Oral contraceptives symptoms and conditions

There are so many of us with depression/emotional issues from the NuvaRing.

For me, the NuvaRing saved me, only by revealing the MESS it created.

I was diagnosed bipolar in 2000 and spent 5 years on heavy medication in an attempt to manage it. In 2005 I went off the medication and my oral contraceptives in order to become pregnant. Following the birth of my son, I never returned to oral contraceptives AND never followed the typical path of a bipolar mother. There were no PPD issues, and I ended up not returning to the bipolar medication. I was symptom free without an explanation.

In May 2009, after years without anxiety symptoms, I went on the Nuva Ring. Within 12 hours, all of my old symptoms had returned. Within 5 days, I realized there could be a correlation and removed the ring. By the next day, I returned to myself.

With a call to my psychiatrist, who I hadn't seen in over a year, I described what had happened. She explained that the hormones do not process through the liver with the NuvaRing, unlike the oral contraceptives. This direct route into the body made the effects of the LOW dose hormones that more apparent. Thankfully, I learned that my issue all along was the hormonal birth control, and not my mental health.

My option is now a non-hormonal IUD, which has it's own messy issues, but I embrace fully in exchange for the emotional instability.

I feel that I have one of those stories that women need to hear. I do believe we are not realizing the full effects of these hormones. I took it as far as one can take it, with a full diagnosis and years of medication. I have to wonder how many women are experiencing milder effects and just don't realize that it could be the hormones.

I am normally a happy person. I first started taking Yaz to help with mild acne I was experiencing. At the beginning, I had no issues whatsoever, but now at the end of the 2nd month, I have literally been going insane. I seriously thought I was going crazy. I snap at my husband for the silliest things, I can't control my crying to the point I am screaming at the top of my lungs, and I constantly feel like I am a horrible person. I have even had suicidal thoughts recently. This is totally NOT me. I am stopping the Yaz and probably NEVER taking oral contraceptives again. It is not worth it. This drug needs to be recalled.

I have been on Nuvaring for 2 months now and after the first month I went back to the doctor and she said that the side effects were normal and would go away after a few months. I don't think I believe that, cause I just feel so bad. I use to never fight with my boyfriend and now it is an every day occurrence. I get headaches all the time now it seems almost everyday. I feel so depressed and before I got on it I was happy go lucky and the peaceful one and now I am just on edge all the time and I hate it. I get nausea and for a moment i was thinking maybe I am pregnant but I am not and it is just frustrating and irritating. The best things about the ring is I don't really get cramps and no period pimples and no weight gain and no pill everyday. I never had there problems on the pill lo overall or on the patch. I must say though that it feels great to know I am not alone cause I was beginning to think it was just me and also i don't know if anyone has this but does your chest or heart feel tight at time like a palpitation? I am 24 and I never had this until now and I am so tired that all I want to do is sleep and I feel faint from time to time. I feel like i have all the bad symptoms except a few and no yeast. I honestly think this is my last month on this and thank you all so much it is such a relief to know I am not alone. Oh and I do get hot too and everything.

Hello,
Had the Mirena inserted last week, 6 weeks following the birth of my second baby. I chose Mirena because I wanted a long term solution and had bad side effects from oral contraceptives (vomiting everyday + headaches)
Insertion was very painful, stabbing pain in my hip then difficulty walking for about 12 hours. the next day I realized my milk supply had gone down a lot, and I also developed a nasty headache that will not go away since then. Called the doc, getting it removed tomorrow...glad my insurance covered it but very annoyed I went through this. I have had to take Tylenol non stop for the headaches and fennugreek to try and get my milk supply up...hope the side effects disappear quickly. As far as contraceptive method, going back to condoms, unsure what to do next.

