I have noticed thinning of my hair around the crown over the past couple of months. I think I understand some or all of the contributing factors, but now I don’t know what to do to try and stop it. I had been on OrthoEvra (the patch birth control) for a few months, stopped it because it was giving me horrible anxiety, went on the Nuva Ring for the past three months, and finally decided today that the anxiety has returned as well as headaches, sleeplessness, and now hair loss. I didn’t know until I read things on this site that stopping the birth control might result in the hair loss getting worse, but I really don’t think I can continue on it because of the emotional/mood swing effects it has on me. I’m 30, and have had one child
(5+ years ago). I wonder if I can wait out the next 6 mos. while the birth control leaves my system and my hormones return to normal. I wonder if I should try Rogaine NOW, before it gets any worse (it’s really minor, but it’s starting to be noticeable enough that I try to style my hair over the thinning area or pull it back). I wonder if I should go back on birth control but I really shouldn’t do that. I wonder if this is permanent. HELP!
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Hi, thanks for writing. I always say this at the beginning of my responses to emails so that there is no misunderstanding. I am not a doctor and cannot give medical advice, this is just my thoughts and opinions.
I did some searches in Google for “Nuva Ring and hair loss” and there are several cases of women who are experiencing the same thing as you. Since it is birth control, it does alter your own hormones, and anything that does that can cause hair loss. But you should realize everyone responds differently to the effects of the pill. For some women going on the pill can cause hair loss, which seems to be your case, and for others the hair loss begins when they discontinue the use. It sounds like you already made the choice to get off the pill and are currently not taking it due to the many unpleasant side effects you were experiencing. In my opinion that was definitely a good decision.
I think it is too early to tell whether or not your hair loss will simply be a temporary shedding or the onset of androgenetic alopecia. It would probably be a good idea to consult a knowledgeable physician in this matter. Experienced doctors can tell whether or not the hair follicle is miniturizing which is usually an indication of female pattern baldness. But it is very possible this will just be a temporary shedding (telogen effluvium) similar to the hair loss many women experience after having a baby. As mentioned in my response to Sarah’s story, I actually met a woman who had hair loss from going on the pill, she stopped taking it an told me eventually all her hair grew back. It all depends on the individual.
I found a thread on a health forum that dates back from 2005, all the way to the last entry which was April 2007. All the women seem to be complaining of experiencing hair loss while on the Nuva Ring also with a plethora of other side effects. No one seems to have provided an update on their situation, which may very well mean that their hair grew back and they simply had no more reason to discuss it. It may be worth it to try and contact a few of those women on the board since their situations were so similar to yours. Perhaps they can provide even greater insight. The link is: http://ehealthforum.com/health/topic40802.html
If I were in your place, I would wait on taking Rogaine so that I could see if my hair would improve on it’s own. Rogaine is something that has to continue to be used basically forever to continue to maintain any benefits it provides. The information from drugs.com states “If treatment is discontinued, new hair growth will usually be shed within a few months.” Before I would start a treatment regimen I would give it some time to ensure you actually need treatment. This is just my opinion, you have to do what you feel is best for you. It becomes incredibly frustrating because hair growth is such a slow process, but I’m pretty hopeful that your situation may improve on its own with time. Does your family have a history of androgenetic alopecia (male/female pattern hair loss) ?
Please keep us updated!
~Y
{ 105 comments… read them below or add one }
I just wanted to comment since I’m the one who wrote this original post. It’s been a little over a month now since I stopped using the Nuva Ring, and while some of the emotional side effects of it have begun to subside, I am still experiencing hair loss – probably more than I had when I was on it. I’m still convinced that the Nuva Ring is what caused it in the first place, and I’m still hopeful that after some more time has passed, I’ll notice it slowing – but I’m very nervous. I pull about 5-10 strands out each morning, and notice it on my clothes and things. It’s thinning mainly on the top of my head, but I try to comb it in certain ways or just pull it back – my hair is very long, I don’t know if that’s good or bad in this situation. I notice short pieces on hair on the top of my head, and I don’t know if that’s old hair breaking off or new hair growing in – when hair falls out, doesn’t it fall out right from the root, or is this breakage common? I’m taking some vitamins and trying to stay healthy in other ways. I’m feeling helpless, though – at what point do I decide that this is not reversing itself, and begin trying some other treatment? It’s really making me sad sometimes, when I think about it, since I’ve always had really long, curly hair, and I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose it all. It’s frightening, and I’m sure the stress I’m feeling from this, as well as some other aspects of my life, aren’t helping.
Hello, i totally know what you mean, i am in the same position.
I had decided to go off birth control ( my post – sarah’s story) in June because of hair loss… the shedding decreased primarily, but then it became really bad in october, and has not really stopped. i am still hopeful that the shedding will stop, but i am really scared that it wont. I also have seen tiny hairs at the top of my head, and i THINK it is growth, but who realy knows? is it possible to be shedding, and growing new hairs.. at the same time?! the whole thing is really something women like us shouldnt have to worry about.. it sucks, but i guess we just have to deal with it.
Some days are better than others, and other days are so bad, and i get so frustrated. anyways, i know what your feeling! good luck!
Hi. I have experienced hair loss from Nuva Ring as well. At first, I thought it was just breakage from having my hair colored but then more than normal amounts started coming out in the shower. Upon further inspection, I noticed that the hairs still had the root attached and it was not breakage at all. I stopped taking Nuva Ring about 3 months ago. I am now on Yaz. I am still losing hair but I don’t think quite as much as before. Our shower drain even got clogged a couple of times and we had to use Drano. I’m hoping this will end soon but I would have thought 3 months would be long enough to get it out of my system.
My friend had a Norplant about 7 years ago and she lost almost all of her hair. She wore wigs and then eventually got extensions. She said once it was removed, she immediately started to see new hair growth.
Hi—there is a product called Bumble & Bumble Hair Powder that comes in different colors—I use black for my dark hair—and it will hide a lot of the thinning and also lifts the roots so the thinning is not as noticeable…i am in the same boat as you all and since I’ve been using this product (my hairdresser recommended it), it has changed my life.
Well, it took about 6 months but my hair FINALLY stopped falling out after I stopped using Nuvaring. I went on Yaz and haven’t had any hair loss problems since. I also took fish oil and evening primrose oil to stimulate my hair follicles. Whatever it was it worked!
Hi Baf, Thanks for posting back your update and wonderful success, I’m so happy for you!!
~Y
Hello, I too am going through the same scary situation. I went off ortho evra patch 3 months ago after being on it for 5 years. I started noticing 2 months ago all this hair in the shower and sink. I’m afraid to even comb my hair due to the fact that it just keeps coming out. My doctor just recently ordered blood work. But I know that it is due to going off the patch. Will this eventually stop or will I continue to lose my hair until I am bald.
I’m 19 years old and I had a baby a year ago. I was using nuvaring but I stop using it in December and every since than my hair has been falling out like crazy. It was never doing that before and now it is. I don’t know if nuvaring is the cause but I’m really frustrated over this. I have never experience this problem with my hair EVER! I wonder because I stop using the nuvaring could it have cause this problem. Can someone please HELP me because I’m so desperate right now. My last resort is to cut all my hair off, and it’s very long. It still is long but my pony tail just keeps getting thinner and thinner every single week!
I’m 21 and I’ve been on the nuvaring for about 2 months, and just like you guys, I’ve been noticing big clumps falling out in the shower. I’ve decided to stop using it, and I can only hope that the situation will get better and not worse (it seems that either can happen when stopping BC?) I’m so upset but it helps to know that I’m not the only one. Good luck ladies!!! I’ll post again if I notice any change… (it doesn’t help that my doc thinks this the connection between the ring and my hair suddenly falling out is “unlikely”– but i know that the nuvaring started this because the hair loss started just a few weeks after!!) peace and love 🙂
I am 32 yrs. old and have 3 children. After weaning my 3rd son when he was 12 mo., I started using the nuva ring. My OB told me that it would work well for me because it is a continuous dose of hormones that does not fluctuate during the month.(like triphasil) I only used it for 2 or 3 months and noticed that it was causing headaches and mild depression. I did NOT lose any hair while using it, but about a month after stopping my hair started shedding. It is not too bad–not like after my babies were born. I have noticed that the hair coming out has a white tip on the end. That means that it is coming out by the root and that a new one is coming up behind it.
I experienced this after having my children and it is only temporary. Your hair should grow back-don’t stress!
I am 25 years old and was on the Nuva Ring for a little over 2 years. I experienced several side effects including digestive problems and gall bladder disease. I ended up having my gall bladder removed a year ago. My doctors never attributed those problems with the ring but they disappeared after I stopped using it. I have been off the ring for a little over a month now and I have noticed a dramatic increase in hair loss. I have very fine hair to begin with and I am concerned with the amount of hair that I am loosing. I don’t know if I can wait 6 months for it to start growing back.
I’ve been on the ring since Feb/Mar, and around later this spring it felt as though my hair was thinning. I have always have VERY thick hair and I’ve been on several different pills(always looking for something better) and never had this problem. I now have gaps and a thin hair line on the top of my head and all arounf the front hairline. I took it out this week and will not continue. I only hope my hair grows back. Even it takes as long to grow back as it did to fall out, it should grow back if I go back on the pill right?
I had the same problem with hair loss. For the last 8 months I have had my hair falling out each day in high numbers. I have to remove the clumps from the drain weekly. I talked with my doctor about 5 months ago about the problem but she did not say anything about the possibility of this being due to the Nuvaring. I know that I am under a lot of stress and I changed my diet, exercised more and started taking vitamins and supplements to try and stop this problem. Nothing worked. I have had serious hair loss on the top of my head and worry each day about how many I will lose. Since this isn’t something you just randomly talk about with people, I never associated the ring and hair loss since I didn’t have any problems in the first 8 months of using the ring. Mostly what I read suggested it was due to diet. I asked another doctor about possible causes and she suggested that it could be due to such a constant high dose of hormones. I have only recently switched to a lose dose birth control and hope that the problem will cease in the next 6 months as others have described. I am angry that doctors do not inform patients of this possibility and leave them to suffer silently at the side effects.
Hi Sonya,
Doesn’t it just make you so mad that doctors prescribe the pills, the ring, the depo provera shot without WARNING us that the possibility exists that they could make our hair fall out? I can guarantee I never would have touched the pill with a ten foot pole had I been explained that little piece of information. I am even more shocked when doctors deny the connection.
Not all hair loss from the pill is permanent, and for some women the hair loss improves after stopping it or, like you did, switching to a lower dose, hopefully lower androgen birth control.
You are not alone and I’m glad you found us!
All The Best,
Y
I to have had a problem with nuvaring and hair loss. I started the Nuraving and 2-3 months later I started to notice hair loss. After being on the ring for 5 months I took it out. It has now been 6 weeks off the ring and still major hair loss. Like everyone else I have never ever had hair problems I have always had very full hair. My pony tail is half the size it used to be. It is sooooo stressful. I have given birth and breastfeed 3 children for 12 months each and never any hair loss surley it is the RING!!!
Im having trouble with the nuvaring and hair loss as well, and i’m only 16 years old! My doctor said that it was unlikely that it was the nuvaring, but i’ve researched enough online to know, that isn’t necessarily true. I plan on switching to a different kind of BC, probably an IUD (i’m very forgetful…i wouldn’t remember to take the pill everyday). So i’ll update if anything changes. =(
I am in the same boat as all of you. I stopped using the NuvaRing in August. All of a sudden, in about November, I noticed I was shedding like crazy. My hairdresser even asked me to have my thyroid checked. Everything came back fine. I’m not sure how long this will go on. I’m already switching from styling my hair straight to wearing it curly again. My dermatologist has put me on some steriod creams, but I really don’t know what else to do.
