RateItAll: The Opinion Network

Hmm well i think if you ladies want to think about a birth control that is right for you , you should try it yourself. Im 18 and have been on the nuvaring for 2 months.At first i didnt want to accept it because of all the bad Reviews from other women but you cant judge what you're going to like from what people say because everyone can react differently to the nuvaring. I like it so far and have had no complains really.I felt it at first during sex but thats because I didnt have it pushed far enough in and I dont even feel it anymore. Its like having nothing and i could see how it could be easy to forget its in there, so mark your calendars!! I do have a question though to anyone that can answer me. Sometimes i randomly get a small cramp here and there while on it when im no where near getting my period.Its not that big of a deal cuz the pain isnt bad and only lasts for a couple seconds but its odd.anyways i like it ! Try it you never know!

For the most part, I like the ring. I have been on it for a few months now and have suffered no side effects. I got on it after 10 years of taking the pill (I'm now 27) and being on the ring has increased my sex drive (yay!). It is a bit awkward to put in and I can feel it a bit during sex, but there is no pain associated with it. For the first week or so I thought it was going to fall out so I was thinking about it all the time. Now I don't feel it, but I DO have to make a note on my calendar to remember to take it out!

I'm 21, just married. I've been using the ring for 2 months now. The first month, I was bleeding almost every day. They said it was probably linked to the stress of getting married. As far as I know, that was it because once I took it out, menstrated, then put a new one in, there's nothing. It hasn't hurt me during sex, but I do find sex more enjoyable without the ring. I think I made the right decision - especially after talking to all my friends and hearing about all the side effects of the pill. I definitely recommend it.

well to all those who are worried about the cost there is a simple solution:
PLANNED PARENTHOOD!
duuuhhh
you get it for free if you dont make that much a year.
and as a teenager with a parttime job its perfect. this ring is a god sent!

okay so,
i used nuvaring for 2 months a while back as my first birth control ever. it was kind of a weird choice to go with as a first birth control, but i just wanted to do without the pill taking, and i always heard that pills made you gain weight more and that nuvaring had the big lee-way of not gaining weight. well...

the first month i lost 8 lbs and my face cleared up extremely. i was super happy with it and couldn't ask for more. than the second month i gained 10 lbs and it looked like i almost was ready to get a prescription for accutaine.

nuvaring was way too jumpy for me, and now i'm on yaz. actually, my second day of pill taking. so far so good....but birth control is really scary. it's just not cool at all how it fucks with you like this. there should just be a better way.

Hi I was just wondering if any younger girls (twenties) have tried nuvaring as it seems that age affects your reaction to it? Sorry I put 3 stars but i havent actually tried it!

I have been using nuvaring for about four months now. The first month I experienced frequent, almost daily headaches and almost changed my mind about using it. After the first month that went away though. I love it now. It hasn't made a difference to me as far as sex, my partner says he can feel it during sex but it doesn't bother him. I love being able to control my period with it. Allthough the first month was not fun with the headaches, I am glad I decided to give it another go. I have also lost about 15 pounds since I have been on it. The only concern that I have and have not been able to find on any websites is what is it doing to my boyfriend? It is continuasly releasing hormones. That would include while we are having sex I am assuming. Are there hormones being absorbed by him? And if so what could happen to him as a result?

I only used Nuva Ring for one cycle and now i am fat. It hurt during sex and I was very tired and lazy. Now I am off of it and back on the pill and I have been bleeding for about a month and a few days. My breasts hurt and I had a bladder infection. All because I was too lazy to rememeber to take one pill a day that prevent me from having a child. You would think that this would be on my list of priorities huh? No more Nuva ring for me.

I just started the NuvaRing today, I was checking out blogs to see what other women had to say about it... But i noticed a pattern of women saying that it "made sex painful" or alot of pain in general, I just think alot of this sounds like a yeast infection, which would make sense. So it seems, the Nuva Ring could cause a yeast infection (due to bacteria growth in the vagina from needing to push it back up often) I just want to recommend that if you are feeling alot of pain in your vagina, please go get checked out because it sounds more like you have a yeast infection. Just a heads up! :)

I have a mixed review of Nuvaring. I LOVE the convenience of Nuvaring. Only having to deal with it a few days a month is great! I have no side effects either. The only thing is it keeps slipping out. No matter how I put it in, I have to push it farther in many times per day. I am scheduled to take it out in 2 weeks and will be switching then. My OB/GYN said this could just be due to having a "tipped uterus" or just not the right shape for having Nuvaring stay in. If it stayed in, I would definitely continue to use it!!! I would say give it a try!

