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Suggest Remedy For Spotting, Headaches And Fatigue When Using Nuvaring
Question: Yes, I have been dating a 34 year old woman for about 6 months. She was previously in a marriage which ended in divorce and I had been in a monogamous relationship of two years. Both of us have always practiced safe sex or waited a good amount of time before having unprotected (lack of barrier method) with our monogamous partner of considerable time. About 5 months ago she started the Nuva Ring and noticed, at first, spotting which increased to heavier flow. It started during a time period in which we had engaged in no intercourse and intercourse seemed to make it happen one other time. Other than that she complained of mood swings, headaches, fatigue, and abdominal cramps. Her Ob/Gyn immediately went the route of STI rather than looking at the differential diagnosis of the hormones from the Nuva Ring being the source of the signs and symptoms. Is this a normal diagnostic step? What are your thoughts? He cultured her a week ago and we still have not received the results.
Brief Answer:
More likely hormonal issue.
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thanks for writing to us with your health concern.
An STI would manifest as painful intercourse, redness, tenderness, a foulish discharge, itching etc.
The irregular spotting / bleeding and the other symptoms point towards a hormonal basis for her complaints.
Has she ever tried hormonal contraception before ?
And are these complaints the same as they were 5 months back , or have they diminished over time ?
Women might need a varying amount of time to adjust to hormones, right from two weeks to two months, but 5 months is high time.
IF these symptoms still persist, and her culture is negative, then I think you need to switch over from Nuva Ring to another method.
Again, I assume you both have had a complete STD screen.
Another investigation that is a must is a Pap smear, and also a pelvic ultrasound scan plus thyroid hormone levels.
Fibroids, cysts, cervical lesions, thyroid hormone disturbances - all these can manifest this way.
It is best to get the workup done.
All the best
Please feel free to discuss further.
More likely hormonal issue.
Detailed Answer:
Hello
Thanks for writing to us with your health concern.
An STI would manifest as painful intercourse, redness, tenderness, a foulish discharge, itching etc.
The irregular spotting / bleeding and the other symptoms point towards a hormonal basis for her complaints.
Has she ever tried hormonal contraception before ?
And are these complaints the same as they were 5 months back , or have they diminished over time ?
Women might need a varying amount of time to adjust to hormones, right from two weeks to two months, but 5 months is high time.
IF these symptoms still persist, and her culture is negative, then I think you need to switch over from Nuva Ring to another method.
Again, I assume you both have had a complete STD screen.
Another investigation that is a must is a Pap smear, and also a pelvic ultrasound scan plus thyroid hormone levels.
Fibroids, cysts, cervical lesions, thyroid hormone disturbances - all these can manifest this way.
It is best to get the workup done.
All the best
Please feel free to discuss further.
Note: Revert back with your gynae reports to get a clear medical analysis by our expert Gynecologic Oncologist. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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