Nice outcome to the birth control discussion! It was a good one to have and I hope it keeps going in future.

...you changed my mind with your localized nature--keeping the hormones in one place rather than pumping throughout my entire body after ingesting them just seems like a better idea.

As a fellow NuvaRing lover, I was a little disturbed to read this today. I'm not sure how to reconcile it with Ema's post about the study comparing the Ring to the Pill...

SBJ--yeah, because your not taking the hormones and having them go through your whole body, less side effects. Or so says my OBGYN...

Sometimes I like to write letters to my vagina. We usually end up fighting and not talking for like a week. But, you know, you can't live with her, and you can't live without her. BFF4EVER, my Vag and I.

see, this post just makes me sad because ortho-tri is my old standby. when i tried the nuvaring, my body basically shut down and my insurance wont cover an iud. im stuck and i hate it.

I love my Nuva too! YAY RING!

NuvaRing is awesome. Way-y-y better than the Pill.

Basically, my insurance won't cover it either. It costs $50/month with my co-pay, and without it would be $51.

However, I pay it because I've never felt safer than I do with the ring.

In response to Ann's link: Isn't there a risk of blood clots with any kind of hormonal birth control? I always thought that was why you weren't supposed to smoke while taking bc- I had a roommate who went on the Pill while smoking and got a blood clot right away. I guess the lawsuit is claiming that the risk is higher for nuvaring than for the Pill?

Most of my friends think I am crazy when I express my love for my NuvaRing. I love the fact I only deal with it on limited occasions. Love Love Love!

And the reason it doesn't cause the same problems as the pill is because it is a lower dose of hormones. The hormones are getting absorbed right into your body instead of taking the long trip through your stomach and so forth. So you need less hormones to get the same effect.

I helped my girl get on Nuvaring. I wish it had been around when I was on BC. Now that Keith has been fixed, I have no need of it, but man what a gem.

My wife is riding the ring. I thought about writing a couple ways in which her being on it benefits me as her husband, but I think I'd come off sounding like an asshole. Suffice it to say I'm for it.

26 months and about 29 rings later I still like it. My drug plan JUST started covering it; until then I got a bunch of samples from doctors' offices or paid for it (boo). But worth it; I've been on 7 (or is it 8?) different pills in the past 8 years, only one of them being successfully side-effect-free for a few months or more. Since starting NuvaRing, my C/D-cup breasts have become very definitely DD-cup breasts, and I've wondered how much the NuvaRing has had to do with it. Personally, I thought the C/D was plenty big and now would love to go back to it, and am rather not happy with the larger versions, but otherwise I (heart) NuvaRing. And I figure staying on is better than going off - does anyone know if it's possible that going off would make my breasts shrink? Say, to a B? lol. I'll keep rubbing lamps for the moment.

I love my nuva ring too and thanks to my husband's health coverage at work, it only costs $3 canadian for a 3 month supply. Yay!!!

Yay, Nuva Ring! I sadly went back to OTC-Lo after using the Ring for a couple years and I can't wait to switch back. The Ring is simple and convenient and you can download cool tools for your computer to help remind you when to take your ring in and out. They'll even send you a little electronic hour glass. Very helpful! As a health educator at high schools and as a former Planned Parenthood employee, I am/was always sure to mention the Nuva Ring to females coming in to talk about birth control. Such a great method.

I hadn't seen the article about the increased risk for clots very interesting. I'm anxious to see what it's really all about.

To attempt to answer some readers questions: yes, the hormones still circulate throughout your whole body, but the difference (as Jessica mentioned) is that the vaginal introduction cuts out the risk of gastrointestinal problems that can occur by ingesting oral contraceptives.

As far as the risks, the risk of death from any birth control method is far less than the risk of pregnancy. With hormonal methods the real risk is when you are over 35 and smoke, where there is a significant increased risk. However, that is not to say that there isn't an increased risk for those under 35 who smoke and use a hormonal method, it's just not nearly as great and therefore, while it isn't advised, smoking isn't a contraindication in this case.

Also, there are actually benefits to hormonal methods! They regulate and lessen some symptoms of periods (cramping and bleeding), lower the risk of ovarian and endometrial cancers, and can help with acne. Yay!

these sound great, I iwsh they were available in the UK!I've been on the pill for years and years but never found one I'm 100% happy with. I'd love to try the Novaring or Seasonale.

