Nuvaring - 1 Year In

I have now been on the Nuvaring for a year, and I must say I am impressed. I seem to be one of the lucky ones who has minimal side effects. My hormonally-driven mood swings are gone. I self-lubricate again. I'm not bleeding like the losing gladiator every freaking month. (I'm lookin' at you, Yaz) It works, I don't have to fuss with it except before and after sex, I don't have to remember pills, I don't have to worry about whether I can take my BC when I get sick (with my health, this is a serious concern. I just put it in, set a reminder on my phone to take it out in 3 weeks, and forget about it.

There have been a few slight drawbacks. Once in a while, an average of once every 3-4 months, I spot randomly for a day. Once in a blue moon (literally, it happened once all year) I have breakthrough bleeding. And that's seriously a bitch - I bled for 2 weeks, then I got to have my period ("withdrawal bleed" to be precise). Not cool, and a bit scary the first time, but not the end of the world. Also, the discharge production is up, but that's to be expected - when you've got a little ring hanging out up in there 24/7, any self-respecting mucus membrane is going to get a bit fussy. Again, no big deal, whoop-dee-doo.

If I had to really nitpick, the one thing that bugs me is that I HAVE to take the ring out for sex. I have a bitchy, whiny cervix, and she freaks the hell out if something even remotely pointy (i.e. the folded ring) trespasses on her domain. Seriously, that bitch is crazy.

Overall, I'm very happy with the Nuvaring. I can definitely say that I recommend it for anyone who has side effects with other birth control pills - it's the lowest effective dosage available, and being able to stop taking a pill on the clock is nice.

This month, I'm starting my second year of Nuvaring. Here's hoping that we have another good, side-effect-free year.

Unexpected Benefit of Nuvaring

So far, the Nuvaring and I have been getting along pretty well. I've had no crazy mood swings, no depression, no crazy weight gain (that can't be explained by the just under 1000mg of prednisone I've been given in the last month), no expensive explosion in boob size (new bras? expensive as shit when you're a small girl with big tits), minimal bloating and boob tenderness... basically, we're doing pretty well. I have yet to experience a full-fledged "period" on the Nuvaring, so we shall see how that goes. (I skipped one intentionally. The next one I tried to shorten by leaving a 4 day gap instead of the full week... no dice. I got nada.)

I am, however, having breakthrough bleeding. Which totally sucks hardcore. It's starting to look like it's just going to continue until the time comes to fish the little bugger out for the week off withdrawal bleed. (Yes, I know the phrasing's awkward. But it's accurate.)

(I've noticed I'm using parentheses a lot today. I wonder why? Maybe it's because my mind is flitting in a hundred directions, and I wanted to show a few of them to you. Whatever, back to your regularly scheduled blog post.)

Today I discovered an absolutely wonderful plus side of the Nuvaring, though. When you get a horrid stomach bug and can't keep food down, you don't have to worry about taking a pill that's never going to make it into your system. The Nuvaring, sneeky little ninja that it is, completely bypasses the gastrointestinal tract. By being in your vagina. So you don't have to worry about getting spotting or breakthrough bleeding or anything when you get sick.

Because that? Would totally suck.

Enter the Nuvaring

I've been on some kind of birth control pills to regulate my period and keep me from being anemic for 4 years. When I was in high school, my GP noticed that I was iron deficient, and declared "Get thee to a gynecologist to get thy internal genitalia under control!"