I think it's important to remember that women who've had bad experiences are more likely to post. Personally, I've been on Nuvaring for over a year, have had no problems and have actually lost about 30 lbs, although I don't think it was related to the Nuvaring. My sex drive has been significantly increased but I attribute that to the weight loss. I'm 39 years old, I noticed that few have posted their age which could be a factor in sex drive and reaction to the contraceptive.

I am about to try out the nuva ring for a month, and decided to check out some of the comments related to this interesting yet slack birth control method.. i must say i was excited to not have condoms, or pills hinder or worry me, but after all these negative eviews, i feel like i have wasted $25, even for just a month should i overall not us this product?

I've only been on NuvaRing for about 8 days and I love the convienence of it but the side effects are HORRIBLE!!! I have servere, severe headaches, nausea and some back pain...I'm also very moody and very anxious. This is only after 8 days & I'm not sticking it out to see if it gets better or worse...especially since the other reviews said it decreases your sex drive (NOOOOO!!!) I say try it so you can see how you, personally, react to it because my sister has been on it for a while and hasn't had any problems. If you experience any changes that're not normally like you stop using it...I'm going to the Doctor tomorrow!!!

I was on the Nuva Ring for about 2 years, and in the beginning I loved it. I was so forgetful at taking the pill and it was highly convenient. What I didn't like: I gained weight and retained a lot of water. I was a mood-swing waiting to happen and worst of all, my sex drive was incredibly decreased; my husband was going crazy. Not only that, when we did have sex, it hurt so bad I made him pull out after a few minutes. It wasn't even enjoyable. It felt like burning, stabbing pain. Not great for a marriage. Now I'm on the pill again, and I'll take forgetfulness over extreme vaginal discomfort anyday.

I've been on Nuva Ring now for just over 1 year.... I thought it was great as I am terribly irresponsible when it comes to taking the pill.. I got pregnant when using the patch.... Depo made me very crazy at times...my boyfriend steered clear when i was on that...or tried anyway:) I haven't had any side effects other then the breast enlargement but that is good for me!! Only happens once every few months, not every month...too bad!! Scary to read the negative side effects and the only thing i never linked to the ring was my moodiness when PMSing sometimes.... I am evil..... lol!! But it does the trick...IUD is great too but heavy periods/cramping when menstruating...

I've been on the nuvaring for a little over three years now and the main side effect that I've noticed is my lack of sex drive. Before I got on birth control I was the more sexual one in my relationship of 3 1/2 years but now I rarely want to have sex...almost never! I love the nuvaring otherwise and have had very few, if any, other side effects. No weight gain (I actually lost weight <40lbs> by changing my eating habits while on the nuvaring). So, if you're like me and are very forgetful when it comes to birth control (the pill was never an option for me) then the nuvaring is a good idea. You may experience a lack of sex drive and some mood swings. I also noticed that I sometimes feel depressed for no reason and I have had no depression in my past so I'm going to tally that up to the hormones...

I am depressed, irrtable, the anxiety is rediculous. And my sex drive is not! Which is very abnormal for me. All of these symptoms are very abnormal for me, I use to be so happy and would never cry at spilled milk, last nite was the taker for me, I cried myself to sleep. I'm DONE oh and its starting to get in the way of my relationship with my boyfriend, who I love dearly, btu how much can one person take, really?? So I loved the ring for the first year I was on it, then the last three months have been disasterous....I don't have the issues of feeling it when we have sex, neither one of us feel it, and I don't have BAD discharge, some but I think thats normal with any BC, but my mood swings are gonna kill me, seriously its not safe at this point :(

