something was wrong I just didn’t know what it was. Have learned my lesson. Again, God Bless All of you for sharing. Makes a world of difference to know I’m not alone. Only wish I found this site earlier.
Lynne said
Well, girls.. I wish I could say I was drunk and forgot..but I don’t drink…I’m just a dope…I was having sex with my husband and he was “down” there and he bopped up and told me there was SOMETHING IN THERE! I haven’t had my period for about three weeks! But there was no smell…until of course, I TOOK IT OUT! It was horrible….I’m monitoring how I feel though. It just seems like some funky bacteria can be released. I still don’t know how this happened.
Tina said
OMG! I cant believe this has happened to so many of us.So Friday, i was on like the first day of my period and had minimal bleeding so i did put in a regular tampon, but had a guy im dating come over…and we ended up having sex.I’d gone out earlier so i was drunk too..and forgot to take it out.The next day Im thinking..did i put in a tampon last night? I decided..nooooo cuz how could i have had sex if i had a tampon in there…it wouldnt have worked…hmmm apparently you can have sex with a tampon in you.
Today i was noticing that i smelled a bit of a foul odor down there.First i thought, well period smell isnt that great most times anyways..but i could smell it through my clothes and thats abnormal..so i went to the bathroom..hopped in the shower and searched around…finally found something i got ahold of…luckily it was the string.PUlled it out and there was the smelly culprit.
Im glad that i found it within 2 days tho.sheesh.Good times.good times.
embarrassed beyond belief! said
I am soooooo glad I found this site, but wish I would have found it sooner. I had sex with my hubby last night and there was this awful odor, plus a lot of blood. I had finished my period last week so I didn’t think about a tampon. I do have fibroids so I immediately called the dr and they saw me immediately. The dr opens me up and low and behold, pulls out a tampon. I was mortified to say the least. But reading the other posts makes me feel a lot less ridiculous. Thanks for sharing everyone!!
Hildegarde Freundenberger said
The string of my tampon did break. I managed to fish the bloody thing out nonetheless -after it had remained stuck inside me for God knows how long- but there was absolutely no trace of the string. Did it get so soaked that it shrank or did some voodoo thing happen inside me? By the way, Jason, reply 113, good “collapsing on the floor and mindless whimpering”. That’ll teach you to put your manly nose where it doesn’t belong. Ha! Ha! Ha!
me in wisconsin said
im thinking i may have lost a tampon about 4 or 5 days ago, but i have a slight pain (not a pain, but a feeling) right where my cervix would be. i put my fingers up there and felt something hard all the way at the top. is that normal or is that the missing tampon? i dont make a habit of putting my fingers up there, but i was surprised to feel something hard up there. is the cervix hard? im not having a bad smell yet and no real pain. i just feel really full. can someone please write back? i cant tell what it is in there! unlike most of you, i dont get drunk and havent had sex in a long time (several months!)
Mel said
Wisconsin: I would go to a doctor asap. The longer that thing stays in there the more likely you will develop and infection.
me in wisconsin said
thanks mel, i plan to go monday, when the kids are at school! i HOPE that is all that is wrong with me and that it isnt some disease or cancer or something real horrible!
emily said
oh my god. there are so many insane stories on here…gross.
here’s what i have to say: LADIES, BEWARE OF THE O.B. TAMPON.
you know, the small ones that expand in your vagina? they don’t have an applicator and you have to pull the string out from the tampon before you put it in.
absentmindedly i was putting a tampon in this morning, an ob one of course. about 2 seconds after it was comfortably in my vagina and i couldn’t feel it, the realization hit me.
i had not pulled the string out!
this tiny little tampon was in my vagina, and i couldn’t. get. it out. i tried looking for it with my fingers, but to no avail. needless to say, i started to panic and say, “oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.” from the other room, my boyfriend asked me if everything was okay, and i said yes, but he knows when i am lying and he could sense the panic in my voice. so he kept asking me, what’s wrong, what’s wrong, just tell me. i finally gave in and quickly said “i got a tampon stuck in my vagina and i can’t get it out.” he then seemed very sympathetic, asked me if it hurt, asked me if he could do anything. i said absolutely not, there’s no way you’re getting involved in this. i said i was going to try going to urgent care. i called the nearest urgent care center. it would have been $40 to get it removed. i was not willing to pay this much! my boyfriend left the house to go with his friend to the beach, and i was bitter and sad because i was supposed to go with them. so i stayed home, and decided i was just going to try to do it myself!
so i sat in the “childbirthing” position for about 15 minutes, trying to force it out. i tried to put tweezers up there. ow! i felt like i was pushing it further if i put my fingers in. i was about to put on my clothes and just head straight to urgent care! i tell you, i was losing it. then i thought about gravity and how it would be easier if i stood up and tried to “force it out” (and this is all accompanied with grunting and pushing like i was a woman in labor!!!) i started to feel the tampon come down my vagina a little bit, and i just kept pushing and pushing without putting my fingers up there. finally i took the shower head, which is one of those ones that disconnects, and ran some water up there to try and “loosen” it. then i went back to that same standing position (over the toilet) and pushed some more. i could feel it getting closer! then at last i saw the “head” and i reached in with my fingers and pulled it out. i was so relieved! i couldn’t believe i had just ruined my morning over it though, and my boyfriend and his friend were happily enjoying the beach while i had just “given birth” to a tampon.
i guess i’m ready to have kids now!
also, i’m never using an o.b. tampon, ever again.
Eve said
Unfortunately OB is the *only* tampon that works for me, the rest are just not absorbent enough. Also unfortunately I had the SAME experience the other night, for the first time in my 40-something years.
Like many of you, last Sat night I had a few drinks and decided to take full advantage of a lovely hotel room with my bf despite the fact that it was a heavy day of my period. Thought I took the tampon out, had a great romantic time, got up and put another tampon in, went on with life. By Monday night there was a foul odor, not the “normal” slight odor that comes with menstrual blood. Sex was a bit uncomfortable and I was really tired. I suffered through this until yesterday afternoon when I did a bit of internet research and lo and behold this website came up!
I couldn’t believe it, no way did I leave a tampon in there since..Saturday night?! But I sat on the toilet, bore down and dove in..gulp…pulled out the most disgusting bloody thing, smell was horrific! No white pus, just clots and horrible nastiness. *shudder*
Since them I’m a bit sore from the groping, spotting in the “normal” way at the end of my cycle, there’s still a slight odor but nothing like it was. I’ll wait a day or so and if it doesn’t completely go away I’ll be making a call to the doctor.
*shaking head* I can’t believe this has happened to so many of us! As embarrassing as it is, I’m going to sit down and have a conversation with my daughters about this, I never knew it could happen so easily!
emily said
by the way, the process of me birthing the tampon took, all in all, 26 minutes. i timed it! not sure why, but i just did. i just thought i would let you guys know in case that ever happens to you, that in less than half an hour (or probably less than twenty minutes, if you have stronger vagina muscles) you can take care of the situation WITHOUT paying the $40 or $500 it costs to go to the ER!! just remember, try to soak your vagina with water and PUSH!
me in wisconsin said
lol, this is so silly… so i went to the doctor, after reading everything on the internet and having convinced myself that i had cancer… and they checked out everything. no lost tampon, no female parts issues – nothing! ut still, that weird pain!
well, as it turns out, my symptoms seem to be a result of the new meds i started taking january 5th – concerta!
i feel so ridiculous!
julie said
so thank god for this website. I had been noticing a slight smell, nothing too bad, but i kept feeling pressure down there. today on my way back home from class i felt like there was something coming out of me. I freaked out got home and looked in the mirror, I saw a white round thing, pulled, and it was a tampon. it smelled awful and i immediately thought i was going to die of tss. It had been in for over two weeks! i remembered that at the end of my period i had a small tampon in, and then in the morning i remembered waking up thinking, shit i left it in too long. but when i looked it wasnt there. I had sex with my bf later that day, went on a cruise and everything. Never thought anything of it. i called planned parenthood and she said that i would have gotten tss when it was inside me, but since it worked its way out i was fine. thank goodness!
