Alternative Contraception #2

It occurred to me that some of you probably want to know what I thought of Implanon. A lot of people are a bit wary of having it 'installed' because, lets face it, having a chip under your arm seems very space-agey and unnatural. Like I explained in a previous post my inability to take the Pill left me with the following options:

- a type of injection that needs to be redone every 3 months
- a type of plaster that releases hormones, again it needs to be renewed regularly
- a contraceptive implant
- the bog-standard condom option

Of these options the first one involved too many injections for my taste, the second didn't seem very safe (What if the plaster fell off?) and I'd seen too many films and TV shows where people got pregnant when using condoms. So that left the more permanent, slightly more scary option of Implanon.

Now I'm not going to say that the implant doesn't have side effects, what contraception doesn't, but what I will tell you is that you have to weigh up your options based on you! What works for one person might not work for another.

I got lucky with the implant. The main side effects are moodswings, irregular periods (or even no periods at all) and weight gain. The moodswings I could handle. I've never really been affected by hormonal mood swings even before I got Implanon and it didn't change much when I had it either. My periods were already irregular - with implanon they just got more irregular. For example, one year I had my bleed of the year in March quickly followed two weeks later by a second one. Then nothing until June when I had a very light 3 day period. Then 2 periods in August and another couple later in the year that I can't remember the exact dates of. Some people might find it irritating not knowing when the next period if going to come but since mine were already irregular before it didn't really change much for me. Like I said - you need to chose the right contraception for your situation.
I did gain about 10 kg over 6 years but I think that may have been mainly due to the fact that during the second year I was living in France across the road from a Patisserie... The temptation was too much for me. Having said that with a calorie controlled diet and regular exercise (20 minutes max per day) I managed to drop back down a dress size last summer despite being on Implanon so it just goes to show that even when on contraception you can still lose weight.