I just downloaded the "cool tools" for my computer a few weeks ago and have found them to be so far more annoying than helpful; the little hourglass from "NuvaTime" pops up EVERY TIME I turn my computer on (yes, in the bus station, airport, my office, etc.) even though I only need to remove the ring once a month. I'm just trying it out and figured I'd give it a fair chance, but so far I'm not loving it.

marcyfight: I'm about to finish grad school, owe lots of money for student loans, and so far have no employment lined up - is your husband's company hiring? Oh, I'm Canadian, too. And only half kidding.

I don't get it. How does that ring-type dealie prevent pregnancy?

Please don't laugh at me. I was raised by puritans.

Lisa, you don't have to use the computer one, you can also request them to send a stopwatch like hourglass that you can keep in your medicine cabinet or whatever. And if those don't work for you, there's always the calendar method. I still think they're cool tools -- it's often a complaint of patients I talk with, they lose track of the weeks, anything that can help is great.

Jeremy -- the Nuva Ring actually has the same hormones oral contraceptive pills have, but instead of ingesting them and taking a pill every day, you just insert the ring into the vagina and leave it in there for 3 weeks. The hormones are activated via contact with the vagina and then the hormones are absorbed through the vaginal walls. Very cool! And so not a dumb question!

Blair and others, I think the lawsuits are over the marketing of Nuvaring, not the actual risk. I think the risk is comparable to oral contraceptives. I'm not sure how it compares to the OrthoEvra patch, and I've heard that the patch had more problems. But at any rate, the lawsuit seems to be saying that Nuvaring was marketed as a safer alternative, and that this is misleading since there is still a real risk of clotting and other serious side effects.

I'm debating the ring vs. nothing right now, so I've been paying close attention. :P

Dude, fuck the hormones. It's all about the Paraguard IUD. Nobody believes me, but it's the shit. I'll take a little extra cramping and heavier flow for the 30 pounds hormones made me gain.

And Lisa27 about your boobs: yes, going off hormones will probably shrink your knocks a little. I was a definite D and then a DD when I was my heaviest at the end of my 6 year run with hormonal birth control. I'm off it now, and my boobs are a low C. Now, this could be because, as I mentioned, going off the hormones made me lose a shitload of weight, and that tends to make your tits smaller. However, I've noticed that when I'm on my period (a natural, non-pill period), they swell up to almost the size they were all the time on the pill, so I'm inclined to think the change in boob size is more hormonal than anything. And honestly, I wouldn't say I've lost size as much as...volume (which kind of sucks).

Just my personal experience, but in all the research I've done, most women who mess with their hormones find their breasts become bigger on them and smaller off them.

Agreed, the IUD is a fabulous method as well, esp if you can't/don't want to use a hormonal method.

I love NuvaRing so much! I'm on the mini pill now, because I'm nursing, but I'm about done and I can't wait to get back to NuvaRing. I'm so glad you are on the bandwagon! Welcome!

what do you all think? that weight gain is mental or does it really increase appetite?

Lisa27...my husband and I both work for Future Shop (he is a computer tech and I am in video games, music, dvd's and software sales) and since he is full time (I am a student too) he gets the health care. It covers 100% of physio, chiropractic, dental, eyecare, in-soles, and prescriptions. The $3 I pay is the pharmacy fill fee or soemthing. We pay for the plan (I can't remeber how much) but it is way worth it. I don't think you can get it unless you are full time though.

For all the gung-ho hooray for the company bullshit that we have to put up with, its a good place to work. They pay well (even when you are not on commission, as niether of us are) and treat their employees pretty well.

marcyfight: thanks for the details! Cool.

bezerkeley: I think I read somewhere that it has more to do with fluid retention than eating or even drinking habits. I've always had a hell of a time losing weight, or even just not gaining weight, both on and off hormones, except when living in the tropics (twice) where my metabolism seems to go nuts (or maybe I just sweat a lot more) and I lose weight effortlessly. It's tempting to go off hormones and try to keep everything else stable just to see...

For what I have read and the doctors and clinician's I have talked to, the weight gain isn't a direct result of the hormones, but that the hormones may influence your cravings, and the rest is behavior change.

Yay! Everyone should feel this way about their birth control! This is how I feel about Seasonale. I think the real message is about finding the right birth control for YOU.