Emerald said
I noticed an aweful smelling, brownish discharge coming out of my vagina especially during my period and during sex. I decided to visit a quick walk in clinic since it would take over a month to get into my regular physician and when I described my symptoms to her she told me to do a self-swab to test for Bacterial Vaginosis. The test proved to be negative and I was really dissapointed because I was still experiencing the foul smelling discharge. So I decided to go to another doc and told him my symptoms again and he decided to test for STD’s through a urine test, which came up negative again. Then one evening my boyfriend found a lost tampon that was causing the foul discharge. The tampon was up so far that it was impossible for him nor I to detect it sooner. The reason Im writing this is to imform people that it is possible for a person to lose a tampoon and for it to go unnoticed for months even for sexually active couples. I recommend that when you go to the doctor, save yourselve the trouble and insist they do the swab themselves as they will be able to see inside the vagina and notice any abnormalities that you wouldn’t be able to look for on your own. My only concern now is whether I will need to go on antibiotics since the tampoon was left in for so long. Any suggestions?
Christelle said
Well I went out to my girlfriend’s Birthday Party on a Saturday nite, was having a few drinks, and went home. I knew that I changed my tampon that evening, but having had a little too much to drink, I thought I had removed my tampon as I usually do this b4 sleeping and replace with a napkin. anyhoo, me and my BF had sex that nite. The next day I was ok, but had stopped bleeding and I so thought I was done cuz it had been the 5th day of my period. Then all day on monday I was bleeding a little bit here and there, and it had a really foul smell, I asked my BF if he had felt anything during sex, he said no, I just couldn’t remember if I removed it, I kept wondering so I felt around up there a bit, and sure enough I’d felt one but couldn’t get it out. So akward enough, I asked him if he could try, so he did and hooray… it came out! So Gross….But I feel fine, just don’t drink and forget!!
steph said
hello there,
what a relief! this website has managed to calm me down! i went to the doctors a week ago thinking that i had bacterial vaginosis and was prescribed a weeks course of antibiotics. as the the course has nearly finished but there have been no improvements, i had the lurking feeling that this foul, disgusting, god awful smell was due to a forgotten tampon, and i was correct! i removed it promptly and i was so angry with myself for being so stupid and careless and i was also extremely concerned for my health. however after coming on this website and seeing that this problem is perhaps more common than i thought, i feel quite relieved. however i think its best for me to consult my doctor (however embarrasing that may be) just to be safe. xxx
Lara said
PHEW!!!!!
Get this, seriously! I left one in for three days accidentally as it went too far up and I forgot about it. Afterwards I noticed an unpleasant odour and discharge (but no pain nor itching). Like many ladies I figured it would subside now the tampon was out and wore panty liners to help keep the discharge “containable” (so it wouldn’t leak through my jeans!)and to keep the area as dry as possible.
But it just got worse. I called the doc and begged him to prescribe something and fax it through to the pharmacy so I wouldn’t have to be examined after stating I knew of the cause and he did!
Four days into a course of Metronidazole anti-biotics and tonight I went to the loo (Two weeks after removing the tampon) to find a bloodied bit of string dangling there!!!! I pulled out a SECOND tampon and there was no blood on it, just the white mucous. It was still in tact and I flushed it immediately. I am assuming I should stay on the anti-biotics and that they are helping my body to deal with any possible infection. I have three good days left to take the full course so here’s hoping I’ll be alright.
It’s put me off a bit too from wearing tampons in future but maybe after this scare I’ll be a lot more vigilant!! Thanks for all your stories as I feel confident I’m not alone now and that the body is quite good at tackling foreign objects!
ME said
Man, i must have a million folds in my vag…The first time something got “lost” in the folds it was a tampon. i had this foul smell following me around for days before i realized it was me. My BF at the time was like, “babe your sick” because there was brown on the condom….RUSHED to the doctor sure i was dying and she removed a tampon…OMG who knew. I have had condoms get “lost” as well…The latest is i started using sponge tampons (love em btw) but had sex with em in for the first time(i was told i could)and guess what? Yup, “lost” in the folds so i am wearing a pad and waiting for it to make it’s exit. I have found it takes a few days for the folds to release their prisoner…IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE I CAN DO? I don’t want to pay for a doctors visit just for them to go splunkering but that seems like the only quick option…errrrgggh what issues like this do men have…
Karen said
Dear ME, This may be more gross than you want to deal with, but the best way to get that sucker out is to go fishing yourself! Mine would probably still be in there if I had not done so. Good luck …
Caitlyn said
I’m starting to think that i’ve forgot to take out my tampon sometime last week and had sex on top of that…
What kind of symptoms arise if u have a tampon lost inside you??
I feel like i have an UTI and my legs are feeling funny – tingly/ feels like its constantly falling asleep…
please help!
thanxs!!!
Worried Em said
Ok, I have just sat and read every post from top to bottom and now I am pretty sure of what is wrong with me.
I am currently lying in a hospital bed hooked up to a drip being treated for a severe fever and tonsilitus, i cannot eat, drink or take medication because my tonsils are so inflammed.
Whilst laying here since yesterday morning, I have noticed dampness between my legs and during the course of the day a fishy smell getting stronger and stronger, I have been to the bathroom on many occassions, washed myself and within 5 minutes I begin to smell again.
So, whilst I had the opertunity of the internet in my hospital room, I decided to google my symptoms and came across ‘LOST TAMPON’
As soon as I read it, I knew what I had done, Tuesday night I inserted a tampon and went to work as usual, (Im a dancer and work in a bar) during the course of the night I had quite a few drinks, returned home at the end of my shift and had sex with my boyfriend. Woops, until this very minute I hadn’t even realised I had a tampon still inside me. I didnt notice anything wrong with me on Wednesday and then Thursday morning I woke up feeling very low (I have a bad immune system and when I get a cold I always suffer from tonsilitus) I was bed ridden on friday and addmitted into hospital Saturday morning because I was unable to take medication via oral.
After 6 bottles of medication running through me I feel loads better in myself however the smell down below is getting stronger.
Now I know I need to go and look for a tampon I cannot sleep, I am still hooked up on a drip and it would be practically impossible to start fishing around in the hospital bathroom with tubes coming out of my wrists, I am embarressed everytime the nurse comes to check on me wondering if she can smell what I can, I just want to go and get it out but I am going to have to wait…
Relieved said
Yesterday I had the most beautiful and romantic day with my boyfriend. He planned it all out and it was perfect. My period had just ended, but since I was wearing a skimpy dress, I decided to keep a tampon in- just in case. Last night we had sex and I completely spaced that my tampon was still in there. This afternoon I was going to the bathroom, and it suddenly hit me that I had been wearing a tampon last night. I began to panic, sticking my finger up there. I reached very far and finally felt something hard. I was so so scared, I had no idea what to do. I was so embarrassed and didn’t want to call the hospital. I got online and researched “stuck tampon”. The articles I found really helped me a lot. I just sat on my toilet, stuck my pointer and middle fingers up there next to each other, and tried to trap the tampon. I ended up playing with it for quite awhile. I could feel it, but because my hands are so small and how far up it was stuck, it was very difficult. I finally got ahold of the string. I was so relieved after I pulled it out. The best advice I can give is to calm down. My heart was pounding so hard I could barely think at first. So remember to breathe and know that you CAN remove it!
