I turned 40 last year, and got really tired of taking daily birth control pills for most of my adult life, especially when I was done having kids. My ob in Manila suggested that I get a copper IUD, but I had heard so many stories of IUD’s gone rogue. Copper IUD’s (vs. hormonal IUD’s) also typically make periods even heavier, which is something I definitely didn’t want living on a tropical beach year round! Furthermore not having access to good healthcare on our island, I didn’t want to take a chance in case something did go wrong with an IUD. I felt like birth control pills were my only decent option.
I mentioned in a previous post that a friend of mine runs a nonprofit organization here called Roots of Health focused on reproductive health. She suggested I get Implanon, a hormonal implant in my arm, and I don’t know why I never considered it before. Implanon releases a slow dosage of hormones that stops ovaries from releasing eggs, as well as thickens the cervical mucus so that it is difficult for sperm to enter the uterus. It lasts three years and is more than 99% effective at preventing pregnancy. The best part is that for many women their periods stop completely!
I went into Roots of Health so ready to put my birth control pill days behind me. A local anesthetic was injected into my upper left arm, and it stung a little, but I have no fear of needles so it wasn’t bad at all. After waiting a couple minutes for the anesthesia to take effect, the nurse showed me the device that would be used to inject the matchstick sized rod into my arm.
The white rod inside the needle is the implant. Yup that’s a pretty big needle, but you won’t feel it go in at all because of the anesthesia. Afterwards I had pretty bad bruising on my arm that lasted a week, though I wasn’t in any pain. I just bruise really, really easily.
It’s been a month and a half since I got the implant, and I haven’t noticed any side effects. Best of all… no period! My only regret is that I wish I had gotten this sooner!
nectarine / 2054 posts
That’s so interesting! Can you see it in your arm?
grapefruit / 4361 posts
I’m currently considering it! I’m leaning towards the implant vs an IUD…. I have an appt with my OB’s nurse to talk about it next Thursday.
pomegranate / 3973 posts
Thanks for this post! I’m curious as to longer-term options… currently on the nuvaring but since I think we’re done, an implant may be the way to go.
guest
Oh wow, I have not heard of this. I am interested too! We’re doing condoms along with just me knowing where I am on my cycle. Don’t want BCP, don’t want IUDs, this is interesting! Really would love to hear more from anyone that has it!
grapefruit / 4492 posts
@Beehive: You see the scar only, unless you poke one end, so the other end pushes up.
I know the Nexplanon here state side replaced the implanon, but I’m not sure what the differences are really. I think insertion was supposed to be better with the nexplanon. Either way, I was happy with mine the year I had it.
apricot / 341 posts
I loved my implanon. No period! Didn’t have any other issues that I recall until my last year on it.
I had it removed a little early (like 2 or 3 months) because I started spotting every other week or something. Wasn’t major just annoying. I do have a slight scar from where the removed it. It’s about the size of an apple seed.
@Beehive: you typically can’t see it but you can feel it.
persimmon / 1272 posts
So if you’re done with kids… I would imagine wanting an implant for more than one 3 year cycle. Will you wind up with a bunch of scars on your arms? Can they put it in the same spot? I would imagine not because of scar tissue….
pear / 1547 posts
@Sams Mom: nexplanon can be seen on X-ray and has a more foolproof insertion device. The one shown in the post is the Implanon NXT which is basically the implanon with the nexplanon upgrades. Might just be an international availability thing.
pear / 1547 posts
@meadow: you can have your old one taken out and new one put in its spot in the same procedure. Same scar!
persimmon / 1281 posts
After having my son, I refused to be the one responsible for birth control anymore. My husband got a vasectomy in October and was cleared in December. I highly recommend it for all women who are done having kids
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@Beehive: I took a picture of my arm! you can see where they inserted it – it looks like a brown freckle, and you can kind of make out where the rod is. It’s not visible but you can feel it. It’s smaller than a matchstick.
http://www.hellobee.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/49343178_612013279219527_6644770493784129536_n.jpg
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
I’m not sure the difference between Implanon and Nexplanon except that Nexplanon is newer. Only Implanon is available here though. You can have the implant removed and a new one inserted in the same site. My friend that runs Roots of Health has her whole staff on it!
grapefruit / 4361 posts
@Mrs. Bee: @Sams Mom: @RKitty: when you say you can feel it, do you mean you can feel it “internally” all the time or like you can feel it externally when you put your fingers on the area?
grapefruit / 4492 posts
@DesertDreams88: you can feel it when you touch it, I think I was just hyper aware of it when I first got it, but probably couldn’t feel that it was there internally like I thought.
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
@DesertDreams88: you can feel it externally when you touch it. you can’t “feel” it inside your arm.