I've been on the Nuva ring for 3 months now, i went on it, like everyone eles because i knew that i wouldn't be able to remember a pill everyday. i don't have many drastic side affects like the other blogs, i mean there are some times i feel like i've gained some weight so i blame it on the nuvaring (and completely block out my pilly-steak and cheese diet), but i have actually started loosing wieght by just eating right, my doctor said that the nuvaring cauese 2% of weight gain. i think that if women are aware of that 2% they can prevent weight gain.

the only think i hate about the nuvaring (and the reason why i wanted to check out these blogs, just to make sure i wasn't the only one) is all the nasty discharge. i have to ware a pad everyday, if i don't i need to change my underware. i heard that the discharge is suppose to decrease after about 3 months, but nothings changes yet, i'm still waiting...

one more comment i have is for the hormones, yeah i act crazy sometimes, but i am a female, i don't think the nuvaring makes me any crazier then i've been. :)

(can't the invent a birthcontrol for men!!!)

rating 1 to 10, i rate the nuvaring a 7.5

if anyone has anyother questions go ahead and emial me

EEkkk ive tried Nuvaring on various occasions. The first time I tried it i LOVED it...no remembering pills, no changes at all. I stopped after a few months bc my relationship ended so I didnt need it anymore. The next time i tried it a year later, I loved it as I had before for a month. Then the next month, my bigger boobs started to hurt, i developed a bening water filled cyst in one of them. I also had several yeast infections but somehow I didnt connect it to the ring. Then my bf and broke up so i stopped using the ring and all my problems stopped. After a while i gave it another try....and this time was horrible. I developed an UTI and had constant infections to the point where sex was impossible. I was totally done. Be careful when using this thing. Its convenient but it also can cause a lot of problems

I hate the nuva ring.. I have been on it for almost a year and a half
I have to wear pantiliners, if I don't I have to change my underwear like twice a day just from the discharge
My emotions are horrible
Sometimes when I'm having sex the guy will hit it and it rubs against the inside of me and is so painful
Putting it in now gives me so much pain
I'm going to my doctor and going back on the pill, I don't care if it's less convenient.

The convenience of nuvaring is what made me choose it at first! It was fantastic! I felt great that I didn't have to worry about taking a daily pill. About 3 months ago though, I realized something..I'd gained nearly 35 lbs with NO lifestyle changes! My breasts had increased over a cup size (which was great), but the rest of the weight gain was right in my middle. My boyfriend was always telling me how emotional and irritable I was getting too. At first, I thought it was just because my doctor has me on an 84 day cycle (3 months) due to my previous migraines around that time of the month, so I chose to try a period once a month. 3 months later, no change. The weight kept slowly but surely coming on. I switched to a pill again, and one month later have lost nearly 10 lbs, found a decrease in appetite, and my mood has stabilized. It's been amazing! I recommend nuvaring for convenience, but just be careful and watch out for any symptoms that you don't like.

I absolutely loved the ring when I first went on it. It's so convenient to only have to think about birth control twice a month, and the lower dose of hormones affected my mood much less than the other BCs I'd tried (Ortho Tri Cyclen and Yasmine especially made me TOTALLY crazy!). However, after three years on it my sex drive is GONE, and I'm so happy to think it's the stupid hormones and not me (I never had any problems in that area before). Also, I still have some lingering mood problems (cry on a dime, especially in situations when I have to talk to someone like a boss or something - very unprofessional!!). So, I think I'm going to have to go to something non-hormonal, but I'm sad because I do love the convenience of the ring. I'd highly recommend that you at least try it, and see if it works for you, because some people have no side effects. But definitely keep track of your moods and sex drive, because mine's been gone for a year and I just now realized what's probably causing it!

I hate the nuva ring. I used it before I became pregnant and found it always dislodging and coming out. One day my husband found it in the bed one morning. Needless to say i get pregnant on it. now that ive had to use it again (i am literally forced to) even w/o being sexually active it still comes out by itself. do not reccoment it and despite the low horomone advertisement felt the difference in my emotions right away ... i fell into a deep depression no lie the next day! oh yeah and tell me why i literally wet my pants just sitting the other day i dont know whats up with all the excess fluid!