Susan said
I knew something was wrong when my dog started following me around and trying to constantly sniff and lick me everytime I changed and driving me nuts.. then he was sniffing my laudry and I wondered if i had some kind of infection, but didn’t feel bad.. No I didn’t let him lick me, but dogs will do this to stop an infection.. he only followed my boyfriend around after we had sex.. so I knew it must be me.. My nephew had an infected toe once and the dog would not leave him alone. I too had blamed my boyfriend for the smell, but on the day my next period started I showed and noticed the tampon stuck up high. Thank god my dog is more aware than I am or it may still be up there.
Sarah said
Good lord that was an awful experience!
About a week ago I got pretty drunk and ended up having sex with my fiance in his little brother’s bed. The next morning I couldn’t find my tampon anywhere. Usually I just put it on the floor to dispose of later, but this time I just couldn’t find it. I was soooo embarassed and worried that his lil bro would find it after I left.
Needless to say since then I have been having a really foul brownish discharge. I didn’t think anything of it, but my “lost tampon” never left my mind. For whatever reason I decided to feel around up there tonight and sure enough I felt the tampon. I couldn’t reach it well enough and really paniced.
Thanks to all of these responses I finally got it out.
What worked best for me was to squat and push down as if you are pooping. Don’t feel around too much because you will push the tampon further up. After about 5 min of squatting and pushing I was able to pull the sucker out.
Have air freshener ready – it really does STINK!!
lost my tanpon too :( said
drunk night last night… sex with a tampon in…. not a good idea as you girls know now.
Goodmorning – Hung over – and HAVE TO GET IT OUT!!
i tried jumping up and down… i dont think this helped that much.(my girl friend had a tampon fall out jumping on a trampolene one time… suprise suprise bounce bounce, but i thought it might help)
dont poke around a lot up there, you will just push it in more… I think this squat and push works… be patient! give it 5 min pushing… like your giving birth to a stinky ol’ tampon. or your excercizing your vaj. muscles.
get some water for the hang over, and whatever you do make sure anything you try and get it out with is clean, i know we all know… i just wanted to say it.
GOT IT OUT!!!!!… why did that take me an hour and a half? ha ha
tip: if you can grab it a little bit with your fingers but cant pull it out… use your super strong vaj. muscles and push while you pull with your fingers… works like a charm. But im NEVER doing the naughty when im on my rag ever again!
Go Girls Go!! We are all troopers!
Greatful said
I just wanted to say how greatful I am for all of these stories.
I was having similar symptoms as many of you and was really worried. When I went to the clinic to get checked out he told me it was a yeast infection and not to worry.
Today I found the tampon after it being there for likely 1 and 1/2 weeks (so embarassing). When I found it I panicked and got hot and lightheaded (two syptoms of TSS). So, I frantically searched the internet for answers and found this site.
Once I read all of your stories I was able to calm down. I really felt so relived and like I was not alone. My temperature is back down and I’m feeling clear-headed.
I will certainly go to my family doctor first thing tomorrow but thanks to this site and all your stories I will be able to sleep tonight.
Thank you to everyone who posted! I am so greatful!
Alisha said
Ok, about two days ago, I started my period.. I fell asleep last night about 4am and woke up this morning about 12pm, and couldnt remember if I had taken out my tampon or not. I thought it was weird that if I actually didnt put one in before I went to bed, why was there no blood on my undies or on the bed.. So, I tried to “fish” around for it, I could feel a string.. but I have Mirena (birth control thats placed up there), I’m scared to pull on that string and it would turn out to be my IUD and tear up my insides. Embarassing but, I used a toy to see if I could feel something pushing up past where the toy would be.. I didn’t notice anything different. Then, my boyfriend and I had sex, I still didnt feel anything then. I tried “fishing” around for it again, I started bleeding again.. and it does have a bit of an off smell.. Now, that I have read all of your stories, I’m going to try and soak in the bathtub for a bit and see if I can feel it.. If that doesnt work, I’ll ask my boyfriend too and if he doesnt feel it, then I will head to the OBGYN, which sucks cause I was just at the hospital last night for a possible strep throat (wasnt that or mono.. turned out as just a viral thing). So, having a chance of a stuck tampon and having this viral thing… ah, it sucks!
Good luck to all you ladies that has this same problem!
elizabeth said
My flow is so heavy I always wore two tampons at the same time.
One month I got the continuous flow of rusty colored discharge after my period was supposed to be over…
Then one night after my next period started already, as i was removing my usual two tampons, a third came out as well!!
Since then – which was months ago – I keep thinking I have another one in there. I’ve been having persistent yeast infections and a foul smell at the end of my period. No discharge, though. And I’ve dug around many times. So I’m not sure if I’m just being paranoid.
The one thing that bothers me is since then, when my period starts, it takes a while to kick in, and when it does, it seems like there are little cottony balls in the bowl after I pee…
Ugh, i have no insurance or money for the doctor. I guess I’m going to keep digging around…I did try the squatting, etc, but don’t really understand the “behind the cervix” instruction. Gonna try to look at a diagram.
Doc Gurley is amazing – her video about this is awesome.
pamela said
this in in regards to not losing diva cups……….
I discovered my diva cup was missing last menstrual cycle and figured I lost it, and to my surprise after putting up with brown spotting for the past weeks and a terrible smell that it was still inside me, it’s been 2 months in there i know this is messed up i am shocked, however, menstruating right now, no smell at all, so we’ll see, just pulled it out 1hr ago, had a bath, no cup for me this cycle, good ol’ fashion pads,
I was starting to get feverish and extremely fatigued that past few days, also peeing a lot,
I honestly can’t believe i forgot it, I just thought i took it out and misplaced it,
then the smell made me do some Internet research and some chick was talking about the smell and having a tampon stuck in her, i reached in and bang there it was not even full of blood either!!!
I almost past out!!!
Laura said
So I had a horrifying experience like many of you here. I had my period this last week, and one of the days I must have gotten the string of the tampon stuck up there and put a second one in when I didn’t notice a string hanging down. Anyway, I got it out today, and I think it was probably in there for 2 or 3 days, judging on when I noticed the smell. My boyfriend and I were planning a romantic getaway for this week, and my question is whether or not I should have sex this soon afterwards. I mean I’m experiencing no symptoms and the smell is gone, but am I putting myself or him (even though we use condoms) at risk for any kind of infection? Any advice would be so appreciated!!
Susanna said
Laura, condoms should be sufficient.
And anyway, why postpone a romantic getaway just because you maybe can’t have intercourse? If it feels funny, then you will just hold hands. Now that’s romantic!
Laura said
Thanks for both pieces of advice!
