NuvaRing and ankles

Hello! I have been diagnosed with chronic daily migraines. Yes, a migraine everyday for 5 months straight. Next comes swelling of fingers, hands, arms, legs, ankles and feet with major pain for the last 5 weeks. I have gone to the neurologist, ob-gyn & family Dr. I had 4 Dr/ER visits of testing to see what the problem could be. Tested for heart failure, liver disease, kidney failure/disease, lung, lupus, ms, chest x-ray, ekg and a brain CT scan...all to be negative THANK GOD! All of my Dr's including the ER staff said....hmmmm I think its the NUVARING! After some research my symptoms matched the nuvaring side effects exactly...the part that says...if you have any of these...then call the Dr. immediately. It has been approx a week and 1/2 of the removal of the Nuvaring and the headaches are no longer everyday or a "10" in rating. I was so busy typing that I forgot to mention that I match quite a few of your symptons as well...like no sex drive, depression, nausea, dizziness etc. I'm not sure about what happened and if my symptoms will go away without the nuvaring. I can say that it is worth a try. I also want to tell you all that no, you are not crazy and please listen to your body. Nuvaring came along when I really needed to regulate my periods...so I know the feeling of being relieved, but I wish I had taken a break from a 3 year run with the "Nuvaring". Please take care!

I took the ring out this morning after putting it in about a week ago. After suffering from manic depression for years, I've learned to watch very closely what happens with my body when I begin a new medication, and one week was more than enough for me.

The day after first put the ring in, I began feeling mildly nauseous, like morning sickness. I couldn't be around certain smells that I've always loved without wanting to throw up, (again like morning sickness,) and god help me if I skipped breakfast! Then the headaches started, like knives through my eyebrows and forehead. The second night I woke up wringing with sweat, and noticed a slight vaginal burning sensation. Stomach bloating became a problem slowly, and I noticed my ankles and feet swelling. None of these side effects went away as the days passed, and I was suddenly needing more and more sleep just to function for a few hours. I'm lucky that I'm currently on vacation from school, because I found myself sleeping up to 15 hours a day.

This morning, I'd finally had it. I woke up at 7 AM because the vaginal burning was too intense to be ignored. I pulled the ring out, grabbed a book, and ended up sitting on the toilet for about 3 hours. Twelve hours later, the inflammation has subsided just enough to be tolerable, and I can't wait for this stuff to get out of my system.

Never again. Never again, says I!

I am a healthy, active 31-yr-old with no medical problems other than acid reflux (I take Prilosec OTC) and 50 lbs overweight. (I may be slightly overweight, but I'm very strong, healthy, and I work out religiously 3-4x a week with a personal fitness trainer.) I've been an Ortho-Tricyclen user for years due to my dysfunctional menorrhea (extremely painful menstruation with flooding blood for days, unending cramps, bloating and water-weight gain). I absolutely adore the OT Rx as I only have to have my period 4x a year, and it's not so dysfunctional when it comes. However after doing much research, I decided to try out Nuvaring and drop taking the pill everyday. I started the ring this past Saturday night at 10 PM (as that's easier for me to remember than a Sunday) and today is only less than two days later. My ankles blew up with what seems like water after the first eight hours of use. I had sex later on Saturday night with the ring inside me, and I got to add a burning sensation to my symptoms, which as of yet still has not gone away. Today (Monday) when I woke up, my hands are swollen now too. Exactly 36 hours of wearing the ring, and already symptoms, least to mention symptoms that should have nothing to do with birth/menstruation control? I just threw the ring away a few minutes ago; I'm going back to OT this week.