Dear Brandy
Just wondered what steroid creams your derm put you on. I have been having excessive hair loss from mid. Sept and am quite distraught about it, thinking of it all the time, my derm also put me onto an anti-inflammatory drops to rub into my scalp. I am also now wearing my hair curly, just cannot dry it straight and see all the hair fall out. I used to love washing my hair and showering, now every 2 days when I have to wash my hair I det nervous and cry when I see the hair fall away. My hair shedding could be due to a relaxer or brazilian hair straightener that I had done I January and then in September. I am busy with derms, haematologists etc, no one seems to be helping me.
Wow, I’m sitting here in shock, because for the last 3 years I’ve had on & off again hair loss at my crown and overall shedding. When it first started it was about 3 years ago & I’ll have to check my records, but I could swear that’s when I started using the Nuvaring. But this revelation just hit me TODAY.. I’m so mad at myself. Why didnt I think of that???? A friend recommended the Nioxin shampoo/conditioner products when it first started & they worked IMMEDIATLY. So, I thought I just had a scalp problem & the shampoo corrected it. My hair stopped falling out & started to grow back. BUT, about a year later it started up again, went to the dermatologist, had all the blood work & test done and I mean ALL and everything came back normal. He said it was probably just hormones and put me on Rogain, which helped, but dried my scalp out SOOO bad that I had to stop using it. Talked to my OB and she said it was unlikely it was the nuvaring.
About 2 years ago I started suffering intense pms syptoms, anxiety, depression, but only during the 2 weeks before my period. I felt like I was going crazy because I knew some days of the month I wasnt acting or thinking rationally. That’s how the doctors figured out it was PMS or PMSD as they call it. Because it was only happening 2 weeks out of the month. Things that got me really upset today wouldnt even phase me 2 weeks from today, type of thing. I never even thought about how I didnt suffer from this until after I started birth control again. I wasnt on anything for about 5 years. So I have that gap to compare things too.
Well my OB put me on Serifem, which is a pretty name for prozac, for only 2 weeks out of the month. It did help with the PMS, but then the hair loss started up again. I knew instantly that it was the prozac. I stopped taking it immediatly. The only time I’ll take it is when the PMS is extremely bad and that’s only happened one time this year. Not sure why that month was bad, but I felt depression coming on like never before. Scared me actually, because I was afraid I’d have to keep taking the prozac. But luckily the following month(s) the pms was ok.
For about the last 6 months, Ive had the hair loss happening again and worse this time. I only have bangs in the very middle of my crown, the sides only have baby fine hair. Over all shedding as well. I know in my heart that this hair loss is hormonal. But not until today did I put everything together & realize it could be from the nuvaring. BUT I’m scared to stop using it now since people are also experiencing hair loss when they go off of it. UGGG I hate this stuff. I just dont know what to do 🙁
I noticed someone mentioned that her dermatologist had put her on some steroid meds. My dermatologist prescribed Clobetasol(liquid for the scalp) mainly because I started having a lot of burning and itching on my scalp. However, I am concerned that it may make the hair loss worse???? She told me it could “encourage” hair growth. Any opinions or experiences with Clobetasol?
I stopped using the nuvaring about 2-3 months ago and now I have very thin/shedding hair. It looks very sick and I am wondering if I should cut it a little shorter to make it appear thicker. I have read the information about a product called hair essentials and I am wondering if it really works to stop hair loss. If anyone else has information about this products please email me back.
I used Nuvaring for about 2 years after using many, many other froms of birth control. I started to lose my hair and it was thinning. I have had long straight, thick hair my entire life and if you saw me now you would never know that! I was feeling very self-conscious about it being noticably thinner so I started researching and researching and finally read some fine print on the actual Nuvaring box where it said that if hair loss runs in your family then Nuvaring might not be for you (my mom’s & grandmother has experienced thinning and hair loss)! Well my gyno never asked me and it never occured to her that Nuvaring might be the casue for my hairloss even when I came in complaining about my hair. We ruled out several other causes after blood tests and countless dermatologist appointments. It’s now been about 3 years since i stopped taking Nuvaring and about a year since ive been on prenatal vitamins (only thing that has worked for me). My hair has grown back a lot! I have a ton of baby hairs, BUT (this is a big but). The texture has changed. I was having to blowdry my hair everyday and it was always frizzy. One day my hairdresser said, Franci give it up, your hair texture has changed, your hair is curly now! She blow dried my hair and my surprise I had soft natural curls. I’m getting used to it now, even starting to like it a bit 🙂 but I wouldn’t wish hair loss on any woman. It’s a tough thing to deal with.
Good luck to all 🙂 Remember i didnt start to see hair grow back for a long time, hang in there!
I started taking the NuvaRing about three months prior to my wedding and by my wedding day I lost most of the front edges of my hair. At the time I attributed it to stress and maybe the fact that I ended up wearing extensions on my wedding day. However, the front of my hair really never grew back. If it tries to go a little bit it will just suddenly fall out from the roots, and sometimes in little pieces. I have always had long beautiful hair that grew no matter what I did to it (coloring, cutting) etc. Now, I have no hair in the front and had to cut it so many times and yet it’s still falling out. So, I decided to research whether it could be the birth control, and I have found sooooo many blog/commentary sites where woman are complaining of this issue. It’s absolutely terrible that the drug manufacturer did not reveal this and neither do doctors! I will stop using it this month and I will post here in a few months to provide an update.
Oh Gosh! I went through this with Nuva Ring about 20 months ago. I have long hair and lost about half of it. My doctors ran EVERY test in the world becuase they didn’t think the hair loss was due to the ring. I change birth control and lately have been having problems so my doctor recommended to try the ring again – still convinced my hair loss was due to stress. I’ve been on it for 6 weeks and my hair suddenly, almost overnight, got EXTREMELY thin again. I am terrified! I ran my fingers through my hair about an hour ago and had over 25 strands in my hand. I ran to the bathroom and removed the ring forever! The hair loss lasted for MONTHS last time – I can only pray it doesn’t this time. So very sad.
I have been on the Nuva Ring for a few months now (I think about 4). I have never, ever had a problem with losing or shedding my hair but all of a sudden starting about a month ago my hair is coming out in large amounts!! I run my finger through my hair and can easily grab between 5-15 hairs at a time, and they have the root attached! Our drain collects little clumps of hair every time I shower, and I don’t even want to comb my hair because I know there will be a huge amount of hair on the comb or brush. I definitely noticed my ponytail getting thinner and lucky people can’t tell (yet) that my hair is thinning just by looking at it- but *I* know and cal tell! My gyno did not even warn me about this side effect. Today I decided to just remove the Nuva once and for all, even if it jacks up my menstrual cycle. Shame on Nuva Ring and shame on the doctors for not telling us about this side effect!
I recently, and for the first time in my life, have been experiencing hair loss too, every time i wash my hair i end up pulling out countless strands when i condition my hair. I have very fine hair, so i HAVE to wash it everyday or it appears greasy and the hair loss is noticeable. The problem started when I got my hair dyed dark brown at a salon about 2 months ago. I have dyed my hair many times in my life and never had this problem! This time, the hair dresser was very rough, he used rubber gloves which made my fine hair knot very badly, and then proceeded to rip out the knots with a comb as he put dye into each section. Im in chile, so at that time i wasnt confident in my language ability to ask him what exactly he thought he was doing. Anyway, as soon as i walked out of the salon i felt like I had half the hair I had had walking in, and immediately noticed a bald spot at the crown. Since then, hair has been coming out every day, and my drain is getting clogged. Its horrible! I never thought that the nuva ring could be part of the problem, but I am on the nuvaring as well, although I have been on and off of it but never had a problem with hairloss. Those of you who think its the nuvaring, have you dyed your hair before? Also im living in a very smoggy city, my diet has changed, and im a bit stressed. I just purchased a rather expensive JOJOBA hair mask and I think it made my hair very soft and possibly a little thicker. I plan to keep using it maybe 3 times a week. Has anybody else had success with Jojoba? Or hair masks in general?? Has anybody noticed that a haircut stopped the shedding? Am i losing these strands permenantly? AH! Good luck..
nuva ring is evil. I was only on it for less than two months. Since then my hair has not stopped falling out…its been almost 6 months since i stopped using it. I do not feel right and am in the process of trying to figure out the cause, I am suspecting that I am hypothyroid and I think the nuvaring messed with my hormones so bad that it caused me to be all f’ed up…….oh btw when I was it I became so moody and depressed, one day I actually had the thought of suicide…NOT my personality at all, I was always a happy go lucky person…that scared me and I did a little research online and discovered how bad it was for so many people. Anyways, the hair loss has been common in a lot of women on it, and I am sure there is something else wrong with me, its just difficult without insurance to first get a doctor to see me and then get them to listen…..im trying and will let you all know. Goodluck!
My daughter started using NuvaRing 1 month ago. She has a 4 month old baby. She has lost so much hair at the front of her scalp in the last month, there is just fine baby hair there now, it goes back on each side about 3 inches. She had the thickest, coarse curly hair before. Hairloss does not run in my family or my husbands family. I decided to look up NuvaRing and I’m glad I found this site. My daugther is only 18 and there were huge clumps in the shower and in her brush daily. I have never seen so much hair fall out at once!
We will definitely be looking into an alternative birth control.
I have been on NuvaRing for about 7 years. I never had any bad hair loss…it mostly seemed normal. However, 6 months ago I stopped using the Ring. I was also going through a horribly stressful time in life and attributed my newly (VERY) increased hair loss to the stress. The stress faded away three months ago, but the hair loss is still in full effect. I hope that there is an end in sight to this hair loss phenomenon, because not only do I have less hair (that falls out in at least 200 – 300 strand per day amounts), but the hair I do have has become thin and lifeless.
Does anyone have any timelines for successful hair recovery/regrowth AFTER going off the Ring? I’m patiently waiting, but I may need to donate my >12 inch long hair to a good cause and go for a pixie cut to make it worth my while.
May we all eventually be blessed with full bodied, long, luxurious hair!!
I too was on the nuva ring but only for about 2 months. Since I stopped taking it (have been off all birth control) its been about 7 months. Ive noticed my hair loss to be even more lately. Stress maybe, Im not sure. I was the same as many of you, in that I thought having colored it and had extensions in, maybe my hair was just unhealthy…until my hairdresser pointed out that it was falling out from the follicle. I was tested for thyroid problems and nothing. I am wondering if it is all from the stupid evil nuva ring. When I was on it I had severe emotional reactions. Depression and anxiety like I never knew existed. Now its still causing me problems and Ive been off it for 3 times longer than I was taking it!! Are there any class action law suits against nuvaring?
I am so happy I found this site! I thought I was going crazy! I’ve been dealing with hair loss for about six months now. I thought it was stress related (the company I worked for was having a series of lay-offs). I stopped using NuvaRing in March when I got laid off. I only recently made the discovery that it could be related to birth control. . . I just started the NuvaRing again last week thinking that it would help stop it. Now I realize it may have been the culprit! I will stop using it all together now. I just started taking an omega-3 supplement as well as a hair/nails pack from GNC. I’m hoping that will help bring me back to something resembling normal. I’ve always had fine hair, but now I can see more scalp than ever.
