Scarleteen

Hello!
I have 3 questions about Nuva Ring.

1. I've been off and on birth control for 6 years. I've recently been on the combo pill for 2 years and today I switched to the Nuva Ring. Since my body is so used to receiving a "higher" dosage of hormones, would switching to Nuva Ring cause my body to have breakthrough ovulation because the dosage in it is very low?

2. I just put my ring in today. It went in easily and I can't really feel it however I find it's sitting very low. When I look at diagrams on how to insert the ring it shows that you can fit a whole finger inside. My ring is approximately 1 inch inside my vagina (I can fit my finger in to the first knuckle closest to my fingernail). I keep trying to push it further but it doesn't seem to want to move. Is this okay or should I try to get it in further?

3. I know they say you can remove the ring for 3 hours during a 24 hour window. Since this is my first time using it and my first day, am I allowed to remove it in order to place it in deeper? Or do I have to wait a full 7 days before I can take it out?

Thank you for all your help

Hi Fadedpassions,

We can't really say how your body will respond to the switch, but since the hormones in it still prevent ovulation it's unlikely you will have breakthrough ovulation.

As for the placement, the nuvaring doesn't need to be in an exact location in your vagina to work. So as long as it's somewhere comfortable for you, it should be okay. If you need to adjust it, the few seconds/minutes it's out is unlikely to decrease the effectiveness. Too, we recommend backing up with condoms for at least a week and ideally a month before relying only on the ring, so if you're planning to be sexually active in the next few days, using a condom can help correct for any possible decreases in effectiveness if they do happen.

Perfect, thank you that really helps! I plan on waiting at least 7 days before having sex or possibly even longer. Out of curiosity why do you recommend using backup for a month? I thought like the pill, the ring is effective after 7 days.

It generally is effective after seven days, but we recommend backing up for a full month basically as added protection (for instance, if someone has started a new method, sometimes it takes them a few weeks to be using it exactly as they need to be)

Ahh okay gotcha! I went straight from my pill, had my break week and then inserted the ring. I think it's a good idea to use backup or not have sexual intercourse for a month just to let my body get used to the switch.

My apologies, one more question. So I attempted to take it out and it was so hard to get my finger through it lol. I have pretty long nails and I basically ended up putting nail mark/dents in the ring. It's not broken in half or anything but is it still considered to be okay if I put nail dents in It?
Sorry I feel so new to this

Hey FadedPassion,

No need to apologize--when we start any new medication or health product it can take some getting adjusted to!

My guess is that they would make the product resilient enough that something like that happening when you pull it out wouldn't interfere with its effectiveness. But that's a great question for the doctor that prescribed it to you or the pharmacist you picked it up from! Part of their job is to answer questions like this.