I never thought I would ever be posting my experience with BC but I think this could be useful to other women worldwide. I have been using Yasmin now for a year and a half and I agree with everyone here at the beginning I felt great, beautiful skin, controlled short term periods, stable weight. My body changed in all the right places. My breast turned a cup larger (I was a 34B) my buttocks got larger and rounder. My boyfriend was enjoying the changes as much as I was!! I thought this was the perfect pill for me and I actually recommend it to all my friends. Things started changing for me about three months ago. I started to feel tired, I use to work out 5 times a week now I can't even work out one. My eyesight started to change, I started getting cramps in my legs at night, my legs started feeling heavy as if I was losing circulation, fast heartbeat, and the occasional migraine to top it all of. Then I found the commercial about the lawsuit on TV and I panicked!! I googled the lawsuit and I found this websi

te and after reading everything here I went straight to my Dr. this afternoon with all my side effects. I am 39 now 18 on diferent types of BC and up until now I have been a very healthy and active person. When I read everything here I was decided to get off thie pill inmediately. But here goes what my Dr. said: (I trust his opinons because he is a friend and has been my obgyn for the last 15 years) " first Yasmin is the best hormone BC on the market, very women has different side effects and giving me another pill wouldn't solve my problem. I could actually get worse. He gave my the option of going of the pills but asked me if I was ready for all the changes that would bring. Weight gain, acne, anxiety, depression etc. Another option he suggested I try was taking an antioxidant complex, omega 3, and lecithin. All natural supplements which he firmly believes will make me feel much better, help my circulation, and minimize the side effects. I will start this treatment tomorrow and stay on the Yazmin for at least another month. PS. My health is in perfect conditions after blood tests and sonograms. thank God!! I will keep everyone posted on my progress. And I hope this is useful to all you ladies. God bless!

Thank god I found this site! My body has been going crazy ever since I started taking Yasmin two years ago and I didn't put two and two together until reading all of these postings and realizing the Yasmin might be the culprit.

I'm a healthy 31 y.o. who exercises regularly, doesn't smoke and has been on various oral contraceptives for the last decade without too many side effects beyond slight moodiness and minor weight gain. About two years ago I switched over to Yasmin. About two months ago I came across this site as I was researching hypertension which I had developed. I was confused and didn’t know what was causing it as I am healthy, unstressed and have a history of low blood pressure. But as soon as I found this site it all started coming together and I realized Yasmin had done much more than raise my blood pressure. I immediately went off the pill and almost right away many of my side effects went away. Here's what I've experienced since being on the pill:

-Weight Gain: Almost right away I gained ten pounds. I’ve effortlessly lost five of those pounds since going off the pill.
-Seborrheic Dermatitis: After a few months of being on Yasmin I developed a painful scalp condition called Seborrheic Dermatitis. Side effects of this are inflamed scalp, redness and most importantly, hair loss. The doctor said it is generally brought on by stress but on further research I saw that it is also caused by hormones, so it wasn’t a stretch for me to realize Yasmin might be the culprit once I saw this site. Over the last couple years I’ve been using all sorts of prescription shampoos to make the problem go away and nothing helped. But as soon as I went off the pill my scalp condition cleared in only a month without the use of shampoos.
-High Blood Pressure: Before I went on the pill my BP was about 100/70. During the time I took Yasmin my BP slowly climbed to above 140/90. Within two weeks of going off the pill my BP was back down to pre-Yasmin levels.
-Irregular Heart Beat: After about a year and a half of being on the pill I started to suffer from seriously irregular heart beat which went away immediately after I got off Yasmin.
-Hyperpigmentation: I know any birth control can cause this but none of them ever have until I went on Yasmin at which point it sprung up all over my face. I’m hoping the dermatologist can clear it up now that I’m off the pill.
-Tightness in Chest: Happened around same time as irregular heartbeat and is now gone.
-Anxiety: I’m not sure I can blame Yasmin for this one since going off Yasmin has not caused it to go away. But enough posters on this site mentioned it as a side effect and it wasn’t a problem for me pre-Yasmin, so I wanted to mention it.
-Irritability: I’m generally easy going and don’t let the little things bother me, but as soon as I went on Yasmin everything started to bug me. Now that I’m off Yasmin I’ve been in a much better mood.