Chrissy, in my search I did see a site (www.onlinelawyersource.com) that I think is organizing a class action.
I’m 35 and have been using Nuva-ring for the past 5 years, having had it recommended to me by several friends and co-workers. Rather than thinning, I have noticed in the past year that my hair is changing texture and color, becoming curlier/wavier, darker, and the new hair strands are about twice as thick as my “original” hair. Hairs on my head currently look as though they are from 2 different people, although I am happy to say the overall effect is not really noticeable. I have read this can be due to hormones and age, and although I have not had children, I suspect it may be due to age. However, it’s strange enough to send me looking for an explanation, and I wonder if Nuva-ring may have contributed to the change.
hey all…. first of all OMG loosing hair really sucks and its good and bad to see that i am not alone. Well for the past 2 hours i have been reading all the posts and doing reaserch and i am mortified to what i have found…. i too am noticing hair loss, but i am still on the nuvaring and scared to get off of it for the fear of losing more hair but also scared of losing hair while on it….catch 22 or something…. well i also noticed that i have gotten hair in areas of my face that make me feel….unwomenly and have gone to the doctor before and got brushed off as bad genes….my mother has no unsightly hair nor does my grandmother…… BUT now i am seeing that my thinning hair and my hariniess can be due to my birth control…. I do not know what to do…… I’ve been on birth control since i was 17 i’m 23 now….. (currently i’ve been on it regularly now for 1.5 years) i really want to get off of it….but i am sexually active as well and am scared that my thinning might progress…..i still have most of my hair and it looks normal but it is no where near to the thickness i used to have…… i really need some advice……. thank you in advance!!!!!
Janey,
If you want to stay on birth control, why don’t you talk to your gyno about switching to another form, like a low androgen pill? I don’t know if that will help your hair loss, but it may be a better alternative than Nuva Ring. I think some of the pills that are supposed to have a lower androgen index are Yasmin, Yaz, Ortho Tri Cyclin Low…check with your dr. on that.
I myself was on Nuva Ring for about a year and a half. For me, it never caused my current hair loss. It was caused instead by going off of birth control. Good luck to you!
Hi everyone,
I was on Yaz for about 3 years & just got off of the pill a few weeks ago. For the last 3 years I have been losing hair & I just know its from the pill, no doctor can convince me otherwise. It says right on the label side effects may include scalp hair loss! Makes me feel real stupid I didnt read the fine print. And as someone mention earlier its disgusting that doctors dont mention this to us! I think BC should be banned they are not good for us in so many ways. Anyway, I told my docter I want a non-hormonal form of BC and asked what she recommends. She recommended I take NuvaRing because of its gradual release of low hormones. Thanks to all your postings I will not be using Nuva ring.
As far as my hair loss goes, since I got off Yaz my hair is falling out like crazy! My days of long beautiful curls are definately over =(
Personally, I am going to wait it out (my body is probably in shock and like after child birth it is common to lose hair) and hope for the best. I really think with time it will grow back some. Its so devastating to lose your hair but you got to think positive and be thankful to be in good health. Thats most important. Oh and one more thing, bumble & bumble thick it shampoo & conditioner work great! If any of you get off the pill and regrow hair PLEASE PLEASE come back and tell us!
Thanks and good luck to all of you! =)
I’m 21. I started taking Nuvaring in January. My first month I would wake up in the middle of the night to throw up. My second month I cried almost all the time for no reason. The third month I got nasty, thick discharge and lowering of sex drive. Everything has been pretty much dandy since then. I know the first couple months would be rough and that’s what I read from other blogs and thought it would calm down. This past month I took out my nuvaring five days late. I was then off the thing for nine days so that I could get back on my normal sunday to sunday routine. This was last week. I threw up on Sunday night and then all week I’ve had a MAJOR DECREASE in appetite. I’ve only been eating half a meal a day. I’ve been very hungry but everything seems nauseating. I started recovering from that a few days ago. So then I looked online about loss of appetite for Nuvaringers and I found prominent statistics for hair loss. Two months ago I noticed a 3 in. by 1 in. bald spot on the back of my head. I asked my gynecologist about it and she said it was stress related. Now I have WHITE, 3/4 in., thin baby hair in my bald spot. If it doesn’t grow back soon I’ll have to give it a name. I’ve noticed thinning of my scalp too. I have to clean my brush daily. I want to take the ring out. I don’t know what to do. I still have two more weeks until I can take it out. I’m considering going back to Orthotricyclen-Lo, I just couldn’t remember to take it. My boyfriend and I agree that the weight of remembering to take the pill is better than losing my hair. I’ll take anyones advice. So far on my list I’ve got Omega-3, primrose oil, nioxin shampoo, hair essentials, pre-natal vits, and bumble & bumble shampoo/conditioner.
I just don’t want it to get worse if I go off the thing. and I don’t want to lose more hair in even more obvious places. My teachers keep asking me if I’m ok because they can see that I’m losing my hair over this whole thing!!! –pun intended
I used Nuvaring for 4 months. For the first 2 months, everything seemed great… it was easier than the Pill, which I’d been on for about 20 years, except for two years when I had children. In the fourth month of using Nuvaring, I started having excruciating back pain. There were a few nights during that month where I was virtually unable to move or walk. I never had back problems/pain before. I searched online for other people who might be having similar problems, I found a large number of women on Nuvaring who’d experienced terrible back pain which got better when they removed the ring. I took out the ring, and the back pain was gone within about 5-6 days. As soon as the back pain was gone, however, I noticed a bald patch on the top of my head, right above the forehead. It thought I’d noticed thinning a little for the past 2 months, but since it was summer time, I attributed it to sloppier styling and more time spent outdoors in the wind, etc. But about a week after discontinuing Nuvaring, all of a sudden it was a 1.5-inch by 1.5-inch bald spot – VERY noticeable. I really believe the bald spot and the back pain were a direct result of Nuvaring. I’m glad the back pain is gone, but I truly hope my hair comes back!!
I was on the Nuvaring for 2 months. Towards the end of the last ring I started noticing a lot of shedding in the shower. I figured it was from me lightening my roots but I noticed all of my actual hair roots attached. I am convinced it was from the Nuvaring. My hair is still coming out in wads and I have been off of it for a month. I am now on Seasonique low (I was on the reg Seasonique before the ring and never had hair loss problems). This is not normal because I am 23 with no history of female hair loss in my family. They should stop prescribing this crap.
I started taking Nuvaring fall of 2008 then early on in the following year I started noticing my shower drain being clogged almost everyday, so I switched shampoo/conditioner. Around late January it got worse, my hair slowly began disappearing until my ponytail was the size of a sharpie. My doctors ran several tests that resulted into nothing. I knew it had to be my bc, so I stopped it, completely. I had to shave my head, it was easier to bear in the mirror for me. Ive been taking lots of vitamins especially B and Biotin shots and its been going well. Its almost been 8 months but I’m slowly getting my hair back, not as thick as before, more like baby hair texture wise, but its nice to see my hair follicles are still alive =]. I’m still very optomistic about getting my full head of hair back someday hopefully. I’ve been wearing wigs to work and school, its restored my confidence and gave me a boost of self esteem.
Btw, I’m only 21 yrs old.
I also have hair loss from the Nuva ring. I have been reading a lot that it is caused by birth control with high levels of androgen (male hormones). This website explains more. I am going to call my gyno tomorrow and see if I can get switched over immediately. I’m on Seasonique Lo right now and its also high androgen with low estrogen.
https://www.womenshairlossproject.com/category/birth-control-pills/
Hi ladies,
I was on Yaz for over 2 years and never had any side effects, other then Melasma, I have a brown spot under my eye but I am full of freckles so it doesn’t bother me too bad. I loved Yaz but my insurance didnt cover it at my out of pocket was $80 a month. So I switched to Reclipsen and within a few weeks I started loosing so much hair. Now I am just waiting for the point where it will be noticable to others..you can see alot of my scalp if I pull my hair up. I thought it was the Reclipsen causing the hairloss and now after doing some research there are alot of women stating that when they stopped using Yaz is when they had massive amounts of hairloss. I plan on going back on the Yaz since I would rather pay the $80 a month then have my hair gone or spend hundreds on hair growth products.
I have been lurking on this site for about a month. This nightmare started for me I believe back in July. I had taken Plan B Emergency contraceptives twice in one month. Before this I had never experienced any hair loss at all. My hair was thick and half way down my back. I am 41 years old. I also had a tetnus shot and was eating poorly for quite some months and dyed my hair regularly. I also had a Ferritin level of 7. But I believe that the culprit that started this nightmare was the Plan B and was spurred on my extremely low ferritin level.
By mid-September I noticed lots of hair tumbleweed flying around my house and lots of hair in brushes but chalked it up to not cleaning my house and brushes enough. I had just started dating a new guy and was preoccupied. By mid October I felt my hair was thinner. By November 1st I went to my family doctor. She said it will stop and sent me to a dermatologist “to make me feel better”. The dermatologist basically said you have AGA, suck it up and here’s some Minoxidil. I went to another dermatologist who has said it’s TE, most likely caused by my low Ferritin level or stress, she doesn’t seemed at all convinced that it could be the Plan B (I haven’t been on BC since my early twenties. She also gave me Iron pills and told me to take (300 mg 3 x a day and 1000 mcg of Biotin 2 x a day) and again to use the Minoxidil. I used the Minoxidil for 2 weeks and the shedding became worse. I lose at least 200 – 300 hairs per day. I stopped using the Minoxidil two weeks ago. My head also became very itchy and sore.
I have since gone back to see her and she has again told me it is TE, not sure what the trigger was and should ‘taper off soon’. I asked about Aldactone and she said that it wasn’t for this type of hair loss and that I need time for my body and hair to ‘reset’ itself. I have lost at least 50% of my hair. It is now noticable. I keep my hair up and have since cut it off to my shoulder so I don’t notice the hair all over my clothing, my sink, my floor, falling on my arms, etc. I obsess about it all day long. She has also prescribed Retin-A. Has anyone else tried this?
I am considering doing nothing but to keep taking my iron and biotin and eating well and trying not to obsess and let my body adjust itself but I am afraid if I do nothing it will get worse and not better. If it was the Plan B will my hormones adjust themselves or will I need to take something to make them right again?
In *theory* if it’s only the PlanB, then yes, your body should right itself as your hormones even out. Also, in theory, if your TE was only caused by the PlanB experience, you still might experience major shed for 4 or more months because the hormone change (for however long it was affecting your body) was shocking an unusally high percentage of your hairs into a dormant (telogen) phase, but it can take 3 or so months between the time any particular hair dies and when it falls out.
That said, according to several docs, sometimes hormonal “hiccups” like this can cause temporary TE but *also* uncover another kind of hairloss that you may have already had at a lower/not really noticeable degree or have had the predisposition toward but not have been expressing yet.
I’m certainly no expert but you never had any (even slight) thinning before and if your hairloss is diffuse only, the combo of ferritin/PlanB to create a temporary loss seems potentially reasonable, and you might just need to get your ferritin in a more normal range (don’t know what the reference range is for the lab where you had your tests done, and that does matter, but 7 sounds pretty low based on ranges others have quoted.) Waiting it out might be reasonable then, too, because even if you start a hairloss treatment, it’ll take a couple months before you see any results, and by that time, you won’t be able to tell, if you experience less shedding and regrowth, whether it’s the result of the hairloss remedy or whether your body just righted itself, and that will make it hard to decide whether to go off the hairloss remedy.
