Do they ever find the ring again? Dried up somewhere like that contact you lose?

Believe it or not, some women never find the ring again. It probably got tangled in the bedsheets and then shocked their laundry service (who subsequently disposed of it). But I like your imagery better!

I have been using the ring for half a year now, and it is probably the best out of the three or four different kinds of birth control I have used, but it does fall out. It isn't a bother to my husband during intercourse, I am promised, but when it comes to some "self-love" it can be a mood killer to hit some plastic ring. Once, during intercourse it had managed to ring itself around my husband instead...haha. I don't think the ring changes my emotions around "that" time, but it is kind of a minus for me. I think I need something that tones me down. Other than that, it has been a blessing. I am even able to lose some weight- something my other birth controls weren't allowing happen.

Courtney, you give new meaning to the title of the post! You CAN take the ring out, for up to three hours at a time, without being at risk of pregnancy. So whether it's sex with your husband, or solo play, feel free to go ringless for a while if it helps with your enjoyment.

I have been using the Nuvaring for two years, and I love it. I'll be honest, part of the reason I love it is that I'm forgetful. I almost never remembered to take the pill at the same time very day (or I'd miss days)... good thing I also use condoms. That being said, I do have a constant fear of it slipping out without me being aware of it... and while that has yet to happen, I still check probably every few days (or honestly, whenever I think of it if I can) to make sure it's still there!

I used the ring for years, and as hormonal birth control goes, it's the best in my book. Usually I would remove it for sex, because my primary partner is pierced and it would hook on him and go flying--I'd just give it a rinse and pop it back in afterward. I quit because he got a vasectomy, and with other partners I use a condom anyway. Otherwise, I'd still have the thing!

I used the Ring for 3.5 years, took myself off for a year, and am back on it. I have used hormonal birth control for 14 years not including that year I took myself off the Ring.

I *love* the ring. I have been on many varieties of the pill-- loestrin, ortho tri, ortho 777, elesse, some organon pill in a rectangular green pack, a whole slew of others i can't even remember now-- and the patch, and none of these other methods of hormonal birth control worked well for me longer than a year. I gained a lot of weight on some pills (i'm 5'2"-- any gain feels like a lot! and 22 lbs in 4 months made me feel like a stranger to myself), had terrible moodswings and/or brain-crushing headaches on others, and all varieties of the pill made me feel incredibly nauseated unless i carefully planned my meals around my pill-taking time (this was a quality-of-life issue. i want to enjoy food when i am hungry or when it is served, not according to my pill schedule!). the patch fixed the nausea but was extremely unreliable, for me. contrary to all the assurances from the manufacturer and the clinic doctor who prescribed it to me, it DID peel off-- often! if it was on my butt and i was driving long distances, it would peel. if it was summer and hot/humid, it would peel. if i was sweaty and active from soccer or hockey, it would peel. and if it peels or slides, you have to replace it! that gets so expensive. i would also break out under the patch, so i was covered in linty little cabbage patches of zits the whole time i was on it-- not sexy. OH and it made me smell/taste sour, which made me feel unsexy, too. new take on birth control, i guess. except that OH and i got pregnant on it anyway.

the ring, though... no weight gain, no breakouts, no crazy PMS, no headaches worse than those i'd get anyway, no nausea, and --knock on wood-- no pregnancies! and easy, short, relatively trouble-free periods.

it doesn't interfere with sex (last partner said he could sometimes feel it but that it didn't bother him; current partner says he hasn't felt it at all so far). i can sometimes feel it if it slips down low, but don't feel it 99.999% of the time. i can insert my diva cup while wearing it or vice versa if that's what my calendar requires, and it's not uncomfortable to wear both at the same time.

the one thing i've noticed about the ring that is not necessarily a plus is that it increases my discharge. a LOT. it's not a bad thing, but i feel like i have to keep an eye on that and keep extra underpants or liners or something in my bag sometimes b/c i'm paranoid that sitting in excess moisture all day will result in a yeast infection or BV or something. makes for wetter sex, though, which is always a plus.

some of my friends have blamed the drop in their sex drives on the ring, though, so keep that in mind if you're considering switching to the ring (i think in at least some of those cases, though, the problem was actually the unhappy relationships they were in at the time, but it's so hard to tell. chicken/egg situations.).