I arranged a consultation with my doctor about getting the implant that goes in my arm and I’ll most likely get it sometime this month. I have never had this before so I was wondering what everyone’s experiences are?
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I don’t really want to be a negative Nancy - it has plenty of advantages the main one being you don’t need to worry about pregnancy for 3 years!
Having it put in is a really easy procedure and removed or changed for a new one is pretty straight forward too, just a slightly sore arm for a couple of days after it is removed.
I, however, didn’t really get on with it but I think that was because I had been on Depo for years which I loved and had to change as they won’t keep you indefinitely on that due to bone density issues. On Depo, I had no periods, no hormonal mood swings, life was good. With the implant I had fairly light but very irregular bleeding which I hated having been used to nothing and hormones started playing havoc with my blood sugars (Type 1 diabetic) before random periods plus I was definitely more hormonal.
It does it’s job and I stuck with it for 6 years but as soon as they let me switch back to Depo I did (Jan this year). First Depo injection was then pretty much constant light bleeding for 3 months but since the 2nd it seems to have stabilised out and I barely have any and my emotions are back as I feel they should be - not influenced by hormones! 
So yeh, like every method of contraception it works brilliantly for some, terrible for others and somewhere in the middle for most of us.
I hope it works brilliantly for you 
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My wife is on her 4th one just recently put in, I offered the snip but she preferred not having periods. All round positive experience for her apart from getting her arm a bit hacked around one time on removal.
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Like @Peitho, I’m also gonna go in the negative Nancy camp on this one. Great if you want to avoid pregnancy, but still didn’t like mine. Was on it for 13 years with irregular bleeding. Could go months without a period or be on a rolling one for weeks. Mood swings and acne with abysmal sex drive. Had to rely on lube as couldn’t produce much of my own.
Usually straightforward getting it inserted/removed/replaced, but had trouble with 2 of mine. One got “lost” and I had to get an ultrasound thing to locate it and another got stuck and they were trying to pluck it out for ages (had a burning pain with that one later. Fucking big Ooooff!)
Was a great feeling when it got removed for the last time 
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The first one i had i didnt have any issues with i was in my mid twenties and everything was normal. When i had the second one put in 3 years later i didnt get on with it at all. My GP advised they’d changed the “formula”. My periods became very irregular and lasting a lot longer (1/2 weeks), i gained quite a lot of weight and had constant mood swings. I stuck with it for about a year and then had it taken out and everything went back to normal. Many of my friends have the implant with no issues but i guess it just didnt work for me.
Hope it works out for you x
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Sorry but another negative from me, my body didn’t take to it, the side effects were horrendous. Weight gain, mood swing, depression, acne, and pretty nonexistent sex drive, and a few others too. And the periods I had were irregular, heavy and could last up to a month, a nightmare to remove it, the pain after was horrible.
It was a relief to have it removed.
But every body is different, it might agree with you, good luck 
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I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the implant.
Regular lighter periods, no pregnancy worries for 3 years, nothing to remember taking every day, no checks.
I got the implant back in august. It was simple to put it. I did have a sore arm for a few days with some bruising. Didn’t change my sex drive. Made sex simpler if anything as I didn’t need to worry about pregnancy and my ex enjoyed not needing to wear condoms.
I chose the implant over the other methods as I don’t want kids and didn’t want to have to remember to take a pill daily. I know a lot of people who have fallen pregnant while on the pill. Also found out the type of pill I was offered contains lactose which am intolerant to. Opted not to take the shot because of the bone density issues. The implant seemed like the best long term hassle free option for me.
How its affected my periods has its pros and cons. I use to suffered with very painful periods. Which thankfully now have gotten ten times better. In terms of how often they come, how long they last and how heavy or light they are, Is still a bit of a mystery. Sometimes they are light and sometimes they are heavy. I have had them last for weeks or just days. They usually come more frequently but for the most part they start light then get heavy for a day or two then are light again. Because the pain has mostly gone it just doesn’t interfere with my life as much as it used to. I have a very active life and the pain was the worst part about them. Now even if they last 2 weeks it just doesn’t bother me that much. I am hoping I will lose my period all together
My body took awhile to adjust to the new hormone levels. I do now gets some spots around my chin but nothing major. In the end everyone’s experience is different and people do it for different reasons. I personally wouldn’t switch to any other forms of birth control and intend to replace it with a new one when the 3 years is up. I just hope it’s easy to find and remove.
Good luck. Hope everything works out for you. If you do have issues with it then know there are other short term medications to help with the side effects. I did take the period delay pill to help stop a particularly long period. Which also in turn made them lighter in the future.
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From hearing my friends experiences there are definitely lots of negative and positives about the implant.
I have had 5 fitted for 3 years each and first got it in when I was a teenager. The first one I got I bleed every day for 3 years not heavy but every day. After 3 years I had enough and when I went to get it changed they told me it was the best contraceptive( probably was many years ago ) they gave me the pill to take with it so after that I did have both. My periods did start to regular but that took time.
My last ever implant I had it put in at 28 and taken out at 29, my periods was far to heavy.
The good thing about it was that I didn’t have to worry about it and I could check it for piece of mind, like I could feel it and I knew it wasn’t broken so I knew I was protected. Another good thing was it was easy to remove and replace and didn’t have to use condoms during that period. The negatives were the bleeding, taking the pill along side it and the scar. No one talks about the scars but I have a few in both arms.
I now have the marina coil and after 6 months my periods pretty much stopped, I do however get brown discharge once a month which I like so I can keep track of when my period should be. The only negative to the coil I find is that I can’t feel the strings. I’ve been told you are meant to check them and if you can feel them then it’s still in place. I have never once been able to feel strings but I’ve heard they can curl up. It doesn’t make me worry but I wish I could feel them just for extra piece of mind. My nurse even said many years ago the implant was the best but it’s very dated now.
Contraception is such an individual thing, you won’t know intill you try it out.
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My OH bled pretty much constantly for 8 months after having the implant. Eventually got so frustrated by it she had it removed.
Great in theory but in practice? Hell no.
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Really hate that the go-to bulking powders/agents in the EU/UK are lactose-containing as I too am lactose-intolerant (and also means vegans can’t use pills that contain it either) 
I have to stock up on my pills in the US while I’m home and bring them back with me to the UK during term-time (makes me feel like a contraceptive dealer) 
Regarding the implant, I’m not too familiar with it, but have a few friends who have PCOS and got on terribly with it and once they switched back to the pill felt amazing If you do decide to get it I hope it works well for you, as the majority of members (or their partners) here seem to have had a bad experience
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Think with any contraception you are going to get lots of mixed reviews…google certainly put me off mine…but I HAD to have it due to periods being so bad I had blood transfusions twice.
Research research and do your homework on it. I haven’t had the implant myself only seen the scars a close friend had after a shocking removal from hers…and a family friend who conceived with it…again you only tend to hear about the negatives.
Good Luck whatever you decide.
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I never realised how common a bulking agent it was until the pill. That’s interesting that the US don’t use it. I don’t see why it can’t be an option to get one without. That could be an awkward conversation with airport security if you ever got stopped 
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I had the implant, before my husband had a vasectomy. Some people love it, I hated it the thing and was desperate to get it out. I felt constantly low and would basically always be on, I had no cycle to speak off.
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