Don't freak out because of what you read on here. Honestly, people come to online birth control forums because something's wrong, so you'll find lots of people on here that are on something that isn't working for them.

Anyway, you are likely to have the same side effects on the pill as the ring, because they contain the same hormones. And the warning signs I listed above are for all types of hormonal birth control, not the ring. And actually, the ring has lower levels of hormones than most pills because it stays local instead of traveling through the whole body. So most women have fewer side effects, not to mention it's much easier.

But anyway, it's always your choice. If you wanted, you could finish this month and switch to the pill right after the ring-free week. I think you would be protected the whole time, but you'd have to ask your doctor to be sure.

PS most pills have a week long waiting period before sex just like the ring, but of course it only counts for the first pack.

I went on the Nuva Ring in December of 2006 and thought it was the greatest thing in the world but now...I hate it. I was on the pill previously and thought the nuva was better because I didnt have to remember a pill everyday...

In January of 07, I woke up one morning and could not fit into the jeans I wore a week before. My stomach, which was tone and flat is now flabby and gross. I thought I was just eating more, which I guess I was because of the NUVA. My ex and I got back together around then so I just thought I was gaining weight bc I was happy and comfortable. At least that is what all my friends tried to tell me. I was on the pill before the Nuva and I was in a 5/6 or 7/8 pant...now I am in a 11/12...I have gained almost 20lbs. I hate the way I look right now....

Mood swings, anxiety and depression took over my life also. I use to go out with friends and hated to be home...now I want to stay home, cry and constently feel sorry for myself. I am picking fights with my boyfriend for no reason and even my friends have seen a major change in me. I go from sweet to horribly mean it about 30 seconds. I am a full time graduate student but getting up and going to school makes me want to cry. I have day when I just dont go. I just want to cry, and stay home. I hate being around ppl.

Also, I am not sure if anyone else have delt with this...but my cramps have been HORRIBLE. They are so painful and I never had cramps until the nuva ring was introduced to me.

I have a ZERO sex drive and that cause MAJOR problems with my boyfriend and I. I want to have sex but my body doesnt.

I had a feeling that the nuva ring was causing some of these things, but i let it go. I went to the DR for a stomach virus yesterday and decided to chat with her about how I have been feeling and she said....NO MORE NUVA! I was not surprised when she said that. I took it out as soon as I got home and now I am beginning a month without any hormone drugs.

I will keep everyone posted on how I am feeling!

I am sorry these side effects happened to you! It is important to remember that not everyone experiences this however, because if the majority of women did, the nuvaring wouldn't be legal!

Wow... When I read this a chill went up my spine... for almost a year now I've gone to the ER more times than ANYONE I know... Like you, I have HORRIBLE spells... but it will start in the middle and behind the left breast, then it moves up and over into my back and down my back to my hips. By the time the pain progresses to my chest, I can't breathe. I used to pass out from the pain.. it's like having spasms.. I can't move, I end up on the floor sweating buckets... however I dont have the urge to cough, nor have I coughed up anything during these spasms.. my husband too urges me to go to the ER each time and the mule that I am just refuses because that's ALL my life has been for the past year. They took out my gallbladder and now I don't pass out from the spasms, but I still have them... I'm due for an endoscopy this Friday to check for acid reflux disease... basically, EVERY doctor in 4 different cities have been stumped... nobody knows what it is.. but now, I'm DEFINITLEY bringing this to attention to my doctors. I started the Nuva Ring in Feb. of this year... right around the time I was having those pains... never did I even think to connect the two factors till just now... and the worst part is, my husband and I decided to get pregnant again... I don't think I am right now.. but there IS a possibility.. I just have to wait till next month to see.