If anyone is on this pill or thinking about going on it, I implore you not to. Too many risks especially since there are so many other pills out there that don’t have many side effects. I mean, there are close to 5,000 postings on this site, mostly against this pill while if you search the web there are almost no other pills that generate this kind of attention. That alone tells me something. I hope the makers of the pill pull it from the market immediately or doctors stop recommending it.

YES! I have been on Yasmin and now Yaz for the last four years or so; and recently I wanted to try something else, due the headcaches I was having with Yaz. Sad to the the Loestrin 24fe was not for me. Just started back on Yaz yesterday, and the headaches have returned. Looks Like I will choose to stop oral contraceptives al together. (I am almost 39 and have been on OC off but mostly on for almost 20 years)> Hope this helps someone.

I had a lot of the negative side effects listed above by others including depression, fatigue, trouble concentrating, aching body, restless nights, irritability, my arms and legs falling asleep and so on. Then I found out that i had a vitamin b deficiency - a lot of these symptoms are also symptoms of vitamin b deficiency. Yaz along with other oral contraceptives interferes with the bodies ability to absorb vitamin B. Taking vitamin B supplements a few times a day has helped me. They are water soluble so you do not have to worry about overdosing- if you take more than your body needs you will just pee out whatever is extra.

Although this isn't a side effect I wasn't quite sure where to post it... But my question is: Do you know anyone or did you get pregnant while using the Yasmin birth control pill? I know that these pills make your body think it's pregnant but I think I may actually be pregnant. Although I don't "feel" pregnant my body sure is acting like it is, I.E. sore breasts, weird cravings and aversions to food, headaches, very tired, very hungry etc. Has anyone had these side effects too and you weren't pregnant? Thanks!

I have not had mirena placed yet, but I am meeting with my OBGYN doctor in May, but I think from reading everyone's input on here, I am going to try and seek and alternative......I've not had good luck with oral contraceptives since 2002, but there has to be something out there!!!

I had my Mirena IUD inserted two weeks ago today. I had it inserted on day three of my normally five-day period. My period stopped for 2 days following insertion and then I spotted for one day. After that one day, I have been bleeding heavily ever since, and I'm talking super jumbo tampon every 2-3 hours bleeding. Before receiving Mirena, I talked to my GYN, read the pamphlet and researched online. Each resource told me to expect spotting - so I expected spotting for 3-4 weeks after and I am completely blown away by the constant heavy bleeding that I am now being told could potentially last 3-4 months.

I normally do not use oral contraceptives because of my problems with High Blood Pressure, but my doctor felt the low dosage of hormones in Mirena was "ok" for me. Since insertion, I've experienced a slight raise in my blood pressure but the doctor doesn't seem too concerned about it because I am supposedly "adjusting" to the Mirena. I am slightly worried that my constant bleeding and increased blood pressure are not going to subside in the 3-4 months the doctor is recommending I wait it out.

Not to mention how the constant, constant bleeding is ruining my sex life.

I honestly have no idea what kind of standards or limits I need to be setting here for myself. It has only been two weeks, but how much is too much..? I also have to say I am worried as well since I have to have minor surger in 4 weeks and would hate to have HBP/Anemia complications because of this.

I've been on Femcon for about a month now, and so far so good. I started out on OrthoTriCyclen which made me vomit several times a week, so, strike one. Then went to Yasmin, which was okay, but decided to switch to Seasonique (sp?) for the convenience of a few periods a year, but it made the skin peel off my face at an alarming rate. I was then switched to Yaz, that was great except for one thing: It stole away any sex drive I may have had--no good. Because of this, my doctor switched me to Errin-a progesterone based mini pill-which did give me back my sex drive, but also made my acne horrific, the skin on my scalp peel off, and my breasts painful. Needless to say, it has been a long and difficult struggle with the world of oral contraceptives, so here's hoping that Femcon works out for me!

