Nuvaring birth control. Removed after 2 months continuous (read explanation). Am I protected?
I'll try to explain so it makes sense.
I wanted to skip my period July long weekend, so I didn't take a week break for my period. Did the same thing 3 weeks later as I was on holiday and again didn't want to deal with my period.
Now, it's been basically 2 months of continuous use, and the last couple days I felt mild cramping and can tell my body wants to have a period and shed the lining that's been building up.
I was supposed to take it out on Thursday (August 11), but I'm going on holiday and want to swim and stuff without worry, that weekend (11th to 16th), so I figured I'd take it out early (last night on the 7th) so I could hopefully get my period this week before I leave.
We had unprotected sex earlier in the day yesterday (Mid afternoon. Took ring out close to midnight). He did cum inside me.
Am I protected? Is this OK?
I wanted to skip my period July long weekend, so I didn't take a week break for my period. Did the same thing 3 weeks later as I was on holiday and again didn't want to deal with my period.
Now, it's been basically 2 months of continuous use, and the last couple days I felt mild cramping and can tell my body wants to have a period and shed the lining that's been building up.
I was supposed to take it out on Thursday (August 11), but I'm going on holiday and want to swim and stuff without worry, that weekend (11th to 16th), so I figured I'd take it out early (last night on the 7th) so I could hopefully get my period this week before I leave.
We had unprotected sex earlier in the day yesterday (Mid afternoon. Took ring out close to midnight). He did cum inside me.
Am I protected? Is this OK?
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Replies
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call your doctor's office. i don't have personal experience with nuvaring, but if you're worried go and pick up some plan b - it gets less effective the longer you wait.0
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Did you change the ring after 3 weeks or use the same one for longer than 3 weeks?
Most birth controls do actually protect you during the (shark) week you have it out/are taking the placebo, but that's only if you're using it properly (for the ring, 3 weeks of use, 1 week off, putting it in and taking it out at the same time of day, no antibiotics). If you changed the ring after 3 weeks to use a new one that had full dose hormones again, you're probably fine (by my non-doctor account) but if you kept the same ring in for 2 months straight then you're not protected.
You should probably ask your doctor about these things, they should have an idea which birth controls are best for continuous use. NuvaRing may or may not be on that list, I'm not sure. Not all birth control brands should be used this way. Even then, most of the continuous use ones recommend having your period every 3 months.
If you're worried you can take Plan B (within 24 hours is best) but it will mess up your cycle (it's high dose hormones that will trigger your period). You'll have to discard your current ring and put in a new one. Talk to the pharmacist and tell them what birth control you're on and how you've been using it continuously.
I make no guarantees that you're safe though, no birth control is 100%. I do recommend talking to your doctor though. You want to be careful. Taking Plan B too often isn't great for you and hormones can be hard to fix if they get messed up.
The situation would be a bit different if you had taken out the ring early on a cycle that was fresh (so say you had your week off, got your period, put the ring in, and then took it out 4 days early). In that case, you didn't receive the full dose, so coverage isn't guaranteed. When in doubt, use a condom too.2 -
Nuvaring was my birth control of choice. I think you are probably good as long as you weren't using the same ring for all 2 months.
You can also check to see if you were ovulating. If you were about to get your period you probably weren't ovulating anyway.
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Did you change the ring after 3 weeks or use the same one for longer than 3 weeks?
Most birth controls do actually protect you during the (shark) week you have it out/are taking the placebo, but that's only if you're using it properly (for the ring, 3 weeks of use, 1 week off, putting it in and taking it out at the same time of day, no antibiotics). If you changed the ring after 3 weeks to use a new one that had full dose hormones again, you're probably fine (by my non-doctor account) but if you kept the same ring in for 2 months straight then you're not protected.
You should probably ask your doctor about these things, they should have an idea which birth controls are best for continuous use. NuvaRing may or may not be on that list, I'm not sure. Not all birth control brands should be used this way. Even then, most of the continuous use ones recommend having your period every 3 months.
If you're worried you can take Plan B (within 24 hours is best) but it will mess up your cycle (it's high dose hormones that will trigger your period). You'll have to discard your current ring and put in a new one. Talk to the pharmacist and tell them what birth control you're on and how you've been using it continuously.
I make no guarantees that you're safe though, no birth control is 100%. I do recommend talking to your doctor though. You want to be careful. Taking Plan B too often isn't great for you and hormones can be hard to fix if they get messed up.
The situation would be a bit different if you had taken out the ring early on a cycle that was fresh (so say you had your week off, got your period, put the ring in, and then took it out 4 days early). In that case, you didn't receive the full dose, so coverage isn't guaranteed. When in doubt, use a condom too.