I liked the Nuva Ring for the most part... I didn't get cramps, very light menstral, MILD weight gain... mostly my fault on that branch because I've been baking holiday cakes and cookies like no one's business. lol. However, ever since my husband has been back from Isolated Duty, and even during his midtour, ( I got the ring a few months before he came home for midtour) we noticed our sex was... well.. kinda lame.. I didn't lack a drive, it was just different... we recently had a long talk about it, and we realized that it was my Nuva Ring... because when you have ANY foreign vaginal insert, especially that stays in there, your vagina naturally makes extra mucus or 'lube'... too much in our case. I've had it out for two weeks now... and it's been ALOT better... I also dont have to worry about freaking out every time a cast of the ring is discharged during my menstral and I feel like I just gave birth to an alien...

I however have a hard time with any birth controls... they all effect my moods HEAVILY... my OB/GYN diagnosed me recently (she's crazy, mind you) with PMDD, and now I have to take Zoloft 100 mg during PMS week... which I haven't.. because if I take any more meds, I'm going to scream. I've been better mood-wise I guess.. I dont know.. I've been on so many pain killers lately for my pain that I just.. zone. lol. Really couldn't tell you how the 'normal' me is effected without the Nuva Ring.
However mild my menstral has been while on this, it's not worth all this other crap, in my opinion.

I have been on the ring for atleast 2 years and it helped me greatly. I was having major yeast and bacterial infections that I couldn't get rid of for 6 months. Went on the ring and all was good.
I haven't even thought that my hairloss could be from the ring!!
Wow!! I am going to the gyno next week and want to hear her thoughts
I have been going crazy with the thinning hair. I thought that this was just age

i have been on nuva ring for 3 years almost and i have suffered greatly from hairloss...i cant even put my hair in a ponytail anymore because it falls out, there isnt enough hair to stay in. i am only 25...there is no history of female baldness/hairloss in my family. Any new additions to this post about hairloss?

Oh and I had major yeast and bacterial infections CONSTANTLY from being on the nuvaring. My doctor said it was because of the discharge and my body couldnt keep a correct Ph balance. I wont go back on it.

Does anyone know how long it takes for your body to return to normal after being on any pill? ive heard one week to six months and any variation inbetween. Ive been off it for a month, and ive lost 12 pounds and two pants sizes (YAY!) but am still PMS-y.

K

Hormonal birth control isn't for everyone. Some women just don't react well on it.

hahaha well my body doesnt react to anything ...ive been diagnosed with PMDD from one doctor, to PCOS with another and something else that starts with some letters...everyone one of them says something different and gives me a new pill/method. im just going celibate (sp?).

I'm new to the forum, but I figured I'd respond to this.

I was on Nuvaring for a little over a year. I stopped using it because I was experiencing a whole host of symptoms that I had never experience during the previous 2 years I was using the Patch. For starters, I had considerable hair loss, which I noticed within months of beginning Nuvaring. I had no idea that this could happen and did not make the connection between Nuvaring and hair loss until months later, when I started doing some research. I also gained 10 lbs., had absolutely NO sex drive whatsoever, had gross discharge, and felt like an emotional train wreck all the time. I generally felt like a different person. I stopped using Nuvaring last May and I noticed an immediate difference in my mood. I also almost immediately dropped the 10 lbs. I gained.

Growing hair back is another story. I don't mean to freak you out, but many women experience what is called a "dread shed" 3 to 6 months after quitting hormonal birth control. This is similar to the shed that many women experience after giving birth. I definitely experienced this, though it's hard to pinpoint if and when it slows down. It's amazing how much hair you can lose without going totally bald.

I'm only 28 and there is absolutely no history of female baldness in my family, so I know how frustrating all of this can be. But, it definitely takes your body far more than 1 to 6 weeks to get your hormonal balance back. I think it's absolutely worth the wait, though. Your hormones are such a delicate matter; I will never go back to using hormonal birth control, as I just don't think it's worth it to throw my body so out of whack. I do know that milk thistle can help cleanse the liver of the remaining synthetic hormones and that evening primrose oil is good for hormone balance. Good nutrition is, of course, critically important to healing your body.

It's easy to freak out about all of this, but it seems as though this is all a matter of time and patience. I'm trying to be patient and not obsess over it, though. I see a whole lot of little hairs growing all over my head, so who knows?