I have been on the shot for going on a year now. I had a 3 month break. I was diagnosed with endometriosis about 2 years ago. I am currently 23. I think this shot was the best decision I ever made. It has been the best thing for me and the only thing that really seemed to work. I had the hot flashes and night sweats, but other than that it was amazing! I had heard nothing but horror stories and I was nervous about taking the injection. I can't actually use anything take anything else. I have been on many different oral contraceptives since I was 15 years old because irregularity, pain, and various other things. I also tried increase hormones levels in oral contraceptives and the depo provera shot. I would def not recommend that shot to anyone. I have found this to the be only thing that levels me out and allows me to feel normal! My only other options right now are the nuvaring (to see if it will work) and a hystorectomy (not really an option). I would recommend it to anyone, but do your research and don't expect miracles!

Thus far my experience has been good. I've had it several months now and not much to complain about. Previous to Mirena I had the Paraguard and THAT was a nightmare because my periods were very heavy and I am anemic so it wasn't a great match, and oral contraceptives and I never got a long. So the low dose has been good so far..... The only complaint I guess would be the super uncomfortable insertion, but it hurt as bad getting the Paraguard. It's just not nice having things shoved through your cervix! LOL :-)

I hope I don't end up with any of the symptoms I am reading about here!

For those of your considering the Mirena, like I said, so far I've really liked it and I think something to keep in mind is most people who are on here are probably on here because they've had such a bad experience with it. Most people who are happy (like I am) with it wouldn't bother to post online about it. I just happen to be bored and my husband is watching basketball, again! Ha ha ha. Talk to your Dr. and decide what will work best for you. I think taking the pill is the easiest if it works for you...it just didn't for me!

45 years old, female, diagnosed bipolar II in 2006. On Lamictal for 2 years. Initially, very positive effects of Lamictal - felt "normal" and stable for the first time in years. Didn't notice any side effects. Gradually increased from 200 to 400 mg per day 6 months ago as I still experienced mood swings with a tendency towards depression. I have been on 400 mg/day since August 2008. It is difficult to say what are the side effects of the medication, and what are "natural causes". Since doubling the dosage, I experience memory loss and increasing cognitive problems (slow thought process, difficulty putting together coherent sentences in discussions, fumbling for words. I have spent more than one hour on this posting!). I sometimes wake up during the night drenched in sweat. It could be that I'm menopausal, but I find it unlikely. Mood swings have perhaps become less pronounced, but I would like to regain my mental capacity. I plan to cut back to 200 mg of Lamictal - and perhaps some day learn to live with bilpolar II without medication and a lot of help from my friends and loved ones.

Thank God for this website! I have learned much and appreciate your experiences so much!

I had the Mirina placed in May of 2008. I have endometriosis and had to come off the oral contraceptives due to migraines. The placing of the Mirina was somewhat painful, but all in all, it wasn't so bad that I look back and say it wasn't worth the pain. Just felt like a bad period, but it only lasted a short time. However, I am ready to GET IT OUT! I absolutely hate the way I feel on it. I did bleed for about 6 weeks, but it was mostly spotting, so not too bad, and I really didn't mind, knowing that my endometrium was thinning out. But, I began to get horrible nausea, so bad that I had trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I felt like I could be pregnant. And, my boobs got really, really sore. So bad, that when I got out of bed, I felt the most pain. They felt like swollen water baloons (sorry for the lack of tact here). I also started to get my headaches back. They were not the typical MIGRAINES i had on teh oral contraceptives, but they were definitely there, and they were cyclic. I told my doctor about this, and she was extremely surprised. She said she has a Mirina and has absolutely no problems and loves it. I felt like I must be imagining things until I found this website. The worst for me is the nausea and the headaches. So, it will come out this Monday. I am a little frightened at what I will feel like afterwards, since I've read it can take the body some time to adjust. But, I did decide to "go organic" to try to rid my body of toxins. I don't know if it will help but I hope so. By the way, I want to pass on that if anyone has really bad periods (or endo), it does help to use Flaxseed Oil. It is pricey, and can be bought at a Natural Market like Whole Foods. It is refridgerated and I take 1 tsp per day. I noticed a decrease in my cramping. Just wanted to pass it on in case it might help someone out there.

