Nuva Ring Feedback?

I began using the ring about a week ago. I'm 24 and this is the first kind of hormonal birth control I have ever used.

I inserted the ring on day 4 of my cycle (for me, this was right after my period ended). The first day or two that I had the ring in, I found I was moody (similar to PMS), and I experienced mild hot flashes. These symptoms faded within a week, and I feel normal again.

I have experienced NO physical discomfort-- no itching, no pain, and I can't feel the ring when it's in. I was a little nervous about the ring staying put, but every time I check, it's right where it belongs.

Overall, I'm very happy and relieved that it's been so easy and uneventful. If you're reading up on the ring online and you're concerned about all the horror stories people produce (I was especially wary of all the "itching" comments), let me tell you, I haven't seen a hint of grief so far.

i have been on the ring for awhile now and haven't had any problems until now.
i forgot to take it out my 3rd week, so during my 4th week, i just put a new one in (doc said you can do that if you want to skip a period), so i did. all of sudden i start 'bleeding', not sure if you wanna call it that, because it's really not bleeding, it brown and it's not alot, but enough to make a mess during sex.. and this has been happening for over a week now.

has anyone else had this problem and if so, what did you do? Should i just take the ring out for a full week and put a new one in, i dunno!!

I've been on the ring for 9 months and didn't think it was causing any problems. It fell out last weekend during intercourse, so I was checking up info on it to make sure I'm still protected (should be, we haven't had sex since then and we'll use condoms for the next month). I went on the ring barely a month after starting sex, so I hardly know the difference off it. My mom warned me that she used to have dryness problems, so any dryness I've had I dismissed as genetics and any problems climaxing I dismissed as due to dryness. I'm only 21 and have not yet been sexually active for a year so I haven't gotten around to going to a gynecologist yet and am between regular doctors too so until I find one to go to I don't have one to ask besides the ones at my college, and its out of session until fall.

I've heard that the side effects from the ring aren't very different than those from other methods of birth control, and I know it's a relatively low does of hormones. If it really is just something the hormones in it do to me I don't see any reason to change, plus I LOVE how easy it is and suck at taking pills. My side effects aren't bad, but some of you talk about it getting worse. Is it really that bad or are only the unlucky people speaking up?

I have found this forum to be really interesting. My husband actually found it for me. Anyway, I wanted to share my story.

I started taking birth control in high school because I was having too many periods- 7 days on 3 days off. My doctor prescribed Yasmin to regulate it so I would not run out of eggs! I never had any problems with it at all. The only thing was that I was using to regulate my cycle not as birth control. I was not sexually active so I was taking the pills losely-- I was doing good if I took one a day, but there were times when I had missed 3 or 4 and I was notorious for switching them all around so I could schedule my period when most convient. I should mention too that I have had severe ovarian cysts where the pain was so bad I ended up in the hospital and have perscription pain medication for it.

When I got engaged I decided that I had better practice taking the pills in a way that would actually be effective for brith control (we were both virgns until our wedding night) since I'd been so relaxed about it for 6 years! After a few months of my efforts to be disciplined faling I saw my gyno to talk options. We decided to go with the NuvaRing. I had loved Yasmin as far as being side effect free, just couldn't get the dosage down.

I have now been on NuvaRing for about 8 months. I haven't had a bad experience but there are some things I am thinking may be related to it that keep me from calling it a good experience too. First, what I love about it--- It is so easy! I have no trouble remembering the 2 times a month I have to bother with it. It is practically fool proof. Insertion and removal or so simple. Also my husband and I have had no issues of it coming out or feeling it during sex. Once or twice he has felt it, but he didn't mind! My periods have been fine as far as start time, length, and flow. I've recommeded it to many friends.

Lately though I am begining to think it is responsible for 3 things I hate! My face is breaking out all the time and now that I think back it started a few months into NuvaRing. It has never ever been this bad and nothing works nor do the outbreaks correlate to a certian time in the cycle it is just constant! Another thing is that I have had really severe itchiness on my labia on my period, almost as if there is a tiny knot beneath my skin. It is only on my period and only every other month or so. The last thing, which is the worst of all is my sex drive. It has nose dived. We are newlyweds without any previous experience so everything ought to still be new and exciting, but I seriously am struggling! There are weeks where I could care less about sex. I want to want it, but it just isn't there. I feel bad and we both want to figure it out. He hates that I have had to experience this! We think NuvaRing might be to blame because it sure wasn't an issue while we were waiting for sex before we got married when I was on Yasmin! Then it was a struggle to wait!

I guess I am going to have to think about going back to Yasmin and come up with a pill schedule because no passion is no good! But, then again neither is a baby when you aren't ready-- it's a toss up! If I weren't still working on school it'd be a no brainer but, I am worried about my lack of user compliance-- if you will. Still, it has become impossible to climax/orgasm! Any ideas???

That's interesting you mention the skin/acne thing. Before NuvaRing I would without fail break out about a week or so before my period like clockwork. It was obviously hormone related. Since NuvaRing, though, I've been virtually breakout free.

