Yes, for some people the hormones just don't work well.

i've been rading on some other forums and they say that it will subside. then again every woman is different. so if it's something you don't feel you can handle change your birth control. there is always other options. as for side effects i've had burning, and cuts. also a loss of sex drive. came right back after a day or two. got to say my husband was happy about that.

Anyone have Tinnitus as a side effect? I have been on Nuvaring for approx. 2-3 years now and had Tinnitus for 2 years now. I am blaming it on an accident I had 2 years ago or a tooth/molar pulling. Doctors cannot find anything wrong with me (MRI's). Could this be related? I do know I have more yeast infections since using the Nuvaring, at least once every month, every 2 months. I have to see my Gyno in 2 mos., wondering if the Nuvaring is the cause.

I was on nuvaring...and i started bleeding badly for like 2 weeks i took it out and am still bleeding 2 weeks after taking it out...i noticed i had a lot of the symptoms my sex drive was down my mood swings are out of this world (my poor husband) sleepy but i figured that was due to my low iron count...not to mention really bad cramps in the tummy and below...enough where they have me crunched over...it was worth then my labor pain...i spoke with 6 other women who took it for a year and can no longer have kids...they either miscarry or just cant get pregnant...i urge you woman please check into it more...i wish i would of now because i might have ruined every chance my husband and i could ever have kids...please be careful and take the ten minutes to research any birth control you take...i will now learn from my mistake

I think it's highly, HIGHLY, aka nearly impossible that you are infertile. I have never heard of a woman becoming infertile due to the nuvaring. I have heard of women taking a year or more to flush Depo from their system, but I've never heard of infertility due to the nuvaring.

Have you had children before? Obviously, if you're discussing labor pain... but you want more children with your current husband?

... to those of you girls who are under Nuva ring and are experiencing bad hair loss. It does stop... once you get off the thing. I took it off it about 5 months ago and my hair stopped falling about 2 months ago. Other side effects such as zero sex drive and headaches also stopped.

One thing I will retain from all this is how differently hormonal birth control can affect women. And also how little some gynaecologists know about those effects, thus leading you into believing that this all is purely psychosomatic and can only get better. Well it not always does and there is only so much you need to take. If the side effects are too heavy and/or too numerous, try something else ! I am now under hormonal IUD and after a few weeks of intensive bleeding and headaches, all is back to normal including sex drive ! Happy as can be !

I wish the manufacturers of Nuva Ring would list hair loss under the possible side effects so women wouldn't have to go through all this questioning and desperation.

Whoa girl, have you seen your doctor? Have you been checked out for PCOS, cysts, ovarian cancer? Get your butt to the gyno!!!

If the ring really caused women to become infertile, they couldn't sell it. That just doesn't happen.

I have lost so much hair, I was gaining/fluctuating really badly with my weight (especially swelling in my stomach), my sex drive went down, and I was fatigued VERY badly, having anxiety attacks and losing sensation in my limbs, losing sleep, peeing more (and i already pee several times an hour!). And now I look at my hair in the mirror (I've been off the ring for 3 months now) and want to cry. I have been reading this forum and NO ONE has really had an answer to if the hair grows back... My weight stopped fluctuating and i'm no fatigued anymore (I actually feel SOOOOOo great after stopping), and i don't have anxiety/numbness any more..but my hair....still falling out and still ugly/stringy/thin. Does ANYONE know if there's a reversal of the hair loss? If anyone is reading this who has never used the ring and is thinking of doing so....PLEASE PLEASE, reconsider. Do NOT do this to yourself... And as someone mentioned in a previous post...the OB/GYNs act CLUELESS. They'll tell you there's NOTHING wrong with it and NOW major side effects...and when you point blank ask them "is my hair loss a result of the ring? "(like I did), they will LIE to your face. My OB/GYN told me here was NO WAY it was related to the ring...well...after reading this forum...I'm sorry but I'll never go back to her again.

I had this same problem (the excessive bleeding). i bled for over a month strait.

THANK YOU! I HAVE BEEN NEAR TO TEARS THINKING MY HAIR WILL NEVER GROW BACK! i've been off for 3 months now and have still been losing...Hopefully I"ll start to see some improvement soon! Thank you for restoring hope!

I have lost so much hair, I was gaining/fluctuating really badly with my weight (especially swelling in my stomach), my sex drive went down, and I was fatigued VERY badly, having anxiety attacks and losing sensation in my limbs, losing sleep, peeing more (and i already pee several times an hour!). And now I look at my hair in the mirror (I've been off the ring for 3 months now) and want to cry. I have been reading this forum and NO ONE has really had an answer to if the hair grows back... My weight stopped fluctuating and i'm no fatigued anymore (I actually feel SOOOOOo great after stopping), and i don't have anxiety/numbness any more..but my hair....still falling out and still ugly/stringy/thin. Does ANYONE know if there's a reversal of the hair loss? If anyone is reading this who has never used the ring and is thinking of doing so....PLEASE PLEASE, reconsider. Do NOT do this to yourself... And as someone mentioned in a previous post...the OB/GYNs act CLUELESS. They'll tell you there's NOTHING wrong with it and NOW major side effects...and when you point blank ask them "is my hair loss a result of the ring? "(like I did), they will LIE to your face. My OB/GYN told me here was NO WAY it was related to the ring...well...after reading this forum...I'm sorry but I'll never go back to her again.

