Implants?

[indiefolklore.livejournal.com]

I saw only one tagged entry for Implanon...

I'm having a lot of trouble finding personal experiences of implanted contraceptives which kind of worries me.

Anyone out there have an implant story?

Comments

[sparkle-lite.livejournal.com]

I've had my implant since Jan. 2008, and all the unpredictable bleeding that comes along with it. After light, continuous spotting for many of the first months, the time between my periods began to grow longer. Now I have one every 2-3 months or so. I don't see any reason (at this point) not to keep it for another year and a half.

[sparkle-lite.livejournal.com]

oops, I mean, I've had my implant since January 2007!

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

I have an implanon. I love it.

Reading about how the procedure is done is way more scary than actually going through it. Basically, they have you lay down on the table and put the arm you want it inserted in above your head. Then, the doc will check out the skin, mark where they wnt to insert it. After that, they numb the area (this is the worst part because it stings) and after its good and numb (it turns white, which is kinda cool) they will insert the needle containing the implant into your arm. Little bleeding, quick feel to check position, and they bandage you up. You may get a day or so of bruising and pain (mine stopped stinging by the end of day two) and then it healed prety quick.

I havent noticed any major side effects that arent caused by th other problems i have with my health. I did have a major bout of depression, but at the time of my insertion, i still had 2 months left on my depo shot. I blame the overdose of hormones.

If you have any other questions, I can try to answer them, but right now, my husband needs the pc :P

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

oh yea... im one of the rare ones who doesnt have periods at all on it. The last two months i have had some minor spotting (like the oooh, pink.. interesting type) and thats it. One major (regular) period since last november.

[indiefolklore.livejournal.com]

Yep. Definitely have some questions, i'm cool with waiting for answers.

I noticed you were on Depo which i am also on and had been previously to my pregnancy with maybe about periods 4x a year. First, did you also have lighter/fewer periods with Depo that continued on being the same with Implanon?

I'm not very scared about the procedure, it's actually one of the reason i want an implant rather than a normal IUD. I'd much rather have something going on in my arm than my ladyland. What made you choose an implant?

Were you able to drive yourself after the procedure or do they reccommend a ride and can you pick which arm?

TIA.

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

I only got the depo for one round. I had expelled 3 IUD's, and didnt want to try a fourth. There was only one doctor in the hospital I am covered under, so i had to wait until she was available. The first appointment they had was scheduled for when i was due for the next shot, however a spot opened up and i went in for a consultation. She wasn't happy with putting it in, with me being only a month into the depo, however i told her that i was going to be losing the insurance i had and it was my only chance, so we talked out my risks and went with it. The first few months were hell (emotionally) but i had a lot of things going wrong at that time and the combination of the stress and hormones just kicked my butt.

I probably could have driven, since everything was numb for a few hours (we had a 3.5 hour drive to make immediatly after my procedure) but i preferred not to.

ok period comparisons: the day after the depo shot, i had a 13 day long spree of heavy heavy bleeding. With the 3 IUDs, and now my implant, I only suffer/ed the occasional spotting or light period (hardly enough to warrent a pad or tampon). It seems i am starting to get a regular cycle back, but i wont be sure until about the 24th if my math is right. I have been spotting every 6 weeks for a day or so, then im done.

IUDs aren't scary, they just dont work for me. They were basically just an extended par for me :P

[syntaxdarkness.livejournal.com]

i just got mine on friday! insertion was easy the only thing that hurt was the lidocaine its a small pin sized hole it went in through and its just a little sore now =)

i got it at 4 weeks PP and am exclusively breastfeeding

[indiefolklore.livejournal.com]

I wish i would have done my research before.

They ended up giving me my Depo my 2nd day PP which screwed up my supply (They knew i was going to BF and assured me it'd be fine). It wasn't till 3 weeks ago(8 weeks PP) that i realized what the problem was because i Google-Fu'd my suspicions.

I most definitely would have opted for this instead.
Safe breastfeeding was the first thing i looked up on it.