Worried said
Alright so I read alot of peoples comments, and i feel a little better but still concerned. I read some blogs that said it is not possible but I KNOW from EXPERIENCE that it is. About three years ago, I guess I went out got drunk, and put two tampons in without realizing it, and for two weeks i was “spotting” and I cant really remember but probably a bad smell, but I wasnt having sex so didnt notice any pain there, but i did notice that my abdomen was swollen and uncomfortable and i mentioned it to a friend and they said “could be a tampon stuck up there” and i thought no way that is crazy i think i would know! Well I was wrong because I was travelling on my way to vacay and not to be gross but I was really consitipated while in the airport and when i arrived at my friends house I went to the bathroom and pushed out a two week old tampon!!! I was so grossed out and in shock! Well ever since Im always worried about i! So now presently I got my period on Sat.(two days ago) and that night i went out and i remember changing my tampon at the bar, well in the am i went to change it and nothing was there! So i dont know if i was drunk and took it out without putting in a new one cuz i was drunk, or if I have one up there, and I get freaked out about putting my own fingers up there. So im scared because I had heavy period bleeding all saturday and since sunday morning its gone and im just spotting…and im being reminded of my old incident! any advice of how to look up in myself for it, without shoving my fingers up!!
NotJstPink said
Isnt that gross? .. imagine.. not knowing theres something stuck in your thingy!
Joaquina said
Thanks to all the ladies who posted their stories on here.. and shame on all the websites that said it isn’t possible! I’m tired of “experts” telling us we’re crazy when we know our own bodies! Right now I’m not sure if I have the same problem or not. I haven’t had sex for a month, but the last time I did it was right after my period was over and it hurt. Now to be fair, I have a really small vagina and my bf has a larger than average penis.. but there was no unusual smell and he didn’t notice anything odd. But since then I’ve been having lower back and abdominal pains on and off, and during this period, I’ve had a really difficult time getting tampons in. They keep wanting to twist and go off to the side. And the inside of my vagina seems rather swollen, but no pain or smell. I’ve fished around every possible crevice I can in there, but still can’t find anything. Like many of you I don’t have insurance so doctors are for serious emergencies.. I’ve tried, soaking, pushing, and more fishing.. so perhaps there’s nothing there..but I distinctly remember putting a tampon in last nite about 4 am and now I can’t find it.. no drinking here so maybe I imagined it?
lora said
ok so I was on this website trying to find some help cause there was a foul odor coming from my vagina(which never happens bc i have very good hygiene. Recently everytime me and my bf have sex we can smell this odor. It made me lose my sex drive and i was embarrassed by it as well. After thinkin back two weeks ago we had sex and i had forgotten to take out the tampon. I panicked when i read these stories and decided to try to take it out myself. I just felt around and i could feel the tampon folded up in the corner of my cervix. I easily pulled it out and im now relieved! I still would recommend still going to the doctor to make sure everythings okie dokie in your pokie.
Brenda said
Thank god for this post!! I think I lost my tampon, and now that I know that it’s not so uncommon, I’m not so embarassed to ask my doctor about it! And also, good thing I have an appointment in just a few days, because this smell is getting to me badddddd. Yuck.
Monica said
haha well I’ve been reading these stories and am feeling a little less like an idiot too. Us ladies.
I haven’t heard anyone’s story like mine on here yet, so here’s my story:
I put one in last night around 11pm, went to sleep, and woke up around 11am (got to sleep in, yay) and went to change my tampon. I went pee, then thought i felt what could only be the tampon slide out. But it could have just been a nasty piece of blood or whatever, and i couldn’t see it in the toilet. Nothing besides a tampon has ever been up my vagina, so fishing for it is going to take some courage. Is that normal for it to just fall out if its that soaked tho?! nasty.
But all these stories are pretty funny, makes me feel better.
janessa said
My period ended 11 days ago…..the past couple of days i had been feeling pretty dizzy & shaky and last night i felt like i was going to faint but since i hadnt eaten all day after i had dinner i felt better, until i started to spot a lil when i went to pee….today out came a tampon , i freaked out bc i had no clue i had left one in there, now i know why i was feeling the way i was, i was thinking i was prob preggers and was planning on getting a preg test but now im scared that i may have TSS. i feel btter now, not so dizzy or shaky and there was no odor. but i am bleeding as if i was on my period. so that is what is concerning me… i plan to see the OBGYN tomorrow if i can.
has the bleeding happend to anyone?? and if my obgyn cant see me tomorrow could i got to a regular fam doctor?
lisa said
I have totally done the same thing sometimes I just forget its there and then go to pee and well there it is. Its awful the odor is so bad when I go to pull it out I can’t believe all that stuff was inside of me. I have since been doing some research on pads and tampons and come to find out tampons are not good for us. They cause a number of health risks and stop the natural flow we are supposed to have. I know for myself it was always out of convenience, but it is not convenient to have a tampon up there for a couple of days. I found this awesome site on sanitary napkins. They have finally made a pad that works with us not against us. They have something called a anion which is antibacterial and helps to lesson cramping through a “Negative Ion”. It is truly amazing what this does and how beneficial it is to us. I recommend if you are tired of using,and losing your tampons to check this site out it has made a difference in my life and no more worries.
Stephanie said
I recently forgot my tampon as well. Thank God it came out all by itself. I still felt so stupid! I was wondering if anyone knows just how often women actually have to go to a doctor to take care of the problem?
Tay said
Last tuesday I wasn’t sitting on the toilet when a tampon just appeared, but I didn’t notice a smell and I’d been getting a browny discharge for a few days that didn’t smell either :s It had been in there about 2 to 3 days.
It is now saturday and I am still getting a blood tinged discharge and the entrance feels quite raw (although that could be due to sex last night). How long does the discharge continue? I expected it to be a couple of days but not this long. It’s not all the time but was worse after sex. I don’t think it’s an infection though because I had some blood tests on Thursday and they were fine. I’m quite worried!
relieved! said
ha ha i feel so relieved after reading all these posts!!
I too have been suffering from a foul smell after sex for the last two weeks, since the end of my period, so was concerned that maybe i had an infection of some sorts.
Then last week after suffering with worsening pain after weeing i went to the doctor for tests and antibiotics for a bladder infection.
The next day, with the relief of being able to wee without the pain of the bladder infection i could still feel some sort of pressure so decided to inspect, only to dicover something lodged further up than my cervix towards the back of my vaginal wall, shocked, i managed to remove the object, it took a bit of force but i soon realised why when i pulled the tampon out.
As it had somehow ended up further inside me than i thought possible and had been wedged in sideways!
I was mortified, but am feeling much better now that i know these occurences aren’t that uncommon(the smell has gone too)
Scarlett Davenport said
I’m so relieved to know that this happens to more people than me! Like so many of the others, after a drunk night my husband and I had sex, not worring b/c it was the last day of my period. We did and after I noticed that I had bled a bit so I put in a tampon and passed out. I guess he wasn’t through and I was woke up by him trying to go at it again but that didn’t get far. The next morning I remembered that I had put one in before bed and wondered where it went. I went “fishing” and found nothing. That next afternoon I found this website and saw that the awful smell starts almost immediately and have noticed nothing (this being the end of day 2). But still a bit worried I called my aunt who is a nurse. Her suggestion was not to wait until tomorrow but try to find it NOW! This is all her homemade remedy!! I know it sounds crazy but if she thought it was important then I knew it had to be! She told me to get an enema bag to fill,flush, and suction. I didn’t have that so she suggested a 2 liter bottle (which I didn’t have either) but I did see a water bottle in the fridge. After relaxing in the tub I filled my bottle and gave it a try to only get bloodish water out that didn’t smell so fresh! I knew then that it must still be there so I tried again. After the second try I went fishing and all I can say is OMG!! It was there and it was horrible! She described the vagina as being like a bag and that if I filled it up and tried the suction that it may pull it out. I guess when you have sex with one in it can get lodged in a fold making it hard to find. This all sounded crazy to me but I’m sooo glad I tried it now I don’t have the worry of getting sick or worse! I thought I would share b/c I didn’t see much about a do it yourself other than fishing and going to the doctor and the doctor was the LAST place I wanted to go.
