Contraceptive implant - what are people's experiences please?

[QueenOfFarkingEverything]

Looking for reliable long term contraception but not quite ready to take the step of being sterilised yet.

I don't want anything that relies on me remembering it, or any kind of IUD. So that seems to be leading me towards the implant.

What have people's experiences of it been? I'm slightly concerned by the stuff in the media about them going awol, or not being put in correctly to start with (though I know the newer ones have a lower risk of the latter). Also, bleeding - the bumf says it may 'become irregular, absent, heavier, or lighter' which isn't very helpful

TIA

I found it fairly painless going in (much less than mirena), I had no periods at all but once I stopped breast feeding I developed awful painful cystic acne over my chin and cheeks, much worse than I had as a teenager. However this did clear up within a few weeks of having it removed.

Thanks, DS is 2.4 and BF so probably will be going for another year or so - does BFing affect the way your body reacts to the implant then I wonder...

I've had it in a few months. Mine was put in by a gynaecologist so I was pretty confident it would be put in correctly. I found insertion less painful than the Mirena as well, but couldn't bear to look while it was being done (can't even look when I have an injection!).

No problems with acne, moods or weight (maybe I should say no more than usual). My periods have always been heavy and irregular due to fibroids, they've stayed heavy but not worsened.

For me, the most important thing is reliability. Fewer than 1 woman in 1000 will get pg on the implant in a year of use - far better stats than the IUD or pill, so even if I did have some side effects it'd still be the best option for me.

I am on my second implant and have had no problems at all. Insertion is a little uncomfortable but not really painful. At the other end of the cycle, extraction was a little more painful but no problems re getting lost or anything. I had the old one out and a new one in in about 10 minutes. I haven't had any problems with weight gain in fact I have lost loads of weight (dieting) with it in but that shows it hasn't affected weight. I don't have periods anymore. Occasionally a bit of spotting and they did come back towards the end of the 3 year cycle but that's it. As someone else said, the biggest thing for me is the reliability, my memory is shite so I didn't want to have to rely on it to take the pill as i definitely don't want any more dc's.

Hth.

I didn't get on with mine. While I was bf it was fine but once I stopped, I basically had very light, constant bleeding. (Thank the Lord for mooncups!)

I would strongly recommend checking what the removal arrangements are in case you don't get on with it. At my GP surgery there's only one Dr who can remove them and you have to book a super long appointment with her but she's so busy they're impossible to get. It took me months of trying to get an appointment to get it out.

I'm on my third implant now. The first two times my periods continued but were more irregular. This time however they seem to have stopped completly which is a bit bizarre. I know that it has a very good success rate but I am still very paranoid about getting pregnant and not realising for a longtime as I'm not having periods anyway.
I got my first one out in order to ttc and was pregnant within a fortnight so you body seems to go back to normal quite quickly after removal.

Thanks all :)

I didn't really want to use anything hormonal but once IUDs and barrier methods are discounted, they are the only reliable option left. The thought of no periods at all is almost as bad as constant/heavier bleeding - I'd be constantly panicking!

I also got acne and lost my sex drive! Perhaps bigger problem was that I also fell pregnant on it!

I had a period for a year before they relented and removed it.
Hated it.

I put on two atone in 6 months and my periods stopped. No other symptoms. My sil has just had hers out as she lost her sex drive.
But my friend is on her second and has no change apart from periods stopped.

I had no negative outcomes and have had 3.

Worked fine for me, no issues. My period did stop which was kinda weird (but since then I've had two babies so gave had pretty few periods in the past three years so it feels much more normal now!). They did warn me that because the implant is a bit dear, they like to be sure you're sure before taking it out, so preferably they want you to keep it in for six months minimum. That's here at any rate (Oxford). I'm sure they'd take it out a lot sooner if necessary but that's what they want to aim for, so for instance if you knew you wanted to TTC in less than a year they wouldn't encourage the implant.

Mine was fine for the first few months then constant bleeding which varied between light spotting and really heavy flow on a daily basis. It also gave me terrible spots, really big hard ones that were sore and it affected my mood

Just had it removed, sorer coming out than going in but not too bad. Hope it works better for you.

Fine for a few months and no periods. Then irregular bleeding which got worse and worse including a time on holiday where I very suddenly bled so much I looked like I'd been shot - we're talking soaked through my clothes in 20 minutes.

Had to go to a different surgery to get it removed as my surgery only had a GP qualified to put it in not take it out! I was supposed to just go for a chat about removal (as it costs the NHS quite a lot if they don't last their lifespan apparently) but I was so insistent he removed it there and then.

I know 3 or 4 people who've had it, they've all suffered with sudden and irregular bleeding like me, and all had it removed early.

Hi, I just had the contraceptive implant put in, I am wondering what the side effects are with bleeding????