I should have been more clear - I was swapping the old ring for a new one on a 3 week cycle, instead of taking a week off.
My doctor said it's fine to do that as long as I allow myself "4 bleeds a year".
I assume it's ok to have taken it out "early", since I've been using rings without a break for 2 months.0 -
JessicaJS23 wrote: »
Helpful.0 -
1
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Did you change the ring after 3 weeks or use the same one for longer than 3 weeks?
Most birth controls do actually protect you during the (shark) week you have it out/are taking the placebo, but that's only if you're using it properly (for the ring, 3 weeks of use, 1 week off, putting it in and taking it out at the same time of day, no antibiotics). If you changed the ring after 3 weeks to use a new one that had full dose hormones again, you're probably fine (by my non-doctor account) but if you kept the same ring in for 2 months straight then you're not protected.
You should probably ask your doctor about these things, they should have an idea which birth controls are best for continuous use. NuvaRing may or may not be on that list, I'm not sure. Not all birth control brands should be used this way. Even then, most of the continuous use ones recommend having your period every 3 months.
If you're worried you can take Plan B (within 24 hours is best) but it will mess up your cycle (it's high dose hormones that will trigger your period). You'll have to discard your current ring and put in a new one. Talk to the pharmacist and tell them what birth control you're on and how you've been using it continuously.
I make no guarantees that you're safe though, no birth control is 100%. I do recommend talking to your doctor though. You want to be careful. Taking Plan B too often isn't great for you and hormones can be hard to fix if they get messed up.
The situation would be a bit different if you had taken out the ring early on a cycle that was fresh (so say you had your week off, got your period, put the ring in, and then took it out 4 days early). In that case, you didn't receive the full dose, so coverage isn't guaranteed. When in doubt, use a condom too.
I should have been more clear - I was swapping the old ring for a new one on a 3 week cycle, instead of taking a week off.
My doctor said it's fine to do that as long as I allow myself "4 bleeds a year".
I assume it's ok to have taken it out "early", since I've been using rings without a break for 2 months.
Yeah that's consistent with what I heard too. Every 3 months = 4 times a year (3 months continuous is the usual recommended max). I'd say you're probably fine as well. I had a pharmacist tell me that technically you can start and stop BC any time during your cycle, as long as you finish the pack/ring. I asked since when I went on NuvaRing, I didn't want to put it in on the first day of my period. Didn't make sense to me, so I waited until 1 week after my period started. Plus the effectiveness has never been tested with use of tampons.1 -
Nuvaring continues to secrete hormone at FDA approved therapeutic levels up to 1 week after the recommended removal interval (4 weeks total). I'm staring at the package insert right now, and that's per manufacturer claim.
Additionally , it's just an alternate delivery method, the drugs and amounts involved are going to mimic standard OC so using continuous rings is like skipping placebo weeks on normal packs. That being said, most women that do extended interval or continuous therapy take a break at the 3rd month to, like you said, she'd the lining your body wants to get rid of.
Given what you've described above, you **should** be covered for purposes of contraception assuming you've done everything else right (ring storage, insertion, etc). Like all other contraceptives, nothing is 100% effective and I'd pregnancy is that big of a concern use a secondary backup form.
Good luck getting your doctor or pharmacist to tell you you're 100% gtg, none of us are cool with paying for 18yrs of someone else's kid should a lawsuit be brought up lol
1 -
Did you change the ring after 3 weeks or use the same one for longer than 3 weeks?
Most birth controls do actually protect you during the (shark) week you have it out/are taking the placebo, but that's only if you're using it properly (for the ring, 3 weeks of use, 1 week off, putting it in and taking it out at the same time of day, no antibiotics). If you changed the ring after 3 weeks to use a new one that had full dose hormones again, you're probably fine (by my non-doctor account) but if you kept the same ring in for 2 months straight then you're not protected.
You should probably ask your doctor about these things, they should have an idea which birth controls are best for continuous use. NuvaRing may or may not be on that list, I'm not sure. Not all birth control brands should be used this way. Even then, most of the continuous use ones recommend having your period every 3 months.
If you're worried you can take Plan B (within 24 hours is best) but it will mess up your cycle (it's high dose hormones that will trigger your period). You'll have to discard your current ring and put in a new one. Talk to the pharmacist and tell them what birth control you're on and how you've been using it continuously.
I make no guarantees that you're safe though, no birth control is 100%. I do recommend talking to your doctor though. You want to be careful. Taking Plan B too often isn't great for you and hormones can be hard to fix if they get messed up.