I guess the deal is, hormone imbalances work both ways and depending on how high or low the dose is that comes with whatever BC one chooses might either correct that, or make it worse.

Hi, the same thing happened to me about 2 months ago. I did 3 pregnancy test and they were all negative. I swore that I had ALL the symptoms associated w/pregnancy as well. I called my ob and she was in the least bit concerned or thought that I was pregnant after 3 tests a few days to a week apart. My cycle eventually started i think like halfway into the second month then I've been reg ever since except for the last cycle which was the least amount of bleedin that I have ever experienced. I'm 35. Though I just took the ring out after reading all the blogs that I found on google about the side effects and had a call out to my OB since earlier because of the same things that almost every woman was talking about mood swings, acne(nver had a problem even as a teenager, wgt gain esp around my stomach even with working out 3x/wk and watching my diet which i've lost tremendous wgt in the past doing...loss of interest in sexual act, and mood swings and hair loss.
ps I am so discouraged now...I thought I had found the right bc method. i had been on the pill for 9 yrs-no prob triphasil(might go back but afraid of the year loss and thinning which hasn't gotten any better) I loved loved loved the ring until my husband and I began picking upi on all the above adverse reactions in the last few days. I just stopped it tonight to see the outcome.

How long did it take those who quit the ring to lose the weight?

I quit using the Nuvaring last year and I'm just now getting past the horrible dryness it caused. Beware, it is a lousy situation.

hi. I recently quit nuvaring because I had various problems through out my time with it's use. At first I loved it because like so many I have trouble taking a pill on time and dislike the appearance of the patch. Little problems starting popping up like nausea, severe anxiety for unknown reasons, irregular paps, chronic diarrhea for months shortly after beginning usage, sometimes painful intercourse and lest we forget the extremely decreased ability to orgasm. I could never be sure it was directly related to the ring and my Dr of course assured me it wasn't. But ladies we have instincts and mine told me to quit using it. So I've been off for 11 days and starting in the 1st week of being off I've had serious side effects including sore nipples (gone now), abdominal cramping, feeling my left ovary like I'm ovulating, and severe low back pain thats lasted 3 days so far. I know these sound like early pregnancy symptoms and I have yet to rule that out. But my sister in law has been off the ring for 5 months now and she feels this way every month around ovulation, says she doesn't feel quite right until she has her period. PLEASE - anyone out there who has had similar experiences? I personally feel as though the nuvaring is horrific and should be made illegal. Interested to hear others' comments...

So i was on Nuvaring for about 8 months and the most severe side effect is the complete loss in sex drive. I can still orgasm, but it's really no fun, I have to force myself to get started and we went from about 4 times a week to maybe once every 2. It really sucks because now it's causing problems in the relationship too! He thinks it's all in my mind of course...
Anyways, also experienced about a 6 pound weight gain and it constantly came out during sex. Plus I break out a lot more...
So I am going back to OrthoTricyclen Lo. I hope that brings back my interest!

I've been on the Ring for about 8 months now. I used it regularly up until last month, when I was supposed to have my "period week" the week of my wedding. During this week, I doubled up the ring - meaning I put a new one in as soon as I took the old one out. After those 3 weeks, I took the ring out, had a period, and put a new one in. A couple of days ago I started having breast tenderness and bloating like I did when I first started the Ring. Has this happened to anyone else? Do the side effects just come and go like that? I don't think I'm pregnant - if I am, it'd be awfully early to start feeling any symptoms. I have also experience severe migraines, blurred vision, anxiety attacks, periods of either vaginal dryness or excessive discharge, etc. The Ring is horrible, but so is the Pill. Anyone else been through this?

Just an update:
Switched from NuvaRing to OrthoTri Lo and dropped 8 pounds in about 2 weeks. Also, sex drive is back. Screw NuvaRing, lol.

I've been on the ring for 2 months now and I personally feel OK about it. Within the first few days on it I felt excessively anxious and erratic but only for about a day. I cannot definitely place the blame on the ring for these feelings tho as I am currently acquiring 2 Masters degrees and the stress could very well be coming from that. My boyfriend could feel the ring as well and at first it felt uncomfortable to him, but now he doesn't even feel it so I leave it in to prevent loss of momentum. If I do take it out, my ob-gyn told me I can leave it out for no more than 3 hours. I am starting to notice a few extra rolls in my tummy and weight gain from the water retention but I'm currently doing some ab workouts to buildup muscle in the area to counteract that. Once again,tho, this is another side effect that can be attributed to my busy academic schedule that leaves little time for a good cardio workout. My breasts are fuller and I DEFINITELY have no complaints about that(and neither does my boyfriend).
I have also experienced a loss in sex drive like some of the other women and an issue with dryness, but a little lubricant goes a long way and (please forgive me for being so frank) my boyfriend LOVES the use of lube in foreplay and intercourse so sex is actually even better now(for him anyway) because of the ring. I've noticed though that if I take my ring out and THEN we have sex I can orgasm normally.
Overall I like the ring. I don't have to remember to take a pill, I don't have to get a shot, it's been effective(so far) and it's fairly easy to insert. I would recommend it to my friends for sure.