Vaginal irritation symptoms and conditions

I have been on the NuvaRing for a little less than 2 years now. Everything seemed fine until four months ago when I started to get very intense "irritations" in my vaginal area. I thought I was inflicting this upon myself because I switched to boy shorts underwear and a little tighter jeans. My ob/gyn attributed my problem to using a new brand of soap and a new brand of pantiliner, and she simply suggested I "soak my bum" in the tub 1-2 times a day to reduce the irritation. (She's British.) She also suggested I use as much A&D diaper rash ointment (which is mainly petroleum jelly) as I wanted or needed. After 2 months of continued vaginal irritation, my ob/gyn simply said that what I had can take a while to clear up, and that I should just continue to soak my bottom and use as much A&D ointment as I needed.

After reading everyone's postings, I've learned that it's not unheard-of for one's body to take several months to show NuvaRing side effects. I share the same symptoms of complete loss of sex drive, vaginal dryness and intense pain during sex that many of you have described. I went through so many months of accepting these conditions because I thought all of those things were happening because I was nearing my 40th birthday and simply getting older. Those of you in your 20's that described similar symptoms helped me realize that what I was experiencing wasn't natural.

I've decided to take my NuvaRing out and stay birth control free for a couple of months to see the irritability goes away. I am very eager and hopeful to lose my dependency on A&D ointment, to want to have sex again, and to wear boy shorts and tight jeans again.

I got on Nuvaring back in Nov., because I was getting married (I had not had sex prior to this). I liked the convenience of not having to take a pill daily (I'm very bad about remembering to take pills), and that it was a lower dose of hormones than pills, which to me made it seem safer.
Unfortunately, once I got married, I noticed I have no interest in sex w/ my husband, which stinks because I was really looking forward to it before. I thought something was wrong w/ me, because we've been married 3 weeks tomorrow & probably have had sex 10 times or less, which I discovered REALLY bothers my husband, but I hadn't given it much thought. The sex is ok (as far as I can tell) when we DO have it, although I do notice I'm drier "down there" than before, but I'm just not interested in it.
Other than that I've had no problems w/ Nuvaring. If they could work this one issue out I'd be sold on it!

I am 23 years old and started the NuvaRing in November. The first month was great the 2nd month started with:
Crippling heart burn, Huge mood swings, Anxiety, Fogginess in my contacts, decreased libido, 15 lb weight gain, Inability to sleep through the night, vaginal irritation, debilitating leg cramps in the evening, and an insanely itchy rash on my stomach and legs.

After reading through the symptoms to go to your doctor with I decided to throw the bugger in the trash. I am outraged to hear the apathy of everyone's health care professionals. They should be brought before the medical board for such negligence. Short of death what side effects do they need to see that this is a HORRIBLE form of birth control.

I have been taking Keflex for about 6 days to treat wicked UTI and have started having discarge and vaginal irritation ... after looking back at the printed out info they give you with your meds those happen to be on the list and it says call doctor immediately!!! I am a 54 year old female ...and along with these symptoms I had some spotting!!

Hello everyone

Well I thought I could find some help on this forum and I definitely did. I started the NuvaRing last month and had no problems. This second time I have had vaginal irritation and itching. It feels like little cuts are there at times and I also have had increase secretion and anytime its there thats when the itching really happens. Im glad im not the only one who has had some issues. The NuvaRing will be removed tonight. Thank you

Against my better judgment, I received my first shot in Oct 07 and my second in March 08. I will absolutely will not get the third. I was suspicious of the vaccine, but was convinced by my doctor to get it. I should have listened to my gut. Within two weeks of receiving the first shot, I experienced flu-like symptoms, fever, and such severe vaginal discomfort that I went to the emergency room. I was diagnosed with bacterial vaginosis. It cleared up, but my health felt off - worse digestion, I started getting heartburn, feeling fatigue, started seeing floaters in my vision and getting terrible headaches, and my menstrual cycle started becoming more irregular. I had always been like clockwork. I started losing weight, which was unusual, as I had always been overweight and had a hard time losing weight. I began feeling more and more irritable, but made no connections to the Guardasil shot. In March, immediately after receiving the second vaccine, my arm hurt terribly, I felt lightheaded, woozy, and had hives appear. Within 1 week, I started experiencing vaginal irritation again, fever, and had flu like symptoms. Over the course of the next month, I started to feel such severe fatigue, stomach aches, and uncontrollable diarrhea, that I went to my doctor. She told me I probably just had acid reflux. Two days later, I experience debilitating stomach pain, which lasted for nearly 1 month. I had an endoscopy, a CT scan, allergy tests, and blood work for thyroid disorders and other imbalances, all of which have come back reasonably normal and regular for my body and system. I did have some esophageal damage from acid reflux, and was put on Prevacid. Receiving no answers from the Western Medical community, I cut out gluten, corn, soy, dairy, eggs, caffeine, alcohol, yeasts, and sugar from my diet and started working with an acupuncturist and naturopath. Stool sampling showed signs of Candida Yeast overgrowth in my intestines and parasites, which I am combating naturally with help from my naturopath. I a got off the Prevacid successfully with her help, and am starting to feel stronger. However, since January, I have lost 50 lbs, have experienced hair loss, fatigue, eye itchiness, emotional upset, headaches, joint pain, tingling/numbness in hands and feet, lower body temperature, disruption in my sleep, decreased strength, muscle loss, continued gastrointestinal pain, alternating diarrhea/constipation, persistent Bacterial Vaginosis, and have not had my period since I received the second shot in March. While I do feel I am becoming stronger, this road is long and the journey is slow. My health is not what it used to be, my diet is restrictive, and I am taking multiple herbal and natural supplements, vitamins, and probiotics. The appearance of overall, chronic symptoms with the timing of the Guardasil shots makes me believe that I, like so many other women, am a victim of Guardasil. Don't get this vaccine.

