Thank you for helping us solve the lost tampon mystery. After making love with my sweetheart, she realized she had forgotten to take out her tampon beforehand. And where was it now? She convinced me that it was still there, somewhere, but where? We searched on the web and found your advice. After washing my hands thoroughly, with her guidance, I searched and finally found the lost tampon. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And my sweetheart thanks you enormously. Whew. What a relief. Thanks.

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(2)
Dear Alice,

Newly—wedded, my husband and I were hosting our first big party and ended up drinking all night... when everyone left, we decided to make love. However, me, the absent-minded drunk, forgot to take out my tampon. I didn't find the disgusting thing until five days later... I literally thought something crawled inside of me and died. Thank, God, I came across your web site. I was about to call my OB/GYN, and if he would have found it... oh my, the humiliation would be too much and I would have had to find a new doctor! Thank you so much! You saved me time, money, and most of all, the embarrassment!

- Ann Onymous -

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Dear Alice,

Thank you very much for having this information posted. I recently started having the most offensive odor and had NO idea what was going on. I looked on several sites searching for vaginal odor/dark discharge and could not find anything that fit my symptoms. I was at such a loss I even went as far as to check out STD symptoms even though I am in a monogamous (sp) relationship with my husband whom I trust completely. I was planning on going to the Dr. tomorrow. I found your info and knew exactly what the problem was (especially when one woman said "it smelled like something crawled up inside of me and died." Exactly! It really was THAT bad). I figure my tampon was "lost" for about 5 - 6 days with terrible odor after maybe 2 - 3. I followed your advice and "fished" for it (it took maybe 30 seconds) and sure enough... a HUGE relief. I will still call my Dr. today to make sure I don't need to be seen, in case there was an infection of some sort caused by it. But I think all is well.

Thank you

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Hi Alice,

I just retuned from the doctor's office and he found the problem of my odor & dark discharge. I was in total shock. I had no idea what to say or how to react. I am relieved knowing the cause, but still embarrassed. I do feel better after finding your site. The doctor did tell me "it happens," but I thought surely I was the only one stupid enough to lose & forget about a tampon. I just wish I would have found this earlier.

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(5)

Dear Alice,

Well, you can imagine my immense relief when it turned out all it was WAS a lost tampon. I work in a very public facing industry and was mortified by the odor - I had no discharge or discomfort, but could not for the life of me figure out what that odor was. I am glad this site encourages women to know their bodies and what is normal for them so they are aware when something is "not right". I would like to share that it may not be a bad idea to be checked out by your doctor if this does in fact happen, even if you are able to retrieve the tampon yourself. In my case, although I had no symptoms that I was aware of, I did have bacterial vaginosis (sp) from this incident and am glad my doctor caught it and prescribed a course of Clindamax for me. He explained that left untreated, BV can spread to the uterus and fallopian tubes, causing a much more serious infection and possible PID. Just food for thought for women that find themselves in this situation! Thank you for an informative, honest, and sometimes humorous forum!

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To the reader:

I too have just returned from my doctor and she found a tampon up inside me. It has been there over a week. Ewwww! I was so embarrased, she said not to be, that she had seen it many times before. The smell was very bad. The weird smelly discharge had lessened but I still knew something wasn't right. I blows my mind and I feel totally humiliated. I should feel glad that it was nothing worse. I wish I had been able to find your site when I was googling my symptoms about the discharge. I don't know if I will ever be able to use a tampon again.

—Embarrased me