Nameless in Cincinnati said
OMG I just have to say thank you thank you thank you to all of you who have posted these comments on here! We all seem to have very similar stories.
Don’t know about all of you, but I was always told that it was impossible to lose a tampon in your va j j
Last Saturday night, I was just on the verge of getting my period but it it was still so light and things got hot and heavy with my boyfriend. I knew that I had put a tampon in earlier that evening. As we were fooling around, he started to insert himself in me slightly and I stopped him, and explained that I needed to go to the bathroom and remove my tampon, and had explained to him that I was just at onset, and it had been really light. That has never really bothered him, as we have been together for 12 years.
So, I went to the bathroom and went fishing…couldn’t find anything, and I was a little wet, so I thought, well… I must’ve just forgotten taking the darn thing out earlier. I really did search with all my might!
So, we went ahead and made love. It was a little more uncomfortable than usual, but I was used to that from time to time with him, because usually at that time of the month or even around that time, I am a little more sore.
After we were finished, I had the most horrible cramping, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that darn tampon, cause I surely didn’t remember getting it out!!!
Still on my period and been wearing tampons all week…strangest thing, last night pulled out a tampon, and it smelled really funky.
I’m one of those women that has had chronic BV and yeast infection issues, but this surely didn’t smell anything like this…this was FUNKY!!!
All day today, was worried about it, but wearing a pad, cause I just felt like something was wrong, and had started itching a bit… planned on making an appt at the Gyno.
Started looking up websites tonight as the smell was just getting putrid, and felt like gagging everytime I went to the bathroom…
Started reading your posts, and I KNEW!!!! It had to be….
Went to the bathroom, first urinated, cleaned myself up, and pushed….like I was in labor, as I am squatting over the toilet…fingering around in there, didn’t feel anything…kept pushing, and feeling as I was pushing and sure enough, felt something hard and I instantly knew… Finally got it out…
Ladies, please heed the warning…THE SMELL IS FIERCE WHEN U TAKE THIS SUCKER OUT!!!
Mine didn’t have anything white on it, it was full of blood, and seriously did look like a small mouse!!! LOL The string was all wrapped up in the middle of it…
WARNING TO ALL…this was a Tampax Pearl tampon… never started wearing this kind until this cycle, and I will never wear them again… I won’t wear tampons again ever as a matter of fact, it’s just not worth it, especially with as forgetful as I am!!!
I am sooooo relieved to know I was not alone… never ever heard that this could really happen until now… THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!!!
Courtney said
My Feeling is Tampax cardboard is the only way to go. My stuck tampon was a generic brand and will never do it again, I also agree on the pearls, hate them! But I have never had issues with regular tampax. The string is longer and thicker. My periods are just too heavy for pads alone and after all these years I am astonished these companies haven’t come up with a better “wing” pad. I always get leakage… I’ve tried them all.
Susanna said
Courtney, have you tried a cup for your heavy flow? It’s impossible to have sex with one in, as there’s an antenna that the oncoming penis will surely feel.
Lisa said
I had been having similar problems (brown discharge, dodgy on/off period for at least two cycles, not too smelly until 2/3 days ago though), when last night i felt the urge to ‘push’ when i was on the loo, and there it was – a tampon. I was totally freaked out. It was horrendous. I really did notice the smell then. Thing is my husband and i have been trying to concieve since Oct 08 with no luck, and i’m just wondering now how long that thing has been up there and if it could have been affecting our chances – acting as a contraceptive. I really cannot believe that this happended as i have been doing everything to prepare my body to get pregnant (e.g. folic acid, good diet and exercise). And i am a health professional. I can only think that i’ve been having a pretty stressful time at work and maybe just forgot about it. I had put the disrupted cycle and brown dischrage down to stress. Even consulted my GP who ran a hormone balance check which came back fine. It was a total shock and i’m going to use pads from now on.
HELP!!! said
please reply…anything…i need some sort of advice/ input these stories have helped ease my mind a bit, but idk mines a little different…
me & my boyfriend had unprotected pull out sex alot, then I recieved on my period, but it wasnt like my normal periods (heavy) it was light and barely soaked a tampon up. so we had sex hoping it would cause my period to come all the way…it did for a little bit but not fully..We had sex later that week and before we did I was telling him that I couldnt remember if I had pulled my tampon out, he checked as well as I did before we did it again and felt/ found nothing. The light-for-me period lasted the normal amount of days tho and then I was fine. A week later, after my so called period, I had this spotting brownish kind of blood not enough to fill a tampon but was there. 2 days before I had started having that stuff come out I began getting horrible cramps/nausea followed the next day by diarrhea. This lasted a few days and then went away a few days AFTER the brown stuff. I got this gross smell and thought I may have a yeast infection but decided to take a pregnancy test anyways and it was negative. The smell went away, but this thought that I may have a tampon up there or the test was too early won’t get out of my head. I can now for sure…feel something, and I don’t know if it is my cervix or a tampon. I mean I can definetely feel it and have pulled, pushed, I mean tried my hardest to get whatever the hell it is OUT, thinking it is probably a tampon.. it gets very close but can’t get it out, so that’s why I don’t know.. if it is a tampon its been in there for about 2-3 weeks now…and if not and it is my cervix could I have damaged myself by pulling on it and getting it so low? I mean its very low whatever it is, and when I notice it lower I try to pull it out because it has stuff around which is gross i know idk, if I move my finger up there around w/e it is, that if it could be some form of discharge or from a tampon… but it will not come out, it doesn’t hurt me at all though…so I am very confused, concerned, and will not be able to go to the doctor for a few weeks… so I would appreciate and like some answers as soon as possible…please, I am very worried, I need some advice…
Lisa said
Help!!! you need to pull it out NOW. if you can grab even the smallest part of it just grab on and pull even if the tampon comes apart you gant get it low enough to get a better grip and PULL
Petra said
your posts have made me feel better about my situation xxxx
not so bad said
I don’t feel so bad now.
I had mine in for 3 nights. I wondered why my period was so light and only seemed to last a couple of days. Taking a shower, I found out why.
Geez!
No odor, no pains. Wonder if I should go to doctor anyway??
KTB said
to the poster who wrote “HELP!!!” I am not a doctor, I am not sure why no one has replied to your post, but I think you need to see a health professional as soon as possible, as you could have toxic shock. Don’t wait weeks, or even days. Go to a Planned Parenthood, a walk-in clinic, or even the emergency room if you have to. Just tell them what you are feeling and what could be wrong so they can check it out.
Planned Parenthood says:
Toxic Shock Syndrome
A rare but very dangerous overgrowth of bacteria in the vagina. Symptoms include vomiting, high fever, diarrhea, and a sunburn-type rash.