Jeremy, the user sticks the ring in her vagina and it stays there. The ring is filled with hormones that are slowly released into the walls of the vagina, inhibiting ovulation. It's a fairly new device (a couple of years old?) and the website Jessica provided explains it much better than I could.

Cara, I too want to compose ballads for my Seasonale. Although I just went on a generic version and I'm having more issues, which is strange. Still, none of them are as bad as 3 days a month of debilitating pain and sadness. Wee! Happy little pink pills.

You know, I'm an A cup and I've never gotten a cup bump from any birth control pill I've been on. And I've been on Ortho, Yasmin, and Seasonale at different times. Maybe some people's bodies just have more of a tendency towards that reaction than others. I've also never really gained weight, I got an extra 10 pounds for the first two weeks I was ever on hormonal birth control and then it just went away and never came back.

My weight gain/loss had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with appetite, cravings, a mental, self-fulfilling prophecy, or behavior change. I was VEGAN and extremely active for the 6 years I was on the Pill, and no matter how much I worked out or ate healthy, I kept gaining. The WEEK I went off the pill I lost 10 pounds - I shit you not. I've lost about 30-40 pounds since then (about 2 years), and, (unfortunately), my diet has gotten worse (no longer vegan so plenty of cheese and ice cream) and my activity level stayed pretty much the same. Oh yeah, and I eat like a horse, thanks to certain...things that I do a lot that happen to make you want to eat entire boxes of cereal and bags of Cheetos at 3am.

I'm with Lisa - I think it's mostly bloat. It seems crazy that someone can pack on that much water weight (40 lbs!?), but alls I know is that two years ago I was a size 8 and I just bought a pair of size 0 pants, and the only thing that's changed is that I eat WORSE than I did before and I'm not taking hormones.

P.S. My gynecologist kept insisting that my experience is extremely abnormal, and she kept flipping through my weight charts, not believing what she saw. My mom, however, said the same thing happened to her, so maybe we're just medical oddities.

Dear NuvaRing:

I miss you. Since my insurance unexpectedly stopped covering you, I can no longer afford to buy you each month, and it breaks my little heart in two. Perhaps someday I will have a better insurance plan and we can be together again. In the meantime, don't forget about me! I miss you. :{

I've gained tons of weight on it, and after seven months I quit using it. It's a pain to have to replace your wardrobe every six weeks.

I thought weight gain was a common side effect of hormonal BC, are they saying now that it's not? Odd.

“I was VEGAN and extremely active for the 6 years I was on the Pill, and no matter how much I worked out or ate healthy, I kept gaining.�
Eh, I know other people who lost tons of weight when they stopped being vegan. (I know other people who lost tons of weight when they went on the Atkins diet, but that’s a whole nother story). I am not saying that’s how you lost the extra weight, just that VEGAN ~= thin or healthy or anything like that.

I'm sorry if my previous comments have seen insensitive toward hormonal methods and weight gain, but, at least medically speaking, the two just aren't connected. Many women forgo using hormonal methods for fear of the dreaded weight gain and (especially teens) may use less reliable methods. I'd just like to at least dispel the medical inaccuracy that pills (or the Ring, or the Patch) cause weight gain. That's all. Now, Depo, that's a different story. Here's a release from ACOG:

http://www.acog.org/from_home/publications/press_releases/nr10-03-06.cfm

"...placebo-controlled studies that compare birth control users to those taking an inactive pill have found that Pill users do not gain more weight than do those who take the inactive pills. And, adolescence is a time when we expect healthy young women to be gaining some weight."

Back in the day, I loved my cervical cap -- much easier to insert than the diaphragm -- and no pregnancies, even when I was very much sexually active.

However, it needed to be fitted by a health professional, and one day it simply disappeared as an option at the health clinics (possibly because it was so inexpensive and easy to use, not much profit in it for the pharmaceutical companies?)

Although you'll find cervical caps listed in Wikipedia, the only I could find online to was a new, improved version, (one-size-fits-all) in silicon called Lea's Shield:

http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?item=2

If this performs similar to the old basic cervical cap, I can't recommend it highly enough.

Not as bulky and unworkable as a diaphragm, can be combined with spermicide or condom (mine worked well without either, but for peace of mind you might want to combine barrier methods.)

