I am 23 years old and I have never used a birth control besides N...

I am 23 years old and I have never used a birth control besides NR which I have been on for 2 years. My first few weeks of being on it were almost disastrous. I was having symptoms of a UTI, but Planned Parent Hood told me that my tests were not showing that I had any infection. They offered to treat me with a generic antibiotic for UTI, but I didn't want to use antibiotics if I didn't need to. I asked them if my symptoms could have anything to do with the NR, they said impossible. A week later I was in the hospital with a UTI and kidney infection. It took me weeks of best rest and 3 antibiotics to be well again. The first antibiotic they put me on had no effect on me at all, but they made me keep taking it once I started. I discovered by myself that my UTI and my kidney infection were due to a tiny piece of lint that had gotten stuck to my Nuva Ring. The bacteria on it had climbed up the uretha and turned into a kidney infection. None of the doctors even thought to have me check if something like that could be the source of the infection. I was told that if I had waited any longer to come into the hospital that my kidney's would have failed/collapsed. I had E. coli and another bacteria growing in my kidney's. It took me weeks of best rest and 3 antibiotics to be well again. If you are on the NR, please take it out after sex and examine it and rinse it off. Bacteria will cling to it! Other than that experience I have noticed many side effects mentioned by others here: random moodiness, fits of crying coming out of no where, PMS symptoms can be two weeks long for me, increased irritability with my boyfriend, massive amounts of white lumpy discharge all month long, itchiness, multiple UTIs, bacterial vaginitus, random painful stabbing sensation in the vaginal area, increased dryness during sex, major lack of sex drive, painful breasts (which have increased in size, not complaining there), extreme swelling of the vaginal walls during and after sex. No matter how much precaution I take with cleanliness before and after sex this will randomly occur. There is so much swelling some times that wearing loose cotton underwear even hurts with all of the sensitive skin exposed. Walking really hurts! The cost of the Nuva Ring is also a problem. My insurance doesn't cover birth control and it costs me $60 a month to get the NR. I am strongly considering going off of it. I do like the fact that I do not have to worry about taking pills or getting shots. In that sense this is a great alternative! I also only bleed for 3 days with a little spotting on the 4th day. I do not have cramps. I really like the idea that this is a low dosage of hormones localized right where it will be most effective, but I am getting concerned about what it may do to my body long term. There is new research coming out that shows that our brain's ability to sense pheromones (which are nature's way of telling us if some one is a good match for us or not), is altered when we use birth control and that this can lead women to fall in love with some one that may not be a good genetic match for a mate. In the larger scheme of things this means that children coming from these couples may have weaker genetics. Very disturbing.