oh my god it looks like a jelly bracelet!

February 1, 2006 3:48 PM

So, I just started Nuvaring (warning: music), which my doctor convinced me to try before getting an IUD, and I was wondering if anyone out there had any experience with it, good or bad.

Specifically looking for side effects, things to watch out for, tips about getting the damn thing in place, and so on. Also would love to know from any guys who may have had a partner on it if they can, ahem, feel the ring.

posted by Kellydamnit to health & fitness (26 comments total)

I started using it four or five months ago and I love it, but it took some getting used to. For the first month I was nauseated every day, because my body was adjusting to a lower dosage of hormones (I'd been taking Yasmin for three years before this). By the second month everything was fine. My boyfriend can't feel it unless he's using his fingers. Hope this helps.
posted by smich at 3:54 PM on February 1, 2006

The first few months I was on it I experienced cramps throughout the month, not just during my period. This has mostly cleared up after several months of use. Otherwise, things have been good. My boyfriend can't feel it.
posted by rosethorn at 4:00 PM on February 1, 2006

My coworker uses it and loves it. We've had several discussions about it. The only reason I haven't switched is that my prescription coverage would leave me picking up $40 a month for the ring vs. the $5 I pay now for generic birth control pills.
posted by kimdog at 4:00 PM on February 1, 2006

My wife uses it and has been very happy with it. She said it's comfortable, she's had relatively little in the way of side effects (see the side effects of conventinal hormonal birth control), and her cycles have been very regular. In fact, she can predict what day her period will come based on what time (literally, an hour can mean a day) she removes it.

I can only feel it with my fingers, and it doesn't bother me one bit. As for effectiveness- we don't have any kids.
posted by JMOZ at 4:17 PM on February 1, 2006

I've used it for a couple of years now and wouldn't switch back to any other kind of birth control. The convnience is the main thing for me. Not having to remember to take a daily pill is bliss. I haven't had any side effects that I've noticed, other than my ringless week "period" being super-light. I do have to push it back up in place sometimes, especially after, er... straining to expel waste material.

I actually just asked my boyfriend yesterday what it felt like for him, and he said that when he feels it with his fingers it feels like it might hurt him. But when we're actually having sex it's not uncomfortable at all. He says it's sometimes noticeable, but not in a bad way. For what it's worth, when I'm with a new guy I always let them know it's there, just so it doesn't startle them. ;)
posted by MsMolly at 4:18 PM on February 1, 2006

Be careful when having sex. I didn't realize that it had come out until 3 days later when I found it in the bed (this was after being away for the weekend).

I didn't like it very much - especially because I was always worried that it was going to come out. It also made my cycle longer and threw it off a few days, so I ended up having to insert a new one while I was still menstruating. Annoying.
posted by MsVader at 4:20 PM on February 1, 2006

Thanks for posting this question. I was on Depo for several years, and switched to Seasonale about 18 months ago, and the side effects have been crazy! For example, my boobs went from a small B to a large D in 3 months, which sounds great but it actually really sucks.

Anyway, I've been interested in switching to NuvaRing, but don't know anybody who uses it. Keep the anecdotes comin', ladies.
posted by Brittanie at 4:21 PM on February 1, 2006

Another "thanks!" for posting this, as I've recently been considering switching from birth control pills. I've read that the Nuvaring can increase occurences of yeast infections (more so than other forms of hormonal contraception) -- anyone have anecdotes/info about that?
posted by scody at 4:41 PM on February 1, 2006

FWIW... LiveJournal has a community about the Nuvaring.
http://community.livejournal.com/nuva_ring/

Glad you asked this question. Yesterday my doc suggested it to me as well. I was on depo (quit because of bone density issues) and now the patch (I have to get off because of family history of stroke). I had similar side effects switching. I wonder what switching will do to me next.
posted by nimsey lou at 4:47 PM on February 1, 2006

Endless yeast infections. I stopped it. I am back on oral bc-- Ov-Con, which works pretty well for me.
posted by oflinkey at 5:07 PM on February 1, 2006

On it. Love it. Husband can't feel it. I can't feel it. It never falls out. I sometimes forget when I'm supposed to take it out, or if I even have it in.