If, however, your hairloss is diffuse but especially thin at the vertex, on the crown, and maybe at the temples–or if you have patches where it’s really thin–something else may be going on too. IMHO, in that case, I’d say keep at this withyour docs.
I’m curious…why the Retin A? Topical or pill? Was that for your skin? (Did you get a lot of acne after the PlanB?)
My hairloss is diffuse, but I notice it most at my temples, but both Dermatologists and my hair stylist say it is diffuse. My mother still has fairly thick hair and she is 70. I don’t know why she prescribed topical Retin A. I’ve read that it can block DHT and when used with Minoxidil it can make the Minoxidil absorb better. I haven’t started it yet and I’m not sure that I will. You have to wash it out every morning and I’ve stopped washing my hair everyday. I don’t have acne. Since I’ve never had hair loss before this I’m worried about starting something for regrowth since I feel like I’ve done enough damage to myself with the low iron and the Plan B and I’d like to believe that my body has taken enough of an assault and will return to normal but….I’m still very very worried and feel like I may be wasting precious time by not starting something to kickstart regrowth.
Do you know if while you have TE are you still suppose to have new regrowth or does that only start when the TE is over? I asked my derm to check but for some reason she refused.
I am so upset after reading all of these. I was on Ocella which is the off brand of Yaz and I started losing hair in November. I didn’t relate it to birth control until i started getting chest pains. I was only on Ocella for 6 months when this started happening. I immediately got off once I found out the problem and switched to nuva ring, I have only been on it for 3 weeks and am still losing hair. I bought hair skin and nails to help my hair grow but i cant stop it from falling out. HELP, i have already tried 5 types of birth control
I can’t beleive how many of you have gone through the exact same situation I am now. I started Nuvaring about 5 months ago and started noticing changes in the thickness of my hair about 2 months ago. My friends and doctor at first told me it was my imagination, but the last month it has gotten severe and noticable. It was my hair dresser a few weeks ago who finally told me to go see a dermatologist. I am convinced after reading this blog, other blogs, and looking at the timeline of my hair loss that it is the nuvaring. I use to have really thick curly hair that the hairdresser would have to battle with for an hour to straighten and tame, but now my ponytail is at least half the size it use to be and my hair is very thin and only takes 20 minutes to straighten. I am seeing a dermatologist next week and have stopped using nuvaring. I am really scared about my situation and cried for the first time today about it. I am also scared to get in the shower and I will not allow my boyfriend to touch my hair anymore. It has become such a worry in my life, I can only hope that I start having some regrowth. I wonder if the drug company should know about the number of females suffering hair loss from this new form of birth control? It should be labeled and informed to patients when doctors recommend it! I wish I had known 5 months ago… I never would have tried nuvaring.
Thank you all for sharing your stories, I feel so much better knowing I am not alone. I started on Nuvaring in December of 2008, having previously been on Ovcon 35 for a number of years. I’m 40 years old and am taking the BC for control of endometriosis. I have thick, very healthy hair that I treat very well – minimal processing, etc. Never had a problem with hair loss and neither do any other women in my family. I started noticing hair loss in September. Gradual at first, noticing hairs on my pillow, on my clothes, in the brush. Then it started falling out in larger clumps while shampooing, combing it wet was excrutiating because I knew I would have a handful of hair in my hand afterwards. Now I dread the shower and brushing my hair. I hate seeing the hair in the drain – my cleaning woman used to joke with me that I must have cleaned the drain and swept before she came because she never found any hair anywhere, not the case anymore and she even asked me about it last month.
As it continued to fall out month after month, I got very concerned and started doing some research. Couldn’t believe it when I saw on webmd.com that they specifically mention Nuvaring as contributing to hair loss. I immediately took the ring out and have been BC free for 2 months. I have not seen any decrease in the hair loss. I have been taking the prenatal vitamins and have even gone to a nutrionist to see if my diet was contributing. I have also had blood tests done and am awaiting results. I have noted some of your suggestions and will try them to see if they help. But the most helpful thing is knowing I am not alone. If you have not been through this, you can’t understand how depressing and impactful it can be to your life and self esteem. So thanks for sharing and hang in there ladies!
Well Hello ladies.
Glad you could share your stories and help me feel like less of a freak.
I have alopecia, or rather I ‘did’. Back when i was 19. A tiny spot on the back of my head that I got ointment for and basically took care of right away. My doc knew what to put me on since my mom and sister also had alopecia. It grew back, case closed.
Or was it? I realize looking back that I was on the depo needle when that had happened.
And amazingly enough I am losing hair again for the last year and half. I’m now 27… And I *was* on the Nuva ring… for about 2 years. I just went off of it when my hair loss started to excellerate about 3 months ago. And it’s getting worse, still.
Currently the back of my head is shaved due to my messed up hair line, theres hardly any hair back there at all to be honest. And I have two major bald spots. One on the top of my head measuring about 4 inches wide by 2 inches tall. And one on the side of my head just a bit smaller. My hair falls out in clumps. I can run my hand threw my hair and put out handfuls of strands.. It’s embarassing to cook a meal and know someone will probably find a hair in it. Or try going out somewhere nice where a hat or bandana can not be worn. I’m at my wits end here.
I’m on creams (diprosone), I was getting scalp injections, which sorta worked but very slowly and painfully. And currently I’m going to try a bunch of vitamins. I work in a pharmacy and have been doing my research .. as soon as I can scan some info in. I’ll give you all a link to check out some ideas on how to grow back your hair.
Good luck and be strong. With or Without Hair, remember, YOU ARE ALL BEAUTIFUL. And we’ll FInd a away to fix this!
I want to make you ALL feel better! I was on the Nuvaring forever and started to get hair loss. I didn’t notice mine until much later after starting Nuvaring and I had been on other birth control so I didn’t associate it with that…until I really thought about it in desperation. I then googled nuvaring and hair loss….and MY GOD…it was everywhere! Different formulations of BC can have different effects…but I am scared to death to try another BC!
So I want you to know…it took a couple of months but my hair IS growing back. And since hair grows in “shifts” if you will (Some follicles are stimulated at different times) I continue to get hair growth! YOU WILL BE FINE! I had gone to the doctor and they told me it could NOT be the Nuvaring. IT WAS! trust yourselves ladies! And if you can turn this into the FDA so that this side effect gets put on there so others are aware of this!
http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/HowToReport/ucm053074.htm
I can’t believe the doctor made me feel stupid for thinking this could be the cause of my hairloss…again…BE YOUR ADVOCATE!
You’re all beautiful and you will all be fine! But go see your doctor…and tell your doctor and hairstylists about this so the word gets out!
Good luck to you ALL!
I cannot believe I found this website. I have been suffering..and I mean suffering…with hair loss for over a year now. I was on the Nuva ring for 5 years, and never had any serious problems on it. In fact my HAIR and SKIN were amazing….(of course…my weight was another issue =P ) I decided I wanted to be healthy and natural…and skinnier, so I came off the nuva ring in August 2008. By December of 2008, my hair began to fall out by the handful. I would cry in the shower every day while conditioning my hair. I told my doctor and he recommended the amino acid Lysine (500mg) and Appearex (The box says its for nails but its just 2.5 mg of the vitamin Biotin). I took these for about a month and my hair stopped falling out at the crazy rate of over 100 strands a day. however, it has been over a year now and my hair has not grown back. I have an all over thinning of the scalp and it gets extremely thin by my temples and ears. it is so embarrassing. My hair is not what it used to be. The majoriy of my hair now is very fine baby hairs that do a pretty good job of covering my scalp, but they even fall out too. I used to have long hair, but now I have cut it just beneath my shoulders which has helped it to look fuller. Additionally, I have been trimming it every month so it stays as healthy as possible. I actually believe this is working. I still am shedding hair though, about 30 strands/less a day. I guess this is a normal shedding. I just would like to know how long it will take for my hair to fully grow back naturally…years?
Nuva Ring is not a healthy Birth control. Then again, is birth control healthy at all? Hormones play a serious role in the body, and by using BC, we are literally controlling our reproductive systems. It is logical that either going on, or coming off BC could cause serious and potentially lethal health problems. Ladies, I encourage you, if there is any other alternative to hormonal BC, please take it. It is still a drug, with side effects, and can hurt you. We only have one body…If I can go back in time, I would have never taken any BC at all. Im 22 (and Ive noticed some of you are younger) and we shouldnt be worrying about going bald, at least until we are in our 50s or 60s. And what is so sad is the fact that we are practically lied to so these manufacturers can make money. I wish I was told the effects of the higher androgen BCs because I would have never chose this stupid ring thing.
I started using Nuva Ring in the summer of 2009 to regulate my periods as I had been suffering from chronic anemia for several years. I noticed a tremendous amount of hair loss in the second month and contacted my doctor who did not think the Nuva Ring was the cause as she had no other reports of hair loss. I was quite certain it was the cause, so I removed the Nuva Ring and decided that I would have the ablation procedure (removing the lining of the uterus) which I felt would be the answer to all of my problems. In the meantime, I noticed that the my hair shedded a lot less off of the Nuva Ring. However, I changed my mind about the ablation procedure after reading lots of scary reviews of the after effects which included hair loss. I began using the Nuva Ring again last month on March 21 and low and behold the hair loss has increased again! I am losing it in my sleep, when I comb through it, and when I wash it. I try not to comb through it to much as to save what I have left, and I don’t dare brush it as the sight of all of my hair in a brush is unbareable!!! I now have a bald spot right above my forehead where my hairline once was and the rest of my hair line is really thinned out. I still have very long hair and wear it in a ponytail most of the time – I used to get compliments on how nice and thick my hair was, now everyone has noticed the thining. I’ve been going on and on about the hair loss but have not mentioned the weight gain, bloating and fluctuation of the size of my breast; I have three different bra sizes that I alternate throughout the month. This is all too much!!!!
I am 23 and was on Nuvaring for about 2 years. I started noticing my hair wasn’t quite as thick maybe about a year into using it. It could have started thinning before that, but not enough to notice. I also experienced mood swings and when I would take the ring out after the three weeks of having it in I would be light headed when standing up, almost as though I were having withdrawal’s from the hormones. I actually fully passed out one night and fell to the floor. I told the doctor of this when I went in for an annual exam and she suggested switching, or just stop taking birth control all together for a couple months and see how I felt. I also told her I thought my hair was thinner, but she just shrugged it off and said this was unlikely (even though I had already been reading about women who were suffering hair loss from nuvaring). I decided to keep using the ring until I was out of school in mid-May, and then ended up pushing this back until I got back from a vacation in Belize because I didn’t know how my body was going to react once I stopped using it. I got back in August 2009, took the ring out and haven’t put another one in since. It is now May of 2010 (9 months later!) and my hair is definitely thinner and the hair loss doesn’t seem to be letting up. I would say it is about half as thick as before I ever started this birth control and I am starting to worry that it will continue to thin until I am bald. I had relatively thick, very long, very curly hair but now my hair line is much thinner and my part is definetly wider. I have to style my hair differently to hide the fact that my hair is thinning so badly. The hair loss is pretty gradual and does not come out in clumps, but I am losing around 50 or so hairs a day (maybe more). I don’t like washing or dealing with my hair because I don’t want to see how much I am losing. Also, my scalp has been very itchy (and I don’t have lice). I wash it every two days with head and shoulders, but it doesn’t seem to help. I have not seen a doctor about it, and seriously doubt that they will be able to help me after reading all these other posts. I am going to try different products as mentioned above and try to religiously take some pre-natal vitamins. I think I am also going to get my hair cut a bit shorter to try to create more volume on top (where it is lacking). I can only hope this gets better soon…
Wow ladies…. I had no idea this could be caused by the ring… I thought I just inherited my mom’s genes…. she has been visibly thinning since her mid fourties. I am only 25 and have been on the ring for 5 years or so. Come to think of it, my hair texture changed in the beginning, and I didn’t mind, since it was course and hard to style before. I used to have the hair of about two people; my pigtails were each as thick as other people’s single braids….but in the past year or so i’ve started to notice more loss… part is wider and the front area above the forehead is very thin… people have commented on my pretty highlights in my medium brown hair, but its actually my scalp peeking through! i’m starting to do a little combover and just want help! We need to spread the word… its been a huge ego blow, and now I’m afraid to get off the ring for good, since a lot of these horror stories mention even more severe hair loss when they go off it. what’s a girl to do??