[syntaxdarkness.livejournal.com]

eeek Im sorry are you able to get your supply up at all!? It was the first thing i googled too. insertion wasn't that bad at all. (but this is coming from someone who insisted on watching them do my amino)

[indiefolklore.livejournal.com]

Eventually yes but with no help whatsoever from the medical community. All they did was push formula on me or threaten hopitilizing him for supposed low weight gain. We're looking for our 3rd pediatrician in 3 months...

After reading in breastfeading i found this to not be quite a worry (the weight gain) and began supplementing him less, took a few nursing 'vacations', keeping myself well hydrated and eating oatmeal everyday and drinking Mothers Milk tea 3-5x a day. My supply is where i think it should be. :)

[mercy-rain.livejournal.com]

*wince* Depo given that early can totally inhibit lactogenesis. They should have known better - it says right in the prescribing information (http://www.pfizer.com/files/products/uspi_depo_provera_contraceptive.pdf") that it shouldn't be given to exclusively breastfeeding women until 6 weeks postpartum, did they not think there was a reason for that?

I would so write a letter about that :P

[indiefolklore.livejournal.com]

I'm actually already suing them for an unrelated event regarding my son.

Most likely it will be brought up in the case regarding continued negligence.

[hold-fast.livejournal.com]

I had my Implanon removed after having it for nearly 7 months with no change in bleeding. I was bleeding constantly, like a light period. I started getting weak and I knew I had to give up on it. I also had horrible acne while on it, while previously my acne had been completely cleared up. It was definitely not a good experience for me, which is why I switched to a Paragard IUD.

As for the actual insertion, it went great. It was the removal that went wrong. The lidocaine didn't work and she started slicing at me while I could feel it. However, this really had nothing to do with the Implanon itself.

[nightchild01.livejournal.com]

No personal story from me, but I'm deeply interested in it, as well. I'd do an IUD but...yeah. I barely handle paps without hysterics; I don't think I'd handle the insertion/removal of the IUD well (plus I've not had and kids and am not going to so finding a doctor who'd be willing to do it for me would be hard). My worry is needles -- I'm TERRIFIED to hyperventilation and hysterics (even at 21 years old) of medical needles -- so I wonder if they'd do it without me being numbed (I have a freakishly high pain tolerance from years of chronic severe eczema). Good luck!

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

Do you by any chance have any body piercings? The needle they use is about the same size as the one used to pierce tongues and belly buttons. They did make me look at it (to prove the implant was indeed in the needle before they started) but really, after the lidocane, the big needle wasnt bad at all. It was cool watching them do it (i hate needles but i couldnt resist)

[nightchild01.livejournal.com]

That sounds manageable to me without the lidocane. I don't have any body piercings yet but am planning on bellybutton at least (my sister, who's got less of a pain tolerance than I do, said it didn't hurt at all)--any other type of needle other than medical doesn't phase me so maybe I'd stay calmer if it was just _one_ needle rather than _two_.

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

its not as simple to shove the stick in as you think. they have to jiggle it around to get it right. Having it numb, its just a lot of pressure (mine shifted just outside the numb area before it got settles where it should) and that was very uncomfortable.

my bellybutton piercing hurt quite a bit. I passed out when the clamp was one. The clamp was the hardest part for me (i snapped back as soon as she was pulling the ring through). My tongue ring was the easiest... though my tattoo didnt hurt at all :P

[nightchild01.livejournal.com]

I didn't really figure it would be. I imagine it'll hurt like a bitch but I'd rather deal with the pain than be turned into an infant because of my phobia. I don't deal with shots well, much less ones that sting because of the medicine. Maybe they could topically numb me or something... Last time I had a blood draw my doctor doped me up on Valium (I pass out otherwise) and used this cream that's related to cocaine and is amazing for numbing. Maybe they'd do that but if not I'd deal with the pain.

The clamps look pretty scary, honestly. Man, getting your tongue done takes balls. I don't think I could let any needle of any sort inside of my mouth.