Oh, forgot to mention, I am very moody on this Mirina. I snapped at work the other day and yelled at my boss. Very unlike me. I was so agitated and upset over something small. Been like that a lot.

God Bless!

Jackie

wow! reading all of the posts on this page really puts a lot in perspective. I had my little girl in July, and had to wait until October to have my mirena inserted. Like a lot of you it was painful. I stayed very dizzy, had to vomit, and had a lot of cramping in my abdomen and legs. I bled for a month and a half straight, very heavily, and then just this month no period no bleeding. Still, I have headaches every day, nausea, rashes, dry skin, cramping, mood swings, stomach pains, and no sex drive. I can not loose a pound of my pregnancy weight, even with a balanced, no sugar, low salt diet. I just maintain my terrible 250 lb. weight. This makes it so hard to work. I can not take oral contraceptives because of the estrogen, and have even had problems with neutrals such as fe's. I want to be on birth control, but I don't know if it is worth years of side effects.

I am 34 and have never had children. Mirena was my only option. I have always had problems with my periods. They are very regular (28 day cycle) but extremely heavy, I always have clots, a lot of pain and I also have migraines just before or after my period.

My doctor told me that oral contraceptives would not work for me as the estrogen would cause more headaches (this is true I have tried all of them) and that Mirena would work well.

I had it fitted 4 weeks ago and I'm due for my first check-up on the 15th of December. So far it hasn't changed a thing. The insertion was uncomfortable but not as painful as I expected. I had major cramps afterwards but 2 pain killers helped. A week after insertion I got my period which lasted 5 days and I experienced more pain than I ever had before. Since the period stopped I have been spotting every single day and my next period is due on the 16th of December. I am already experiencing stomach cramps and had a migraine which I had to get medication for yesterday.

So far I'm not impressed with Mirena but its only been 4 weeks so I dont know whether things might improve. I'll give it 6 months and if nothing has changed I will have it removed. At least then I wont have to constant spotting! I'll just have to live with the migraines and period pain like I did before!

I have quite a few friends who have Mirena and they are all very happy with it so I guess you have to give it a try.

ok so i know i posted saying bad things right about mirena....well I went to the doctor dec 1st and found out the the mirena went completely in!! They did an pelvic ultrasound and its way up in there.You would think that they would pull it out asap but noooooo i have to go back on the 28th of January.while im still having bad bleeding and horrible cramps.and migraines like non other.Its obvious that my body cant handle it.

I'm 31 years old, in a stable relationship and had the Mirena inserted in April in order to lessen the amount of synthetic hormones going into my body. I'd also never really found an oral contraceptive that didn't have some major side effect (nausea every night 2 hours after taking the pill). My doctor told me that the chances of side effects I'd read about on the internet (acne, weight gain, loss of sex drive, depression, etc.) were statistically extremely unlikely.

The side effects didn't appear immediately, but after about 3-4 months, I got everything but the depression. I'm a yogi and practice vigorously 5-6 times a week but was gaining weight around the middle, I broke out in large, deep, incredibly angry pimples all over my chest, back and chin (places I've never had pimples). I hardly wanted to touch my boyfriend. The thing is, it wasn't until I went to see an acupuncturist for my acne that she pointed out that my change in birth control might be the source of some of my symptoms. Once I really started researching side effects of Mirena, I realized that my experience was not as rare as my doctor had made it sound.

