Note: I’m not seeking medical advice. I’m under the care of a great doctor, thanks very much, and will be seeing her on Monday. I just want to hear how others have fared with this particular form of birth control.
Now that that’s out of the way. . .
I’ve been off hormonal BC for 2 years, since we decided to get pregnant with our son. Prior to that, I took Ortho TriCyclen for 5 years. No major problems in terms of weight gain, nausea, etc. But. . .it really took a toll on my sex drive. I didn’t even realize it til I stopped taking the stuff (I’d never been sexually active without being on the pill). After the birth of my son, I chose to stop using hormonal birth control for that reason; actually wanting to have sex more than once in a blue moon was nice! Hubby and I have been using condoms since then, but we tend to be pretty inconsistent about it :smack:. Mostly, we’ve been lucky not to get pregnant again, since it was absurdly easy the first time.
So I’ve got an appointment with my MD on Monday, and I plan to discuss my options with her, but I thought I’d ask if anyone here has used Nuvaring. If so, did you like it? Any side effects? I’m particularly concerned, of course, with the loss of sex drive. Is it worse or better than with other forms of BC, or could you tell a difference? I figure I’ll end up trying it for a few months, but I’d like to know what to expect.
I just started it a couple months ago, after having to quit my beloved depo provera due to that pesky “irreversable bone loss” thing. I honestly don’t know what I’m like without birth control - my doc put me on it when I was 14 for wicked cramps - so I don’t know how much my experience will help you. My sex drive has increased from the depo, but that’s not saying a lot.
I’ve noticed very few negative side effects (aside from having a period again for the first time in a decade, anyway). I break out a bit more, and there is an annoying but not awful “discharge”, but my boobs grew almost a cup size! I’m thrilled. I’ve had terrible reactions to various pills in the past, but this seems to be working pretty well. I’m 24, for the record.
Oh, one more thing. I had a hard time getting it in as far as I thought it should go the first time. It wasn’t uncomfortable or anything, but it sorta got in the way when my husband and I started gettin’ busy. But, by the time we were through, it had found a much nicer spot to hang out. So I recommend breaking it in that way!
I’ve been using the NuvaRing since going back on b.c. post-pregnancy. I think it’s been 2 1/2 or three years now. I’m extremely happy with it.
I love not having to remember a pill every day. I was terrible at that.
I don’t notice any negative side effects at all, and in fact my period cramping has gone from very little to none at all. I’ve never had bad PMS or skin problems or anything, and I don’t notice a difference in those things (for good or for bad) with the ring versus without it.
I do know a woman who suffered horrible moods when she used it, so it’s not great for everyone.
I loved it. I simply can not remember to take the pill every day so this was a bonus. Unfortunatly, I also have a hard time remembering to buy a damn NuvaRing every month, so I’ve just today gone to an even more moron-proof BC option, the Mirena. Four hours in, and it’s working fine. 
Mine would not stay in place. Kept slipping. That was just too annoying for me so it didn’t work out. I imagine if it did stay it would have been fine, but you won’t know this until you try it, so I’d say give it a shot.
It was the worst experience of my life. No, I’m not exaggerating.
Now, since you’ve been pretty okay with hormonal birth control before, my experience might not be too relevant, but here goes:
I wanted to go on birth control for the first time and got a scrip for the Nuvaring. I apparently cannot tolerate hormonal b.c. at all. I suffer from depression (which fades and returns, etc), but felt fine when I inserted the Nuvaring.
Within a couple days, I spiralled into an incredibly deep depression. On top of this, I began having uncontrollable thoughts about how I was a horrible person and going to break up with my boyfriend because I’m a nasty horrible bitch and I knew it would happen and and and. I had anxiety and panic attacks several times a day, to the point where I could barely even eat a few crackers each day (that’s how upset and jittery I was). I’d wake up in the middle of the night, freaking out with a horrible anxiety attack over nothing. I started thinking about drinking drain cleaner or jumping out of windows.