You can look for a Planned Parenthood near you by putting in your zip code here: http://www.plannedparenthood.org/health-center/findCenter.asp
Again, I’m not a doctor and don’t want to alarm you, but if you have any of the symptoms of toxic shock I think you need to see a doctor. Don’t let embarassment get in the way of your health. Hope you feel better soon!
Rachel said
Woooow… I can relate to this. Last month when I had my period, I couldn’t remember taking out a tampon.. and I still connot remember doing this.. and now my stomach has started to hurt. I’m scared to death that there’s one up there.. but I dont have the money for the doctors… wow..
whats a girl to do
Chloe said
I was at the pool and put a tampon in and put in to far and its still there sinse yesterday. ew. idk what im gonna do! I am not putting my hand in there thats nasty! will it eventually fall out!???
Courtney said
Take a bath for atleast 20 to 30 minutes and see if you can flush it out. After the bath, take a shower…this has worked for me every time. It has happened to me twice in the last 17 years. It should fall enough for you to grab it. Get over the gross stuff, it’s your body and if you have read more posts on this site, you know what can happen. Better now then later. It gets much worse with time.
Jireh said
so i was on my period and i had a tampon on .. me and my boyfriend was well you could say in the MOOD .. we started foreplay etc .. then we decided (this is embarazin) to do it in the butt .. none of us had done that before but im sure he was going to my vagina with the tampon on .. it felt so good i didnt want to stop him but now i cant get it out .. i cant find it .. what is going to happen?? whats a foul discharge btw??
samantha215 said
i am so glad i found this site. although i am not having sex at this time i do get drunk alot. last night i took a shower and all this black blood and stuff came out and the smell was OMG horrible. i read here to sit on my heels in the shower and fish it out and it was so gross. i have burned with shame over this until i read all of your stories and am so greatful to know i am not alone. i still have a high temp and have sharp pains but i am going to wait until monday to go back to the dr again.
thanks again ladies for being so honest, open, and sharing. yall are wonderful.
Harmony said
ok I had sex last night do not remeber removing the tampon i had and i am having some pain in my vagina and am still bleeding but like dark brown red color and im just using a pad …. what should i do ?
Courtney said
Take a bath, atleast 20 to 30 minutes, then take a shower, sometimes that will bring the tampon down and you can pull it out.
nicole x said
a couple of days ago i started to get this horrible odour coming from my down below area so i went in the bath it stayed the same so i got really worried about y i was smelling like this so the next day i went out with my friend leaflettin i was gettin reallly bad stomach cramps and i thought i was on my period and that was why so i ignored them i when to my nans for a shower as i couldnt take the painany more and i thought it would help as i was washing myself i felt a string so i pulled it omg it was horrible iv never seen somethinglike that in my llife and the smell made me sick!!,i was a tampon but it was huge n brown i grabbed the sponge and stareted to wash it away from my vagina so it all came out i checked wiv a mirro from my makeup and it looked fine but im still getting the cramps and im getting really bad headackes the smell has completly gone
which is great but the pain hasnt and it happened a thew days ago im getting really scared and worried i dont know what to do and im 18 what should i do?
Courtney said
Go to the doctor sweety. You probably have an infection. THis can be taken care of with antibiotics. Just tell them what happened. Believe me, they have heard it before as most of us have done this ourselves. You might even be able to call them and get a prescription over the phone… Do it fast, you don’t want that to get worse
Good Luck!
Anne said
Thank you so much to everyone who posted-I was able to figure out what was wrong with me through reading your stories!! Well, here is mine… I had been feeling “off” for about a month… ravenously hungry, retaining water, etc. Then I began to get my period on a Saturday, very light. By Sunday it was heavier and I had cramps, so I put in a tampon early that morning. I’m not sure how many tampon insertions/ removals there were on Saturday and Sunday… by on Sunday night I had sex (removed a saturated tampon before) and it felt very uncomfortable and at times painful. The next morning I put another tampon in, and when I took it out it smelled like death- rank, fishy, moldy, like dead things in a dark basement. I hoped it was only a bad reaction between the semen, slight BV and menstrual blood, but thought it did not smell like something the human body would do at all. Next day I felt tired and had chills, and the tampon I took out still smelled the same way, and it had a bit of greenish-gray discharge on it. At that point I knew I had a serious problem and began looking up my symptoms on the internet. What I had was worse-smelling than a bacterial infection… and the descriptions of the “foul” lost tampon smell seemed pretty right on- but I just couldn’t believe that I would forget to take a tampon out!!!! Tuesday night I got in a hot tub and soaked, then beared down pushing hard, just in case. On Wednesday morning I woke up feeling nauseous and decided to go “in there.” There they were… far back in the canal… TWO OLD TAMPONS. One was dripping with blood… the other light greyish-green… They were far back and it hurt pulling them out. I have no idea how long they were in there. I made an appointment at a local clinic for that afternoon and the R.N. did not do an exam but prescribed 7 days of Metronadizole and 10 days of Cipro. The past few days have not been fun… Thursday it felt like I had an open wound in my vagina that stung and possibly was pussing… and I have been tired with a heavy feeling in my legs and foot cramping and today, diarrhea. Not sure if that is due to the antibiotics or infection.
Courtney said
I would look up the side effects of the antibiotics she gave you…make sure they don’t say anything like, “If you get these symptoms, see a doctor right away”. If those are normal side effects..I would continue…if not, I would just call the Doc on Monday and let her know what’s going on. Better safe then sorry
In Panic said
I have an issue and need some advice. I have been fitted for IUD and it’s inserted somewhere in my vagina. Today morning I had sex with my husband – but only after we finished did I realize i forgot to take my tampon out! Do you think the tampon & sex & IUD could have hurt the vagina in any way? i am so worried and don’t know what to do.
Sue said
OMG!! i cant believe this has happened to so many people, i feel so normal now.
My story………two weeks ago and at the end of my period, went out got drunk, very drunk, ended up pulling a guy, dont really remember much about the night execpt a bath and bed, woke up next morning had sex again, remembered the bath, thought, oh it must of been cus i was bleeding? checked for a tampon, nothin there, thought i must of removed it. A few days later was really ill, flu symptoms, bad back, aches, bad throat etc thought id caught flu, was in bed for two days, then i noticed a spot down there, went on the net, typed in spot on vagina, and coupled with my symtoms, it looked like herpes! i was mortified and worried myself sick for days, without mentioning to anyone as i was that disgusted that id slept with someone i didnt know, so it was my fault i thought. Anyway, got obsessed with the forums about STD’s, have i got herpes, havent i got it, waited for the spot to turn into spots and blister, but no, so i thought its not that, its a water infection, kept needing the toilet a lot, kept checking the symptoms, really worried, didnt want to go doctors, didnt know what to do, and it has been one of the most worrying times of my life and im in my thirties! anyway, a few days ago started noticing a funny smell, and it was following me, noticed it at work too, started getting paranoid that others would notice it (they must have for sure), kept wetting the tissue to clean myself when i went the toilet, been getting an achy feeling down there too, this has gone on for two weeks, still worried sick, ran myself a nice bath to relax, after went the toilet and felt something coming out of me, it was only a tampon!!! couldnt believe it, was disgusted and both relieved at the same time – to know i never had herpes PHEW!!! it had no blood on (as i was at the end of my period) but was slightly greenish, and smelly, i could not believe this thing has been causing me to be so ill and have so much worry! it has been out a few hours now, i came straight on the internet to see if it had happened to anyone else, and i have been laughing my head off for hours, its so common i cant believe it! So still getting a slight pain down there and think i may have an infection but hey, id rather go to the doc with that than tell him i might have an STD!! Hope i feel better tomorrow and hope there is no smell left – but what a relief, and to anyone with a possible stuck one – have a soak as it makes the tampon heavy then push down, its like a baby coming out of you! At least i can laugh about it now !
