Pads. I bleed too much for tampons. Last time I tried to put one in, it was totally soaked before I even got it all the way in.
Not to mention it hurt like a **** mothering son of a ****ing **** to even try to put it in. If I were going to use tampons, I'd need small ones, but I bleed way too much for those.
Also I'm extra super sensitive to pain down there (it's not just my uterus killing me, no, I feel pain in my vaginal opening too - always have, more or less) during my period so tampons are nowhere near worth the pain, effort, and discomfort.
So I just get larger pads with wings that are pretty absorbent. About the only issue I have with them is that after you've worn them for a few days then your skin gets irritated and even when you change them it still smells pretty rank. Then again, maybe that's just me, when I'm on my period I smell like I've been living in a dumpster my whole life.
But also pads are good because my bladder control is pretty ****ty when I'm on my period (I really don't know why either) so sometimes when I get up to go to the bathroom I urinate and can't control it much. If I wore tampons my underwear would get soaked, but with pads it's all good because they're really absorbent. Okay, maybe that was TMI but I'm basically incontinent when on my period so pads are highly beneficial... because I'd run out of underwear so fast otherwise, then I'd be up a creek.
So, yeah, pads.