I tried nuvaring and within 9 hours I had intense pain in my lower abdomen and pelvic area. I also started vomitting. I've used oral birthcontrol and have never had problems before. Did anyone else vomit or have cramps?

No! That doesn't sound normal at all- I would guess either you had a very extreme/rare reaction to it, or you had a stomach flu or something!! That's not fun.

Did you leave it in or try put it in again later? What happened?

I am so happy to have found these postings. For the longest time now I thought I was losing my mind. I have experienced all of the symptoms stated; hair loss, mood swings and especially the painful sex. I was even experiencing bleeding during intercourse. I was on nuva ring for almost 1 year, off an on. Now that Im totally off, all of my symptoms have subsided

Yeah, the painful sex was the only side effect I experienced and I was on it for a year. However, I didn't really experience it until the end of that year, and I thought I was going crazy too because no one else seemed to have experienced that!

I hope you all find something that works for you.

Please do not post in all caps. It is extremely annoying.

If a birth control gives you bad migraines, you really need to tell your doc asap. That's not good. I answered how to get it out on your other thread.

Yes, constant REAL migraines are a sign of a possible impending stroke, so please take out the ring any way you can and try a different kind of birth control.

I have been on Nuvaring since December of 2004. The longer I have been on it, the more I hate it. It is convenient, but the side effects are not worth it. I have a hard time falling asleep and ridiculous mood swings. I have lost interest in most everything and only do work I am required to do. I do not have a desire to do anything. No passion. The smallest thing will make me cry uncontrollably. The mood swings were minimal when I first started and now I can't stand them. My gyno suggested taking a B-complex vitamin daily for at least a month. I have been doing that for about a week, but I don't know if I can do that anymore. The mere thought of having to hold back tears because I am being completely irrational makes me want to cry!! It is utterly ridiculous. I am a logical person and the complete lack of logic behind my emotions is driving me insane.

As I always say: If the side effects out weigh the benefits, then GET OFF IT!

I was on two kinds of penicillin as a kid/teen for acne. One made me lactose intolerant, and the other made me extremely nauseous. I would throw the pills away behind my mom's back in the morning instead of taking them because I hated it so much. Oh yes, both of the pills worked extremely well when taken correctly; I was as clear as the sky! But the side effects were NOT worth it. That's also why I decided not to get on acutaine - another acne drug. Instead, I'm following a stringent daily washing routine. If I stick to it, it works and woo! - no nausea, I can drink milk, no drymouth, etc.

I just found this website and thank God I did! I have been on the ring for about 2.5-3 yrs and sicne then I have been experiencing depression, anxiety attacks, and mood swings. All of the aforementioned had never effected my life prior to me being on the ring. I didnt think anything of the hair loss that I started to experience about 5 months ago because it wasnt a HUGE issue (I have extremely thick hair), but I can see my hair line receding when I put it in a pony tail. Now that I read all of these posts I undeniably attribute all of these symptoms to the ring. I am a healthy 24 year old woman and my depression and crying all the time has gotta give! I literally took out the ring 20 minutes ago.

Oh and the reason I was researching the ring is because I do the method of using it back to back for three months and then after my physical this month I realized I couldnt think back to when I had a period. So...I took a pregnancy test (negative!) and then took it out for over a week because I was suppose to for one week, but I forgot to insert the new one timely (oops) I am currently feeling the worst period cramp pain, yet the period hasnt come. Maybe now that I have taken it out it will come. In any event, at least maybe my moods and thick hair will return to normal.

BTW I dont know what method I will use now, but I will assure you anything is better than being an emotional wreck and crying unexplainably all the time!

THANKS so much for this blog!!!!!

I was on the Nuva Ring for five months. I decided to try it because it has a lower dose of hormones than birth control pills or the shot. I recently experienced hair loss with birth control pills as well. I have always been prone to some hair loss but this is ridiculous. About a month and a half ago my hair started to come out in exorbitant amounts. I have also become very anxious and short tempered. I am to the point where I have to take two Xanax when I wash my hair so I don't want to kill myself because of the hair loss. I took the ring out and I'm getting an IUD. I'm done with the hormones.