What a great websit you ladies have going! Reading the personal stories are very helpful though i believe my situation has been quiet odd. Im a crazy researcher so this is what i have experienced as well as found out.
Im 27 and have recently notice hair loss. Mine happens to be around my hairline (temporal and frontal), with the front hairline being the most severe.
I went though a very stressful December09-Feb10 when i started to notice the loss. On the temporal sides i noticed what looked like tiny dandruff except it was on the hair shaft itself rather than the scalp. The skin on my frontal line around the hair also looked bumped up. I pulled lightly on the strands and they just came right out, no pain at all!!!! What was odd was that the hair SHEATH was completly attached looking very healthy not dried out. I have yet to read about anyone else experiencing this.
I went to the doctor immediately to run tests but was disapointed in her method of attack so started my own research. I attribute atleast some being trigged by the stress i was under. From what i read it can take a few weeks to a few months to start showing…so be aware of the time delay.
I too was on Nuva Ring for 4+ yrs and got off once i saw this happening. Another piculiar thing i noticed was that over the year my eyebrows had been fading, becoming extremely sparce. They would almost cycle with falling out and growing back, just coming back thinner everytime.I had the THICKEST eyebrows well into my 20’s so this was a really slow and curious thing that was happening. I thought i was because im part asian and my mom has little to no eyebrow, yet others on her side have extremely thick ones. Looking at it now it very well could have been linked to my BC since they are now coming back.
After talking to my hairdresser she confirmed, as i had suspected, that the white dandruff like “flakes” were actually my hair sheath shedding. nothing was holding my hair in so they were breaking off. the skin around it was also dry looking. She recommended Nioxin which i can’t praise enough!!!! You can find it online at Amazon.com much cheaper than in the stores, just use the website to assess which number you should be using. I don’t know if it made my hair thicker, though it does seem slightly, but it definately made my hair grow like NUTS! I seemed to have helped the hair on the side fill back in as well. So i highly recommend it to everyone. It also helps with hair falling out in general. I used to shed a lot prior to this problem and not hardly any hair comes out when showering and brushing.
All my bloodwork came back in the normal range which my thyroid horomone slightly elevated but still completely in the normal range. My understanding is that the tinest shift in that for woman can cause hairloss so its usually overlooked by doctors. Also vitamin D is a big one so get that looked at.
Currently the white flakes are gone and my hair was NOT tugging out when pulled. Ive been stressed lately though and i noticed that my frontal line is looking sparse again. I also noticed that the texture changes when the hairs start to pull out. It also feel very “rough” around the roots. When my hair “normaled” out for a bit this disapeared.
My hair is pulling out easily again.I thought that maybe its TE but since my frontal line hasn’t filled completly back in and has noticbly receeded i wanted to get checked for alopecia. The fact that my entire sheath comes out too is very weird. Anyone else experiencing this??? Usuallyl just the attached root is being discribed, not the entire sheath.
Regardless if the Nuva Ring in combo with the stress is to blame there are so many side effects i just didnt realize until i came off of it. For one i had NO sex drive and i’m glad to report that it came back pretty quickly with a vengance. Also even if you’ve been on it for yrs your body constantly changes and you may just start not working well with it anymore. So keep and eye out for slowly changing things.
Sorry if this is choppy, its super late! i hope i’ve helped some people and hopefully someone can give me some insight on my odd hairloss. NIOXIN NIOXIN NIOXIN. and don’t stress~
xoxoxo
E
Iwas on nuvaring for less than 2 months when i noticed sudden tragic hairloss. I read all the websites with women stating hairloss. And I’ve always had an intense issue with depression. THIS TERRIFIED ME. I took it out the day I read all the posts because my family has a history of attempted suicide and severe depression as well. Which I’m begining to find it may have been a bad idea to quit cold urkey. I didn’t know anything about ANY of the side effects. I was on OrthoTCL for 5 years adn it began messing with my cycle where I had my “monthly gift” 3 weeks out of the month. So I switched. But, since I was a baby I had THICK gorgeous hair. People would play with my hair ALL the time adn tell me how thick and beautiful it was. My ponytail is literally half the size it used to be. So as you can imagine I’m devastated. I wake up and I lose at least 10 strands. I get in the shower and lose about 20 more. Then, all throughout the day I lose about 5-10 everytime I even touch my hair. I can’t even brush it without crying because it comes out. My fiance feels helpless when I get upset. And he looks just as upset as I am when we watch the hair literally fall off of my head. I have no health insurance and to be honest I REALLY don’t even want to see my doctor or any doctor for the simple fact that I feel lied to adn slighted. I know i should have reshearched before i put anything into my body but forgive me for trusting my doctor. What happened to doctors caring about your well-being? :[ I’ve been off of NR for 2 months now and it hasn’t slowed or stopped at all. I’m contemplating going to the planned parenthood becuase I really can’t afford anything else. I’m so terrified of being lied to again and I feel like I really can’t trust doctors now. I need to do something though because I’m still depressed and it keeps getting worse. Has anyone gone off of it adn had it get better? What about OTC vitamins? Maybe the amino acid vitamins from GNC? ANY feedback would be SOOOO welcome and I’d be very grateful. This is my first post on any type of website so I apologize for my rambling. I’m just so devastated and I feel like I need someone to tell me it gets better. Feel free to email me ANYTHING that seemed to have helped. (Just try to avoid any horror stories, IDK how much more bad news I can take)
I started using Nuvaring in 2005. Less than a year later, I started to notice that my hair had begun thinning. Like many of you, I had long, super thick hair that I loved and believed was one of my best features. Needless to say, I became very upset and consulted several different doctors regarding possible causes of my hair loss. I went through many of the tests that you have all described – in fact it’s heartbreaking hearing all of your stories and seeing how closely they mirror my own. Without going into too many of the very depressing details, I will say that the last five years of my life have been a kind of hell. In addition to battling ongoing hair loss, I have had to deal with major depression and anxiety, gall bladder problems that resulted in the removal of my gall bladder, low blood iron, unstable blood sugars, and the complete loss of my sex drive. God bless my husband for being such a patient and understanding man because I don’t know how he has dealt with me all this time. Worst of all, now that my husband and I have reached the point where we want to have a child, I am dealing with issues of infertility because I have stopped ovulating. I have been through so many tests, and every time my results come back normal. After reading your posts and doing some additional research, I am convinced that many of my problems are due to this horrible birth control.
For about a year, I stopped using Nuvaring in 2008-2009. I did notice then that many of my symptoms improved. My sex drive returned and my anxiety/depression became manageable without medication. However, I did not start ovulating again and was unable to become pregnant. Believing my infertility issues were realted to stress and my weight (and my dr. suggested I might have PCOS), I went back on the ring for about 7 months. All of the old symptoms came back with a vengance, particularly the anxiety and depression. I have now been off the ring for 3-4 months. Once again, many of the symptoms have subsided or have become more manageable. The hair loss is still an issue, but with everything that I have read today, I have hope that this too in time will improve. While my hair loss has been slightly worse since I stopped using the ring, I believe that patience combined with vitamins and gentle treatment will help restore some of my former hair thickness.
Dealing with my hair loss and the rest of my issues has been hard, but I encourage all of you, do not give up and take heart in knowing that you are not alone. My advice is to take the most natural route possible in dealing with hair loss, such as vitamins and topical herbal treatments. When I was off the ring before, I found that approach to be the most helpful and yeilded the best results. It was the hormones and chemicals from my “trusted doctor” that did this. I’m going to give mother nature her change to help me set things back to rights. Power to you all for getting the word out and remember that you are all beautiful.
I am half way through my second month of Nuva ring, and losing my hair. My grandmother was in wigs before she was in her thirties, so thinning runs in my family. I am frustrated because I have a a difficult time finding a birth control that works for me. My doctor doesn’t seem too concerned about it at all. Prior to Nuva Ring, I was on Trisprintec. It seemed to work for almost a year, then my awful cramps came back along with vomitting and migraines. Some of the women in my family think that I may be highly estrogen sensitive. Does anyone have any suggestions as to a birth control or herb or something to try?
I used NuvaRing for 3 yrs and had a slew of side affects from it. I finally decided to stop in May 2010. My hair steadily fell out…until August..Since August my hair has been falling out in EXTREME amounts. I put my hair up in a pony tail, I dread taking showers, and I try to stay far away from my hair brush. It feels like a nightmare that I can’t escape. My extreme hair loss has made me so depressed, and there’s no end in sight. I don’t know what to do. I’ve gotten vitamins, high-protein diet, fish oil, etc. I know my hair loss is due to stopping the Nuvaring and not due to stress like my Doctor says. This is so frustrating, as I have long hair. fml.
OMG!!!!!! I have the same problem with the nuvaring hair loss and weight gain I started out at 120 pounds now Im 128 pounds big jump in a three month time its terrible!!!! I have been using the nuvaring for about three months and I notice my hair shedding an coming out everytime I comb it. Before the nuvaring I was on the Mirena which is awful too. I got an ovarion cyst I had to have surgery to get it remove because it was causing terrible pain. Which I never got one before using the mirena it caused my cycle to be irregular also. I would bleed for a whole month and spot for weeks. I also had terrible pain in my lower abdomen. I was on mirena for a year in a half. This is my week to put the nuvaring back in but damn that im not going to do it. I think Im leaving all birth controls alone because none of it is good. I rather use condoms. Thank god I found this site!!!!!!
Greetings~
I am 29 and just the past 3-4 months my hair has been falling out like crazy! I would estimate I have last 1/2 of my thickness in just 3 months! I have been to the doctor and derm and have had many blood test, Thyroid is fine, Iron count is fine. The derm knew my grandma and aunt and they both had thinning hair so he just tells me that is what it is and that I should start rogaine! I guess I am having a hard time believing that genetic hair loss happened all in 3 months! I was on the NuvaRing for 4 years and stopped 4 months ago. Any suggestions would be welcome and appreciated! Should I try Rogaine? Could it be just from going off NuvaRing? Will it grow back? Honestly I will try anything! Thank you
Geez! I thought I was losing my mind I have been on Nuvaring for 3 months, I started noticing a month ago that my hair was coming out at the roots, then last night I noticed a bald spot right above my forehead, now I have had brain surgery and that’s where the hair seems to be falling out first. I’m terrified because I have always had long thick hair, I have baby hair now and it’s brittle. I’m calling my doctor on Monday , I can’t afford to lose my hair it grew back after the brain surgery but there is scaring underneath my hair, if I lose anymore I don’t know what to do. It also itches at the top of my head!
