Such a relief to read these posts..... Many little things which have all added up to making sense and being due to the implant, having read this! : mood swings, low mood days, irritable at times over very little, extremely tired after good sleep, minor bleeding every two weeks, worse skin and spots, weight gain..... all put down to various reasons - shift work, poor diet, late nights, stress...
On the plus side, after over a year of regular unprotected sex.... it has done its job extremely well and I've remained not pregnant..
Well, here's my tale of Nexplanon..
Many years ago I was put on the combined pill (gedarel i think) to regulate my periods and ease the cramps.. worked really well, even when i missed the occasional tablet - was not a problem to miss them because i was single and not sexually active, and they still kept periods at bay/on a 4 week cycle..
Had to have an alarm on my phone to remind me to take them, which was a okay in an office job..
Fast forward to starting shift work and seeing people socially/sexually and I knew I had to have something other than the pill because I needed reliability without the requirement of taking a tablet everyday..
September 2016 Spoke to the sexual health clinic and it came down to either the implant or the coil, and thanks to a long waiting time for the coil....i had the implant fitted that same day.
I was advised that should i have any issues with bleeding, I could take a pill on top of it for symptom control (which i think i need to)
I had two months no periods after having it put it, then some light intermittent ones, and then irregular but light..
over the last few months it's turned into bleeding every two weeks, moods swings last month or so have been awful..
The GP said it should have settled after 6 months and gave no answers for why it would be unsettled now. She recommended changing to the injection, however i dont like the idea of them because once it is in its in, and if i have side effects then im stuck! Also my partner likes the fact he can feel it in my arm..
Weirdly, the bleeding is the least of my worries - annoying and inconvenient, but my fault as I've been too lazy to get the pill!
The mood swings are what has pushed me to post today - spent the day tearful, grumpy , isolating myself, and pushing bf away when all he wants to do is be there for me and help. All over something quite small and insignificant in the grand scheme of things..more to do with the way my mind has been thinking than anything that happened.
Also, I am not pregnant - despite the success of remaining not pregnant on the implant we do a monthly check and was clear three weeks ago (payday treat to myself - peestick 😂)..