Nuvaring- hormonal dosage?

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-13-2003
Nuvaring- hormonal dosage?
1
Mon, 06-28-2004 - 6:21pm
Hi guys I have a question for whoever uses Nuvaring. I have heard that instead of removing it every 3 wks, i can do it every 4, so I menstruate less often. Is it safe (pregnancy wise) to do this?

ALso, I know the ring has a low dose of estrogen-- what about the progestin? Is it lower dose than all the bcp's also or the same? just curious if anyone knew as to how it compares. so far I have had no side effects, whereas bcp's I have vomited up just about every kind I took.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Tue, 06-29-2004 - 8:08am
Yes, four weeks is still safe! My gyn recommended that I just change my ring on the first of every month, but the patient information does indicate that you should only wear the ring for a maximum of 28 days (there are about 35 days worth of hormones in each ring). Whether or not you'll get that extra week without bleeding depends on how your body tolerates the hormones (I can do it), but it shouldn't put you at risk for pregnancy.

As far as the estrogen content, Nuvaring is definitely the lowest combined hormonal contraceptive on the US market, that I'm sure of. The progestin content is harder to tell because you can't just look at the dose, you also have to weigh the strength of the progestin--a lot of a weak progestin might still be less strong than a little bit of a strong one, you know? The progestin in the ring, etonorgestrel, is a metabolite of desogestrel, which is the strongest progestin available in the US (Gestodene is available outside the US and is stronger yet), so not much is needed. As of right now, I don't have any charts that rank etonorgestrel with the other progestins to see where it falls in, but it's got to be pretty low considering the amount of estrogen provided (they tend to balance each other out). Nausea is usually a product of estrogen, so hopefully the ring will be better for you!

Hope that helps!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control