THIS IS THE WORST WORST WORST FORM OF CONTACEPTION I'VE EVER USED!
VAGINAL PAIN, MOOD SWINGS, WEIGHT GAIN ETC...
I FEEL WORSE FOR THE VICTIMS WHO ARE SITING LIFELONG SIDE EFFECTS AND HAVING TO JOIN CLASS ACTION SUITS THAN I DO FOR MYSELF THOUGH

I just went off the nuvaring one week ago and will never go back.

I have been on the nuvaring for two years and over the last year or so I have had constant headaches and once a month I have a three day migraine that leads to me throwing up for a day or more. My back has killed me (I blamed it on the mattress), my sex drive was weak, I have been tired all of the time and extremely MOODY.

Last week after a headache and vomiting that started on a Friday and went to the following Wednesday I took the ring out at a gas station as we were heading out on vacation and won't look back. I threw up one more time, and then a veil lifted and I have felt fine.

I really wanted it to work. It is very easy to use, not messy or gross after you get used to it, and works very well. My husband pretty much told me to stop using it...that we could use condoms and if we get pregnant that would be okay too. (I am 34 and have a 10 year old daughter and this is our second marriage).

I will be sad to see the big boobs get smaller, but if I feel better and don't have the extreme headaches or vomiting then all is good. I just hope so!

Okay, I've been using the ring for almost a year. Before the ring I was on the depo shot. I stopped depo because i decided no sex until marraige. Preparing for marriage in May 2007 I started the ring in April. I thought it was just me, stress of moving and being a newlywed etc... I have been feeling depressed, easily irritated, having headaches up 3 times a week, increased appetitite, increased bra size. i mean I've gained at least 15 pounds and went from a 34C to a 36D. My legs have been bothering me especially at night, I've been tossing and turning when i used to sleep just fine. my back pain is ridiculous, I was in a car accident in Jan 07 but my back pain has tripled. I suggested to my husband months ago that it must be the BC but I wasn't sure so i started taking vitamins B12 complex. Still feeling weird months later i decided today let me look up some other people's feelings. To my surprise others have been through exactly what I'm going through now. As of today I'm done with the nuva ring!!! My next post will be after I've been off for a while. I'm really hoping for all these symptons to go away. oh and yeah let me tell you I've had no sex drive!!! my husband basically has to everything to get me started. Believe me when I say it was never that way for me EVER...I recently turned thirty and not once have I ever had a hard time getting the mood... March 4th, 2008 @ 9:27am I'm done with Nuvaring!!!!!

No drive = no fun.

The Nuva ring is horrible. I had reactions right off, but after having problems with the pill, I decided to give it more of a try. 8 months later and I just pulled it out 1 week early and have decided.... Mood Swings, leg pain, back pain, crying, headaches, and no sex drive..... it's not worth it. If you think about it... what's the point if you have no sex drive? Really though, with the risk of blood clots, and the lawsuits going on the leg pain has scared me!!!!

In theory this sounded great, but a one size fits all is not a good idea. Why is it that there are various sizes of condoms, but this method of BC only has one size?

The main problem is that it would not stay in place. It kept sliding down. Not out, but down. I would be walking around at feel the thing sliding down. While I was washing in the shower I felt the ring poking out. Each time I went to the bathroom it would slide down even more, and I'd haveto push it back in. I pushed it as far back in as I possibly could, but it kept sliding down. I also had mild pain in the vaginal area on the first day, and it didn't stop. The third day I started feeling mild pain in my legs. I googled NuvaRing sliding down and found that it's not uncommon for the NuvaRing to slide down. After reading the other reviews and finding that it was not going to stay in place I threw it out. I'm using the sponge until I can get my tubes tied.

I have been using the ring for the past six months and feel liberated that I just removed it (after reading so many negative reviews). The symptoms I experienced were vomiting (the first night of re-insertion every month!), depression, and diminished sex drive. I agree that the ring is convenient but I am fed up with the side effects and would rather use a diaphragm and stop the flow of artificial hormones.

