Implanon – Research it first – This is my story
How many of you have had the implant put in?
How many had it taken out prematurely?
And the one question I want to know the most is – how many of you had it put in a second or third time without massive changes in side effects? Has anyone experienced zero side effects at all?
I ask all this because I am nearing the end of the 3 years of having the implanon in. The last 6-12 months have been completely insane as far as my body processes go.
I personally had not made the connection between what I have been experiencing and the implant until very recently, and I can tell you, not ONE single doctor came to this conclusion either – and Ive seen plenty of them. But through a wide range of research, reading forums of others experiences, and checking legitimate studies done on this contraceptive, listed on Government websites, it finally clicked that this was the likely cause.
So, when I first had it put in nearly 3 years ago, within a month or so I stopped bleeding completely – and haven’t had a period since (statistically 20% of all women who get the implant will bleed 80-100% of the time and need to have it removed). I’ve always truly hated having to deal with periods so I was absolutely thrilled, it was a weight off my shoulders…
Then came the cystic acne – like most teenagers I had experienced pimples, but was never faced with bad acne (I had also been on the pill since I was 17 until I got the implant put in). Suddenly I had giant cysts on my chin, around my nose, in and behind my ears – I quickly made the connection between this and the implant, but in my opinion, it was totally worth it. It wasn’t constant and it wasn’t excessive, it would just flare up every now and again. That I could live with.
Then came the seborrheic dermatitis. (What I have noticed since then, is that the worst of the flare ups always occurred when I was going through a particularly stressful period of life). My nose was both scaley and peeling, while being so oily I couldn’t get makeup to stay in place for more than an hour or two. I had pimples come up all over my scalp under my hair, which increasingly became oily AF and if I didn’t wash it constantly the pimples would get worse.
Yet, all of this would happen in flare ups, so I was willing to deal.
Fast track to now. I had my oestrogen levels checked last week and they were that of a woman going through menopause.
For the last 6 months I’ve intermittently had my hair falling out (turns out a total change in hormones can do that to you – keeps your hair in the wrong phase), it’s also dry and brittle – I recently learnt that the hormones your body secretes during menstruation are those they keep hair healthy and, well, attached to your head.
The past month I have had the worst acne of my entire life (I’m 28 so could not be more thrilled about that one). If you know any women who have hormone imbalances, just ask them about all the weird and wonderful symptoms they might be experiencing
Symptoms that are never once mentioned that can occur when your hormones are completely out of balance (because I have had them):
– Brain fog – focusing is difficult, you easily forget things, tasks that were easy before require a lot more energy and time
– Night sweats – much like hot flushes – which are also possible
– Fatigue – I don’t mean, “oh I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, I’m tired”, I mean regardless of the amount of sleep you get the most minor of tasks leave you ready to lie down on the ground
– Anxiety and depression – Especially if you already have a propensity for it, it can intensify. I can’t walk through a shopping centre on my own because it makes me so anxious, it has made it extremely difficult to hold down a job like a normal person
– Muscle twitches and cramping
– Neck and shoulder tightness – surprisingly, some studies have linked this with having the implanon(though not as common as other symptoms)
– Trouble sleeping / insomnia
– Oily hair and skin
– Heart palpitations
– Difficulty regulating body temperature
My concern lies with the fact that over the years it is suppose to release less and less of the hormone etonogestrel. But my symptoms have been increasing in severity.
The release rate is 60-70 μg/day in week 5 6 and decreases to approximately 35-45 μg/day at the end of the first year, to approximately 30-40 μg/day at the end of the second year, and then to approximately 25-30 μg/day at the end of the third year.
Thereby the levels found in my body should be decreasing, moving ever back towards a more “normal” range. But it seems to be doing just the opposite.
During this time I was also found to have liver cirrhosis. This was after I started getting really bad Gastro problems, post a particularly strong round of antibiotics. Further research has indicated (to me) that this may not be entirely unrelated.
Because ENG (etonogestrel) “is metabolized in liver microsomes by the cytochrome P450 3A4 isoenzyme. The biological activity of ENG metabolites is unknown.” Source: The FDA website – https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2009/021529s004lbl.pdf
After doing some research I found out the first generation implant “Norplant” was pulled off the market after several lawsuits because it caused permanent blindness in some women turning some women.
I’m not saying the implanon is bad, some women don’t experience any symptoms at all. I’m just saying before you decide to get one, really do your research first, as there exists the possibility that it could irreparably alter your body and the way it works.
If you have your own story, be in positive or negative, I would love to hear about how it worked for you or if you came across any symptoms in particular
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