Also, side effects are nil (I had plenty of problems with hormones.)

Okay, terminology has changed (as well as method) so they're now called "contraceptive caps."

And come in sizes, as well as one-size-fits-all, or even a disposable version:

http://ladytobaby.com/show.php?cat=43

Made my way through the pill, spermicidal foam, IUD, diaphram and what was then called a "cervical cap" and caps were my favorite birth control for a number of reasons.

I love, love, love my Paraguard IUD. I was on the orthos (cyclen and tricyclen) for a couple years and ended up with the sterile vagina that Andrea mentioned in the other thread. I even tried the progesterone one to see if it was better. It wasn't. Apparently, for me, hormonal birth control alters the pH of my vagina so that no natural flora can live there. As soon as I went off the Pill, I was back to normal.

Now I'm 6.5 years into my Paraguard and figure that I'll be ready to have kids just before my ten years are up. Amazing how that worked out. I did have to go to PP to get it and insertion sucked but I couldn't love it more if I tried.

Keep up the good work, IUD. I love you.

Hmm... I was on birth control for a little over a year and I hated how it fucked up my hormones. I was pretty crazy and emotional. So I've been pretty apprehensive about birth control since then. But, this NuvaRing deal sounds like it might be worth another try. Condoms are such a pain. Yuck.

Thanks for the post! :)

Ann,

Heh, maybe this might help. The article in my post--review of twelve randomized controlled trials. The other source--allegations by torters.

Seriously now, obviously I'm not familiar with the details of the cases, but I did notice something about the case presented in the Post article.

The patient had just delivered (beginning of 2006, so, assume January) and she expired February 2006, after 3wks of NuvaRing use (so ~2.5 wks of effective use). The risk factor here is pregnancy/early postpartum not NuvaRing use.

In other words, the hormone exposure from NuvaRing is negligible (a nonuser is normally exposed to endogenous hormones; a user trades off endogenous exposure [the body produced hormones are off] for NuvaRing released hormones) compared to the endogenous hormone surges associated with pregnancy/early postpartum (orders of magnitude higher vs. nonpregnant nonuser).

Hey all

I love my Nuvaring (though I'm considering an IUD, too).

Just wanna clarify though - the ring does not just act locally in your pelvic region...you do still have hormones circulating in your blood, which is actually how it works. You get birth control by supression of ovulation, and that requires manipulation of hormone activity in the same pathways that normally control the cycle. The ring does have lower average blood levels than any of the other hormonal methods, though, which is probably why it has a lower rate of side effects. The hormones are also continuously released, and continually absorbed into your blood through the mucosal lining of the vagina - compared with the pill where you get a bump when you take it that then cycles down until the next pill this is a smoother way for the body to handle the manipulations.

Its common to think that things that you don't eat aren't 'running around your body' or 'in your blood' - but its important to remember that just cause a med goes in one place, or on your skin or whatever it doesn't necessarily stay there. with some exceptions (like topical antibiotics and the like) these are just different delivery methods, generally with the goal of getting the med into you blood stream. (Think of the nicotine patch - that baby is sending nic straight into your blood and on up to your brain to control craving).

and regarding the risks of hormonal contraception - they do exist, but the serious side effects are extremely rare. everyone talks about blood clots - but simply being pregnant puts you at a much higher risk, statistically, for having a blood clot and a bad outcome than any of the BC methods. So those folks who claim to be against BC because it is 'risky', and think women should just take their chances at getting pregnant - they are actually potentially exposing those women to MORE risk of emboli if they do get pregnant. Just something to think about!

I LOVE my NuvaRing!!! I was awful at taking my pill which made me have one too many scares, if you know what I mean!

So, this alternative has been so wonderful and really helpful in many ways. I learned about from my Sister-in-Law who rocks!

Thank goodness for the ring - The only negative thing is that I didn't use it a long time ago!

I have never tried the ring but I am one of the rare cases for which the Pill never had any side effect for me, other than my breasts growing from a B to a D but since I work at vickys and get bras for cheap it didn't effect me too much.

however, planned parenthood recently switched from their standard of OT-LO to something else, i'm not sure of the name. I'm a little scared to start it (my biggest fear is I'll bloat like crazy and not be able to fit in my wedding dress, alterations are fucking expensive)

if anyone knows anythinga bout the new pill (sorry I forgot the name) feel free to let me know :)

I am thinking about switching to the ring however, once I have real health insurance and this post and the one previous has been very helpful.

