Implanon question
Hi everyone, I have a question for any of you ladies who have had the Implanon contraceptive implant put in. It was put in kind of for birth control, but mainly because I have really, really bad period pain. Like, two days off work in bed every month bad. It has been in for about 5 months now. Things which have happened since it was put in
- Killer headaches which I couldn't shake. I tried paractemol, codine, ibuprofen, asprin and combinations of all of them. These headaches 'felt different' to a normal headache. Had to take one day off work. I was getting these 3 or 4 or 5 days a week for about 3 months after I got it in. Had a few headaches a few weeks ago, but my GP though that they were related to a virus I had at the time. Did anyone have these? Did they go away? Did they come back?
- Breast increase. Like - woah!! Before I got the implanon I changed my pill to one with more progresterone, and my boobs went crazy. Like, two cup sizes larger practically overnight. Since I got the implanon in, I've gone up one more cupsize. Did anyone go back down when they got it out?
- Weight gain. Again, I put on some more weight before I got the Implanon. I've put on about 15 - 20 kilos in the last year, about 10 of those since the Implanon. The thing is, I don't know how much of this is Pill/ Implanon related, and how much is just weight gain. When it comes to losing it, I don't know if I'm fighting a battle I can't win while I'm on the Implanon. If the wieght gain is hormonal, I don't know how I manage that with diet/ exercise. Any suggestions? (Oh yeah, and none of my clothes or bras fit any more.)
- Skin. I had terrible skin as a teenager and young adult. (Four courses of isotretonin (Roaccutane) - this is heaps. Roaccutane is for really bad acne (20% of cases refered to dermatologists) and 80% of those people need one or two courses. So I was in the worst 2% of people who were refered to dermatologists!) I finally seemed to have it under control by the time I was 22, but now it's getting worse again. Any other people with really bad acne or acne which got worse on Implanon have any advice? It's a bit embarrassing to be in a parent teacher interview (I'm a teacher) where you have worse skin than their teenage child - let alone standing in front of a classroom of teenagers, and still having the worse skin! I'm desperate for advice on what to do here!
- I hade one period a week after I got it in. Really, really heavy, but only lasted 3 days. Emotional wreck, teary (like, the lady at the shop said that she didn't have a $10 for change and would have to give me two $5 notes and I burst into tears). Then spotting for about 6 - 8 weeks, and then nothing at all since then. WOOOO HOOOOO! I was quotes the stat that 20% of women on Implanon have no periods - just wondering how many other people have not had periods? Did anyone not get periods for a few months and then get them back? So I'm asking if anyone had any advice for coping with the side effects? Now that the headaches have gone away I'm a lot happier, but I'd really like to hear other people's coping mechanisms/ advice/ experiences. Thanks in advance - and sorry the question was so long!
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