Quick question about nuvaring

[sutaseiu.livejournal.com]

I love it, and I'm thinking about going back on it (I've been off birth control for well over a year now, if not close to two years), but last time I asked my (new) doctor for it, he said that it was linked to clots. I didn't particularly care, as I fail at pills, refuse to get the shot, and the patch wasn't great for me. But now that I'm considering getting back on it (not for birth control, but for other hormone related benefits), I'm curious. Is this clot thing just the standard birth control = higher risk of clots, or does nuvaring have a higher risk?


Also, a real quick question, as the community search thing just doesn't work for me; can someone point me in the direction of a general health/nutrition community? I want to work on improving my diet, but I can be very picky, and it tends to be hard to find interesting, healthy food that doesn't have tomatoes or onions.


Alternatively, does anyone know if nutritionists are covered in Canada? I'm in BC.


Oh, and, any idea how long it takes for aprilmdesigns to ship pads? I'm not in a rush, but I ordered some and I'm excited to get them.

Comments

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

It's undetermined currently -- may be a bit lower, may be a bit higher. NuvaRing actually delivers a very low estrogen dose to the body compared to other methods of hormonal birth control, and it's primarily the estrogen in HBC that's linked with blood clots.

However, NuvaRing's own disclaimer (http://www.nuvaring.com/Consumer/index.asp) (the small print) says that the type of progestin it uses may create a higher risk of clots than progestins in some birth control pills. But it notes that it is not known if the clot risk is higher with NuvaRing than pills, so this is all supposition.

In regards to nutritionists -- I think you're actually probably looking for a dietitian. (A dietitian is a regulated profession, but anyone outside of one or two provinces can call themselves a nutritionist.)

To my knowledge, dietitians are not covered under provincial health care. (Nutrionists almost certainly wouldn't be, since it isn't a regulated profession in British Columbia.) It might be one of those things that you can get the government to cover if you can prove a medical need, but for the most part, no.

That said, some feminist and sexual health clinics have dietitians on staff that are free. I know mine does here in Winnipeg, I don't know about BC though.

[sutaseiu.livejournal.com]

I was hoping you would respond. I feel kinda like you're my new LJ mommy, lol.

I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday, so I guess I'll just ask whoever I see (my normal doctor is away until October).

[starpolish.livejournal.com]

If you are a smoker they may be more concerned, but when I brought this up to my NP she said because of my health and my history that I shouldn't worry about clots on NuvaRing anymore than I did while on the pill.

[sutaseiu.livejournal.com]

I very rarely smoke, purely a social thing, and even then it isn't often.