I love the ring. I've been with it for almost a year. Up until this January, I used to pay $20 per package at Planned Parenthood without insurance. A month ago, they told me it is $54 per package! They said that they didn't receive federal funding for it from the gov't (they spoke about Bush not signing it). Urrrh!

From these posts, I am starting to consider IUD. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Since I've been on hormonal BC, I noticed that I don't have orgasms as regularly. Does anyone else have that experience? Any comparison to IUD in that regard? Also, how much is IUD?

For the last three years or so, I've used a combination of diaphragm, spermicide, and fertility awareness/natural family planning, which has worked really well for me.

I'm not using anything now, though (unless you count being in your thirties as birth control), and on a related note, my doctor told me that if you're trying to get pregnant, you should NOT use any kind of lubricant, like KY or Astroglide. Even though those don't have nonoxynol-9, he said, they do have preservatives which kill germs, and they create an adverse environment for sperm. So if you're one of those people who doesn't like spermicide but would like at least something in addition to a condom alone, maybe some lube would be good.

Wow. I'm on the pill, and have been for about 12 years, since I was 15, with about a year in the middle wehre I stopped. I only had side effects in the first few months - I noticed having an upset stomach pretty frequently, but that could have also been due to stress. Since then, no problems - no weight gain, boob change, emotional stuff, nothing. All i know is that my cramps are less painful and my period is lighter and shorter.
This discussion makes me tempted to switch to the ring, simply because it would be nice not to have to take a pill every day. But I worry that maybe I shouldn't mess with a good thing already...

gosh, I'm starting to feel like the only one who had a bad experience with the Nuva Ring, but I basically cried for 8 months when I was on it. After going through that and issues with vomitting on the patch, I gave in and started taking a pill every day.

Any type of hormonal birth control method really creeps me out. I just don't like the idea of putting hormones in my body. I've heard too many bad stories. My friend gained 25lbs from the shot. My periods are perfectly regular(my doc says a sign of good health), so I don't want to mess that up.

I love the Mirena IUD--an IUD that lasts for 5 years, and releases tiny (25 MICROgrams per day) amounts of progestin hormone into the uterus. Much lower overall hormone levels that way. Also, it's highly reversible--if you & your partner decide you wanna start trying for a baby, the return to fertility is instant--as soon as it's removed, basically, you could start trying. Some hormonal methods, such as Depo-Provera (the shot) have an average return to fertility of 18 months!

I think Mirena is another BC method worth looking into for many het women. I love it because I don't have periods (a common side effect) on it. Which, if you check the research, can actually be a good thing for women (biologically, we aren't really "supposed" to be menstruating month in, month out, for 40-50 years. Look it up.).

The insertion of the Mirena IUD was not fun, but I really love it--one of the most highly effective methods of birth control available! And, even though the $500 I had to pay PP up-front (no health insurance at the time) was steep, you really can't beat $100/year for highly effective birth control.

IUDs are typically only recommended to women in long-term, monogamous relationships due to the greater potential for STIs to damage a woman's reproductive tract when she has an IUD. That, and your ob/gyn will need to measure your uterus prior to insertion, to make sure it's large enough for the IUD. The whole "you need to have at least one child" is not relevant, as long as the uterus is large enough to accommodate the surprisingly teeny IUD.

Thanks for the boob advice, all. They are SO annoying; it's tempting to go off the ring for a few months and see what happens - maybe when I lose my drug coverage in exchange for finally finishing grad school would be a good time to do that. Strange system.

To Betsy (and all of the other women who have found birth control/menstrual cycle comfort) - I think you're right to just stick with what works; don't get swayed towards experimentation by those of us who have had such dreadful experiences with other methods that we love our NuvaRings despite our ever-larger boobs. It's not just bras - it's shirts, dresses, blazers, even winter coats that don't fit any more! I've gone down 3 pants sizes and up almost two cup sizes at the same time, so it's not like I'm just gaining weight all over. Weird, I tell you.