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

the tongue thing isnt bad at all. Clamps have been the worst part for most of the ones i have tried (or watched. My friend is a professional so i have seen some pretty... creepy ones done). After the clamp its a quick poke, but the worst part is the pop sound you hear :P

I think it takes more balls to get your hood done (which is what im considering doing with my birthday money... been wanting to for about 2 years now :P)

[rosalyn.livejournal.com]

I am really, really, ridiculously bad with needles, but have a reasonable pain tolerance. I just managed to convince myself that the stress of a needle was worth not having to worry about BC for three years. I hardly felt the anesthetic needle, and didn't really feel the insertion at all. From the looks of it, though, I can't imagine anyone intentionally tolerating an un-anesthetized insertion.

[rosalyn.livejournal.com]

p.s. I realize this post is from months and months ago. I just like to throw my two cents in on the very few tagged Implanon posts here.

[sillyaly.livejournal.com]

I don't have any personal stories but I did ask the community back in May a little bit about it-
http://community.livejournal.com/vaginapagina/13267821.html
I struggled with which method I wanted to go with and after I weighed it out over and over again I went with the Mirena. Very Painful insertion but no other problems and I don't have to worry about birth control until 2013!

[ilikerivers.livejournal.com]

I think I'm the person in the community that has had the longest experience with Implanon, (I had one for 3 years and then one for 9-10months straight after) I have been meaning to write up an entry and you reminded me to do it soon. In the meantime what would you like to know?

[tricours.livejournal.com]

I had one for perhaps 1,5 - 2 years and would have constant spotting for 2 months at a time, then nothing, then frequent periods, then nothing, etc... And I lost all interest in sex and got all dried up, all sex became painful. They didn't manage to use enough anesthesia when they inserted it OR when they took it out, so that was quite gruesome. I could feel it worm its way under my skin at insertion, and how it was torn from the tissue when they took it out.

[alias_sqbr]

I've been having very irregular periods, sometimes to in a row ( :( ) but overall am glad I got it. The insertion was fine, painful but not any worse than a vaccine shot.

The nuvaring wasn't out here at the time, I think I'll change to that when this runs out (next march) Regular periods are nice :/

*thinks "I'm sure I wrote a post about it at the time"*
*after much searching, finds post, it is not very helpful, though I went into a bit more in the comments*

[littlemissalien.livejournal.com]

My Implant is my best friend. Seriously.

I suffer from migraines with Aura and for 5 years I was on oestrogen based HBC with no-one noticing on my notes that I have migraines. Finally when I went back on HBC my new GP realised the error and put me on the POP. I took that for over 2 years, but I got more and more lax about taking it, and ended up pregnant. After I gave birth I wanted to get implanon immediately, but it was quite hard to get an appointment (yay NHS!). I finally saw my GP to ask him to tell his staff to pull their fingers out. After that I got an appointment within days and it was all done.

I went through my usual 'heavy spotting for a few days every 2 weeks' pattern that I get whenever I start a new progestin based HBC, but it very quickly got lighter and resolved and I've not had any spotting at all for nearly 3 months now. I've had it in for 7 months next week.

The only issue I've been noticing recently (in the last 2 months) is that I seem to have PMS without the period - I get very irritable and weepy, and have cramps, but no bleeding. Apart from that it's fine and a bit of PMS is livable with - I'm just a bit grumpy for a couple of days. Of course it could be because I've moved to go to university for my MSc, but we're not too keen on the area we're living in.

I don't know what the future holds for me children-wise. Having 1 was quite a risk, so having a long-term method of contraception is excellent whilst I weigh up the pros and cons of having another (at the moment, very unlikely - in 2.5 years, who knows?) and get my life sorted. If I get sorted enough then I'll most likely not have another and try and adopt instead.

Oh, and an IUD is not really an option for me. I've got a connective tissue disorder and although IUDs aren't forbidden, it is suggested that they increase the risk of uterine perforation. Bearing in mind how often my intestines and other digestive organs try to escape (4 hernias repaired and counting) I don't want to risk losing my uterus.

