I used the Nuva Ring for one month in August of 2005. I saw hair loss in my crown mainly in the temples. It is December of 2008 and I still have baby fine hair in the temple area. For me, my hair has never grown back to the consistency prior to using the ring. If anyone else has experienced similiar outcomes please share!

Hi, I started using the ring a month ago. I inserted it on the 1st day of my period, and left it in for 21 days. Took it out for 7 days, and then put in a new one, same time of day. I have not gotten my period since. I took 2 BC tests, both negative.
While on the ring for the first month i had very heavy brown discharge..is that "normal"? and very very light spotting for one day.
Has anyone missed a period while on the ring? there is always a chance of pregnancy ( i do not believe anything is 100%), but i really don't think i am. Any experiences would be great!

I'm getting towards the end of my 3rd month on Nuvaring, and I have also struggled with depression for a long time. Since using the ring, I have not only been depressed, but ANGRY! i yell at everyone all the time, i am less social, and i don't ever have motivation to do anything.
and i'm nervous as heck. i have a very consistent, and very traumatizing (for lack of a better term) thought that i am pregnant because i keep getting stomach pain that comes and goes and occasional nausea. in fact, all the side effects i have been getting are so similar to pregnancy symptoms, i am just in constant panic.
i have been getting bad headaches, especcially at night, in addtion to this.

but on the plus side, i have been getting my period regularly for the first time in my life. i haven't paid enough attention to remember whether everything changes when i go on my week long break. i'll test it out next week when it gets removed.

yeah, i had the same thing.
don't worry, since its only your first month, you should be fine. i had spotting the whole first month and couldn't even tell my period started.

I got off the nuvaring for my period,i usually put it in on the first day of my period but I was on vacation and forgot to bring a extra ring,so my period was light lasting about 2-3 days.but on about the 7 day i had unprotected sex with my bf,i didnt have it in as of yet. So is there a possibility i could be pregnant?

The nuvaring has messed my hormones up and since I stopped taking it a year ago they have not been back to normal. I tell every woman I talk to to never take the nuvaring and to stop taking it right away if they are one it. I have lost over half of my hair and at this point am wearing a hair piece. I wish the company could be sued for this, but it is in tiny print in the side effects. Thanks to the nuvaring myself esteem is pretty much non existant and I do not date anymore. Thanks nuvaring!!!

I have read all the side effects above but I didn't see that anyone had the same side effects as me. I have noticed an increase in breast size (which I am not complaining about) however at night, when sleeping, I sweat uncontrollably. It is disgusting. I sweat more than when I work out and I am not one to move around at night. I have been on the ring for 2 months now and this is the only thing I can think of that is making me like this. Has anyone else experienced this side effect, if one?

Thanks

Has anyone had good results with getting their hair to grow back. I am petrified right now every time I brush my hair. And I don't know if I should stop taking the ring because someone said that it could make the hair loss worse. What to do????????

I'm reading these posts b/c i got on the ring maybe 2 or 3 weeks ago and i been experiencing nausea at night for the past 2 days. I'll admit i get mood swings here and there and i'd cry from time to time but lately i've been crying more and my hair has been falling (not a whole lot at once) but i dont think it was the ring because its normal to lose hair on a daily basis... however reading these posts makes me think its the nuvaring. i dont wanna say its the ring itself (all birth control) since it tricks your body into thinking ur pregnant so it should give u symptoms such as those and i know depression is one... but in case it is does anyone suggest a better birth control method?

i forgot to add how i get constipation and i am a rather sexually driven person so i wanna do it but i dont even feel excited its so weird

I am 25 years old and have been using the nuvaring for about 5-years now. I started noticing slight hair loss after about two years, but doctors could not attribute it to anything. They tested me for everything under the sun; including hypothyroidism and diabetes. All tests always came back normal. This past year the hair loss has increased dramatically. It's gotten so bad that friends and family members have started to take notice. I had jaw surgery a couple moths ago and was off the ring for a couple of weeks (for the first time in 5 years). Immediately my husband and I could tell the difference in mood and sex drive. As soon as I put the ring back in it went right back to the way it was. I guess being on the Nuvaring for so long I just adapted to all of the side effects and if it wasn't for the two weeks after surgery I would still be trying to figure out my hairloss issue. I've talked to my husband and I'm going to stop use for a while and see how things go. We are going to use condoms for now. If my overall health improves I will not be going back to the ring. I will update after a month or so to let you guys know how everythings going.