@ Erica — My sheath (big white clump, I guess?) at the end of the root is coming out, too…
anyone have updates? I switched from Nuvaring to Paraguard IUD about 2. 5 months ago and my hair is coming out like crazy, straight from the root.
Does anyone have anything new to report???? I’m doing 3000mcg of biotin a day, and lots of normal vitamins/iron (be careful not to overdose!)…
I was already thinning a wee bit from Wellbutrin but this is just crazy. really bad.
I recommend the bumble & bumble spray and Toppik fibers to get through this!
this is amazing you know what i have been on the nuva ring for about 1 year and a half but been on birth control for about 2 to 3 and ahalf years first i was on the patch then the nuva ring, i have took pictures for the past 2 to 3 years to document my hair progress for my natural hair care journey, my hair has gotten thinner, ive got bald spots and thats crazy since i have not had a perm in almost 4 years, you would think as an african american that perms rip your hair out, but my hair is soo thing that i cant do any thing with it im so mad at it but i believe everything will be ok i am going to the doctor tommrow and see if i can see a dermetologist. About 3 years ago i did go to the doctor and they prescribed rogain (THAT DID NOT WORK AT ALL), i was soo dissapointed please help im thinking about doing a hair transplant and getting off the ring to stop this hair loss and get my fu(*7 hair back
All I can say is…thank you. I started using the Ring in October. By mid-November, I had significant hair loss. I came online for research and was astounded by the information linking the Ring to significant hair loss. I am now on a low dose pill. I have been on birth control and, with few exceptions, I have never had any issues with it or my hair. It is difficult for me to see my hair thinning but I am taking my fish oil, deep conditioning every week and touching it as little as possible. Thank you for your stories. I don’t feel so alone now.
End of 2008 I came off the Nuva Ring after 6 month period. Shortly after, I was pulling large handfulls of long hair out of my head. I saw a Chinese Doctor twice (around $250 for first consult and 3 weeks of 2 types of herbs) and the tablets stopped the hair loss.
I saw a leading dermatologist and received negative blood test results. As my hair loss had ceased, he assumed it was male patterned baldness. As I read the above stories it seems we loose our hair in this pattern, thinning all over but predominately above the forhead and sides.
I would also like to note that my texture has changed. The hair is thin, coarse and short at the front and sides. I have used nioxin and it did not agree with the texture. I have tried the expensive shampoos/conditioners insalon, no change in thickness or texture.Im going to try the pre-natal vitamins and book in for 3 weekly head massages to stimulate blood flow. I use hair extentions when going out as it gives length and volume.
Im filling in the FDA How To Report Form mentioned above and suggest everyone takes action if they feel victimised. There is no doubt in my mind what did this to me and I have plently of witnesses. Hairloss especially to females is just straight out cruel. Good luck ladies.
Hi everybody, I am from the Netherlands and could not find much information on hair loss caused by Nuvaring on Dutch sites.
I stopped using Nuvaring 1,5 years ago and had lots of hair loss after that. I told my docter I thought the hair loss was a consequence of getting off Nuvaring but I was told multiple times that this was not possible. I was almost sure that is was true and after reading on this website I am 100 percent sure. How can we make this known all around the world so that all women stop taking birth control that is bad for our health? In my opinion docters are reluctant to make side effects known because of all the money that is made off selling birth control pills etc.
Hi Emma:
It makes me so sad (and sick) when doctors either don’t know about this side effect, or they do know and they’d rather keep it to themselves or deny it. I wasn’t on Nuvaring but on Yaz for only 2 months. Two months AFTER stopping the pill, my hair was falling out in ropes! The shift in hormones from coming off the pill caused Telogen Effluvium that lasted for 8-9 months. It’s been 15 months since I went off the pill and I’ve been shedding normal amounts for the last 2-3 months. I have also been seeing a lot of re growth. When I saw my Ob/Gyn that prescribed Yaz and told her about my hair loss, she completely denied it and told me that I was losing hair because of stress! After that I saw another Ob/Gyn, an Endo and 2 Derms…and they al confirmed that going on hormonal contraceptives, going off or sometimes even while on them….can cause hair loss.
Has the abnromal shedding stopped for you or are you still experiencing abnormal shedding? Are you seeing re growth?
Pilar
Update: NEW GROWTH!!!! I almost cry when I look at it. I am still shedding but have grown short,curly hair where there were really thin spots just 2 months ago. I am on a low-dose pill now and I believe it is helping as well continuing my vitamins, using coconut oil on the problem spots and treating my mild anemia with supplements. It was not stress, it was not my imagination, it was the Ring and I will continue to try an educate my friends and others about this device.
To everyone, thank you for your stories and your courage. We are ALL going to get better.
Dear all,
I am 28 years old and i started loosing my hair few years ago but i never paid attention to it.For the last year or so it’s been getting really bad.I was also famous of my famous long thick wave hair.Everyone was just jealous of me and now i don’t want even to look in the mirror. The last time i saw my dermatologist he said that i do have a serious problem and that something need to be done before i loose my hair.He firstly said that i need to see endocrinologist and gynaecologist before i proceed. He also suggested the mezotherapy method which is expensive. I’ve been on the birth control pill yasmin for two years as i have polycystic ovaries. Foe the pass few months i’ve been using onion juice which supposed to be very good for the loss and regrowth of hair and i have noticed significant changes.I still need to do go to the doctors and maybe follow some other treatments.Hair is so important for woman and the thought and only i may be getting bold drives me crazy.Please be positive my friends and our hair will soon get better!!!!!Thank you everyone for sharing those stories as it is inspiring and motivating…..
OMG! I’m up stressing about my hair loss and finally made the connection. I just decided to look up Nuva Ring hair loss and read this site. I have a short patch of hair on top of my head and directly on the back of head. I thought I was going crazy my hair is shedding uncontrollably! Its rough, huge white flakes on my scalp!! I’ve been using NR for 2 years! After reading these posts I’m convinced of the connection and will get off immediately. The side effects: anxiety, mood swings are not worth it! I’m so glad I found this site but I’m scared to get off! My hair is so light and thin its scary! I can’t believe this is happening! Ladies its clear its the Nuva Ring no doubt about it!
Wow..finally starting to get some answers. My situation is a tad different…please hear me out.
I’m 30 years old now, when I was 17 I started on BC (Marvelon) to control cramping. Shortly after that I got a bad case of Mono-nucleosis and strep-throat at the same time. I also had an allergic reaction to the first meds I was put on for the strep (a penicillin based med). Towards the end of the mono I was literally sitting on the floor of my shower crying with handfuls of hair in my hands and many clogged drains…
My doc attirbuted that to TE and always just nodded and smiled whenever I brought it up. My hair has always been incredibly thick and I never did get any re-growth from the initial TE episode. I always just attributed it to age, hormones etc. and since I still had lots left (I had a lot to lose in the first place) I didn’t stress about it. Well now my hair has steadily decreased in overall volume and today, my ponytail is about a quarter of the size it was when I was a teenager. I finally went in to my doc’s and said point blank “this hair loss thing I’ve been mentioning for 13 years? Yeah, let’s deal with it..” So he referred me to the only dermatologist in my small hometown, and she’s retiring in one week. Thaaaaaanks. Now I don’t know what to do. I’m on Nuva-Ring and have been for about 5 years and was on Depo-Provera for about 2 years before that. I went off the ring for about 6 months, 2 years ago, and broke out in uncontrollable acne. I KNEW it was a result of my fluctuating hormones and thought (as many of you have as well) that my body would naturally return to normal levels. After 3 months or so I asked a doc at the clinic what he recommended and he said “go back on the ring, it worked the first time, so don’t fix what isn’t broken.” Ahem? The raging acne?? But silly me, trusted the doc and went back on it. Now here I am, skinny-haird and stressed. So what do I do? I don’t have a derm I can see…If I stay on the ring my hair will fall out, if I go off of it, my hair will fall out. So far I haven’t seen one solution I’m truly confident in….HELP?!
Hi Everyone, I just wanted to share my story as I thought some may find it helpful. I started on the Nuva Ring about May 2008. Around August/September 2008, my hairdresser started noticing my hair thinning, and shortly thereafter, I began noticing significant hair loss. This went on for a few months before I made the connection that it may be related to the Nuva Ring. My OB/GYN dismissed the connection, and no doctors were able to confirm it. After seeing a dermatologist and ruling out everything else, she decided it must be from the ring and suggested I stop taking it. Let me tell you it definitely got worse before it got better. I would say my hair fell off even worse than before, for about 3 more months (my dermatologist suggested this may happen). But I am happy to say after the bad shedding, it DID stop, and it DID grow back. I wish I would have known that this was a possible and common side effect before choosing to go on the ring. I had a very difficult time with my hair loss and not knowing the cause. It was also right around the time of my wedding, so it was very hard dealing with this as a newlywed. I just wanted to share my story since I had successful results in the end. Just stay patient – it will get better eventually – it did for me anyway! Best of luck to everyone and stay strong!
Thank You all for posting your stories. I have found them all to be very comforting and helpful. I had been on the nuva ring for approx 8 years and decided to stop taking it so I could learn more about my “normal” cycle in anticipation of starting a family. I stopped using the ring at the end of my period in May 2011. I simply didn’t put a new one in. I have had one period on my own in July and since then NOTHING. I broke out in HORRIBLE cystic acne and my hair has been falling out a ton. My ponytail is half the size it used to be. Before going on the Nuva Ring my periods were very regular 28 days apart. I am a registered nurse and am making myself crazy trying to figure out what is causing this. I really believe it is the removal of the nuva ring and my body suddenly has NO CLUE how to regulate my hormones. I saw my doctor who is usually very good, and she diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarain Syndrome or PCOS and told me to take metformin (Rx that helps with insulin resistance) and Aldactone (helps with extra aldosterone production which could explain the hair loss and horrible acne). However, I have to get back on the birth control in order to take the Aldactone because it can cause ill effects on a fetus if I were to accidently become pregnant. I have never been so confused and I am a nurse for crying out loud!!! The acne has since subsided some but the hair loss still remains. I am going to give it another month or two just taking the metformin to see if it will help my cycle to regulate itself, but I can’t see going back on the birth control which is what started this whole mess in the first place. It’s like putting a band-aid over it without figuring out the actual problem. Hope this helps someone!!!! Listen to your gut, it is never wrong.
I am SO happy I found this site.. I thought i was going crazy when i was combing my hair last month and noticed more shedding than usual..I frst used the nuva ring in April of this year, my hair may or may not have shed i really didn’t pay attention, but i only used it for a month because i decided against using birth controll for the time being. I decided to try and use it again last month and that’s when I began to notice my hair shedding.. I concluded that since my hair had been fine prior tothe last time i used the ring.. maybe if I stop using it now my hair will eventually go back to normal again. I’m trying to think positively lol.. thank you all for sharing your stories. I feel a little better knowing that I’m not going through this alone. I’ll be sure to update in a few months and tell you if my situation has improved 🙂
I have been using nuvaring for about 6 or 7 months. I have just recently started to notice that my hair has become really thin around the front and my crown. I had been noticing for a few months a bit more hair clogging the shower drain than usual (I have natural curly hair that was really thick until now :(……I am only 21, I have never had a hair thinning problem until I started nuvaring, so I am pretty positive that is the cause of it.It is so very stressful.I have read the stories others of you have posted, and so many are identical to what I am going through.It is quite depressing.:( I hope that many of you have recovered from your hair loss due to the nuvaring.I just don’t know what to do because I am afraid if I stop using it, that my hair thinning will get worse.But if I stay on it, it could very well do the same.I would like to get back on the pill ,but i stay sick a lot so it makes it harder for the pill to stay in my system to be effective.I have tried the shot and it made my mood really awful! So I am kind of stuck right now as to knowing what in the world to do.Any comments of help would be greatly appreciated.
