Left NuvaRing in/out too long :/

I've been on nuvaring for over a year now. I usually cycle it(4 weeks for each ring) and get my period every three months. Well this last time I took it out for my period week, I accidently had 8-9 days off before I put the new ring in. I didn't think anything of it, and just put the fresh ring in and everything was okay. Now, the problem is that I left the new ring in for 5-6 weeks. I normally mark everything on the calender, but due to starting a new job, a new semester of college, and moving, I have been insanely stressed and time flew by; before I knew it, it had been almost 6 weeks with the same ring in! I took it out last night.

I am worried because the one other time I left it in for longer than 4 weeks, my period came anyway at about the four week mark without taking the ring out(which is what made me realize i'd left it in too long), but this time that didn't happen. Anyway, I've been feeling very nauseous the past few days, but I could attribute that to anxiety/upset stomach due to some pizza a few nights ago(very greasy, ate a lot).

How long should I wait for my period to come before I decide to take a test? Three days? A week? I'm confused, because every other time I've left it in (even just a day too long) my period has come regardless. (I suppose this is because the hormones on the ring ran out?) Thank you in advance, and please don't make any comments about my irresponsibility/forgetfulness :/ I'm normally very good about remembering to take it out etc.

Hi ecwk6-

I was on the nuvaring for 8 months. I stopped because I got pregnant, while using the ring! I changed the ring on time, everytime. My doctor told me that I was apparently one of the 8% (8 out of 100 women) who get pregnant on the ring.

Ugh!

I said, well doesn't all the literature say it is 99% effective? She replied that yes, theoretically, it is 99% effective, but that is with PERFECT use, and perfect use is pretty impossible to obtain outside of lab conditions. In reality, with "normal" use, the effectiveness is 92%.

Still, 92% isn't bad for a birth control method. But still, I would take a test immediately if I were you.... just because of my experiences. I don't want to make you panicky or nervous, I just like to share that story with other women since the package information doesn't necessarily make those effectiveness numbers very clear.

Good luck, and I hope all is well!

Katyayer:

Thank you so much for your prompt and informative response. I knew about the 8/100 per year thing, which has always kind of worried me. I've been with my s/o for over a year now...so that means we pretty much have a 1 in 12.5 chance of getting pregnant! Especially since lately my use of it has been far from perfect...

I was just wondering if I should wait like a week or so to take a test? Because maybe it's still too early....

Anyway, thank you!

if you can give us dates for the past 2 months we can all help you figure this out pretty quickly.

I had multiple gynos point out to me that if you read the fine print it has enough hormones in for either 5 or 6 weeks (i know thats a big difference for you, but read the paperwork).  I leave mine in for four or five weeks at a time, no problem. Look up the paper that comes with it, look at how much it releases per day or per week or whatever compared to how much hormones is in each ring.