Libido/arousal issues with NuvaRing?
 

Heya folks,

My fiancee uses the NuvaRing birth control (really an ingenious little device, I must say) but ever since she went on it at the end of last year, she has not felt as sexy or sexual as she usually does (we've had various issues from time to time, but always work them out)... She has wondered on occasion if any of this could be attributed to the Ring, but when I encourage her to make a serious inquiry into it, she just says that she's just not feeling as libidinous as usual but doesn't think her birth control has anything to do with it.

Sex and interest in sex has kinda come and gone over the last few months, and seems to be in an upswing phase lately, but I still have to wonder if there could be something really simple going on.

Have any of you experienced anything similar with the NuvaRing, or heard of it? She has tried some other forms of birth control before but found that she has adverse reactions to some of the pills where she'll get itchy all over.

I've heard that most birth control pills usually have a negative effect on libidos...That's my 1 cent. Sorry I can't be more help. Could anything else be going on between you two?

My girlfriend uses Ortho Novum and she has very little libido, I haven't noticed that it goes up or down, but she has used the pill since before I met her so I have no idea if is because of the pill or something else. Sorry I can't offer anything more. I would like to know if it actually is a side effect of the pill, and if it is, would a different brand have a decreased likeliness of this side effect? :confused:

It would be great if my girlfriend could fix this just by changing brands. :D

I think any kind of "chemical" or hormonal form of birthcontrol can affect your sex drive. Your sex drive is your body's way of encouraging you to procreate. If your not fertile it's not surprising your sex drive could be down. (ever notice your women gets hot in the middle of the month - when she's ovulating). Different forms affect women differently. There are lots of other options worth looking into if she wants to (patch, depo, IUD, diaphragm).

My SO has been pretty consistent on and off the pill, and she has tried different kinds from time to time.

I'm not saying that the pill can't be the reason, but you may want to look at other things, too. Try experimenting with other forms of birth control to see if they change her libido.

I take Depo Provera, and I very rarely have a strong sex drive anymore.

Off and on, yes... We're getting to the point that we've been together longer than she has ever been in a relationship before. That one was practically hell for her, she was stuck in a situation she didn't know how to get out of, and from time to time she seems to get afraid that I'm going to turn out like the other guy, or that our relationship is going to turn out like that one. We always deal with this whenever it comes up, its just taking a lot of work to get her out of the way of thinking she was in for so long.

To make things worse, even though she is saying that she's feeling better than she has in a long time about sex and sexuality, I've been feeling bad about it for so long now that I'm having a hard time feeling anything other than sexually timid and unwanted. We used to have sex no less than once a day and frequently more often than that, and lately its been more like once or twice a week. I know that's still doing better than plenty but for me sometimes it just makes me feel like now that she can have me whenever she wants it's just not exciting.

My girlfriend is on the ring as well. We actually started out on Lunell (once a month shot), then tried the patch (that thing starts peeling rather easy if you don't wear it on your shoulder), and now we've been on the ring for about a year. I do agree that her appetite seems to fluxuate, but it seems to weigh a lot more on whether we've been spending time together or not. The more we have sex, the more she wants to keep having it. Might just be her, but that's what I have to contribute.

Well, I don't have that problem with Depo. I've been on it for years now, and I never had that problem.

My wife uses Ortho Evra (sp?) which is the patch and she has quite a healthy sexual appetite. As for it coming off easily, she wears it around the pubic area (lowest area you can wear it) and that thing is a bitch to GET off at the end of a week for her. Everyone reacts differently to different things. More foreplay and time spent together could pay off very well for your sex life down the road as well.

Maybe try mixing it up in the bedroom, porn or something? Doesn't sound like she wants to switch regardless and for women birth control is like brand of tampon...