Fertility awareness methods (FAM) vs Vaginal ring
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Fertility awareness methods (FAM) ingredients
Vaginal ring ingredients
Main hormones in Vaginal ring
progestogen
oestrogen
What Lowdown reviewers say
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Real life reviews from people like you
Fertility awareness methods (FAM) reviews
154 reviews
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
24 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 6th Jun 24
I started using Natural Cycles a few years back. I was never on any birth control as a teenager as my mum didn't want my young body being put on hormones. However, once I settled down with my current long-term partner, I wanted to have the peace of mind that I wasn't going to fall pregnant. The first few years of using Natural Cycles were great and empowering, understanding the changes in my body and knowing when I had ovulated was great. What I had failed to understand was it predicted with its algorithm your date of next month's ovulation based on your previous month. Well. I managed to fall pregnant not once, but twice in the space of 8 months. The first time around, I thought it was my fault and I had not taken my temps properly (even though I never had an issue in the past). I had a surgical abortion as I was 3 months pregnant before I actually found out. I was willing to try again and really get to grips with it even though the clinic was very strongly advising me to go on some form of HBC. In the past 6 months, my body has recovered from the abortion and got back into its usual swing of periods and I saw I was ovulating again. This time around I invested in an Oura ring to pair with my NC app to be certain of my temps being taken. All was well, I stuck to my green and red days religiously. I use the pull-out method on red days (if we do have sex). And I trust our pull-out method completely because we definitely know he does not ejaculate inside of me or we tend to stick to oral sex rather than penetrative. I noticed my temperatures lately had been higher than usual and my ovulation was confirmed a bit earlier than usual. I didn't think much of it as I had stuck to our red days and green days as shown. When I went on calendar view, I saw that my fertile window just gone was a lot shorter than 6 days and I had unprotected sex (on a green day) that was 2 days before I ovulated. I did a test and indeed am pregnant yet again. I contacted NC straight away and got them to go through my data, which they did and have taken full responsibility for the muck up with their algorithm. I advise you to check your fertile windows and note any other observations (cervical mucus), because the algorithm cannot be trusted. And from what I now know, ovulation may change throughout different cycles (stress, sleep etc). I will no longer be using them ever again which is sad as I did so enjoy using it.
Somewhat positive mood
1 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
33 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 4th Jun 24
Very positive mood
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
25 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 20th May 24
First few months lots of ‘red’ days (no unprotected sex days). Coming off the pill was a personal choice and brought back lots of issues i.e needing prescription pain medication. However, my sex drive and mental health have significantly improved and impacted on my relationship. I’ve used natural cycles for 2 years religiously and no problems or pregnancy.
Very positive mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
24 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 6th Jun 24
I started using Natural Cycles a few years back. I was never on any birth control as a teenager as my mum didn't want my young body being put on hormones. However, once I settled down with my current long-term partner, I wanted to have the peace of mind that I wasn't going to fall pregnant. The first few years of using Natural Cycles were great and empowering, understanding the changes in my body and knowing when I had ovulated was great. What I had failed to understand was it predicted with its algorithm your date of next month's ovulation based on your previous month. Well. I managed to fall pregnant not once, but twice in the space of 8 months. The first time around, I thought it was my fault and I had not taken my temps properly (even though I never had an issue in the past). I had a surgical abortion as I was 3 months pregnant before I actually found out. I was willing to try again and really get to grips with it even though the clinic was very strongly advising me to go on some form of HBC. In the past 6 months, my body has recovered from the abortion and got back into its usual swing of periods and I saw I was ovulating again. This time around I invested in an Oura ring to pair with my NC app to be certain of my temps being taken. All was well, I stuck to my green and red days religiously. I use the pull-out method on red days (if we do have sex). And I trust our pull-out method completely because we definitely know he does not ejaculate inside of me or we tend to stick to oral sex rather than penetrative. I noticed my temperatures lately had been higher than usual and my ovulation was confirmed a bit earlier than usual. I didn't think much of it as I had stuck to our red days and green days as shown. When I went on calendar view, I saw that my fertile window just gone was a lot shorter than 6 days and I had unprotected sex (on a green day) that was 2 days before I ovulated. I did a test and indeed am pregnant yet again. I contacted NC straight away and got them to go through my data, which they did and have taken full responsibility for the muck up with their algorithm. I advise you to check your fertile windows and note any other observations (cervical mucus), because the algorithm cannot be trusted. And from what I now know, ovulation may change throughout different cycles (stress, sleep etc). I will no longer be using them ever again which is sad as I did so enjoy using it.
Somewhat positive mood
1 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
33 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 4th Jun 24
Very positive mood
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
25 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 20th May 24
First few months lots of ‘red’ days (no unprotected sex days). Coming off the pill was a personal choice and brought back lots of issues i.e needing prescription pain medication. However, my sex drive and mental health have significantly improved and impacted on my relationship. I’ve used natural cycles for 2 years religiously and no problems or pregnancy.
