My experience with the Implanon
For those that have followed me on social media you will know that I have had some health issues in the past. My health story is such a long and complicated one it’s difficult to know what to share. I thought I would start where it all began: the Implanon.
The Implanon is a progestin only birth control (Most hormonal birth controls use a combination of both estrogen and progestin). It is in the shape of a small rod that gets implanted into your upper arm and releases daily dosages of synthetic progesterone (progestin). It protects against pregnancy for three years.
I decided on the implanon a few months before I got married. Everything I read about it online made it sound amazing with fewer side effects than the pill. I also had friends that used it and loved it. I had previously tried the pill for 1 month in an effort to skip my period while I was on a rather rough holiday in Africa and really struggled to remember to take it. The pill also made me immediately depressed so it was not a good option for me. I was 21 and in no rush to have children so I wanted something I could just set and forget. I was praised by my doctor for making such a wise choice for birth control and was promised no more periods and a calm steady mood. My doctor suggested inserting it about 1-2 months before I got married to give my body time to adjust. About 3 weeks before my wedding I started to “spot bleed” continuously. My doctor told me that it was just taking me a little longer to adjust than most people and to give it another couple of months. I was given the mini pill to stop the spotting and away I went.
I actually could not tolerate the mini pill even though it worked to stop the spotting and I stopped taking it after three days. I was a little concerned about being sexually active while bleeding but my doctor reassured me that it was completely ok and that my body would eventually adjust and the bleeding would stop. After 8 months of bleeding and hoping every day that the bleeding would “just end already” I decided I had had enough and got it removed.
That’s my background story. For the remainder of the article I want to discuss the symptoms I had while on the Implanon and then what happened once I got off the implanon.
What I experienced while on the Implanon:
1. Heavy spotting every day
2. Extreme irritability
3. Zero sex drive
4. Tiredness and lethargy
5. Rapid weight gain & bloating
What I experienced after the Implanon:
At first I felt almost back to my normal self. My energy and sex drive returned and I immediately stopped feeling irritable and was just a lot more relaxed and content. About a couple of months later I started to experience some mild anxiety that was unnatural for me and about 2 weeks after I finished my final exams I crashed hard! To be honest I still have a bit of trauma over my experience so I am going to avoid giving details about just how horrible things felt because I don’t want to relive my experience. Instead here is a list of what I experienced as a result of a major hormonal imbalance caused by the Implanon.
1: Seizures – partial seizures to be exact as I remained conscious throughout but was unable to control my spasms, and movements
2. Severe nutrient deficiency – in particular magnesium and calcium
3. Severe panic and anxiety
4. Intense muscle cramps – mostly in the abdomen
5. Muscle spasms and jaw locking – inability to swallow
6. Late periods that were very long -(about 12 days) with frequent spotting
7.Nausea and very low appetite
8. Weightloss
It took about a year and various tests to figure out what was wrong with me. In short my body had stopped producing progesterone. Because of this my body was unable to produce allopregnanalone which is needed to make nerve cells receptive to the GABA neurotransmitter. The GABA neurotransmitter is responsible for reducing excitement in nerve cells. A deficiency in GABA leads to panic, anxiety, muscle spasms and twitching and seizures. I had no idea at the time, but our own hormone production gets shut off while on birth control because it is over powered by the huge influx of synthetic hormones. It’s natural for normal hormone levels to be lower than what they were to begin with when you come off birth control, and it may take a while for your body to return to normal. For most people the affects of post birth control syndrome intensify 4-6 months after stopping birth control (as it did for me) In my case my body stopped producing progesterone all together because I had lost the ability to ovulate. Zero progesterone leads to low GABA, seizures, muscle issues and very severe panic and anxiety. Birth control also depletes nutrient stores in the body, in my case eight months of bleeding exaggerated nutrient loss as well. The combination of no progesterone and low magnesium, vitamin b6 calcium and lots of stress created the lovely cocktail of problems mentioned above.
I will stress that even though I know now that the implanon is one of the worst forms of hormonal birth control, this was a severe reaction. I reacted so horribly because I should have removed the implanon sooner and also because I am a very small, skinny person. Manufactures of birth control test their products on women of average weight and size. In Australia that is about 65kg. I was 42 kg when I got married and so the levels of synthetic progesterone in the implanon were much too high for me and completely deregulated my hormonal system.
I know that it is unlikely that many others will have the same experience as me. It’s natural to think “yes but that won’t happen to me” and it probably won’t, however I do hope my story will shed light on just how powerful synthetic hormones can be. Very little is actually known on how synthetic hormones work in the female body or how each women’s body will react. If I had read this story or something like it before I took the implanon I truly believe it may have changed my decision to use hormonal birth control all together and would have saved myself a lot of years of suffering. That is why I’m sharing this story, because maybe somebody out there needs to hear this, and maybe they won’t have to suffer like I did.
As someone who experienced the continuous bleeding, this is highly relatable and kind of scary. I had the Implanon in for 1 year with odd periods but nothing completely awful/different from my usual long heavy periods without contraception. My best friend had the implant and was one of the women who stop bleeding altogether and i was told that it took between 6 months and a year to regulate itself and not to worry. After a year it did seem to lessen my bleeding and appeared to be working… until a few months later when I started bleeding and it didn’t stop. As I am now living in Thailand and not able to just pop to the doctor with as much ease as I would have been able to at home, I decided to wait and hope it would sort itself out. It didn’t. 8 months later, with my wedding coming up, I decided enough was enough and finally got it removed.
I’m writing all that because I’m now 3 months post removal and now worried about the after effects you mentioned. How long after your removal did you notice the changes? I seem to be experiencing more of the symptoms you had while on it so its probably nothing but as you said, who knows what these things do to us.