I had it taken out today and a Paragard IUD (cooper, without hormones) put in. Even then, the doctor was extremely resistant to even the idea that Mirena had anything to do with any of my symptoms. He was actually rather condescending and aggressive towards me. He did point out that when I had my Mirena put in, I stopped taking Oral Contraceptives and that loss of those hormones could be the cause of my acne. I admit that it could be a possibility, but my acne is worse than when I was a teenager (when I wasn't taking birth control) and in places that I've never had a problem with before. And the loss of hormones don't explain weight gain, vaginal dryness or loss of sex drive. I'm open to the possibility that the Mirena isn't the source of all of my problems. It probably works very well for a lot of people. However, my personal experience along with the other women on this site should be taken seriously by the medical community instead of cast off as "unscientific." I know my own body and I think that often, our gut feelings are dismissed because there isn't a readily available scientific explanation. As we've seen through history, medical opinions change and known effects of drugs/hormones/chemicals are slowly discovered. Doctors should be open to the possibility that we actually know our own bodies.

I have been on Yasmin for about 5 years. I have never had an issue. I am worried that everyone on this site is making Yasmin look bad. You all need to remember that not everything will work for every person, everyones hormones are different to begin with so when you add the pill to these different levels of hormones you will get different side effects. To the people with low sex drive, did you perhaps think that this could be due to depression or the aging process? Many women suffer from low sex drive, those on and off the pill. Your sex drive will not be consistent throughout life, mine dropped in my early 20s and now is rising again, it may drop again, it can also be due to stress. All that said if you're suffering side effects that you think are attributed to Yasmin, or any other pill, stop taking it! Not everyone's body will handle it.

I started using Nuvaring 4 months ago. Im 26 years old. Nausea started like 2 weeks after I started using the ring, but I never related it to the ring since my GYN didn't tell me about possible side effects. The first 2 weeks the ring slipped out until it became really uncomfortable to the point that I thought it would come out when I sat on the toilet. So, I developed my anti-slip technique after reading the leaflet (that says it doesn't matter the shape inside), to fold it in two rings like an eight, so when it gets in, it would be open like butterfly and it wouldn't slip out. It worked out great and didn't slip out. I wasn't aware of the ring at all, not even when I had sex. It didn't bother my husband or me. However, the nausea got worse and worse with the time. There is nothing in the world that I hate the
most than to vomit and I try very hard to avoid it.

Also, I start getting really nervous for everything, first I thought it was because of the nausea, but then I started getting paranoid about vomiting in front of everyone or on the street. Then it started developing more and more to the point where I was so nauseous I couldn't be 15 feet away from a bathroom. The nausea was permanent, so I couldn't ride the subway. I also got subway-phobic, more like a claustrophobia mixed with nerves, and I felt I was about to lose my mind. I couldn't be around masses of people or the subway and that is kind of impossible in New York City. I has horrible panic attacks, e.g, fast heart beat, crazy sweating, nausea, dizziness and shortness of breath. I feel every time I was riding or underground with a bunch of people that I was running out of air. I cried all the time because of my subway phobia and felt it was nonsense, since I have been living in New York for a while and using the subway all the time. I barely went out of my apartment for almost three months and at some point I was really afraid of going outside just to my doctor appointments.

The paranoia, anxiety and nervousness was out of control. So anxious that I complained to myself about how slow I walked, even though I was almost running to get to places. I wanted everything to be fast with no reason. Not to mention that in addition I had some capillaries or broken little blood vessels in my legs they were blue and purple. I was previously been using Ortho Evra, which I stopped taking because I felt lots of pressure in my legs and when I was lying down or sleeping I felt like pins or needles in different parts of my legs. And I also broken capillaries. I was really concerned with my use of Ortho Evra.

The worst part of my situation was the severe depression I experienced with Nuvaring. I am a very positive woman. I love nature and being outdoors. I have always considered myself strong and I rarely if ever cry. Well these three nightmare months were all about crying. Once I was in a ballgame with my husband, we both love baseball. I start feeling so nauseous and bad that I start crying but trying hard to contain myself of expressing because i didn't want to make my husband upset. Thank god my husband is a understanding and patient person.

