NuvaRing and heart palpitations

I just started with my first ring yesterday afternoon at 2pm. By 7pm, I was complaining to my husband that I must've had too much caffeine that day because my heart was palpitating out of my throat and I had a weird headache setting in.

So far today, the heart palps and jitters were getting so bad I had no choice but to take the NUVARING out. I'm going to call my doctor on my lunch break from work, but this is NOT what I was hoping for when I switched from the pill. I'm a 27 year old newlywed and all I want is a birth control option that doesn't KILL my sex drive. I'd rather have a low sex drive and feel physically NORMAL than to deal with the heart palpitations. They didn't start until I put the ring in yesterday. I'm hoping in a few hours they hormones will get out of my system and I'll start feeling back to normal.

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.

OK...I thought I was CRAZY, but after reading this I realized I am not alone in my experiences with the NuvaRing. I have been on it for 3 yrs, but last month after I took it out, I did not put a new one in. I had been noticing heart palpitations, tiredness, was mean as all get out, excessively thirsty, and not able to wear my contacts. When I out the ring back in this month, ALL the symptoms came back! Also, I had experienced a drop in my sexual appetite, with no ring, I was back to the 'norm'.
It will be coming out tonight and not going back in.

I have been experiencing a lot of numbness in my arms and hands over the last few months. I ignored it for awhile but decided I definitely should speak to my doctor about it so I am going this afternoon. It only just dawned on me a few days ago that the numbness might be related to the NuvaRing. I think I have been on it about 5 months.

Has anyone else experienced numbness in their arms and hands?

I was recommended to try NuvaRing by a friend who has been using it for years with no problems. Wtih a long history of intolerance to the pill and having come off Depo Provera after 5 years (because of the osteoporosis fear and severe vaginal dryness) I opted for the NuvaRing given it's low levels of hormones. At first I had a lot of cramping and discharge which my Dr said was normal. Since then I've had all the symptoms listed below...have even been having expensive cardiac tests because of the heart palpitations (my blood pressure remains normal) which my Dr says are not related to the NuvaRing. She has recommended I take anti-depressants for the extreme anxiety I have started experiencing (and have never had before). Having read these posts this morning (woke up with severe cramping mid-cycle) I've now removed the ring...hoping that my doing so my symptoms will recede / decrease. But...I'm now out of hormone related options for birth control. My Dr has recommended the Mirena IUD which my sister has and is removing due to side effects from that. Any other ideas??????

I started the NuvaRing 2 days ago and since reading this site I have just run to the bathroom and swiped the thing out as fast as I could.
I did not really want to go to another form of hormonal birth control as I have had some severe side effects in the past on the Pill (Loette 28), which I took for seven years. I had no idea that all the symptoms I was having had anything to do with the Pill until I decided to stop taking it about 8 months ago. Since then, I have been a new person, according to my boyfriend. I no longer feel depressed, sad, anxious, or have severe nausea and vomiting. It's sad to think that for seven years I was doing so much damage to my body and my mind because of this.
The one other thing I noticed being off the Pill was an increase in yeast and vaginal infections. I have also been having abnormal PAP smears and have since discovered that I have mild dysplaysia.
So I went to the doctor and he told me that if I go back on the Pill or the NuvaRing, he thinks it might help the yeast infections. I was really skeptical and have been putting it off for months, but finally, I inserted it 2 days ago. The very first day I was having symptoms: Severe headaches (I NEVER get headaches!), nausea, depression, and the worst heart palpitations and dizziness I have ever felt!! I felt weird, like something was taking control of my body. Anyway, after trying to eat something last night and feeling queasy throughout the meal and then vomiting for the first time in 8 months, I am convinced that this is not me!!! It is the NUVARING!!!
Two days was enough for me- I am not going to wait it out this time. I want to be hormone free! If you really think about it, how can putting your body in a constant state of pregnancy be healthy?? We are not made for that. It is completely unnatural!!! We are inevitably playing with fire here.
My advice to any women out there? Seriously watch for ALL symptoms you are having with the Ring or any Pill and if there are any that are similar to this site, then please try and go off it and see what you feel. You may feel like a different person, like I did!!
Good Luck

I am currently on my 3rd NuvaRing. I had been on approximately 8 different pills since 2004 and could not find a solution for my CONSTANT bleeding. I have Endometriosis and I was only having about 5 days of the month that I was not bleeding. This has actually been going on for about 14 years but getting a lot worse since I came off of the Norplant in 2004. Since being on the NuvaRing, this is the first time I have gone more than one month with a completely normal period. I have noticed a decrease in my sex drive but not a complete death, I am paying attention. I am having slight heart palpitations for the first time since coming off of the Norplant, so I know those are from the NR, but not too badly or frequently. Headaches on the last 3 days before it comes out but otherwise. And absolutely NO pain or bloating associated with my period (I used to look 4 months pregnant most of the time). So far I am happy but am watching carefully. I have noticed a negative change in my attitude also but am not convinced yet that it's the NR since I have been through a lot recently. I will keep you posted.

I just had a baby in June and the dr talked up Nuvaring like it was the greatest, so I went on it. Only been on it a month and in that time have felt sort of scared because of the way I had been feeling. Irritated, sleepy, drenching night sweats, breaking out in cold sweats during the day, heart palpitations, and just constantly feeling on edge. The night sweats and heart palpitations have been the worst, I have never experienced anything like that and it's terrible. Now I'm experiencing the most heavy bleeding I have ever had in my life. I will not be using Nuvaring anymore.

i've been on nuva for about 6 months... the first 2 weeks, i felt a little irritable, but nothing serious. within the past month, ive started noticing more serious symptoms. i went to the emergency room because i was having sharp pains when i breathe in. (this actually started months ago but it wasnt really that bad until a couple weeks ago) they did an x-ray and said i had "pleurisy"...ive also been having heart palpitations...both of these have been freaking me out but i never thought they had anything to do with nuva (and neither did the doctors apparently)...ive been flipping out lately...im usually pretty easy going and happy, but lately, i have been having severe mood swings...i get sad, angry, anxious and i cant figure out why...when i snap out of it im like "wow that isnt like me"...it was horrible and i thought i was going crazy. i have been exhausted during the day and i fall asleep soon after work (which i didnt think much of because i work with children all day) and i have had headaches daily...i was eating nonstop, none of my clothes fit me because i have gained weight and i am bloated every day. oh yea, and once i had pain so bad during sex i had to stop and i was in tears...right after, i felt like i had a UTI. the pain lasted 2 days and went away.

i took it out yesterday and i WILL NEVER use it again. i felt so good today. i am happier, not hungry and i have more energy. seriously, im mad that no doctors have mentioned any of these symptoms to me and when i went in for a check up at the gyno they didnt say that my symptoms could be caused by nuva.