A couple weeks ago i was admitted to the hospital... i had extreme abdominal pain, causing my ody to jerk around... i was screaming and crying... my white blood cell count was doubled and my blood pressure was extremely high.. I had a mri done and a internal sonogram of my ovaries... I origninally got on the nuva ring because i was diagnosed with polycistic ovary disease... or so they think.. I couldnt remember to take my pills so i thought this would be great! Also another affect i think the nuva ring might have (for me atleast) is high blood sugar... my blood sugar is in the 320's... im 18 years okd and have never had those problems before in my life... i eat very healthy... so i dont understand how this could be.. Ive been to the doctor once and the hospital 2 times for this... i told them i was on the nuva ring but i got nothing out of them about it... I truely think this is the reasonfor my pain.. As far as side effects i think the nuva ring has caused me the severe abdominal pain, high blood pressure and blood sugar, severe anxiety and depression, ,headaches and lower back aches...
I seriously feel like im pregnant...

The nuva ring is not for me..

After looking

I have been on the Nuvaring for 2 months now. The first month I used it I was thrilled! I thought it was so cool how it fit perfectly and that I didnt feel it at all. I had my first period and then I put it back in for month 2. I have not had as much success this month though. The ring keeps slipping out. I dont notice a lot of excess discharge like I was reading on other reviews so I dont know. I could tell right away when I put it in that it wasnt fitting the same as it did the first time. I just recently had a baby so Im thinking that my anatomy inside could have possibly changed. I dont know a whole lot about that, but Im just confused why everything fit fine last month and now its literally falling out! Other than that part I have no hormonal problems which I am glad for. I will probably try it one more month and if it doesnt work out then it's back to ortho evra (I hate the gunk ortho evra leaves on my skin...yuck!).

Good news/bad news. LOVED the convenience of the nuvaring. What a breeze! BUT BUT BUT this product gave me terrible terrible anxiety. I actually considered going on anti-anxiety or antidepression medication. I have never in my life felt this way (I consider myself a grounded and happy person). My moodiness and panic attacks brought on by the nuvaring almost broke up my relationship. It was pretty dreadful. Meanwhile, my sister's been on the nuvaring for years and has never had a negative side effect. My advice: try it for a month. If you feel even the slightest bit edgier than normal, change to something else. It only gets worse month to month.

I love it!! I can't feel it at all and I only have to mess with it twice a month!! I wanted a birthcontrol that I didn't have to think about everyday, so I origninally tried the Depo Provera Shot. But I had a lot of side effects, but with the ring I have had NO side effects and I feel that it is a lot easier on my body. It's more natural.

I love this product. I don't have any side effects that I've noticed. I don't notice it, neither does my husband. My sex drive is still as ridiculously high as it's always been. I definitly recommend at least TRYING it, because if it does work for you, it works GREAT!! But as I read some other reviews (I was really surprised at the negative posts because it works so great for me!) make sure you pay attention to your side effects!! :-)

I was looking at reviews for this product because my wife is about to try Nuvaring. She has had problems with spotting, mood swings and some other symptoms as well. She has tried a few different products including Ortho, the patch and one or two others. It seems every one has had different effects. What was similar though to all of these BC's is they had a high dose of hormones. I am hoping the lower dose from Nuvaring may be a welcomed change for her. After reading some of these reviews I have to agree with a few people here that medication affects every individual differently. Some women may have severe side effects from a low dose of hormones and some may have side effects from a high dose. It all depends on your body's chemistry and how it reacts to a variation in hormone levels. I would agree that people should try different types of BC until they find one that works for them. This is not a one size fits all deal. At first I was scared reading some of these bad reviews, but I remembered that everyone reacts differently and I hope in my wife's case that the Nuvaring will be an improvement over her other contraceptives.

This has been my 2nd month and I had to pulled it out. I was constantly feeling moody, easily irritated and emotional. Many bad things happened over the course of these 1-2 months - I had to do an incomplete for a class, encountered some problems with a friend, felt pain in my back and soreness on my calves. Unlike many women using birth control, I lacked a good appetite and did not eat regular meals, and instead, have lost about 3-4 lbs. This birth control is not for me.

I was on the ring for almost a year and LOVED it! Shorter periods, less cramping, and no pills! My only complaint and reason I stopped using it is that I completely lost my sex drive. Lets just say my husband wasn't too pleased :) but thats my only problem I ever had with it! Don't be scared by all these horror stories, everyone reacts differently!