I’m hoping to give some hope to everyone also! I was on nuvaring for 9 months and I notice my hair started falling out around month 6/7. At first I didn’t think too much of it but it got so much worse over the course of a few months that I had to do something. I was completely freaking out by the hair loss–hours on the Internet doing research and making myself miserable over it. My anxiety was through the roof because I was so worried & my hair was noticeably thinning, especially around the crown. I had a dermatologist appointment a few months ago and he ran labs, which all came back negative. Once I got the results I dedcided to finish out the month & never look back.
It’s been a month since I stopped taking NR & everything is so much better! My energy & mood are getting better all the time. I didn’t even realize I wasn’t feeling normal until I got off it. I bought the Nioxin shampoo system & have noticed considerably less hair loss, both in the shower & during the day. I also started taking biotin for hair growth and red raspberry leaf for “female balancing” because I was worried about not having a regular period. I got my period 27 days after stopping, so everything is going well. No weight gain at all and I feel less bloated than I used to. My only complaint is an acne breakout on my chin, but I can live with it for the moment if it means I’m not losing my hair! Good luck! It will get better!
Ok so i can relate tobasically everyone on this site. In May2011 i started using nuvaring. I switched from the pill which i had been on for 7years just to try something different. So i started noticing that i had started feeling my self esteem going dwn and also just always down about things, i also noticed that my hair had started to shed. I wasnt thinking anyting of this because i was too stressed and figured that was the cause of the hair loss. Well the hair loss has gotten worse and i have tried so many products to try and stop this but nothing seems to work. FYI the hair loss was not occuring before starting the nuvaring. So now i am torn between what i should do. I want to immedietly stop the nuvaring and either start the pill back or get an IUD but reading some of the stories here i dont want to stop and it get worse. Anyone have any advice?
So happy to have found this site!! All of my life my hair was EXTREMELY long and thick, to the point where I could sit on it! I started using NuvaRing in college and was on it for about 2 years, and like all of you my hair started shedding from the front of my head. 🙁 I have since stopped using it, but my hair has not grown back at all. It grows a little past my shoulders but thats IT, its not NEARLY as thick as it was before. I dont know what to DO!! Please HELP!! I never thought I would ever be one to wear extensions in my hair, but this is what NuvaRing has resulted to. I am so very sad!!
I have the same problem – I was on Nuva Ring for 2.5 years, didn’t take any BC before that, my hair wasn’t the thickest, but OK.
I changed my hair style right about when I got on Nuva Ring – longer hair and started using curl iron and I got many compliments how much better I was looking – I noticed some shedding, but though it was because of curl iron and didn’t pay much attention.
Last spring I did highlights (used to do that 3 times a year when I had shorter hair, but needed to do it more rare with the longer) but I noticed more shedding after that, and I thought the highlights was the cause of that problem, so I made no association with NuvaRing, but well now I do – I didn’t do any interventions to my hair and it’s still shedding and actually this spring it got much worse!! so I started suspecting NuvaRing and searched online – wow I wish I’d search before I stared NuvaRing!
I stopped using NuvaRing two weeks ago – still shedding and based on your posts it will be worse until it can be better (if it ever will).
Well, maybe it will be the time to buy a wig and attach a big noticable label “Blame NuvaRing for this!” or some other call to action – I was not warned by OB, didn’t see it in the list of side effects – that’s just plain wrong and I’d like to participate in any class action regarding this issue.
Omfg!!! I have been on nuva since about 3/4 ears ago. Off when I got preggos but back on after. I have started loosing hair about that time when I first started and reading all these posts is making me realize that it could be from this damn ring! I have very thin bangs not and small balding on the top… Ugh! It so shame and stressful. I’m taking it out when scheduled to and never going back on. I’m also going to get all those vitamins and shpoo everyones listed and see how that goes. I just fel like an idiot never thinking it could be because of Nuve ring!!!! I’ll keep all y women posted in the next few months to see how my hair thinning goes
thanks you guys for posting your stories. I was on “Loestrin” for about three months then i noticed my hair
Hi all,
Thank you so much for sharing your stories!
I really felt like I was the only one going thru this.
I’m from the Netherlands and I am 29 years old. I stopped using the Nuva Ring in May 2012 because my husband and I wanted to try starting a family, around July I noticed that my hair was really starting to fall out a lot and by the time it was September I had lost around 2/3 of my hair. Every morning has been a nightmare when it was time to take care of my hair not even to mention taking showers. I have had my blood work done and everything came out normal. The doctors say that It might be stress, but I didn’t get stressed till my hair started to fall out!!! Out of pure desperation I went back on the nuva ring and hoped it would stop but that didn’t work either. I’ve taking biotin and all other vitamins you can think off but still it is falling out.
My hair is quite long and I am now thinking of cutting a big part off to see if that might help.
Has anyone tried that before?
I am 28 and have been taking nuvaring for about 7 years. Each time I have gone off it, my hair has fallen out in handfuls. The first time was in June 2010 for 3 months while on a trip. I went back on and about a month later it started falling out, you know what i mean by handfuls in the shower that make you cry. It stopped after about 3 months, and I have about 3 inches of regrowth now 2 years later, baby fine hairs that have grown back. I am not sure if they are as thick, it doesn’t seem like it.
I missed a month again this year, in June, and started falling out rapidly again around October. It is still falling out now. I am donating my kidney to my father in the next 2-3 months, and my doctor said going off birth control can decrease my chance for blood clots during surgery so I am about 2 weeks off it again. After this second round of hair loss from missing my monthly “dose” of hormones I am fed up and I am positive Nuvaring is the cause. I am not ready for a family and am nervous to take another form of birth control… at this point I am feeling lost. I don’t want to take any form of hormones anymore, but i am nervous for what that will mean in terms of hairloss and regrowth, and also how to prevent myself from becoming pregnant – BC is the only method I truly trust for that. Anyone have any advice?
I am so happy I found this website! I am 29 years old and began using the Nuvaring in January 2012. Prior to that I was using generic Ortho Tri Cylen for ~ 10 years with no problems. I LOVED the ease and convenience of the Nuvaring. Around August 2012 I started noticing profound hair loss while showering, brushing and even throughout the day at my desk at work. My hair stylist even made a comment that even lightly touching my hair was making it fall out. She suggested that it may be my thyroid which made me a little nervous. But I knew I did not have any of the other indications that go along with hypothyroidism. And as crazy at it sounds it came to me in a dream that the Nuvaring was causing my hair loss! I woke up in the morning and immediately started googling Nuvaring and hair loss and stumbled across this website! I called my doctor right away and she called me in a new Rx for Ortho Tri Cylen. I am back on the pill and within ONE WEEK the hair loss had subsided and I feel normal again 🙂
Hi Ladies.
I was diagnosed with Alopecia one month after I started taking Nuvaring. No family history, no hair thinning prior. My spot grew from a quarter to nearly an apple size. I visited my OBGYN, DERMO, and family doctor. They all said its not related to Nuvaring…very funny.
Finally, I visited a Naturopath that discussed how dangerous hormones can be, especially progesterone. These are the facts.
PLEASE stick to first or second generation birth control and stay clear of these newer brands with progesterone. Its safer to take estrogen only birth control. Stay safe everyone!!
Oh my god girls! I am so glad I found this!!! I have noticed lately so much of my hair coming out. In the shower, when I brush and even sitting my desk. It’s only started recently and I just started my second month on nuvaring… I thought my hair was breaking off cause of damage (colour, straightening). I actually want to cry. I don’t like nuvaring it has impacted my moods and increased discharge something I hardly ever noticed before.
Going to see my doctor tomorrow and see if I can take it out now or my next period!!!
I just finished my second course of Nuvaring and my hair has been coming out in alarming amounts. I was on ortho tricylcen lo for 3 years several years ago and it caused me severe depression. When I went off of it I broke out in cystic acne like I had never had in my life. After that, I was freaked out by birth control but decided to try the ring on the recommendation of friends. Now that my hair is falling out I wonder what else it may be doing that I don’t yet see.
But for those who are shocked and appalled that their doctor did not inform them of hair loss, saying they never would have touched it had they known, it says on the Nuvaring website that hair loss is a potential side effect, along with a myriad of others. Not only that, but you were likely aware of the more serious potential side effects i.e. blood clot, stroke, heart attack etc and still chose to go on it. There is risk involved with all medications and everyone reacts differently. Next time do your own research.
I was on the Nuva Ring for a loooong time..until in 2010 I noticed my hair was getting thin at the crown. I have switched to Reclipsen (generic for Desogen) and it seems to have helped. I only notice a one hair in the shower today…hopefully it will grow back but honestly, its been so long now I don’t know if it has thickened or if I’m just crazy and I’m imagining its thicker..my husband says it looks thicker..I just don’t know anymore:( trying to stay hopeful. For now, anything thin spots…I use toppiks hair fiber product. A-MA-ZING! Try it ladies..its a nice temporary fix.
Hi there,
Dido! I started taking the NuvaRing a year ago, and my increased hair loss does seem to fall within the past year. I have really curly hair so it’s natural to yank some out in the shower trying to comb it out. I went off the Nuvaring almost 2 months again and handfuls are coming out each time I touch my hair. I started wearing it up to help my resist the temptation. My doctor really wanted to know my sleeping patterns/stress levels and tried to pin it on that, but my diet nor sleeping patterns have changed. Sure I’m stressed with work, but who isn’t?
I will go back on TriCyclen Lo next week as I was on it for 5 years without any side effects. I’ll report back!
I’ve always had very thick hair and was shocked to see it falling out, but now I know other women also experienced hair loss *after* stopping Nuvaring. Of course the dr. and dermatologist I asked said they’d never heard anything. I am so thankful to have found this thread! I used Nuvaring for 8 years and it was wonderful – no complaints and was the only birth control that ever helped with super-painful periods – but I stopped it when I lost my insurance about 5 months ago. Now, like many of you posting here, I’m afraid to go back on it. If anyone has any other suggestions for hair-thickening products, I’d appreciate them. I currently use several AG products because they’re sulfate-free and not tested on animals, but perhaps there’s something better? Also, if anyone else’s hair has grown back in, please, please let us know!
I was only on nuvaring for 2.5 months. I pulled it out because it irritated my vag, and caused extra lining on my cervix (according to obgyn), and got a small bacterial infection. 🙁 now that it’s out and I’ve had my last period after it, I’m on ortho tri cyclin low as I use to be. My hair was always thin, but before nuvaring I was so happy using nioxin which got my hair so long and thicker. Well of course my dream shattered and during Nuva ring from day 1 I had 2 small bald spots on my hair line. Thinning progressed to the top of my head. This week I saw a hairdresser who showed me a mirror and the back of my head has a spot. She bought me bosley. I’m using that. I made an acupuncture appointment. I bought Chinese herbs and also American herbs (pre natal, omegas, biotin). My hair is still coming out. I only started Nuva ring in late April, and am off it by July. Been off it less than a month. I know it will get worse before better. My hair will come back different, but I will stay positive.