I've had Mirena for nearly two and a half years now. About 6 weeks after I got it in I had to take a pregnancy test because I was dizzy, nauseous, bloated, and had sore breasts. I was not pregnant. But I've had a repeat experience every few months since then. Sometimes I feel so sick and tired that I can't do anything but lie on the sofa. After I stopped nursing I got bad pregnancy symptoms and cramps so horrible I thought my IUD had punctured something. Currently I feel sick to my stomach, and I've been getting headaches, and I'm tired and terribly thirsty all the time. I've read about others who had the same problem. I've also had nearly continuous yeast infections and vaginal irritation since I got it in. My libido has dropped incredibly and I'm always kind of dry during sex. I had problems with depression before getting the Mirena, but now I have anxiety on top of that. At the two-year mark I started getting nasty under-the-skin acne under my chin, and I've gained ten pounds since then. Some of that might have been my own fault, but I currently eat healthily and exercise 1 to 1 1/2 hours most days, and it's taken weeks for me to stop gaining, and I know I'm losing way slower than is natural. I put up with it this long because I haven't gained huge amounts of weight or had really bad mood swings, and I'm afraid of what might happen with other types of birth control, but I am sick of being sick all the time. I'm getting this thing out!

The first week of using NuvaRing I had so much nausea and breast pain that I thought i was pregnant. I use the NuvaRing for 3 weeks now, I have no sex drive anymore, I make nightmares every night, and I am anxious about every small things. And since 3 days I have vaginal irritation, very painful during the sexual relation.
I also gain weight even if i'm a very active person.
So I will take it out to see if i come back to normal. Hopefully I will!!!
(Sorry for my bad English, i found no french forum for the NuvaRing =\ )

This is my second time on NuvaRing. The first time followed 6 years of pills. I first switched to NR because I always had breakthrough bleeding on the pill. I had no side effects. Loved it. I got off birth control because my husband and I wanted to try for our first child. I am now on the NR again. It is the 2nd ring since I started on it again. The first month I had some cramping..on and off and never bad enough for medication. I also had some vaginal irritation. During sex, the irritation caused some pain. But I was determined to see it out because I had loved it before. Well am I glad I did!! I have had no cramps, pain, irritation, no vaginal dryness, no mood swings, no weight gain...nothing except for not having to worry about taking that pill every night.

Birth control is like any other medication. Everyone reacts differently to each one. Look at codine...some people do great on it then you have people who are fatally allergic to it.

Dont go by what people say happened to them. You maybe completely different.

6 weeks ago, I began taking Doryx 100 once a day for mild acne. 10 days into treatment, I started with what I thought was a yeast infection, feeling as if I was "on fire" in the vaginal area. I used a Monistat 3 and I felt no relief. I went in to a Take Care Clinic at Walgreens and the RN had me do a urine culture. It came back positive, I had a bladder infection. I was prescribed an antibiotic, Cipro 500, dosage of twice daily for 3 days. My symptoms persisted, some days worse than others. A few days later, I went in to my gyne office. The Dr. did a swab test and found no yeast. They took a urine culture and it was negative. She saw some redness and inflammation, but could not explain what it may be from. Perhaps a new soap, she questioned? She prescribed a cream (Lotrisone) to help with the inflammation, but the cream seemed to make the area burn even more. 2 weeks later, my symptoms dulled. However, I felt that there was still something wrong. I received an Rx for Diflucan, as if the symptoms might just be from a yeast infection this time? It's possible, I thought? Again, no relief in site and it's gotten worse. A week later, I go back into the gyne office and another Dr. tells me to try switching soaps again? What's wrong with this picture? I have NEVER had any type of issue in the past and now I am 6 weeks into this one? Doryx is the only thing new that my body has come in contact with. One of the side effects in the pamphlet was "vaginal irritation/discharge." According to the pharmacist, this may occur with prolong use (such as 6 months) of any antibiotic. Although Doryx has cleared up my acne, I have decided to discontinue its use. I am hoping that this cures my symptoms. Were these the side effects from the use of Doryx? I shall see.