The situation would be a bit different if you had taken out the ring early on a cycle that was fresh (so say you had your week off, got your period, put the ring in, and then took it out 4 days early). In that case, you didn't receive the full dose, so coverage isn't guaranteed. When in doubt, use a condom too.
I should have been more clear - I was swapping the old ring for a new one on a 3 week cycle, instead of taking a week off.
My doctor said it's fine to do that as long as I allow myself "4 bleeds a year".
I assume it's ok to have taken it out "early", since I've been using rings without a break for 2 months.
Yeah that's consistent with what I heard too. Every 3 months = 4 times a year (3 months continuous is the usual recommended max). I'd say you're probably fine as well. I had a pharmacist tell me that technically you can start and stop BC any time during your cycle, as long as you finish the pack/ring. I asked since when I went on NuvaRing, I didn't want to put it in on the first day of my period. Didn't make sense to me, so I waited until 1 week after my period started. Plus the effectiveness has never been tested with use of tampons.
I technically didn't "finish" this ring, as it still had a week left on it, but I had been using full potency rings for about 2 months straight.0 -
Nuvaring continues to secrete hormone at FDA approved therapeutic levels up to 1 week after the recommended removal interval (4 weeks total). I'm staring at the package insert right now, and that's per manufacturer claim.
Additionally , it's just an alternate delivery method, the drugs and amounts involved are going to mimic standard OC so using continuous rings is like skipping placebo weeks on normal packs. That being said, most women that do extended interval or continuous therapy take a break at the 3rd month to, like you said, she'd the lining your body wants to get rid of.
Given what you've described above, you **should** be covered for purposes of contraception assuming you've done everything else right (ring storage, insertion, etc). Like all other contraceptives, nothing is 100% effective and I'd pregnancy is that big of a concern use a secondary backup form.
Good luck getting your doctor or pharmacist to tell you you're 100% gtg, none of us are cool with paying for 18yrs of someone else's kid should a lawsuit be brought up lol
Haha I would never expect a health pro to tell me they're 100% sure about anything.
I wish I'd thought about the timing issue before last night when it suddenly hit me as I was tying to sleep. If I'd thought about it earlier, I would have used a condom that afternoon as back up, since I do know that sperm can live in the vaginal canal for up to a week. However, assuming my period comes, it should wash out whatever is there, right? An egg won't implant while I'm shedding my lining. Plus, there are still hormones leftover from the ring that should cover me for the week off, by which time the sperm with die.
That's my logic anyways. I hope I'm correct. If we do have sex again this week I will not have him ejaculate in me just to be safe.0 -
So, the hormones are there to prevent ovulation, implantation and otherwise down regulate all of the hormones that would normally allow pregnancy to happen, no so much kill sperm. Your thought process is right tho, if you've times it such that you start menstruation in the next day or two you shouldn't be too worried.
If I'm calculating right tho, sounds like this would be the end of week 6 tho, and with continuous cycle regimens it's extremely patient variable when ovulation would occur, if it did, so that's a huge guess at this point. One thing you can call and ask your doctor about is inserting another ring and making it as close to a 3 month interval as possible.0 -
So, the hormones are there to prevent ovulation, implantation and otherwise down regulate all of the hormones that would normally allow pregnancy to happen, no so much kill sperm. Your thought process is right tho, if you've times it such that you start menstruation in the next day or two you shouldn't be too worried.
If I'm calculating right tho, sounds like this would be the end of week 6 tho, and with continuous cycle regimens it's extremely patient variable when ovulation would occur, if it did, so that's a huge guess at this point. One thing you can call and ask your doctor about is inserting another ring and making it as close to a 3 month interval as possible.
I didn't time it that my period should be coming - I intentionally took it out 4 days early hoping that I'd get my period earlier than it would have been if I left it in the full 3 weeks.
But, this is on the heels of a continuous use cycle in which I skipped my last 2 periods.0 -
You need to speak to your doctor. The lining does not actually build up the same way it would normally without birth control. The hormones in the nuvaring basically tell your body not to prepare for pregnancy. When you bleed during the week that u remove the nuvaring, it is a withdrawal bleed and not an actual period.0
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ErikaHope203 wrote: »You need to speak to your doctor. The lining does not actually build up the same way it would normally without birth control. The hormones in the nuvaring basically tell your body not to prepare for pregnancy. When you bleed during the week that u remove the nuvaring, it is a withdrawal bleed and not an actual period.
My doctor specifically told me that the reason I need to have four bleeds a year is because the uterine lining does continue to build up and therefore needs to be shed once in a while. It doesn't build up as much, which is why you can skip a couple months if you want.0
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