NuvaRing has been the best thing to happen to me! When i was on oral contraceptives (alesse, marvelon) for two years i would break out terribly, gained a lot of weight from an extreme increase in appetite, and would get terrible cramping during my break week. I have been on NuvaRing for approximately 4 months now and all of my symptoms associated with oral contraceptives have disappeared. i have lost weight, my skin is clear, it is so easy to use, i can't feel it and neither can my partner. The only downside is that i have bad cramping, but only for the first day of my break week and it is nowhere near as bad as with oral contraceptives. I would recommend NuvaRing to anyone of my friends.

I loved Nuvaring at first! I have a hard time swallowing pills, so this sounded great. I was on it for about a year, and stopped just last weekend. My blood pressure has been running high, and not responding to medication, and my doctor thinks this was the cause. I have horrible headaches from my blood pressure being high, and I noticed several other symptoms similar to the ones listed on this sight. I have been very anxious and irritable lately, so hopefully that will get better once the hormones are out of my system.

when the doctor describe the upkeep for this i thought it was unconviental and disguisting.

I've been on nuvaring for about 6-8 months now, and I decided to take the darn thing out after having a headache for 3 days after putting it in this month. Now i'm having a second period, lovely, but no more headaches. all of a sudden I'm happy, not crying about everything, sleeping better, and I actually want to have sex.

it's only been 3 or 4 days since i took out, but wow, what a difference.

I have been so sick since sept., and I am convinced that it's because of nuvaring. I've been to the doctor so many times and they couldn't find anything wrong with me.

I think women need to be aware of the side effects because after reading reviews online, they seem to be more apparent than doctors think. I asked a doctor if they thought my symptoms could be caused by nuvaring and she said no!!!!! what a dimwit!

I've had vomiting, depression, sinusitis, migraines, headaches, intense vaginal bleeding (non menstrual), bad cramping, and NO SEX DRIVE!!!

thanks to all the women who posted, now I know i'm not crazy for having a non-existant sex drive.

I was on Nuvaring for about 2 years. I have had little success with any birth control methods. I was on Ortho Tricyclen, Mircette, and Yasmin. For me, Yasmin was the best. It is hard to say though. Anyhow, I was on nuvaring for 2 yrs. I was very nauseaus everyday at 3:00 PM. I began getting headaches but did not think much of it. I was happy to be on a such an easy to use method of BC that I kept sticking with it.
I began to get severe anxiety. It was weird because it started as a slight panic attack here and there and by a year and a half in I was brimming with severe anxiety. I live with my boyfriend and he is the one who began to see the pattern. I would just start freaking out for no reason crying and panicking. I could not sleep. It felt like ants were crawling under my skin. Almost as if I was over caffeinated. I completely lost my sex drive. I had no desire for sex anymore and was completely dried up. The weird thing is that I had constant heavy discharge. Also, I was super hungry all the time!
I decided to go off in May. Since then things have been a mess. The pluses are that the anxiety is gone, no more panick attacks, and the headaches gone. I have done a lot of research on what to expect when stopping Nuvaring. I have had lots of breakouts and crazy irregular periods. I have noticed that most ladies who stopped nuvaring had no period or skipped periods...mine is totally different. I have had spotting between periods and very long cycles. I am lucky if I am off my period for 1 wk a month. It sucks! I called my doctor and he had me come in for blood tests. Everything checked out normal. He is having me monitor my periods and take notes then I will go in for an exam. This has been going on since May and it is November now. 6 months of dealing with spotting or my period for 18-22 days a month.

I am in a fortunate situation with my boyfriend. He wanted me off nuvaring because he watched me go progressively crazier over 2 years. We have gone back to condoms...but if we became preganant it would be ok.

I understand why women stay on BC even if it effects them negatively. I have done it. I would say if you do not need BC get off it! I have been on lots of different oral contraceptives and would just recommend to women to be open with what they are feeling. I was crippled by anxiety when on nuvaring. If it wasn't for my boyfriend I may of never put the two together.
Some people are lucky and do not have such negative experiences. Just be careful! I started keeping charts of when I felt bad, when I had headaches, insomnia, etc. Once I saw how often I was feeling bad I stopped using it.