I LOVE NUVARING!!! I've been using it for over a year, usually keeping it in for a month then replacing it with a new one to avoid having a period. I sometimes have some spotting at the end of the month; then I just take out the ring and have a full period and put in a new ring one week later. I have none of the problems with mood swings that others have posted - on the contrary, I no longer have PMS symptoms.

However, during those rare menstrual periods, I sometimes pass a few thumbprint-sized pieces of an unusual MEMBRANOUS BROWN TISSUE-LIKE SUBSTANCE (cap'd to draw attention). No other symptoms.

Has anyone else experienced this? My nurse practitioner hasn't had any other patients mention it and she can't think of what it could be (uterine lining??).

I'm so glad I found this website. This is the first month I've used the NuvaRing and I will not continue to use it. The first week I experienced heart palpitations and felt very anxious and moody. During the following weeks I've been extremely fatigued, nauseous, have completely lost my sex drive, and have been having severe headaches. I've also have experienced abdominal cramping and vaginal irritation.
The crazy thing is that I called my health care provider to discuss my concerns and she blew me off and told me that something with such low hormones shouldn't be causing all these side effects. It really pisses me off that gynecologists are prescribing the NuvaRing when there is all of this negative information out there.
Thanks everyone for posting your story....I'm relieved to know that I'm not going crazy.

my then 2 year old daughter began to take Zyrtec in sept 06 for allergies. she began to STUTTER in November 06. she has gotten worse over time. she also has experienced vaginal irritation for about the same amount of time
( 1 1/2 years) i have had her tested by a gyn and everything came back normal. her stuttering got worse when the doctor upped her dose. so bad that she can not complete a sentence. i took her off of it 1 week ago and we have seen mild improvement and Withdrawal (crying,itching,sleeplessness) has anyone else experienced this? please help us!

Ok. This is crazy. My doctor is a VERY good doctor, and has denied my charges against the Mirena. I had not looked into the reported side effects when I complained to my doctor. I have had my Mirena since 2004. No problems at all until about 3 months ago. (maybe longer than that adding the mood swings, loss of libido since the birth of our last son, vaginal irritation, dryness, yeast infections that I never had before the IUD, breast tenderness, joint pain, recent bleeding that lasted a month) I began having heart palpataions so severe that I thought I was having panic attacks. Like a heavy weight being laid upon my chest, too small of an area for my heart to be able to properly beat, loss of breath, loss of sleep (causing me to take tylenol pm to be able to rest). I went to the doctor, and was concerned about the symptoms. She was alarmed, she has known me over 5 years, and I have been in her office only a handful of times. She ran an ekg, did chest x-rays, and found nothing. She sent me on to the cardiologist to have blood work and an echo. They found nothing. I asked her about the possibility of the Mirena being the problem. She thought it was doubtful, but wants to look at it during an exam anyway. My hubby and I are considering having it removed. We can't figure out what other problem there would be. Please email me if anyone has had symptoms similar! I am VERY concerned.

i have been using the ring for about a year and half with minor complications. the major problem i noticed was some vaginal irritation due to the positioning of the ring. it was typically minor and would go away if i avoided sex for a day or two. but then, i got a really bad irritation. it was not an itch, or infection, or discharge, just a pain...in the area where the ring would sit. i am convinced the ring is the cause over any other possible suspects (i.e. stds, etc.).

I HAVE BEEN USING NR FOR ABOUT 9 MONTHS. I THOGHT EVERYTHING WAS SWEET. I HAD HEADACHES, BUT I DIDNT ASSOCIATE THEM WITH THE RING. JUST IN THE PAST WEEK I STARTED HAVING PROBLEMS. I KEEP HAVING A BROWN VAGINAL DISCHARGE. IT DOESNT SMELL FOUL. DISCHARGE SHOULDNT CARRY A SCENT AT ALL, BUT IT DOES. ALONG WITH THIS IS VAGINAL IRRITATION. SOMETIMES SEX DOES NOT INTEREST ME AND THERE IS A DECREASE IN LUBRICATION.

