Why have tampons changed ? They don’t expand at all anymore.

When I used to pull tampons out - they would be light to bright red and fanned out. Now when I pull them, they are still very compressed and there’s just darkish blood covering the tampon bullet but not absorbing. And since they don’t absorb, blood leaks down the string after just a little while. THEY CHANGED RIGHT, I’M NOT INSANE ?! Feel like I’m losing my mind over this. It’s been a good couple to a few years since tampons have worked like they used to.