[sprtwrid.livejournal.com]

i get the PMS thing too :P And it did help my migraines back off some (at that time i was getting them for a month or two at a time, with frequent ER visits because I suddenly developed stroke symptoms as my warning system they were starting *pouts*)

The rest of the migraine issue got under control once i got myself put on Wellbutrin SR. no idea why, but all i know is they refused to put me back on paxil or anything like it because imitrex was giving me more intenst stroke symptoms.

[abitofanenigma.livejournal.com]

I was on implanon for just over a year. Previous to that I was on depo for about two (I think).

Insertion was okay. As has already been said it's the anaesthetic that hurts, not the insertion. I was a very rare case in that my implanon got infected after insertion. This does not happen very often at all, in fact when I went to the clinic to find out what was up with my arm they pretty much said I was the first they'd seen like this. It wasn't so bad anyway. It was a little itchy, bruised and inflamed but cleared up quickly after a round of antibiotics.

I already "lost" my period while on depo. I bled a little in the first wee while of implanon (spotting for a month or so) and then went back to being period free. Looking back, depo and implanon virtually cured my acne as well.

I came off it in March this year with a view to going (artificial) hormone free. After a year of being on Implanon I noticed it started to make me a little irrationally paranoid and depressed and just wanted to get rid of all the weird hormones being put in my body. I wanted to go on paragard for long term hormonal birth control. After removal (which was a little stingy afterwards but otherwise okay) my period started...and didn't stop for 5/6 weeks! I'm talking period period, not spotting. Turns out I have PCOS, and the paragard is virtually out of the question until my periods become regular. I'm on the pill now. It was the last thing I wanted to take, but after Depo and Implanon it's kind of a relief that I can stop taking the pill when I want to. I don't have to wait for it to completely clear out of my system.

For the record I have no idea what caused the long heavy bleed! PCOS usually means you don't bleed regularly and you don't have a full period. I joked with my doctor that it was three years of period that I skipped while on depo and implanon...the funny thing is she didn't actually dismiss the idea (maybe not three years worth, but maybe something was being built up in there). It seems unlikely though!

[abitofanenigma.livejournal.com]

paragard for long term non-hormonal birth control, sorry.

pro's and con's

[soulsearcher139.livejournal.com]

I got my implanon put in September 2007, it didn't hurt to badly my arm was just sore for a few days...


I will admit the hormones made me crazy for the first month as my body ajusted to them. I was parnaoid and thought that my mom was going to die (shes not sick or anything i was being irrational). I was a freaking mess. then i settled down.

I love it. the only thing I don't love is When i went in for my pap ( i have to go every 3 months) he looked at my chart from September to now and told me that I have gained 28 pounds since getting the bar put in. and I haven't changed my eating or exercising habits at all since September so im thinking the hormones made me gain it. If I gain much more I plan on taking it out because the weight gain is making me depressed.


sorry if im being negative i just want you to hear my experience.

its evil

[iced-deviant.livejournal.com]

ok, i had one put in after i miscarried....(teenage pregnancy- long story)any way after six months, it had MOVED and was making my arm hurt, it had moved deeper...

it stoped my periods almost all together, prior to this i got them on the same day every month at almost the same time...

i have never had a normal period since then , i have major hormone problems.

anyway when i saw the doctor to have it removed, he cut me open - no numbing - dug around in my arm and then removed it with great difficulty - he had to get more tools....

i went home white as a ghost....

anyway, i wouldnt recommend it, and i also gain heaps of weight in this time period.
i would also say it effect my moods, but it could of also been the emotions i was feeling at the time.

[pruesaysit.livejournal.com]

I recently had Implanon inserted again, after having the first one for the full 3 years. For me, it's been amazing. I have Endometriosis, and one of the great side effects of the Implanon for me has been an absence of periods.
The only trouble I've had in all that time was the removal of my first one. Mine was inserted too far under the skin initially and so I had to have mine out under ultrasound. It took about 90 mins because the Radiologist couldn't find it for ages, but it was definitely worth it.