I have been on nuvaring for just under a month and LOVE it. You can't feel it, there's nothing to remember, I never had any bleeding while on it, didn't gain any weight, and haven't really noticed any bad side effects. After wearing it for almost a week, I had an issue with just crying for no reason, but that was the same week that I moved out of my house, so I think that probably had as much to do with it as the ring. Just wanted to say before I get into my post too far: Nuvaring rocks and I suggest it to anyone, especially if you don't think you'd remember pills. My point was that I want to talk to my doctor about extended use of nuvaring (4 weeks in and then immediately start a new one rather than 3 in, 1 out, then a new one). Mainly I just HATE having periods (who doesn't?) and a lot of the time they are really heavy. Haven't had one since starting it, so maybe it would change that? My point is, I don't particularly want to be bleeding during the weekend while I am home from school, partying and hanging out with my guy. I plan on calling the doctor in the morning to ask, but in the meantime I am being extremely impatient and just want to know if anyone has had any experience with this. It should be just as effective, since you are still starting a new ring every four weeks, just skipping the week without. And as for the (hopefully) skipping a period, when you bleed during the week out, it isn't actually a period, just withdrawal bleeding that occurs at the change in hormones. I don't see any issues, but I wanted to talk to my doctor first. Anyone have any experience with this?
I called the doctor and they said to go for it if I want to only have a week off every three months. Their only concern would be that a pregnancy wouldn't be known for those three months. That's not really a concern though for me, as nuvaring isn't the only contraception being used. I'll post back if there is any success/problems! I'm still wanting to hear anyone else's experiences!
I love the nuvaring. When I first went on birth control I was 17 and I tried taking Ortho tri cyclen. It is one of the pills that planned parenthood has. I was on it for about 6 months and I hated it. I was good about taking my pill every day although I often panicked thinking I'd forgotten when I hadn't (especially during sex). I was also having bleeding more than just the times when I was supposed to be on my period. They say spotting regular, but I was basically getting two periods a month. So I figured this was not the right one for my body. I then decided to try out the nuvaring. I have been on it for a couple of years now and I love it. When I first got it, my boyfriend was a bit uncomfortable with the fact that he could feel it, but he got used to it within a month or two. We tried taking it out during sex for a while, but there were a few times where I forgot to put it back in right after which freaked me out. He got used to it. It is really nice to not have that panicky moment of questioning whether or not I've taken my pill. I think that more people should know how fucking awesome it is. I converted a few of my friends to it and they also love it. I don't think I will ever go on the pill again. I actually have just gone off of it because I am living away from my boyfriend and want to live without the extra hormones in my body. I went off of it once before for a month while I was away traveling. I must say that the period I got after being off of it for a full month was horrible so I am not looking forward to that again. I will probably go back on it at some point. Anyway, I really liked this post. I don't have a whole lot of experience skipping periods but let me know how it goes!
From the sounds of your post, I started Nuva Ring about the same time as you, Sophie. I didn't think about asking if I could use to skip periods until I was almost two months in. As with you, the doctor said it was fine. However, I am about 2 weeks into my third ring, and am still on the period that I started right after putting it in. I never had any issues with spotting or anything when I first started, but now I have been on my period for coming up on 12 days. I keep thinking that it's over, and then it ends up starting up again after it almost goes away. However, I think this probably has to do with me trying to skip a period, as I never had any problems up until then. I would tentatively suggest this to other people, as I REALLY loved it until I tried messing with the cycle.