My doctor suggested Nuvaring last year when I went for my annual (it's what she uses and she loves it), but I've been on the pill for so long, and I don't have any trouble remembering to take it, that I wasn't sure I wanted to try anything different. I did switch from Ortho Tricyclen to Seasonale, and I haven't noticed anything different except my periods are a bit shorter and a bit more painful now. My breasts went from a B in college to a D now, 7 years later, but I don't know if that's because of the pill or because of my grandmother, who was a tiny petite thing at 20, and a plump chesty woman at 50. I think the pill *has* lowered my libido, which would be nice to get back, but I'm not sure Nuvaring would make much of a difference.

A good friend of mine went on the ring last year and absolutely hated it, so when I went to choose a BC method for myself I didn't really consider the ring. So my doctor recommended this one pill (I have no idea what its real name is, I have a generic) and it has been going really well for me. I don't have much problem with remembering to take it at about the same time every day. The only bad parts are, my breasts have been pretty tender since I started taking it (but not any larger as far as I can tell), and I have had a rather lowered libido, though it certainly isn't through the floor. I definitely haven't had more difficulty with orgasms, and I am sooo tempted by the idea of an IUD (since I don't want kids for another 10-12 years at least anyway), but as a broke college student I seriously don't have the money :(

"Since starting NuvaRing, my C/D-cup breasts have become very definitely DD-cup breasts, and I've wondered how much the NuvaRing has had to do with it."

Wow, really? I should mention that to my endocrinologist. Right now I'm on the Yasmin pill and it reduces my body hair growth but the effect on my AA-cup breasts was less than a cup size. Maybe if I switched to NuvaRing I could exercise without burning off my breasts altogether (that is, if my breasts were bigger then I could still have some breasts left after burning off some fat)?

Another happy Mirena user here. If you're a "nullipara" like me (never had kids) the insertion can be painful, and I actualy had bad cramps for weeks afterward, which is somewhat unusual, but it was worth the initial misery for the how effortless it is now.

It's also a good choice if you have a reason to be worried about the estrogen in the oral, ring, and patch. While it's still hormonal (unlike the Paragard IUD), it's progesterone-only, so you don't have the same increased risk of clotting. (I have a family history of DVTs, so it seemed safer to avoid the estrogen).

It's also a good option if you're on a medication that decreases the effectiveness of birth control pills, which I am.

The other option I seriously considered was the Depo-Provera shot, which is also progesterone-only. Besides the already-mentioned weight gain, the other problems with this one are decreased bone density and risk of depression -- plus, since it's good for 3 months, if you have side effects, there's basically nothing you can do to fix it aside from waiting 3 months.

D'oh! I just saw that in the other thread, someone had already mentioned the tip about lubricant:

http://feministing.com/archives/006959.html#comment-77092

But oh well, maybe it was worth repeating.

Also, I was on the pill for several years in my late teens -- Ortho-Novum 7/7/7. I liked that one fine, but then the health department switched to Triphasil 28, and I hated it: lots of crying jags and nausea on that one. I don't know whether or not it was actually different, chemically, from ON 7/7/7, but it certainly seemed different.

Then it was on to Ortho Tricyclen, which I hated as much as Triphasil 28. I ended up getting off hormonal bc in my early twenties for a few reasons: 1.) aforementioned side effects; 2.) I couldn't get the pills at the health dept. anymore because a friend of my mom's worked there, and she had already breached "confidentiality" (what a joke!) once before and I didn't want to put up with my mom's shit; 3.) because I couldn't get them at the health dept, I had to pay for them myself, and it was getting too expensive.

A couple of years later, my mom and grandmother were both diagnosed with breast cancer (they're okay now), and that sealed it. No more hormones for me. I know the link between hormonal bc and breast cancer hasn't been proven, but I'm still not going to use it.

Point is, another vote for the diaphragm/spermicide/fertility awareness combination.

Okay, I'm completely horrified at the cost of birth control pills in the States. I knew you guys paid more than us, but $50/month? Mine is about $25, and I only pay 20% of that. And we don't have any of those ridiculous insurance plans that don't cover contraception. If you're poor, you go to a family planning clinic and get your pills for less than $10. I used to get them from my university health services for $5 or something.

I'm not menstruating at the moment (slightly disturbing) and haven't for a year and a half. Actually, this post reminded me I need to make an appointment with my Doc for the results of the tests they ran to try and figure this out. As annoying as periods are, at least they let you know you're not pregnant. I'm not sure I could take a never-menstruate shot/pill.