I went on it from no BC, and gained a bit of weight (5ish pounds?). I take it out on Wed., and my period doesn't start until the following Sunday or Monday, which often means I'm putting a new ring in while I'm on my period, but that doesn't bother me.

I had to get of BCP becuase of high blood pressure, so if that's a concern....
posted by dpx.mfx at 5:34 PM on February 1, 2006

I tried the ring after one of my friends did and had success. I, too, think the ring is wonderful. It's way better than having to take a pill every day, and it comes with little "In" and "Out" stickers for your calendar, which is a nice touch. I had experiences similar to those of other posters: can't feel it, boyfriend can't feel it, my period is predictable and quite light. Putting it in isn't "hard" but can sometimes be tricky. It has to be refrigerated, so when it's cold, it's slightly less pliable, and keeping it folded in half long enough to insert it can be a small issue--at most, I have to try three or four times. Another thing is that you can have the ring out for up to three hours without it losing its effectiveness (this is according to the package), so if slips out, you're safe, at least for a short time. I'm glad I switched to the ring, and I've since recommended it to a friend who also had good luck.
posted by Teh Bean at 5:54 PM on February 1, 2006

One more thing I want to add: It has also made my periods much more regular and the flow has been lighter too, which is nice.
posted by smich at 6:17 PM on February 1, 2006

Love it! It was weird getting used to putting it in, but more ofa mental thing. I can't feel it unless its getting a little loose. It came with a little calendar timer that beeped at me to take it out and to put it back in. For somebody who is unreliable with daily doses of pills, this is the perfect solution. The only drawback in sex was two *HILARIOUS* occasions on which it came out around my partner's member. Much like horseshoes. It helps to have a sense of humor I guess. We just shrugged and kept going and put it back in later. Oh, and my boobs went up a cup size, which he appreciated.
posted by gilsonal at 6:21 PM on February 1, 2006

I'll chime in with another "love it!". No side effects, there's no real trick to getting it in place-- so long as its in the vagina it's in place. He can't feel it during sex, my body enjoys the lower, more even dose of hormones. No problems at all.

This may seem like a non-addition to the conversation, but it seems that whenever a discussion of a birth control method goes on, people turn up from all over to chime in with some problem they had with it, or someone they knew who had a problem. I think it's just as important to pipe up with "it works great for me, no problems at all" because otherwise it looks to the uninformed like 80% of users have a bad experience, which usually isn't the case at all.
posted by bonheur at 6:36 PM on February 1, 2006

My wife was on it for about six months. The only side effect was slight weight gain. We used to play a game in bed where I would try to spear the ring with my penis during sex (just kidding....).
posted by camworld at 6:58 PM on February 1, 2006

On it. Switching to it from ortho-tri-cyclen roughly corresponded with losing 15ish lbs, but I do not at all attribute that to the ring, just countering the "gained X lbs" reports. Pretty much no problems (been on it for about 1.5 years now). I prefer it quite a bit to the pill. Never had it fall out, never had to adjust it at all during the month. I would say that it feels a tiny tiny bit different during sex but not in a bad way. Also, the rings have 4 weeks of hormones in them so you can use them off-label either a) like Seasonale (on 12 weeks, off one, just put 3 rings in for 4 weeks each straight), or b) in for 4 weeks, out for one. I did it the first way for about the first year I was on it, but ended up spotting way more than I wanted to, so I've switched to being in 4 weeks, out one. Not that you should do this without consulting your doctor, but I like the fact that it gives you all these options.
posted by ch1x0r at 7:46 PM on February 1, 2006