I am so glad that I found this site. I've been using the ring now for 3 months continually. I just don't want to have a period anymore and my doc seemed to think this was a better option that an IUD. Well ever since I've started my depression is worse!!! (I have post partum). I just went to see my doc about adjusting my meds. I've also had severe vaginal irritation and a raging yeast infection. And let me tell you about sex. there's been none of that going on and my husband is starting to get pissy. This is just not worth the frustration. The only problem is that I just had my script refilled for anouther 3 months. I just hate to think of losing the $45 I just paid. But mental health and a happy husband is definetly worth it.

I was prescribed omnicef for redness in my throat which assumed to be some type of infection. I was told by my doctor that I had a "viral infection" I was given a 10 day does, after a day or two I noticed very soft stools which lead to diarrhea, nausea, anal and vaginal irritation and itching. I have been trying to drink a lot of water to flush my system but I am not back to normal. My appetite is a little off and the irritation seems to be somewhat like "diaper rash?" I'm 34 years old! I will never take this medicine again, I haven't been back in touch with my doctor but after reading all of this I am now thinking I should. This is scary.

I have been using BC pills for 10 years and in May of 06 after having my son, I started with the Ring. Upon first use I noticed cramping/abdominal pain but brushed it off and continued. Then about 2 or 3 months into it I got a nasty,bumpy rash around the perineum area. It went away after about a week. Then a few months after that around my period time I started getting flu like symptoms:sore throat, achy body, headachs. This has been happening for the last 3 months, each time was when I was getting my period. So not only did I have mood swings and everything else that comes with your period but I also felt like I was sick with flu/cold. I felt like I was going crazy because it was happening EVERY MONTH!!! Then when my period finishes I am left with vaginal irritation. My mother and sister made a suggestion that it could be the Ring. Needless to say after reading all of these postings, I believe it is the Ring. I recently stopped using it and will see how I feel. I will also have my thyroid checked because since using it, my thyroid level has gone WAY out of whack. Be Safe and Good Luck to all of you who have been effected by this product.

I know that many people come here because they have experienced problems with the Ring, so I don't know if the information here accurately represents the "common" side effects or not.

For me, I was on Ortho-Lo for the last year, and I just don't think it worked well with my body chemistry. I have always had problems with my BC, and with Ortho-Lo I experienced nausea, mood swings, and worst of all--severe depression.

Like many Ring users, I had never been depressed before in my life. I started questioning every decision I had made in life, and constantly felt homesick. I never thought that the Ortho-Lo could have been the cause until I started reading this.

My doctor just put me on the Ring a few days ago, but so far I have been very pleased. I always had a hard time remembering to take my pills, and one reason my doctor recommended the Ring is because I have breakthrough bleeding so much that she can never get a Pap from me.

Immediately after putting in the Ring, my breakthrough bleeding stopped. I have had no headaches, discharge, vaginal irritation or nausea. I have been a little irritable, but I assume it is because I just switched BC.

As far as sex drive, I hadn't thought about it because I am still not supposed to have sex for another few days (my doctor told me to leave it in for 7 days before having sex). BUT I have felt sexually attracted to my BF, I just know I can't get carried away with those thoughts until I am in the safe-zone with the Ring.

My body chemistry tends to be very different from most women I know, but I have a hopeful feeling that there are some women out there who will be greatly benefitted by the Ring...maybe I will be one of them!

To Guest 34112

I've had the same problem when I was on Yasmin: heavy discharge and vaginal irritation. I went to the doctor 3 times and when the tests came back, everything was normal.
I don't know if this is due to Yasmin but since I stopped taking it 6 months ago I've been having normal discharge and the vaginal irritation has gone, so it makes you wonder!!

Hi, I am 32 years old and have been taking yasmin for 11 months. I immediately noticed a huge increase in discharge. Several months later, I was experiencing vaginal irritation and none of the doctors could figure out what it s. All cultures are negative. I also started to experience the anxiety so many women have written about. I can not sleep and feel that my heart frequently races. My biggest concern is the irritation I am experiencing and am wondering if anyone else is having a similar problem?

I have just started NuvaRing 2 weeks ago after having wanted to try it for some time. I have been on tons of different bcps, Norplant (which I LOVED) and most recently, the patch (which I hated - it was so nasty, fibers from clothing stick onto the adhesive, the edges quickly become filthy looking, and sometimes lift, making me question the effectiveness). So I loved the idea of the ring. Within a couple of days the excessive discharge began. Then the second week I am experiencing some vaginal irritation, possibly the beginning of a UTI? I am going to ride it out for a few mos if I can and see if the irritation clears up. It seems like the most convenient thing out there. I have not experienced any other sides, when my most recent bcps resulted in nausea.

Severe vaginal irritation.

Has anyone had any problem with vaginal irritation? Also, i cannot have an orgasm with this thing and i've never had that problem before. wondering if it's a result of the drug. The side effects do mention "vaginitis" so i'm assuming this is contributing to the problem of things not feeling "normal" down there.