ortho tricyclen lo vs. nuvaring?

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-17-2004
ortho tricyclen lo vs. nuvaring?
1
Tue, 02-17-2004 - 4:24pm
Hi everyone,

I am a new member. I have been following some of the posts and have a few questions concerning my bcp and possibly switching to the nuvaring. I am currently taking Ortho Tricyclen Lo. I have been taken it for almost three months now, and recently have been extremly emotional. I am usually pretty calm and collected, but find myself crying uncontrolablly lately. I have also noticed tenderness in my breasts as well as an increase in size. These side effects are not intolerable, however I am not too happy with the emotional roller coaster. Does the nuvaring have less of an emotional effect? Or is there someting else I should look into? I do like the idea of not having to think about it daily.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Avatar for peacelily2001
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-25-2003
Tue, 02-17-2004 - 8:50pm
Hi there.. I thought I'd reply since I switched from Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo to the NuvaRing in August. I have had a very positive experience with NuvaRing and highly recommend it. When I was on the pill, I was extremely emotional, like the roller coaster you mentioned in your post. I also gained a little weight on it. The weight gain wasn't as bothersome to me as the problems with my mood swings and my total lack of libido. Since I switched to NuvaRing, I'm just a happier person, and I really don't suffer from mood swings that often. I think my sex drive has increased a bit though (sorry if that's TMI.. lol) I like the ease of use (you can't really mess it up, and you don't have to worry about taking something every day). It's more expensive for me, since my health plan makes me pay the higher co-pay for it (I think since it's so new, there are no generics for it yet? Correct me if I'm wrong though!), but I think it's well worth it. I recommend that you talk with your doctor about it and about the side effects you've experienced with the pill. Not everyone likes NuvaRing, but I can tell you that I've had a good experience with it so far.

One thing... I recently started the South Beach diet, which has caused break-through bleeding for me. I'm not sure how the diet change affects every form of birth control, so if you're on a low-carb diet, you might ask about that too. It's a minor inconvenience though.

Hope this helps!

Mindy

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