I tried it for a few months. I liked the convenience factor a lot, but I had serious mood swings, and my boyfriend could feel it when we were having sex. I'd say it's definitely worth trying out though.
posted by Joh at 9:46 PM on February 1, 2006

I had it for a month and a half (I took the second one out early), and I couldn't get a good night's sleep for the entire time. I kept waking up after three hours of sleep, rolling around restlessly, falling back to sleep for a little, rinse, repeat.
posted by hopeless romantique at 11:04 PM on February 1, 2006

I've used it twice for extended, ahem, periods. It's quite convenient, isn't too tricky to insert and I never had to adjust it while it was in. I did however have headaches while on it, and painless but weird crampy feelings. So, I'm not on it now. I would recommend trying it out though.
posted by lucyleaf at 6:20 AM on February 2, 2006

Thanks so much, everyone! I really wanted to mark just about everything as "best answer" since everyone's experiences really helps a lot.

So far (this would be day three), I have a bit of nausea (going from no hormonal BC, but I've been on the pill on and off for a decade, and that's normal when I restart the pill... and usually much worse). No headaches, which is actually unusual as I get them this time of month quite frequently.

However, I'm also on the tail end of a very nasty cold (or very mild flu), so I'm not sure. Cottonmouth, general exhaustion, and so forth could easily be attributed to that and/or the cold medicine I took, as could the lack of headaches.

Cramps a plenty, but I put it in on day one (in the hopes of being able to get my cycle to start a few days later next time, and hopefully getting it to end sooner), so that's really normal for me. I can't tell it's there at all, to the point that I've checked several times a day out of the fear that it fell out in the bathroom and I accidentally flushed it. Hasn't moved a bit, though.

So, no complaints as of yet.
posted by Kellydamnit at 9:07 AM on February 2, 2006

Well, I'll be the voice of dissention here. I say give it a good try, it won't hurt you in the long run to at least see if you like it, but for reference here's my experience:

Worst cramps of my life. It felt like my uterus was being pulled out of my body - like a tugging feeling. Worst breast pain of my life - worse than in my first trimester of pregnancy. I couldn't sleep on my stomach, and I had to put my bra on very carefully every morning or I would actually wince in pain. I gained 15 pounds in less than a month, and I'm a very fit and healthy person. I continued to exercise daily and just ballooned up on the Ring. Related to the breast pain and weight gain was a two-cup size increase in breast size. Some might view this as a benefit, but I certainly did not need to grow two cup sizes.

I experienced breakthrough bleeding every month. I gave it a good 9 months before quitting. The final straw? With each passing month, I experienced worsening vaginal dryness - Astroglide wasn't helping and it was becoming painful.

It's so hard to find a good birth control method - I hope you have a much better time than I did. Good luck!
posted by peep at 11:44 AM on February 2, 2006

It's so hard to find a good birth control method

So, peep, did you find something to work for you? I'm still on the look-out myself.
posted by lucyleaf at 12:29 PM on February 2, 2006

Lucyleaf, not yet. I just had a baby - since we're talking about birth control I'll take time to mention we had a baby on purpose. But in a while, I'll be getting the copper IUD. I've never had an IUD before, so hopefully this will be a method I can deal with. Everyone seems to have a horror story about IUDs, but they are the most common form of birth control in the world.
posted by peep at 3:58 PM on February 2, 2006

I absolutely adore my IUD (the Mirena). I haven't had any side effects, it's unnoticeable to sexual partners, it's statistically more effective than getting your tubes tied, and (best of all) I haven't gotten my period in two years. I can't imagine using a different form of birth control ever again.
posted by jesourie at 7:19 PM on February 6, 2006

Thought I would update, a month later, for anyone who searches on this topic in the future.

Love this thing.
Zero side effects, no loss of libido, I can't tell it's there, he can't tell it's there.
Only complaint is the copay on non-generic is twice what I was paying for the pill.

So, for now, I think I'll stick with this thing.
posted by Kellydamnit at 4:11 PM on February 28, 2006