coni said
I am so relieved to find this website and realize that I am not the only one in the world with this embarrassing experience. For a week or so I have had a strange smelly discharge. It seemed to be getting worse and I was starting to get worried. Last night I put in a small tampon because I thought was starting my period. I forgot about the tampon and this morning my husband and I had sex. Right after I remembered the tampon and panicked. I went into the bathroom, but couldn’t feel anything with my fingers. Had my husband try, but nothing. I thought maybe I had taken it out without remembering. A little bit later I still felt uneasy and so I did another inspection and this time felt the tampon. With a little work I was able to remove it. But the story doesn’t end there… Throughout the day I continued to have cramping and uneasiness with a terrible, smelly discharge. This evening I did another inspection and found another tampon way up there. Pulled it out and about fainted with the odor — I’m not sure how long it had been there. I couldn’t believe it! I had no idea this could even happen.
I found that if I sat on the toilet and leaned forward then it was easier to feel for the tampon. Also, pushing (like having a baby) helped it come down far enough to where I could reach it.
I still have abdominal cramps. Hopefully, by tomorrow I’ll be feeling better. I did not feel anything else up there and will be really embarrassed if by some freak chance there is another one there.
Lara said
There seems a lot of experiences related to alcohol (my own included!).
My flow can be quite heavy and these days I have to wear a tampon and an overnight pad during the actual day! But even those massive Kotex pads aren’t that reliable. It doesn’t matter how huge the pad is and how thick, they always get all squashed in the centre or they slip forwards in your underwear so sometimes you still end up missing the damn pad!
I can’t wait for the menopause. Damn perods are the bane of my life and they always arrive just when you have an important event coming up – guaranteed! Mine are always early so I get one every 3 weeks mostly. I never wanted children so for me they are a complete waste of time lol. I long for the day I finally stop menstruating. Men don’t know how fortunate they are not to put up with this mess fest every month!
Melissa said
okay, so last saturday i tried to find my tampon that i know for sure i put in. and it was no where to be found! we even had sex that day so i figured maybe i did forget that i probably already took it out. today, it still bothered me because for some reason i knew i put one in so i told my boyfriend to look for it for me. and we found it! BUTTTT i’m freaking out because i’ve also had this situation happen before where i thought i put one in and probably thought i didn’t. it was a while back though. i’ve had a pap smear since that situation. i was wondering if the pap smear probably would’ve found the first tampon?! or would my doctor would have not found it at all!? i’m tripping hella hard!
Brina said
THANK YOU!!!! I can’t beleive this has happened to so many women. I had no idea what was wrong with me. Two days ago I started having brown discharge with a foul smell. Hubby and I had sex since period ended last week. Then today it was very strong and I knew something was up. I Googled and most sites said STD. Never Google when you need medical advice. I went to the Dr. today and she asked based on my symptoms “did I leave a tampon in?”. NO! How would I do that. I never even dawned on me that was it. Sure enough she said I did. She pulled it out and I was soooo embarrassed. She says she gets at least one patient a week with this issue. She told be no reason to be embarrassed. I have to take Metroglide for 5 days. Thank you for taking the time to post your stories for other women to read.
Andrea said
Well, that’s it – I’m scheduling an appointment with a GYN doctor on MOnday!!! I KNOW I put one last one in (period staring ending yesterday)and I guess I shouldnt have. I dont remember taking the damn thing out. I dont remember going to the bathroom either becuase I fell asleep in a chair atching a movie, got up and went straight to the bed.
I have looked and looked. Came to this site, took a bath, then a shower, then looked again. I have pains in my abdomin now from all the “looking”. I feel something kind of hard and fleshy, but I think it’s some sort of muscle or wall or something…I dont know, not like I’ve stuck my finger up there regualrly – you know?!!
I dont know what to do accept go to the doctor – BEFORE the smells and all.
Glad to know I’m not the first one with this issue. I think it was putting that last one in that did it – I should have switched to a pad. And I shouldnt have tried to make sure it was up far enough either – the string seemed shorter.
I feel so stupid – I mean, what if I DID take it out?
Well, better safe than sorry – I’ll tell you all what happens.
Claire said
Don’t want to overreact, but a couple months ago I couldn’t remember taking my tampon out–sometimes they would just fall out during a bathroom episode. It wasn’t in the toilet, so I assumed I had already taken it out previously—I normally wear pantyliners along with the tampon and when taking the tampon out, I would wear only pantyliners if not going too heavily. I inserted another one-paid more attention to removing during cycles after that.
Well, I’m in my 40’s and dealing with perimenopausal symptoms, which brownish discharges is considered normal after cycles. I haven’t experienced any pain–other than cycle pain, normally–or any foul smells. The brown discharge is a little clotty at times, but I want to make sure that the tampon would have come down by now or I would have started experiencing the smells, if it were still up there, huh? I’ve had sex recently, and there was the brownish discharge, but no foul smell or anything else. Could it just be the “cleaning up” from my period ending—a few days ago? I did douche after my cycle, but I know some discharge may be normal while the body is still cleaning out. At my age, what could be some other issues with the brown, smell-free discharge?
April said
After reading this I feel a little better…Here’s my story:
In December I messed up the timing of my birth control and decided to wait until my next period to start it again. Well guess what? My next period never came. So I waited and waited for 4 MONTHS and my period never came! I freaked out and thought I was pregnant, took a couple of tests, but no pregnancy. Well I finally got my period last month and re-started my birth control. I talked to my doctor and she said my body was probably just used to being on the “birth control clock” and was confused when I was not on the pill.
I’m on my period this week. My period has been really light and the blood was a little brownish but I thought nothing of it. Well I was having REALLY BAD cramps last night and today so a little while ago I tried going to the bathroom. I was sitting there and my tampon plopped out. No big deal. Well a few minutes later I felt/heard another plop. I THINK IT WAS ANOTHER TAMPON!!!
I have NO idea how long it could have been inside of me! A month? 4 months? Could this have been part of the reason I wasn’t having a period?
Okay more crazy stuff, listen to this! My boyfriend started to have some pain in his testicles a few months ago. He went to the doctor and the doctor said he had some kind of infection because some of my yeast had gotten in there. (we don’t normally use condoms since I am normally on birth control). So he got some antibiotics and was fine. Well we had sex without a condom over our spring break and his pain came back.
Could the tampon have been the reason for his infection? Because I had an infection? He’s been pushing me to see the doctor for the last month or so but I insisted nothing was wrong with me or I would have symptoms! I feel so stupid now!!
msupommer said
Im worried and need advice. Im in italy right now and recentley took a trip to greece for the weekend. Well, things did happen and this past saturday i had sex. I was fine sunday and monday but Im worried that I may have one stuck in me. I have very little ab pain and my period is still okay and normal. Ive tried 3 times all the suggestions and I wont be home for another 2 weeks. Is this okay or should I attempt an Italian hospital? and if I wait, will everyone else be able to smell it?