Very positive mood
3 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Vaginal ring reviews
48 reviews
Used for 1 - 3 mo
20 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
No side effects at all but the ring kept falling out so i always felt it while standing up
Increased sex drive
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
29 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 8th Jul 24
I really loved using the ring, compared to the pill the side effects were minimal and absolutely no bother in remembering it. Unfortunately my doctor just made me come off it as my blood pressure has steadily gone up over 3 years of using it. I did experience loss of sex drive, and vaginal dryness which led to thrush infections. But no changes in mood or skin!
Decreased sex drive
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
29 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 15th May 24
Love the Nuvaring. Hardly have to think about changing it. I can get the odd bit of breakthrough bleeding if I don't take my 7 day break. Overall, I'm a big fan!
Top side effects not reported
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
20 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 2 weeks ago
No side effects at all but the ring kept falling out so i always felt it while standing up
Increased sex drive
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
29 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 8th Jul 24
I really loved using the ring, compared to the pill the side effects were minimal and absolutely no bother in remembering it. Unfortunately my doctor just made me come off it as my blood pressure has steadily gone up over 3 years of using it. I did experience loss of sex drive, and vaginal dryness which led to thrush infections. But no changes in mood or skin!
Decreased sex drive
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
29 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 15th May 24
Love the Nuvaring. Hardly have to think about changing it. I can get the odd bit of breakthrough bleeding if I don't take my 7 day break. Overall, I'm a big fan!
Top side effects not reported
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 6 mo
33 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 18th Nov 23
Things started out really well. No side effects and I didn't take ring breaks so no periods. My skin got less greasy so I got fewer spots, and I had 3 months blissfully free of painful period diarrhoea. Sadly after 3 months I started to get breakthrough bleeding every day and minor versions of my old period symptoms like back pain, cramps, and digestive upsets started to flare up. I tried removing my ring but that just made it worse and within 4 hours I was having a bad time on the loo and put a new ring in just to make it stop. The new ring helped, but now I feel kind of trapped having a constant mini period all the time with no alternative since the only pill that worked for me in the past has been discontinued, and progesterone only contraceptives have never agreed with me, so nothing else seems as convenient as the ring. All in all, bit of a mixed bag.
Improved skin
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
29 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 7th Oct 23
Switched to the vaginal ring after using the pill. When first trying it I could feel some pressure in my lower abdomen but this feeling passed after 1 day and havent had it again since using it. The first 2 periods I had were shorter but heavier than usual but after each period (basically the break week) each period got lighter and my 3rd period was lighter than my usual. Apart from that no other side effects - the above ones I experienced I would say linked to my body adjusting to a new contraception (similar to the pill where they tell you the first 3 months you may experience some side effects). I dont feel as moody as when I was on the pill and the great thing is I dont need to remember to take something everyday so the peace of mind is an additional benefit.
Somewhat positive mood
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 6 - 12 mo
23 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 10th Sep 23
I've been using the ring for almost a year now and so far it's been working rlly well for me. I pretty much forget it's there when it's in and its rlly easy to change. It's the first hormonal contraceptive I've used so I was extremely apprehensive about it but slowly I've got used to the idea and now it's just a normal part of my routine. The side effects I've experience are minimal and very manageable. A slight decrease in sex drive particularly a couple of months in, and a very slight increase in weight but both are managable and Ive gotten used to. My periods are really regular and I have very little period pain which is great. I would really recommend giving this method a go, overall I'm very glad I did.
Top side effects not reported
1 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 5 yr
31 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 9th Sep 23
I didn't have any bad experience with the nuvaring while using it but I stopped 6 years ago and i've had problems with my periods ever since... when I stopped, i was having spotting for 9-10 days before my period, my doctor told me everything would be back to normal after about 3 months, but it's been 6 years. It gradually got better, now i only have 1 to 3 days of spotting before my period. I don't know if the ring caused it but it's getting better and better since i stopped using hormones that's why i think it might be linked.
Improved skin
1 more effect
0 helpful
1 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
30 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 11th Aug 23
Unfortunately this contraception made me feel very sad! It led to a continuous low mood, of which I have experienced with the pill previously. I basically just cried a lot for two months and so decided to stop using it. I liked that this could be a short term solution (more short term than the coil) and it was easy to insert/remove. It was not uncomfortable.
Very negative mood
1 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
32 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 8th Aug 23
My mood spiralled quite rapidly - by week three I was in what I would describe as a state of depression and had to remove it a few days early. I felt as though there was a grey cloud over my head constantly and I was randomly crying several times a day. It was actually interesting tracking my mood because it was a stark difference to how I was feeling prior to using the ring. It's a shame it didn't work out for me as it was quite convenient method of protection but I couldn't endure the feelings for more than one cycle.
Very negative mood
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 3 - 5 yr
36 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 1st Aug 23
Best contraceptive I’ve tried so far, and love that I only need to change every 3 weeks!! Unlike the pill, no mood disturbance, weight changes, skin changes! (had previously used the 3rd gen pills, which were much better than the others which made me hungry and depressed. I used gestodene, for 10 years, then switched to yaz for 5 - was better than gestodene - then a GP friend told me about the nuvaring)
Improved skin
0 helpful
0 comments
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