Three out of ten, I thought to myself. I always try to rate physically painful experiences as soon as they happen so that I can be as accurate as possible when describing them.
The Nexplanon implant was inserted into my arm on an average evening in November of 2016. My best friend from high school and their best friend dropped me off at the Planned Parenthood in our college town. While I sat alone in the sterile waiting room, they left to grab burgers at the A&W drive-thru down the road. “Can’t Stop the Feeling” by Justin Timberlake played faintly as the bleach-blonde receptionist sipped what she told me was her fourth coffee of the day.
This implant is a form of birth control that provides protection for up to three years and is 99.9% effective. According to the Nexplanon website, “Nexplanon must be removed by the end of the third year and may be replaced by a new implant at the time of removal, if you wish to continue preventing pregnancy with Nexplanon.” Because of its longevity, it is considered to be a long-acting birth control option, unlike birth control pills or shots that are more short-acting. Inserted into the inside of the less dominant arm, Nexplanon is a small, thin, flexible rod about the size of a matchstick. (Yes, you can feel it if you press on your arm but it’s not visible on everyone.)
Nexplanon is a newer version of the earlier Implanon model. Both only prevent pregnancy and not STIs. For almost a year, the Nexplanon implant prevented me from getting pregnant by thickening the mucus on my cervix, stopping sperm from meeting my egg.
The insertion itself was painless due to the numbing gel that’s injected into the insertion site—it was the gel injection that merited a three-out-of-ten rating. Insertion of the implant is done with a handheld machine that resembles a hot glue gun, which shoots the device into place. After both the gel and the implant were safely put in me, I left Planned Parenthood and joined my friends at a nearby pregame. When the gel wore off a few hours later there was a lot of soreness, but it only persisted for about three days. A small, circular scar just half a centimeter in diameter still lies comfortably on my bicep.
Albeit my introduction to this type of birth control was relatively positive, the months following were equal parts exhausting and frustrating. I got the Nexplanon implant inserted during the last day of my period, and two weeks after insertion I experienced spotting. The light bleeding lasted for two weeks before stopping. Two weeks later I spotted some more, this time for four weeks. My breakthrough bleeding occurred for six weeks after that, then eight, then eight again, then ten—all with two-week breaks in between. According to Healthline, doctors still aren’t sure why some people experience breakthrough bleeding on some forms of birth control, but some believe that it’s your body’s response to a high dose of hormones. When asked why I kept it in place for so long, I explained that the nurses told me to expect side effects for the first few months and I chose to combat this side effect by waiting it out. Unfortunately, this did not work, and I encourage anyone reading this to contact a medical professional when their birth control is not performing to their liking. Bleeding this much caused me to feel fatigued, irritated, bloated, and anxious; overall, I experienced many more negative side effects than positive ones. In fact, I think the only good that came out of trying Nexplanon was that it made my skin look flawless and I was able to have sex comfortably without getting pregnant.
Aside from the massive amounts of bleeding, another side effect I experienced was depression. I felt empty, irritable, lonely, nervous, and hopeless. I drank a lot and binged on food to make me feel better, neither worked. I cried a lot and spent many nights alone. Honestly, I felt horrible that so many of my friends were enjoying their Nexplanon experience, while I suffered in silence. I told nobody about my symptoms and side effects because I felt like a failure of a woman. How could I not respond well to a product that was designed for my body? How could I not perform womanhood?
When I was tired of the negative side effects I called my gynecologist and asked her to take a look at my situation. They ran every possible test, including an ultrasound, to make sure that there were no structural or chemical imbalances in my body. The results came back positive—there was nothing wrong with me. Hearing this news did not make up for several months of guilt and depression, but it did give me hope that I could find a solution. She suggested trying Junel, a progestin/estrogen combination birth control pill, for six months on top of the Nexplanon implant, to see if that would stop the spotting. I was admittedly hesitant to have two types of hormones in my body, but I was willing to try anything at that point.
A month into this dual birth control method yielded exceptional results: my period was back to normal! The six-month trial also briefly expelled my depression. I’d returned to my true self. As soon as I stopped taking Junel my breakthrough bleeding started again, but this time I didn’t wait out any negative side effects. After truly realizing that the Nexplanon implant just wasn’t for me, I scheduled my appointment for removal.
Removal is much more complicated than insertion because the nurse has to cut through the small scar and use a tongs-like device to grab onto the Nexplanon implant. Again, she injected numbing gel into my arm and the entire process took around 15 minutes. Like a true millennial, I documented the entire moment on my Instagram story.
I do not write this in order to urge people not to use the Nexplanon implant. In fact, my friends’ positive testimonies of their experience with this type of birth control prompted me to get it inserted in the first place. However, despite my extensive research, I was not able to find too many negative statements from reputable sources at the time. Everybody is different, which means that anyone can respond to the same chemicals and hormones in drastically different ways. While my friend Brandi hardly got her period on Nexplanon and my friend Maddie had nothing but good things to say about the implant, my lived experience with Nexplanon was overwhelmingly negative.
I currently still take Junel and love this method of contraception; however, someone else may have an opposing testament. There are side effects and complications that can occur with any type of birth control, and I highly suggest that anyone considering Nexplanon and looking for advice should consider my story along with any other positive ones before making a choice for their own body.
Sifting through the many different birth control stories may seem overwhelming, but I personally wish that there was more information for me to examine before stepping into that Planned Parenthood almost two years ago. One size does not fit all, and if you are interested in using birth control it is important to find one that fits you. Do not ignore any red flags!
*Addis is one of the founders of Bitter Blush, a platform that strives to discuss topics that traditionally make people blush. You can follow the blog on Instagram at @bitter.blush.Â