I've been lightly bleeding nonstop for four weeks now! I was on the pill for a long time and never had these kinds of problems. My breasts constantly hurt and I feel bloated most of the time. I can't wait till I get my IUD in a week.

I have tried soooo many birth controls (Levora, Zovia, Ovcon35, Yasmin, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, Ortho Evra, and several others) and none of them worked well. Ortho Evra worked the best for me but it caused me to have blood clots in the back of my knees...very painful. I have PCOS and BC is the only real treatment for it, but it was worse when I was on it. I would become extremely irritable, anxious, tired and suffer from continuous bleeding and headaches on any birth control I tried. So after numerous unsuccessful attempts at birth control I completely gave up hope of ever finding one that would work with me. Doctors had suggested the IUD (way too invasive) and Depo, but I didn't feel comfortable with either one of those methods. FINALLY though I went to my gyno about 4 monhts ago and talked to her about the NuvaRing. Thank God I did! I had been having breakthrough bleeding for 3 weeks straight up until my appointment with her and the day after starting the NuvaRing it stopped. I was definitely way more sensitive and emotional the first month on it, but have had absolutely nothing to complain about since then. My periods (if that's what you can call it) went from 7 - 9 days of spotting and 7 - 9 days of bleeding to a mere 4 days! It can't get much better than that. I haven't had any problems with it falling out or feeling uncomfortable...I actually can't even tell it's there. I haven't had any weight gain or emotional problems. No changes in skin appearance. My cramps have improved to the point when I barely even notice them. And as an extra bonus it has even increased my cup size (though that's typical with most BCs). I would definitely recommend this to anyone to at least try. It may not work for you, but then it again it might be a miracle as it was for me.

One night in June I decided to google "anxiety and nuvaring" in a desperate attempt to see if the ring could have been a contributor to my growing anxiety. To my relief and disbelief hundreds of forums were listed with women discussing nuvaring and the side effects they were experiencing. Background: I have tried and failed at many birth controls because I always suffer the gamut of the sideeffects. Condoms are best for me. I'm married and the ring seemed like a good alternative to the condom since I was told that the ring has the least amount of hormones and very low side effects. I started the ring in January 2007 and LOVED it right away. My skin looked and felt better than it ever had. Sex was great because I didn't have to worry about condom use.

In April I noticed slight changes in my skin. I was breaking out more and my hair line was receeding and I cramped badly the first day of my period but it was only one day so I took it and headaces all day everyday. It was really bad if I had beer. I even stopped alchohol intake because I thought I developed an allergy the headached were so bad after a just a couple of sips (no exegeration). But then the cramps got more frequent and random even when not on my period. But I didn't panick. By the end of April I started having severe anxiety (no history of anxiety or depression unrelated to bc) - I actually had a panic attack one night while my husband slept. I started worrying about everything. At night is when it was the worse because I didn't have so many distractions. I would watch my son sleep and cry thinking about him being raised without me around. I paniced when I saw a car I didn't recognize parked in front of my house because I was convinced I was being watched. Everytime the door bell rang my heart would beat so hard in chest that it made it hard to breath. I started a garden (something I've always wanted to do) but everytime I was gardening I would work so hard on suppressing ideas for next seasons garden because I didn't want to get excited just in case I lost my house. In short, I was behaving irrationally and the worst of it is I couldn't tell anyone because I knew they would think I was crazy.

In June I called my Ob/Gyn and talked to her about what I had been experiencing. She said she hadn't gotten any complaints about the ring and that I am just overly sensitive to hormones and that I will most likely experience side efefcts with any bc... So under her guidance I decided to get off the ring and see if anything changed. Within a couple of days I noticed the anxiety was lessing but I was not in the clear. I didn't get a period in June or July and I started experiencing severe fatique and dizzy spells. I took a pregnancy test convinced that I was pregnant but alas not preggers. In woke up one day in August 6th feeling so light and happy and by mid day I got my period... Four months after going off the ring I am still loosing hair at the same rate as after I had my son three years ago.