I especially think it’s important for people to know that excessive bleeding does appear to happen on the implant (certainly more than what doctors often tell you!).
First of all I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to respond! I’m so sorry to hear about your story and yes bleeding is much more common and intense than what the doctors think! Personally I felt really great for about 2 weeks after I got it removed and then the symptoms started. It wasn’t much at first. It just started with feeling really off and getting anxiety for the first time ever , my first seizure came after about 2 months. I think everyone responds very differently but whatever you are experiencing is most likely due to the hormonal imbalance created by the implanon. I wouldn’t be too worried your heading down the same path as me but I’d definitely be giving your hormones as much tlc as you possibly can! It takes a while to get back to normal Hope that helps!
Ive got the same side effects is this going to happen to me im so worried now is this what happens to everyone with these after effects
NO it absolutely does not happen the same way for everyone, my reaction was very uncommon and happened because of reasons unique to me. everyone is different and will experience different side effects. This was not meant to scare you just to bring awareness that hormonal birth control does have risks and consequences. No matter what happens you can make changes necessary to heal and recover and be even better than before.
Hi, I don’t know how old this is, but I feel I have had side affects that have lasted 7 years. I got the implant aged 17 and kept going with it until I was 22/23 I had changed dramatically on the implant I was so depressed at one point I literally couldn’t speak. When I came off it I felt so much better, like a weight had bit lifted but then as time has gone on depression around my period has increased unbelievably, I have had panic attacks which manifests as seizures. The reason I came across this article was due to the realisation that all my trouble started from the implant I am 30 now and my anxiety and imbalanced hormones continue to get worse. I don’t know how you are doing now whether or not you are better but I am just grateful that you wrote this for me to find. I too experienced constant bleeding, for me it was five months before it stopped. I will never recommend the implant but it seems that most contraceptions have major side affects that aren’t reported and sadly it’s the only way we can live in control of our bodies. I just wanted you to know that someone else has experienced the same thing. Thank you x
Hi, thank you so much for sharing your story, I am so sorry to hear but you need to know you and I are not the only ones. I get emails fairly often about women with very similar experiences. I am personally doing amazing now. My seizures stopped completely about 1 year after I got off the Implanon after I re-established ovulation ( I had not ovulated for a year despite getting a weird bleed, it was not a true period). After that, it took me about 7 years to heal mentally and it took a lot of diet and lifestyle changes as well as a lot of mental work, but I can honestly say that now almost 14 years later I feel better than I have ever felt in my life. I have no anxiety or depression and my hormones are wonderful. I have hardly any symptoms with my cycle at all. I do not think contraceptions are the only way we can take control of our bodies. I would encourage you to research that area further. Pregnancy is not possible every day of the month and there are many non-hormonal options that do not have to screw people up. I have been off contraception ever since the Implanon 14 years later and I only got pregnant exactly when I wanted to. I am happy to share more of what I did with you via email if you think it’s helpful. It was a long healing process but it was incredibly worth it because I have gained so much from my experience and would not change it.
Thanks for sharing your experience..I feel very happy hearing I taught I’m the only one suffering from this post removal effect.. infact it’s now 8months post removal .I felt very okay when I removed but it came back after two months with heavy bleeding not more than 5days…I have been experiencing muscle twitching,anxiety, mood swing, weight loss and the other effects you mentioned..I keep looking for answers on nexplanon i couldn’t find anything as such until I came across you..I will be able to sleep tonight without stress…I feel relieved reading your story and that of others too.thanks for sharing
So sorry you’re going through a hard time post removal. It’s so hard to estimate the damage that the Implanon can do as it’s so different for everyone. I am happy my story bought you comfort. Good luck.
I got a worst experienced with Implanon. Last 2018, after my youngest child turned 1 year old I decided to have an Implanon on my arm. I was being told by my OBGYN that I would experience an irregular period while im on with it. Everything seems good, just having an irrigular menstruation. I seldom had a bleeding. It usual a spot for a day and that’s it. I never bothered since I was being told that it will be a normal response of my body.
2 years after, I noticed i had a facial twitching. It’s not that worst so I didnt mind it. Until I was admitted to the hospital due to Major Depression that leads to Schizophrenia while i had a heavy bleeding. I experienced the real Panick attack and anxiety and depression all together. I was admitted for 4 days in the hospital on that very Spring. I took the meds and everything went back to normal as if nothing bad had happened. I took my meds for 8 months and I decided to stop since I felt so good and back to track. But just 3 months after when I went to relapsed my symptoms and was back to the hospital and confined for 4 days (same last admission).
On my 2nd readmission to the hospital I tried to figure out what was going on. I noticed that everytime I had the panick attack I have my menstrual period. I also noticed that im like into aging my skin has some visible wrinkles and i got a few of white hair plus my body seems so weak unlike before. My Psychiatrist dont want to listen to my side. She just insisted that I have Schizophrenia and want to tackle about im having psychosis during my period. Anyway it gives me hope when I read your testimony about Implanon.
I just removed my Implanon 4 months ago. After it removed i asked my OBGYN to prescribed me an oral contraceptive. Right away after a month og my BC pill i got my period back. And each month I got my period on time. i still continue my meds for depression but im looking forward to stop it gradually in the future.
Wow I’m very sorry for your experience, that’s horrible, we absolutely need more research in this space as we simply do not know the extent in which this causes mental health problems. I hope one day the research will come. It’s a shame these things are allowed on the market without the knowledge we need. Im glad your feeling better now. Just so you know the bleed on the contraceptive pill is not a real period. It is a withdrawal bleed. A real period follows ovulation and there is no ovulation on the contraceptive pill. It’s ok if you feel good like this but when/if you come off it’s unlikely that your hormones will balanced. My journey to recovery was very long.