I couldn’t even talk to anyone about anything without my voice quavering and talking a mile a minute and basically looking/sounding like a meth user on a really bad trip (couldn’t stop talking, was freaked the FUCK out, kept pacing or wringing my hands, etc).
Everyone said that you get used to the hormones after a month or so but there was no way I could wait that long. I took it out after a week and it took me months to get back to a decent mental state.
It was the most horrible time of my life. 
There have been several threads about this with some good advice.
Nuvaring is low dose.
I’ve been on it for about three years, after trying depo (horrible panic attacks) and Orthotrycylen (i’m forgetful).
I love it.
I loved it and I plan on going back on it again as soon as I am done breastfeeding…assuming I lose enough weight. My doctor just informed me that it is not reccomended for anyone over 180 lbs because it is such a low dose. I have to lose some baby weight first!
I loved not having to remember a pill every day. I never had problems with it slipping or anything like that. I highly reccomend it. The only problem I had with it was the price. My insurance will not cover it because it is considered a birth control “device” not a prescription.
I’ve been using Nuvaring for a couple years and have been very happy. I’ve had a few minor issues with infections, but nothing serious. The hormone dosage was the easiest to deal with compared to the other stuff I’ve been on (Depo was hell for me). Every once in awhile I have some discomfort during sex because of it. And my periods lately have been kindof weird… not really heavy flow, but just spotting for a couple days.
I don’t get the insurance thing, either - because it IS a prescription, it’s not like it’s over the counter or anything. $35 a month is a bit steep. I’ll probably be going off it soon, though, as my hubby-to-be will be getting fixed (or broken, depending on how you look at it).
Oh, apparently a common side effect is no periods at all.
That’s my favorite part.
Standard disclaimer: Birth control methods are a very, very personal choice, and no anecdotal evidence in the world is going to necessarily be useful in your choice–everyone reacts differently, and although 99% of women may be thrilled with a method, there’s nothing to say you won’t be the 1% for which it’s the worst month of your life. Take all the following for what it’s worth, which is only as much as ancedotes =/= data 
85% of my job hours are spent counselling women on birth control options. The Nuva Ring is an overwhelmingly popular method with the women who choose to try it. The typical scenario is that no matter what method you choose, we give you three months as a trial run, then check in with you at that three month point to see how it’s going.
Completely anecdotally speaking, women who try it seem to be thrilled with it, overall. Sometimes I’ll have a patient who tried it and didn’t like it, or had side effects, but far more often than not, they’re thrilled and want to continue.
It’s so popular, in fact, that we’re having something of a national shortage of them.
Evidently Planned Parenthood Federation of America does 80% of Organon’s business. At the beginning of the year, PPFA gives them an estimate of how many we’ll need for the year. This year, we burned through the entire year’s supply in the first quarter :smack:. So now we’re rationing them until Organon can step up production and get us a new supply. It’s really great* to be in the position of discussing someone’s options, get asked about the Nuva Ring, have the person decide after a review of the information that it’s the perfect choice for them and absolutely the answer to their contraceptive woes, and then finish with “…but we can’t start you on it for another month or two until we get more. Unless, of course, you’re able to pay out of pocket at a pharmacy for them.”
Personally speaking, I tried it for almost a year and thought it was great. I stopped using it only because I wanted to go to a fully non-hormonal method of birth control for a year or two before we were ready to try for a pregnancy.
The first month I was a little queasy (hormones always make me really barfy for the first month) and got a yeast infection, which I’d never in my life had before. This happens, sometimes. I took diflucan and all was peachy. I would recommend it to anyone.
*not great
I have never, ever heard this. It’s true for the patch (actually the cutoff is 198 I think) because of the way the hormones are delivered, but as I understand it, the Nuva Ring’s hormones are delivered through the mucus membrane of your vaginal canal and into your uterine system–so body weight shouldn’t be an issue. I am not a licensed medical professional, but I do this for a living, and never have I heard there to be any consideration of body weight as a contraindication to the efficacy of the Nuva Ring. You may want to cry cite on this one