This looooong story is to hopefully aid someone as I was aided in reading some other woman's story a few months ago. You know your body better than anyone, trust your instincts and your body when you feel something is wrong. Four months after stopping the ring I am still not back to pre ring condition. BC's trick the body into thinking it's pregnant and now my body has tricked itself into postpartem stage. Good luck!

This wasn't for me at all. I BLED FOR 28 DAYS STRAIGHT. NOT HEALTHY. I could have become anemic. Luckily U finally reached my gyno, after trying to get ahold of her for 2 weeks and I stopped using it. Also, while having sex with my boyfriend it fell off on him. Instructions say if it ever comes out to rinse it off and put it back in, so I had to do that. Pretty embarrasing, but we laugh about it now.

I suffered from severe depression while taking the normal Pill, once I switched to the Nuva ring I am 100% back to my old self!! I work for a Doctor and asked him what was going on, he explained that some people react badly to the higher levels of hormones in the Pill (like I did) but he also explained that some people react badly to the low levels in the Nuva ring. Its all about trying different hormone levels till you find what works best for your body. Personally I have found the ring wonderful, I can't feel it when I have sex and my boyfriend says that he can't feel it either. The best advise i can give is to try a few different things...but don't switch after a month or 2 you need to give any form of contraception a little while to work and your body to adjust.

i'm on the nuvaring for endometriosis, and i don't like it. i can feel it when my boyfriend and i have sex, and its very uncomfortable after we are having sex. i've noticed a lot of discharge and a great deal of depression. i've never been more emotional in my life. personally, i don' think its worth it. i dont feel as much pain from my endo, but i cramp all day everyday. personally, its not that great. i love not having to remember a pill, but other than that...its not cool.

I have been on the nuvaring for about 4 months now and was wondering why I have been so severely depressed. Almost to the suicidal point. I have decided to google the nuvaring and depression because it is the only change in my life around the same time that the depression started. If anyone knows more about this effect, please write to me.

I just switched from Yazmin to the NuvaRing and while I liked Yazmin, NuvaRing I find is much better for me personally. I find that everyone reacts very differently on different forms of birth control. A friend had told me awhile back that the NuvaRing made her "crazy" and having experienced increased moodiness and emotions from other birth control I've been on in the past I didn't even consider this an option until the nurse in my gynecologist's office sold me on the idea of trying it, esp since I have such a busy schedule and am not able to take a pill daily at the same time. Things I immediately noticed that were different (I went from Yazmin to NuvaRing back to back so these changes felt immediate) were that I no longer felt hungry all the time, my lifelong battle w/ acne looks to be clearing up WAY better than w/ the Yazmin which my dermatologist specifically Rx for my acne, and despite having chronic fatigue syndrome and severe anxiety in my recent past due to my hectic schedule, I honestly haven't felt this happy and pleasant in years. It's nothing short of amazing. I have noticed that it does cause increased discharge, and I haven't had unprotected sex since using it so I'm still wondering about how effective it is when I do start, but I have been assured it's just as effective as any other birth control on the market so long as it does not come out and if so it is repositioned.

I just finished my 2nd month on the ring and decided to switch back to pills.

PROS:
No pills to remember
Very easy to manipulate your periods on the ring if you wanted
Side effects minimal - cramping and a little nausea when first started but that's all.
You can't feel it inside (unless it's falling out) even when using a tampon.
Doesn't interfere with sex - my husband didn't notice it and neither did I.


CONS
1.) It's just too expensive and not great enough to justify spending $45.
2.) My discharge increased - a lot. It was disgusting, especially around ovulation.
3.) Because of increased discharge, about half way through week 2 the ring slips down. It never fell out, just inched its way further down until it was right at the brink of falling out. It doesn't hurt, but you can feel it and it is very annoying. For someone who doesn't enjoy sticking her fingers inside herself (I figured hey, no pills and I'll only have to do it twice a month for insertion and retrieval), pushing the thing back up inside 5-10x a day was really frustrating and annoying. This wasn't during increased activity, either. Simple house cleaning or walking to the bathroom and I would feel the thing coming down.