I spend almost all day at home waking up really late or sleeping all day, feeling nauseous but, don't get me wrong, I was really hungry. As soon as I ate I got nauseous. I felt in the top of my stomach really nauseous and in the bottom of my stomach really hungry. I became totally intolerant of wine or coffee, and eventually even water. I lost all interest in the gym, or making new friends or meeting my old friends, just crying and crying for no reason. I lost interest of everything, when I thought of something to do, 5 seconds later I was thinking of how negative that activity was even if my first thought was...this could be interesting. I lost interest in life, even though I love my life and love myself. I'm a newly wed, I didn't have problems of any kind. I'm a happy and positive person. My husband was looking at me weird at some point. When people were speaking to me I was like on Mars looking at the infinite. That is scary! I have never had mental problems or anything like that.

My husband told me I was completely another person and that he felt I wasn't the person he married. I consulted our family doctor who referred a gastro for my uncontrollable nausea. I was loosing weight really fast - 14 pounds in total - and I am very thin and that was concerning. The gastro prescribed some antibiotics, thinking was some kind of infection and
prescribed medicine for the acid, both of which made the situation even worse. I never talk to him about the depression because I couldn't identify my negativity and depressed feelings with my stomach. I got really constipated and even more depressed. Also I got night sweats that would wake me up. I didn't see anyway this would end.

The gastro told me that he couldn't figure it out and my lab test came out with good results. So his next step would be a endoscopy to see what was going on. Every day I was trying to return to normal activities like riding the subway, going shopping, walk some, etc. I went to a store one day. Like 10 minutes later, I felt really dizzy, couldn't see very well, sweating, nauseous and about to faint. I left the store really fast throught the elevator
(the fastest way to leave, so my problem wasn't quite claustrophobia) And I went home thinking of how miserable I have been these days and how much I hate it of course crying like a baby. I had to cancel at the last minute a wedding in the Caribbean of a friend that I really wanted to go. And the fact of missing the wedding was so sad that I started thinking of all the medications I was taking.

Of course the ring was not taken by mouth and I wasnt aware of it, just when it was time to change it. I start reading all the leaflets that comes with the medicines and voila the ring side effects are bloating, nauseas, vomit, depression, weight loose or weight gain, among other serious side
effects.

I took out the ring two Sundays ago, Oct 19, and the nausea considerably lowered down after a few hours after I took it out. It has been lowering down gradually since I took it out. The nausea comes like a wave, but is not constant as it had been, and is coming less often. I haven't feel depression since Wednesday, Oct 29. And I am getting better
every day. I don't know when all these symptoms will disappear, but I hope really soon. I just know that this hit me really strong and I don't wish this to anybody. Stay away from ,Nuvaring!! I know not all the bodies are the same or have the same reaction, but, If you have to choose, don't use hormonal contraceptives. Please look reviews before you try a medicine, so you are aware of the side effects. Make your family aware so that if you have strange behavior they could let you know. The doctor told me that it will take two weeks or more to get rid of the hormones in my body.

Looking for an alternative I found a natural way called cycle beads that I will try, and there is also the rhythm method. The only good thing about the ring it is that keeps you from getting pregnant and you just think of it once a month when you're taking it out. That's it! I felt I have wasted 3 months of my life, but I am willing to recover and enjoy my precious health these future months.

Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences- I should have done a search on Nuvaring long ago. I have been using it for almost a year. At first I loved it but now the bouts of itching have become unbearable and embarrassing. No one wants to be caught scratching herself! I have also had lots of watery discharge- my underwear always feels damp. Not comfortable and certainly not helping the itch. I also often have thick white discharge (but smooth and without odor and so not exactly like I understand a yeast infection to be). I say "understand" because I have never had anything remotely like a yeast infection up til now (34), which is another reason that I suspect the ring. My sex drive is also nonexistent, a problem I have had with oral contraceptives too- I feel bad for my husband. I didn't connect it all at first because the itching is external, but then I noticed that I felt better when I took it out for my period and even better still when I stopped using it for three months due to other health issues. I hate to admit it because I loved the convenience of the ring but I took it out an hour ago and think I already feel better. Now I'm wondering if it was the cause of any of my other health issues but will have to wait and see. Can anyone recommend any non hormonal methods of birth control (other than condoms) or at least any oral contraceptives with less sexual side effects?