I am on the NuvaRing now, the reason is I was on Depo for a year and unlike my past Depo injections 2 yrs ago, I completely had no period for months but when I did, I had the brown stuff and then red plus I would be on one day then not the other, not to mention the massive hairloss!!! I am disturbed to see all these people saying that they have had hair loss will upfate after 5 months to see whay happens

I have been on NuvaRing for two weeks now. I don't have the option of choosing a non-hormonal form of birth control, because I am not using it for birth control. I am permimenopausal (age 44) and my doctor put me on it because, he says, I must use hormones to prevent a recurrent problem I have with the lining of my uterus proliferating too much. Otherwise, I have to have D and C operations to remove that. I tried other hormonal forms of B.C. and the side effects were devastating for me. So, when I tried the ring I was pleasantly surprised not to be vomiting or otherwise completely incapacitated by it. However, I've been on it for two weeks now and I have gained ten pounds! Has anyone else had this side effect? I haven't been eating any more than usual! When will this level off, and when will it be possible to actually shed this weight again? I am afraid to eat anything! None of my clothes fit!

I too have lost hair due to the nuvaring. If anyone has experienced this and has grown their hair back please let me know. I'm dying to know whether or not my hair has a chance of growing back at the crown and temples.
Thank you.

Well, I've been using the ring for two years now, I've always been moody, but it got worst since I started using the ring, but I liked so much not to think about the pill everyday, that I kept using it. BUT about a year ago, everything got worst that ever in my life... I gained 15 lbs, I sweat a lot at nights, I fight a lot with my husband, I'm losing a lot of hair, I'm in a really bad depression, I was about to get counseling because I cry everynight and I pray and pray to God to die, because I feel so worthless...I get a sharp pain in my left breast, they are really sensitive even to touch, my periods are still really bad, my gloucose levels are high... and so on... and because the ring is so comfortable I even forgot that it could be the reason for everything...I guess the cons weighed in the only pro... I am going of BC for a few months to see what happens...

I started using Nuva ring about two years ago. My doctor suggested it after I swore off the pill. I tried the Depo shot but that made me a walking time bomb. When I first started using the nuva ring I thought it was the best thing since slice bread. It was a no brainer. I didn't have to worry about bc. About 6 months after being on nuva ring, my hair started coming out. Also, the texture of my hair changed. It was very dry, brittle and hard to manage. My hair stylist and I thought that maybe it was diet, stress or just using too much heat on my hair. Well, it didn't get any better. My vision started going bad as well. My vision in my left eye went from 20/15 to 20/40. The right eye went from 20/15 to 20/20. I know that vision changes with age, but not to this extreme. My hair continued to fall out. The floor would be covered with hair. I did not want to comb my hair anymore because of the hair loss.

I went to doctor after doctor and all of my test came back normal. I was beginning to think I was crazy. After washing my hair and retrieving two hand fulls of hair out of the drain, I went back on the nuvaring website to find out what was going on. I finally saw it listed as a possible side effect at the bottom of the screen- LOSS OF SCALP HAIR and in SEVERE CASES SUDDEN PARTIAL OR COMPLETE LOSS OF VISION (possible clot in the eye). That did it for me!!! In January of this year, I took the ring out for good. I feel so much better. My hair loss has stopped, just little shedding not like before with the ring. My vision is getting a lot better. The mood swings are gone. I do not have any clots with my period. I had HUGE blood clots while using the ring. I also had sharp pains in my breast which are now gone. If you are considering the ring, think about it twice. The side effects are real. I thank GOD everyday that I took it out before something really bad happened. I wish that we could sue them for emotional distress or something.

I had the same thing happen to me as well. I took the ring out at the beginning of this year and my hair had started growing back. I felt the same way. I didnt want to comb or brush my hair because the hair loss was soo bad. Did the texture of your hair change as well?

Yes, it happened to me and your hair will start growing back. I stopped using it in January and my hair has started to grow back. I had missing patches around my temples and breakage around the crown. Its starting to get a lot better. I dont have to wear hats anymore.

I have been on the Nuva Ring for probably 3 years and decided to quit because we are going to try to have another baby in a few months, I took out the NR had my period last week and a week later I am experiencing cramping and brown spotting. Is this normal for when you stop?

I've been using it for about five months and my hair has been falling out like crazy but I didn't put two and two together until the other day and like you, nobody warned me about this possible side effect. I have about half the hair I used to. I hope it grows back. Women need to know about this.