Susanna said
Dear Msupommer,
You have travel insurance, don\’t you? Then you can afford a private clinic. Or what is your concern? Italian doctors are perfectly qualified. Or don\’t you want to explain the matter in your insurance claim?
Yes, if you got one stuck in you, everybody will be able to smell it, if you wait for two weeks. By that time, it may be the least of your worries.
Is it less embarrassing explaining the prolem to a foreign doctor you will never see again or to your regular American one?
too young to be this worried said
a few weeks ago i had my period. it was all fine and dandy. for a year or so i’d get these terrible pains in my stomach area right before my period, and a few times i had to be hospitalized for a day or two because they were unnaturally painful. so im pretty darn used to the pain. it was the 3rd day of 4, and i had been out late. i wasnt drunk or anything, i was just insanely tired. im not sure if i have fabricated it, or if it happened, but i remember stumbling into bed, then getting up to take the tampon out. my period is stellar cool and i dont have to use anything at night, because it stops until i wake up, whether that be 6 am or noon. its rather lucky. but i woke up the next morning, and i put a tampon in. it hurt a little bit. im still young, and still a virgin, so i figured it must be the fact that it was early and i put it in at a weird angle. i havent had any discharge or discomfort, and i have checked multiple times, but every now and then if i move weird theres a tweek of pain 6 inches below my belly button. i pushed like i assume you push while giving birht, and i felt fine. im afraid to go to the doctor about it, because of all the tests they always have to run on me. i dont feel anything scary, i’ve just had a bad history of vaginal problems, and so far im only 16. so i dont really want there to be a tampon in me still.
im going to take a bath, and wish for luck.
but as long as there isnt a repulsive odor on my fingers after i check, and its been a few weeks, am i pretty much in the clear?
Mary said
I need some opinions.
I take Seasonique for birth control purposes, so I only get my period once every 3 months. But I usually get spotting during the whole 3rd month. So this month, I used tampons on and off to control the spotting. However, now I have my full blown period and I’ve noticed that when I use a tampon I get very sharp stabbing pains in my pelvic region. It’s about 2 or 3 inches above the pubic area. There’s an ache even when the tampon is out. There’s no smell or strange discharge like others have mentioned, and I’ve felt around inside and haven’t found anything. But I can’t figure out what that pain is. Could it be a lost tampon?
Soph said
I was on my period nearly two weeks ago now and have been noticing that smell everytime i go to the bathroom, the pains are really emense even to the point where im coughing and feel like its ripping at my groin area, this has happened before and have had no trouble retreving the lost tampon, iv’e been reading peoples posts and looking up suggestions on the internet, they stress that it cant go any further than you could probably reach but could be round a bend or in a awkewad position!
After all this is over i will never EVER use a tampon again, the damage this must do to our bodies is unreal i would hate to think it could potentially stop me having kids or that it could even cause infection. im not even sure if i could tell the difference between toxic-shock and generally feeling unwell.
Soph said
Another post girls.. I have three sisters and we talk alot about things like this, my sister always told me (although ive never had it) Brown discharge can also be chlamydia, most people dont get the symtoms as you know and can have it for years, but it may be worth while getting checked out if you have problems as it also causes abdominal pains
T said
i think that i have a lost tampon. this has happened to me before but i have always been able to feel the tampon inside of me. This time when i reach all the way in, all that i can feel is something that seems like skin over top of a tampon or maybe this is just my cervix that i am poking at?? how far in can the tampon go and is it possible that it is stuck behind something?
Amanda said
I have the thing that feels like the tampon covered in skin inside of me too, so I’m glad that it’s normal. : )
Amanda said
I put a tampon in earlier today, and I went rock climbing. Then, I came home and the tampon was gone. I know i used it because it is the only applicator in the trash, and I know I didn’t take it out because there is nothing in the trash. I didn’t use the restroom anywhere else. but me and my husband have not been able to find it. He has really long fingers and he still can’t get it. It’s a Friday night, and I’m trying to decide if i should go to the Emergency Room or should I wait until monday to go to a clinic. I don’t have health coverage, and i’m afraid an ER visit would be really expensive. I haven’t had any symptoms of TSS. Should I just wait until monday, unless I get symptoms of infection?
Morgan Annette said
OMG! I loved reading all of these stories! Makes me feel better. Here’s what happened to me yesterday.
I woke up and went to take my tampon out. It’s not there. I reach a little higher and start panicking when I can’t find it. A piece of shredded string comes out! I start digging furiously to no avail. I call my sister, crying, telling her how scared I am. I also unfortunately do not go to the gyno because I am too scared. Stupid, I know. So she calms me down and tells me she’s been through this before and it’s probably sideways and that she had had her boyfriend (who had had very long fingers) try to get it out for her with his hand and with tweezers, but it still didn’t work in her case so that I would have to go the ER like she ended up doing.
Well, I go…he does a vaginal vault. Finds nothing. He was a male doctor, cute. And I hadn’t shaved down there or my legs in quite some time! LOL. EMBARASSING. Plus, I think he thought I was a hypochondriac, but I seriously was convinced it was still in me (Why the shredded string? I guess from a different tampon when I removed it?) and have only been to the doctor twice the past ten years.
I left perplexed though because I honestly have no memory of taking it out or it falling in the toilet because you can always tell when it falls in the toilet (at least I can, and I generally check the toilet out of habit when I’m on my period to make sure my tampon didn’t fall in). But there’s not many places it can go in the vagina, so I know he’s right in that it isn’t there…but God it makes me so mad that I don’t remember taking it out! I even remember thinking about taking it out and deciding against it! LOL wtf I hate my life because evidently I did and thus wasted 3.5 hours at the ER. XD
Emily said
About two weeks ago I was on my period and I woke up in the morning to put a new tampon in only to discover that the tampon I had put in the night before was not there. I thought to myself “hmm, thats strange, I could have sworn that I put a tampon in last night.” So I went on about my days, not thinking anything of it. Two weeks later my fiance’ was fingering me and he all of a sudden rolled over and bed and seemed turned off. It takes alot to turn him off haha so I thought how strange it was for him to stop fooling around. What could it be? Me? Him? Hmmm. A few minutes later he said “I think there is something in your vagina. I laughed and said “what! How could that be?!?!” but in the back of my mind I couldnt help but think about that ghost tampon. I reached up inside of me and sure enough I felt something. I could just barely reach it with the very tip of my finger…but I pulled a fully in-tact tampon out. It smelled absolutely disgusting, and i was horrified and embarrassed. I’m just thankful he found my lost tampon…
Sal said
Jesus its almost 5am and i am on this site because….
My period was last week, at I had sex twice at the end of my period. I can’t remember when I put a tampon in last, but I do know it was one of those light ones. I had sex earlier this week, maybe five days ago, but I don’t think it was after that that I had put a tampon in. It did smell after sex and I had to wash the sheets cause there was a brown discharge, in which I thought must have been the end of my period. Then there was a constant smell. I thought it was from a UTI because it felt funny when I peed. I’ve been taking those over the counter pills for UTI’s for 4 days now because I don’t have insurance.
I hadn’t touched myself because I thought I had a UTI and didn’t want to make it worse. Tonight, I wondered if it was coming from my vagina, so I stuck a finger inside, and HOLY COW, there was a tampon right at the edge! I am such an idiot. I hope I don’t have a huge infection from this….
I feel fine, but should I see a doctor still?