Nuvaring Experiences
Hi everyone!
For context, I’d like to mention I’m 20 years old. My PMDD has been getting pretty unbearable and I think it’s time for a change. I’ve been on mood stabilizers for a couple years for management of unipolar depression (antidepressants didn’t work great for me so my psychiatrist prescribed it off-label). this has done wonders for my general mood swings, but the week before menstruation is especially difficult for me hence why I was also diagnosed with PMDD.
I’ve been on the pill in the past (Yaz) for a year in my senior year of high school which helped with physical symptoms like extreme cramping but did nothing to my emotional distress. I also gained quite a bit of weight. I went to an Ob-gyn recently who recommended the Nuvaring, but I’m worried I will get the same side effects. I lost all the weight I gained in the past two years and I am in the best physical shape in my life, and I really don’t want to gain all the weight back.
I also heard some people get emotional relief from supplements like calcium and l-tryptophan, but idk if this is just a placebo or a myth. I’m also considering asking my doc to up my dose of mood stabilizer along with taking the supplements instead of taking the BC ring. I wanted to ask about anyone’s experiences/side effects using the ring and also with supplements. I’ve been in psychotherapy for many years and although I’ve been learning how to cope with the emotional distress, my therapist thinks a lot of this is hormonal/biological and that I could greatly benefit from a combination of meds and therapy.