Contraceptive implant & constant bleeding

[CaveWoman1]

Has anyone else had the implant & did you suffer bleeding with it? I had one fitted at the beginning of Oct this year, and the first month was normal, no bleeding at all. Then had a period which started around the 4th Nov - lighter than usual but went on for a while I thought. But I haven’t stopped bleeding since! Sometimes just spotting, sometimes quite heavy like today.

I realise this can be a usual reaction for women who’ve had the implant but my question is how long does it go on for? I can put up with it for a month or two but I'm worried this might be the norm? Can that be the case long-term does anybody know?

I had the implant for 2 years and bled on it constantly. I was put on the pill alongside to try and sort it out as the doctor refused to remove it but it didn't work. Eventually I went to a family planning clinic and asked them to take it out as I wanted a baby. I definitely did not want a baby but it was the only way I could get anyone to remove it.

I'd never go on hormonal contraception again. I've been diagnosed with PCOS and have really messed up cycles after the pill/implant/patch.

I also had to lie and say I was TTC before they'd take it out.

The constant bleeding is absolutely awful. I had it for 3 months and then asked to have it removed. GP was reluctant and told me to wait a little longer. I then had a massive worrying bleed in bed one morning, gushed and covered the whole bed.

At this point I'd had enough and demanded the removal, to which the GP agreed. However, this didn't go smoothly either! The implant was lost in my arm. The practice nurse couldn't find it, so had to make appointment with GP who also couldn't find it so had to be reffered to hospital to have it removed with help from ultrasound!

Strangely after the enormous bleed at 4 months the daily bleeding had stopped but by this point I just wanted the terrible thing out.

[quote CaveWoman1]@ThorsLeftNut

😲 Since July??!!!!! Sounds like the pill might stop the bleeding???[/quote]
Yep. I’ve had them previously and never had any bleeding or problems so I’m no happy to continue with this.
The only pill that suits me is the same as what’s in the implant so they’ve said it might not even work to stop the bleeding.
I just want it out! 😂

I'm on my third implant now so about 8 years of use. I've had bleeding with all of them and can be fairly light to a normal period. I would say in an average month I can bleed for 15-20 days to some degree. I've been given the pill to top it up before and that has alleviated the problem. I'm so used to it now I've just accepted it. I'm limited in my choice of contraceptives and despite the issues I've not had good experiences with the coil or injection so this is the best long term contraceptive for me.

Yep. I had an implant around 20 years ago, no problem. Got another one about 6 years ago, bled pretty much every day for a year. Had it taken out.

I read the formula (for want of a better word) changed in that time and many women report intermittent or constant bleeding. No one gives a fuck, of course.

I had mine removed after 4 months.... 3months in total constant bleeding. I was had zero need for contraception at that point that I laughed out loud when the my practice nurse asked what method I would use next. It was truly hideous. My skom suffered massively as a result too but I was definitely annoyed by the never ending bleeding.

I bled pretty much non-stop for 18 months. Also put on weight, had mood swings and awful acne on my shoulders. It was a miserable experience. But very effective as a contraceptive because I never wanted to have sex!

Yep! I didn't have constant bleeding but I did have about 2 full periods a month......every month. Wouldn't have it again!

After 3 months of constant heavy bleeding, I begged the doctor to take it out, she wouldn't. I went straight to the walk in at our local hospital and said if they didn't remove then I would. They removed it there and then

I got mine changed in October last year (was meant to be April but covid..). I had no period for 2 months I think and then really long periods, like 20-25 days long for months until last month when it randomly went back to normal 7 days. No idea why, I haven't taken the pill or anything. Definitely worse than the last one, but not as bad as other people's experiences thankfully.

Why are doctors so reluctant to remove it once in? Are they paid for how many women have hormone contraception or something?

@EuromamaAussiekids

My GP told me they are relatively expensive and the majority of women will stop bleeding after so long. He didn't tell me how long. No idea if they have incentives.

Had mine taken out last month due to this, I had to go on the pill to stop my periods which defeated the point. Feel much better having it out.