I love my NuvaRing too. Best BC I've ever used. My only issue with it was terrible hormonal migraines on the "off" week every couple of months. Either there would be none, or I'd have three or four days of agonizing migraines that my usual medication didn't touch. So...I leave in in for four weeks, then replace it with a new one. There's enough hormones left to keep the migraines at bay. What does this mean? No periods! I've forgotten what it's like, almost. OK, I know I'm "supposed" to have one every three or four months, or so it seems from the Seasonale and other pills of that type, but it's been six and I haven't gotten around to it yet--besides, I'm terrified of the migraines. We'll see. Maybe next month, I wasn't going to do it this time as it was the same week as my honeymoon...

I had a horrible experience with the nuva-ring. It was incredibly uncomfortable, sex (the one time I had sex that month) was painful, my vagina felt like it had been sandpapered. Ugh. All of which of course is in accord wtih the most recent studies on the ring, showing that it's generally better than the pill but women often go off it because of localized discomfort . . .

I'm on Yaz now, which has been terrific and side-effect free, though it's only been a month.

Nuvaring (and other newer, "third-generation" forms of bc) may in fact be MORE dangerous than older forms of hormonal birth control. The issue is not the level of hormones or the delivery system, but rather the TYPE of hormones used -- specifically, the type of progestin. There are indications that these newer forms pose increased clot risks, up to double the amount of the old type. In general, it's better to stick to older, more tested forms of medicines rather than switching to newer forms, unless those newer forms give you concrete new benefits. I'm sure to some women the increased risk with Nuvaring is worth it, but you should know the whole story.

Educate yourselves: http://www.citizen.org/publications/release.cfm?ID=7503

(This link discusses the dangers of desogestrel. Nuvaring has etonogestrel, which is a form of desogestrel.)

i personally love my ring. i've tried multiple pills and the patch and this is by far the easiest and most side-effect-free method yet. i never worry because it's almost impossible to mess up!! you do need to watch storage temperature but it's not too much trouble.

some of you may want to check out implanon. it's made by the same people who make the ring and it's the same type of material. a doctor or clinician inserts it into your arm (just one rod though, not three like norplant was) and it lasts up to 3 years.

check it out:
http://www.implanon-usa.com/Consumer/index.asp?C=22879392687508912037

the only real issue i've heard so far with it is that there is no "regular" cycle. sometimes a woman will get her period and sometimes not. that could be a real pain but otherwise, it sounds like a convenient option for some...

I second the vote for implanon . I don't really like the wastefullness of condoms when I'm in a relationship and having been on the pill twice - microgynon 30 or something like that - I went from headaches and nausea to hating everyone, it was horrible.

The implant is put in one of your upper underarms with the help of a local injection and you looking the other way. It didn't hurt at all, had a big bruise for a week and a warm arm, then I don't have to worry about babies for three years. I've had it in for nearly a year and after the initial calmer periods they're back to surprising me when I'm wearing my best knickers but with less than half of the evilness they gave me before, on or off the pill. I really recommend it.

My sister is on one of the coils (IUD) but I can't remember which one. She didn't have a problem with the fitting and she hasn't had a kid.

Although I'm still disgusted that you have to pay for contraception, being British the NHS has ensured I have only ever had to buy one pack of condoms in my entire sexual life.

Forgot to mention, I think the hormones in the implant are gentler than the pill, which were making me a very bad person, and haven't had any side-effects

Nausicaa makes an important point. Playing with hormones is tricky; leaving it up to profit-driven drug companies that don't exactly have a stellar history when it comes to women's health is dangerous. One other thing you don't tend to hear about hormone-based birth control: Uterine fibroids. I would caution any young woman with a family history of fibroids [mom, sister, aunt] or African-American woman [who have a much higher incidence of ut fibroids] to avoid even low-dose bcp because of the increased risk of ut fibroids and subsequent sexual dysfunction, and hysterectomy [although myomectomy is possible, medical establishment LOVES hysterectomy instead because it's cheaper]. Someone made the point that the Cervical Cap, an old feminist health clinic standby [it used to come in 3 sizes!], seems to have fallen out of fashion, perhaps because it was cheap, easy, and reliable--I suspect this is not far from the truth.

I just wanted to say that I went out and got the NuvaRing because of this post, and I love it! Thanks for the info, Jessica! Made my life a lot easier :)