NO heat. Just clips to make a bun. NO ties or pony tale because it looks crappy. So bun with a clip on the top side of my head. I’m wearing more makeup, cute head bands, and after reading this, I will no longer feel hopeless or alone.
I’ll pray for all of you and myself. Please pray for me too. The more of us who unite, the more likely the power of positive mind will grow our hair. I love you all and I don’t even know you. I sympathize and I feel you. Stay strong and focus on the positives. HEY!!! WE GET TO JUST WEAR BUNS FOR A YEAR!!! I’ll let ya know how acupuncture and Chinese medicine helps. . . I hear it works. . .
I was on Nuvaring a few months before going to the salon and having my hairdresser tell me I suddenly had a bald spot on the back of my head. I was mortified! I mean im only 20! To make matters worse I had no idea what was causing it so I continued to use it, as the spot got balder and balder. Finally one day it came to me, the only thing in my life that had changed was I started Nuvaring so I went and grabbed it from the fridge and checked the side effects… sure enough loss of scalp hair… gee thanks… I stopped using it that day and my hair grew back in a few months.
I started the ring 3 weeks ago and have notice breakage and a bald spot on the top of my head. It is hereditary. Had I known this would happen, I would have never started the ring.
I am 23 and started on Nuva ring when I was 18 due to a digestive condition which meant my pill wasn’t always absorbed properly. I also need to take the pill for medical reasons not just contraception, so it was a god send. However I did suffer serious hair loss which was never attributed to the ring and rather “stress” and “diet”. The doctor linked it to my (then undiagnosed) celiac which made sense however after 2 whole years of eating properly and less stressful life post uni I have only seen the hair loss get worse. I am very glad I found this and can see many people have had the same problem. I love everything else about nuva ring but I feel that the hair loss is getting to the point where I won’t be able to continue. I will try and write again when I come off the nuva ring to share any symptoms and whether my hair grows back over time. It sounds like many people experience the hair grow back but it takes quite some time.
I’m currently suffering from TE. I’ll post my story when this shit stops and I have some good news. Ladies if your sensitive to hormones then don’t touch birth control ever again. Check out halo couture.com extensions. They have something called the fall that will cover the crown and part of your head. It’s $540 but we all have dished out more than that on supplements and shampoos anyways. It looks natural and covers the good awful splitting in the back of your hair. Hope this helps. I feel everyone’s pain.
I Used nuvaring twice, first time after the birth of my second child and second time from last fall, approximately. First time I was happy with that method of BC – it made my skin glow, hair got thicker for a while but I was experiencing horrible migraines and my blood pressure went up, and one of the specialists I was seeing (the nephrologist) said it may be related to the BC and suggested I change it to something non-hormonal. I switched to non-hormonal IUD. It was ok, but during my period I was bleeding like crazy, I had to use those night pads for first 3 days to avoid leaking. My iron level got down significantly and a new family doctor suggested nuvaring again. The second time it was not that well: and now after reading the comments above I understand that I was not going crazy but in fact I got mood swings and hair loss and thinning hair, depression, anxiety.. – full assortment. But hair loss is dramatic. I even got a wig to myself; haven’t started using it but trying to wear it from time to time to get used to it.. It’s horrible that doctors don’t tell you the truth that hair loss can be associated with hormonal BC. My doctor also just denied it; I asked her if my hair loss and weight gain is related to BC and she said: no, it doesn’t cause it.. Even made me feel as if I am stupid asking this question.i finally decided to get off a nuvaring but so scared now that hair loss may get worse.. I am taking preg-vit supplements and fish oil, stopped colouring and highlighting hair completely, actually for 11 months already; hair grow soooo slowly.. It’s my first week off nuvaring. Noticed increased amount of hair in the drain after shower..but as some ladies mentioned above- I will try to stay strong and keep in mind that it should get better after it gets really bad. Wishing us all peace of mind and full hair back as soon as possible.
So bummed, but hopeful by all of this news. I was on the nuvaring for 3 weeks and had to get off. I was horribly depressed and anxious. My hair has been falling out and like the rest of you, have gone through rounds of blood work, derm visits, allergist visits, etc. Despite normal blood work, I’ve been taking daily but, iron, vitamin D, Vit B12, biotin, adrenal health herbs, and seeing a acupuncturist. It’s been 5 months and the shedding has slowed down, but is still present. Appreciate the hope of others who said that their hair has grown back. I’m starting to see tiny baby hairs, but I am depending on my frizzy hair to cover the scalp (no more straightening iron).
I hope to report soon that my hair has grown back.
I want to know if anyone has had success with regrowth after stopping the nuvaring?
Oh my god! I am just finished reading this thread. Thank you all for sharing your experience. I’m so glad I found this site!! I have been on and off the Nuvaring for years! It makes perfect sense – on and off I’ve noticed my hair getting better/worse but I always put this down to colouring it and stress. I’ve never noticed it this much before though. I’m back on the Nuvaring 2 months. My crown and temples are visibly receding this time. I have growth but its baby hair and doesn’t fully cover my scalp. I am discontinuing use today (had my weeks break this week anyway so perfect timing). I will update you all whether it gets better or worse. Sending you all so much love! <3
One year ago I noticed a lot more hair in the shower drain and on my hair brush than was normal for me. I was on Nuvaring for over 5 years before my 4th dermatologist came to the conclusion that the Nuvaring was the cause (I have beed diagnosed with androgenetic alopecia). I don’t have a family history of androgenetic alopecia or diffuse hair loss. And what I’ve recently discovered is that, of the many birth-control pills on the market, Nuvaring (etenogestrel) is one of the most androgenic available.
It’s now 2018 – over 10 years since ‘mls’ posted her first comment above. I wanted to add my own story in the hope that this conversation will continue, because hair loss from using Nuvaring is a persisting issue.
I keep my hair very short due to having fine, thin hair, so I rarely see my shed strands of hair lying around. I have a wash-n-go hairstyle that doesn’t require a brush or too much product. Last year I was planning a move to the Middle East, so my Gynecologists swapped me to the Nuvaring for my time away instead of being on the mini-pill in case I had trouble getting my script filled. I have never struggled with anxiety or depression, but suddenly I felt of of control , weepy, and down. At first I explained away my feelings because of the obvious big move that I had made, but I didn’t feel convinced. I decided to stop with the Nuvaring because I suspected that my hormones were messing with my mental health. Within days of removing the ring, I started to feel more like my light-hearted self. But not long after, I started to notice the stray hair everywhere. This alarmed me greatly since I’m not used to seeing my hair strands around. Again, I explained it away by blaming the desalinated water that I wasn’t used to in the Middle East. My hair is very fine, so I cannot afford to lose too many excess hairs, so I started being ultra careful about only using mineral water to wash my hair. I also put myself on a Vitamin B-Complex vitamin which has done wonders for my skin, nails and hair shine! But the problem of hair loss has persisted, losing hair straight from the root. I don’t have the luxury of brushing my hair differently to hide it, since I don’t have a ponytail. Out of desperation I did an Internet search for “Nuvaring and hair loss”, which has led me to these posts. I’m pretty convinced after reading your dozens of posts that my obvious balding is due to the Nuvaring. I’m finally going back home next month, looking like I’m sick. I’m embarrassed and sensitive about my sparse hair, and furious at my Gynae for not advising me better.
My story is about my hair falling out since I’ve STOPPED NuvaRing.
I’d taken the pill in some form for 20 years. My hair has been thin the whole time, and my mom’s is too, so I figured it was hereditary. I switched to NuvaRing out of convenience maybe 7-8 years ago. I haven’t noticed my hair being thinner; actually, it has seemed a little thicker (I didn’t even attribute that to NuvaRing…I credited Nioxin that I’ve been using all this time).
BUT 2 months ago, I forgot to fill my prescription, and like an idiot, skipped the ring for 2 months. This week my hair is FALLING OUT. I couldn’t wait to go back on the ring after my next period next week so I can go back to normal (my “normal” thinnish-but-not-awful hair)…but after reading everyone’s posts, I’m now terrified!!
It sounds like getting back on won’t help and could make it worse or just prolong the problem. It sounds like this was going to happen to me whenever I’d stopped NuvaRing eventually, but I just found out early by accident. On top of not knowing whether to stay off or go back on, it sounds like the hair loss could be permanent now. So depressing.
Thank you to everyone sharing the bad and also the good/hopeful stories.
I have been using the Nuva ring for 3 months. I have thick hair and I am used to shedding. Since using the Nuva ring the amount of hair I lose in the shower has become alarming. I have not been shocked at the amount of hair loss from one shower before. I am 29 and have never experienced this before with the pill. Switched to the Nuva ring because I am sensitive to the symptoms of the pill. I am also noticing it thinking toward the front of my hairline.
I am hoping someone will follow up if there hair started to grow back after stopping NuvaRing? It seems everyone said it got worse right after stopping but people said they would come back and report if it did in fact get better later on. Debating stopping but not if the damage is permanent anyways.
Hi all! I am recently 22 and I have been off of the NuvaRing for 2 full years this August (2021). I was on the ring from August 2017 to August 2019. I ALWAYS had extremely thick, luxurious wavy/curly hair and it was literally my prized trait. I was so blessed to have good hair genes…until about a month after stopping the ring. Ever since like September 2019 my hair has been literally falling out in MASSIVE amounts NON STOP. I have lost easily like half the amount of hair that I used to have. It is now so much thinner, it doesn’t hold a natural beautiful form anymore. The texture is different. Now it is frizzy because it’s so thin and dry and dull looking. I have literally bald spots on my head and every time I run my fingers through it, many strands from the root fall out. Literally the SAME EXACT experience as most of you! I know I am literally YEARS late to this post but I have gone to two different gynos and literally brought in baggies of my hair to PROVE to them that I have an issue and they literally ALL have denied that it was the ring! WTH!!! I’m so sick of these lying doctors! I have had blood testing done TWICE and my thyroid and everything else came back completely healthy and normal except that now I have literally next to no progesterone in my body. YET AGAIN the gynos denied that that’s because of the ring which it LITERALLY IS. Healthy levels for progesterone are like a minimum of 10 and mine are at 0.5. I am so tired of being told my doctors that I’m essentially crazy. It’s all a money making scheme. I’m so depressed. Bad depression and anxiety also started and have been issues in my life ever since stopping that absolute poison. I can’t explain how depressed I am to literally be going bald and basically maybe infertile at just 22!! I want a family so bad. I feel so bad for my boyfriend. God bless him and his patience with me because I am a crying mess all the time over these things. My gynos even told me that they refuse to help me with my low progesterone problems unless I want to have a baby like NOW. These doctors will literally give you a pharmaceutical without warning you of the dangerous side effects and then refuse to help you with the issues that arise from what they prescribed you. Not even help, literally straight up DENY. To top this all off, I had to use Duck Duck Go to find this amazing thread. Google just yields generic articles that give barely any info. My hair loss was at its worst last fall and has seemed to calm down a little bit the last couple months but by no means has it stopped. I noticed what I think is regrowth but like so many other ladies said, it has grown back extremely thinner. I am so devastated and worried my natural hair will never come back. I told my bf to prepare for when I’m bald because I seriously think this may not stop or I’m just gonna shave my head. Someone please if you see this PLEASE comment back if you can relate to any of this or if you have any advice for me on how to fix this awful issue!! I’m sooooo depressed 🙁 please please please