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annaconda posted:Sorry about the wall of text, but I hope sharing my experiences helps someone. I read a lot of VERY POSITIVE or VERY NEGATIVE experiences with Implanon before I got it, and I wanted to show you guys that there are some people who are kinda ambivalent about it. Count me as another one; I've had it for about 9 months now and my experience has been similar to yours. My GP recently put me on Loestrin 20 to sort the crazy periods out so I'm hoping that'll work. Thankfully I escaped the mood swings and I think my skin has marginally improved, so at least there's that. Also, not pregnant, so hooray!
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Jan 25, 2011 02:28
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Lanthanum posted:Got my implanon on put in a couple days ago! I wouldn't get your hopes up too much on the no bleeding thing - that only happens to a lucky 20%. However, if anyone in the other 80% is curious, here's my Implanon + pill trip report. My GP put me on Loestrin 20 for three months to stop the irregular bleeding I was getting with the implant. Success! I'm on the second pack now and everything is normal again. Yeah, it's higher maintenance, but taking a pill once a night is a lot less stress than getting random periods all the drat time. If anyone's having a similarly iffy time with the implant then this is well worth looking into; I really wish I'd done it months ago.
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Feb 25, 2011 20:24
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I havent ha any bleeding yet, but the people at PPH told me finish the pack of pills that i was on. Once they finish they said up to 3 months of spotting/bleeding. Then no periods! I love this thing.
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Ring of Light posted:This might be a dumb question but why do you continue to use Implanon when you have to take a birth control pill to control side effects? Why not ditch the Implanon and just take pills? Does the increased effectiveness make you want to leave it? I had terrible bleeding and sexual side effects and got mine taken out and switched to generic Ortho Tri Cyclen and have been so much happier. Nah, it's a pretty reasonable question. I'm only on the pill for three months; after that, maybe my body will take the hint and stay on schedule, or so the doctor hopes. However if I go off the pill and CHAOS REIGNS then I'll probably just get the implant out. Long term doubling up does seem a bit silly. NaturalLow posted:Obviously I can't speak for them personally, but my guess is maybe they just don't want to have to worry about taking their pill perfectly all the time. The implant provides constant protection from pregnancy that you don't have to take right on time every single day. If you're just using the pill to stop bleeding, you've got more leeway if you miss taking it by a few hours. And if you forget to take it completely one day? No biggie, at the worst the bleeding might come back but you're still protected. Yeah, this too. So far I've only once screwed up and taken it a few hours late but it's nice to not have to freak out about it, although I guess without the implant as a safety net I might be more careful about taking it on time.
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Feb 25, 2011 23:30
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Silver Falcon posted:The implanon thing sounds especially appealing to me because it looks like it has about the same side effects as hormonal BC (which I already know I can tolerate), and it's no-maintenance, with the added bonus of the possibility of being period-free. That is very appealing! I think the chance of Implanon stopping your periods entirely is about 1 in 5; if you're not one of the lucky few, you can expect things to get pretty irregular. Aside from the potential period madness, it's great.
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Apr 30, 2011 20:06
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Lanthanum posted:How long should I wait to call PP. I'm going on two months of a very light period with Implanon. Its kinda shallow, not as shallow as Anne Whatley's, but still shallow How long have you had it in overall? I think the advice is usually to wait three months for your hormones to settle, but after that you might as well look into trying something new, because that poo poo is annoying. I ended up going on Loestrin 20 in addition to the Implanon (trip report: cycle like clockwork, better skin, awesome times). The implant may be convenient but that doesn't mean you have to put up with endless periods.
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May 15, 2011 18:06
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fork bomb posted:Were you prescribed the Loestrin because you were having continuous bleeding? I'm really interested in the details of your experience because I'm also on Implanon and I've been having acne like a mofo for like 4 years now. I don't want to give up the security of Implanon to switch to a pill but I'd love the benefits of using both. Addendum: I'm 27 and I smoke; I know there's a higher risk for heart attack with smokers on the pill. Yeah, it was to deal with the bleeding. I got my Implanon put in a little over a year ago. The nurse who inserted it told me on the day that if I had lots of bleeding issues after the usual adjustment period then I should come back in and they could possibly put me on the pill for three months to sort it out. The bleeding wasn't continuous for me, but I was basically having strong periods three times a month, which was pretty miserable. After eight months, I made an appointment with my GP, explained my circumstances and what the nurse had said, and she wrote me a Loestrin 20 prescription immediately. Initially it was only for three months, but at the end of those three months I told her I'd been having good experiences so far, so she gave me another six months worth. I switched to a different GP across the UK between getting the implant and getting Loestrin 20, so it seems like a standard NHS solution for crazy Implanon bleeding. However, I don't know how it would be elsewhere, or if they'd be more hesitant if you're a smoker (I'm not) or just want it for acne. I don't think Implanon was giving me bad skin in the first place, but the pill just happened to help, so that was a pleasant side effect.
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May 19, 2011 23:17
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Has anyone run into crazy hormone issues after an Implanon replacement? After three years with the implant, I had mine taken out and replaced with the new version (Nexplanon) on the 20th. Since the transition was almost instant, the doctor said I shouldn't really notice much of a difference. However, over the past week I've been getting increasingly large mood swings and spent a couple hours today crying uncontrollably for no reason. This is horrible and I want it to stop. Is Nexplanon significantly different from Implanon? I thought it was just meant to be easier to track, but I didn't have this sort of reaction when I got the first implant so it seems strange that I'm having it now.
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Apr 30, 2013 01:14
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fine-tune posted:I'm only on my first implant (Nexplanon), but I remember my doc saying you get a spike in hormones when it's inserted. According to Wikipedia, "Peak serum etonogestrel concentrations have been found to reach 781–894 pg/mL in the first few weeks, gradually decreasing to 192–261 pg/mL after 1 year, 154–194 pg/mL after 2 years, and 156–177 pg/mL after 3 years, maintaining ovulation suppression and contraceptive efficacy." I believe that the "first few weeks" is a couple of months, though IANAD so don't quote me on that. Well, that definitely makes a lot of sense. If it's five times higher than it would have been at the end of the old one, it's no wonder I'm feeling the difference. Thanks! I ended up seeing my GP about it this morning after repeatedly losing my poo poo at work yesterday (thank god for understanding coworkers). He said that my reaction was extreme but not abnormal, and reassured me I should come through it within the next two weeks. In the meantime he's given me something to help me sleep, since I've only been managing about five hours a night, but scheduled me in for a follow-up appointment just in case things continue to be miserable. I feel better just from seeing someone about it, but will still look forward to the day when I don't burst into tears because some birds are being noisy outside or I have a sad song stuck in my head or whatever.
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May 1, 2013 21:31
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