NuvaRing and lubricant

I was on the Nuvaring for a little over a year and am now on the Mirena IUC. The first six months of using the Nuvaring were great! I loved it and told all of my friends who were getting married to try it out. Then all of a sudden I started developing chest pain and sometimes my heart would feel like it was going to rip right out of my chest because it was beating so fast. I also had this milky white discharge ALL the time. This was so embarrassing because I would have to wear panty liners everyday and WHAT is sexy about that? I have always had pain with intercourse and then afterwards even using lubricant I felt a burning. I also noticed that while I had the ring in about week 2 or 3 I would start feeling an itching inside and then when I took it out it would clear up and then start all over again. I also would get so nauseous about once a month that I would throw up. I'm so glad that I went off it! My GYN told me that the Nuvaring couldn't be causing the chest pain after no symptoms for 6 months, but then when I removed it and started the IUC I am chest pain, icky discharge, and itching free. I didn't notice any mood changes while on Nuvaring and thank goodness, because as a newly wed I think my husband would have run screaming WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?

If you want to punish yourself, feel hallow inside, get fat, hate sex, get horrible headaches, have an itchy vagina, and feel like throwing up all time, then I would recommend nuvaring to you.

I took nuvaring for 10 months. During this time I got headaches all the time, increasing in severity and frequency the longer I was on nuvaring; esp. during the week I took it out to have a period. I had very angry mood swings and felt apathetic towards everything. I have been depressed before, so I figured it was just me and it would pass soon, it did not.
I also ate out of boredom. I wasn't hungry per se, I just felt like eating all the time, so I did and I gained about 15 lbs. I was on the same regular exercise routine, and I still gained the weight.
I felt nauseated at the beginning and end of every cycle. I had zero sex drive, it hurt to even have sex most of the time. My husband could feel it inside of me the months it would not stay in place. Some months I could hardly feel the ring,and other months I would have to reinsert it almost every day. I ended up taking the ring out during sex and putting it back in afterwards. This helped some, but I still had no interest. I had abdominal cramps ALL day EVERY day reguardless.
I had vaginal itching and irritation as time progressed, and mild vaginal dryness which caused us to use a lubricant during sex.
It does not get better, it gets worse over time.
I have been off nuva ring for 3 weeks and I feel so much better! I'm happy and interested in things again. I don't have as many headaches and I don't have intense abdominal/low back pain any more. Sex drive is back, and it feels normal now. I don't feel nauseated or as angry. I don't feel the need to mindlessly eat. My nipples have been very sore for a week now, though and I have not yet gotten my period. I have all the signs of it: normal moodiness, mild cramping, really really light (like pastel) pink spotting, so I am just waiting for it come. Hopefully I will be regular, but as I have been reading on here, that's not always the case.
The ONLY benefit from nuvaring was a shorter and shorter period.
I will never use nuvaring again.

I am in my third week of using the nuvaring and after reading everyone's comments, I am relieved that I am not alone. I have absolutely no sex drive (it has hurt like a b*tch the TWO times I've felt like trying), have had headaches, cramping, am constantly yawning (but sleeping terribly), spotted for over 2 weeks, and have zits like mini-volcanoes where I've never had them before! Even using lubricant stung like the dickens. My poor husband has been doing tons of research to find out why I've been feeling this way. Apparently these lower dosage birth control pills are causing these types of issues for all ages, whether you've had children or not. Call you doctor today if you are having problems and really talk to them. If they dismiss you (ie tell you to use more lubricant like I've been told) then find another doctor. I've not been on birth control for almost 7 years but have had ovarian cyst issues, so my doc said the nuvaring would help. I would rather have the pain of a ruptured cyst than deal with this. Good luck!

My profile: I'm 31. Asian. Never had BC before this. Have 1 5yr old son. The type of person that would 4get to take the pill if need to do so everyday. Been on Nuvaring for 6 months now.

I read thru the post here and was intimidated, but I have to say it's working out better than I thought. I didn't notice any serious side effects like blood clot, dizziness or weight gain. Though, I noticed now I have shorter and shorter period duration as the month passes. Now, it's just 1.5-2d where it used to last me 6d: 3 heavy, 3 light.

Another side effect is a decrease in sex drive and being dry... but since my husband is aware of that he help me be stimulated and give more fore-play time. Also, we make sure to stock up on lubricant.

Overall, I can compromise with the side effects that we observed so far, therefore it's not a big deal. The relief of having to worry about unexpected pregnancy is certainly outweight the little inconvenient side-effect that Nuvaring has on me.