I JUST read someone's reply where they said quite definitively that their hair DID grow back. However just like everything else, it is probably subjective to each and every person.

I too have been on the nuvaring 2-3 years. I really didn't notice the thinning of my hair because it was gradual. I now can see my scalp and it if freaking me out!
Asked my gyno about this and she said that it does not have anything to do with the ring. Just got off with the company that makes nuvaring and they said that absolutly, hair loss can we a side affect.
I am so afraid to go off because I am nervous I will lose even more hair.
Any suggestions?

I'm losing hair!!

And I'm not on Nuvaring. I'm not saying that Nuvaring doesn't cause hair loss, (because it can, in rare situations) but make sure you're looking at other factors instead. In my case, I'm anemic.

You may be just a multivitamin away from not losing hair anymore!!

There is no way it could have made you fatter in 5 days. I think your depression left because you expected it to. I'm not saying your symptoms weren't real, but it truly sounds like a case of you expecting horrible side effects, so you felt them whether they were "real" or not. Self fulfilling prophecy.

I am a health care provider and never knew about all of these problems with the ring. Everyones body reacts differently to medications, so if you are having problems, you must tell your doctor, and make a change! Anytime you introduce additional hormones to your system, you risk mood changes, weight gain, acne, etc. I know its frustrating, b/c i am in the same situation, but some women"s bodies can just not handle birth control

I swear--I thought I needed to go on anti depressants or something-- I'm a successful type A businesswoman and just got on the ring this month and halfway through mtgs I'd have to go to the bathroom and just want to cry. I left my boyfriend and started to be paranoid-- it was horrible. I was irrational and just cry and cry some nights. Tonight at a restaurant I took the ring out and flushed it in the toilet--I wasn't sure if it was the ring--but now I'm reading this forum and I feel to much better. My sister uses the ring with no problem--so it may be great for some--but for me-- forget it! Never--I became a completely different person!!! Thanks you girls for sharing!!!

I have been on NuvaRing nearly five months now. This is my first attempt at hormonal birth control. On the positive side: I like its convenience and that it is supposed to be the lowest dose of hormones available. I have not had problems with it popping out (it has only popped out once, during sex), and it does not bother me or my partner during sex.

That all said, I am experiencing multiple negative side effects: headaches, including migraines; depression; low energy; low sex drive; vaginal itching and soreness; every so often a weird feeling that I need to urinate when I don't; mild weight gain; and thinning hair.

It has taken me a while to put the pieces together and link these symptoms to the NuvaRing. One morning I was working on the computer and all of the sudden the screen seemed to go white and flicker. When I looked away, I still saw white flickering light. I was worried I was having a detached retina. I went to my eye doctor, she diagnosed the condition as an "ocular migraine". She was unable to give me a specific cause, but said migraines are often tied to caffeine and stress. I wasn't really satisfied with this explanation, because I am 40 years old, have had stress and caffeine in my life for 20 years, but have never had a migraine before. She sent me to a retinal specialist to completely rule out any retina problems. He concurred I had experienced an ocular migraine. One of the first questions he asked was if I was on hormonal birth control. I was shocked at the question, but said, yes, I just started NuvaRing. He said estrogen can effect these kind of migraines. He left it up to me and my GYN to decide whether to continue using NuvaRing or not. He had me come back for a followup visit about a month later to make sure no retina problems. There weren't. Total bill for three office visits to two doctors: $360. Ouch.

I could put up with the other side effects, but the hair loss is the straw that broke the camel's back. Actually, it is not so much that I am losing more hairs, rather individual hairs are getting thinner/finer, especially around the front and sides of my head. From what I see on this and other forums, these side effects are typical for hormonal birth control. I am planning to discontinue NuvaRing once I finish this month's cycle. Has anyone discontinued hormonal birth control and see hair loss reverse? Please give me some hope!!!

Thanks.

You're describing an ocular aka aural migraine exactly. I get them, too. Birth control can cause these migraines.

Every form of hormonal birth control is different!! Just because you had these symptoms on one form does not mean you will have them on another form!! Don't rule all of them out just because of one bad experience.

And yes, several women who have gotten off of nuvaring have reported hair regrowth.

As for hair loss on other forms of birth control, I have never heard of it happening.

If you get those kind of migraines, taking any form of birth control that contains estrogen (like nuvaring) will increase your risk for stroke (more than normal). Some doctors say that women with these types of migraines shouldn't be on estrogen-containing birth control because of this, but some don't say that. Either way, it's an important risk to consider.