The implanon implant - please read

Hi all,

I had an Implanon implant put in 15 months ago. At first it was great, haven't had any periods, mood swings etc. However I decided to get it removed due to weight gain, and wanting to get my fertility back, and they can't find it. My GP spent 30 minutes the first time digging around with no sucess trying to remove it. They then scanned me - no sucess. Then came attempt number two to cut open my arm and dig about, again no sucess.

I spoke to the company that makes them, who say that this does happen on occassion, and confirmed that in some cases they are never found. In research it has also been found that:
The most common side effect of Implanon is a change in menstrual cycles. Users can expect their menstrual period to be irregular and unpredictable throughout the time Implanon is in place. This may mean more bleeding, less bleeding, or no bleeding at all. Other common side effects that caused women to stop using Implanon in clinical studies were mood swings, weight gain, headache, acne, and clinical depression.

"There have been reports of Implanon getting "lost" or breaking inside of a woman, especially during the removal procedure. Removals of deeply inserted implants can lead to serious scarring, nerve damage, or other complications. If the implant cannot be removed, this may result in infertility, pregnancy outside of the womb (ectopic pregnancy), or inability to stop a drug-related allergy. "

Please take note, I really liked the implant but I was never warned of the position I could now be in. I am awaiting a plastic surgeon to have a go, but to be honest don't hold out much help. If any one had warned me that my fertility could have been at risk before I had this procedure I would have stayed on the pill. I wanted you all to be aware of all the facts before you make your decisions.

Lil'H

Hi

i wud just like to say i am sorry that u are going thru this and that u are having problems, b4 i had mine i was given leaflets to read thru and on the day i had it was told to feel for it one a weekly basis because thy can move around and fatty tissue can build up around them.

i think its important for ppl to be awear of the facts but to aslo make sure thy speak to a person who continually deals with inserting and removing these implant i went to the familiy planning clinic to see a doctor there who is fully trained in inserting and removing the implant and have not hae any problems with mine at all within 4 years my 2nd implant was removed recently due to wanting to add to my family

Awaiting removal

Hi
Whilst quite scary it was really good to read what you have put. Whilst i was given full information about side effects etc i was never warned that fertility could be affected at the removal stage.

I had my implant in for 2 years due to my weight and it was due out in february. I was sent to the hospital for a scan as the Drs could not find it. Luckily they could see it, but when i returned to the Drs the only person in the whole place who could do it had left. I was referred to the local family planning clinic, but they refused to remove it as they could not feel it and without an ultrasound machine to hand did not want to risk cutting without seeing it. I am now awaiting an appointment to go back to gynocology at the hospital to hopefully get it removed there.

If things go well then over 2 years this is a small amount of disruption as i dont have to take pills each day or go to the Drs every 3 months for an injection, but i would never have taken the implant if i had known my fertility could have been effected in such a way.

Thanks for telling other people the true facts about the implant.

Fingers crossed

The implant

i can see alot of negative stuff about the implant and whanted ppl to read the possitive, i had mine 3 years then had it removed and replaced by a trained family planning doctor.

when mine was inserted i was told to feel for it on a weekly basis and if i cud no longer feel it then to contact the family planning straight away as thy can move around...

mine totally stopped my periods which i was greatfull for as thy were heavy and very painfull and lasted 2 weeks at a time so i totally enjoyed the freedom of not having them while i had the implant.

3 of my friends have not long had the implant and r extreamly happy with it as i was,
i also no 3 ppl who have had theres out to have children and all were pregnant within 3 months.

fertility isnt a set thing no one knows how long it will take to concieve each time is different i myself have 2 children one took over a year to concieve the other was within a month of coming off the pill and i had my implant removed to try for another baby my doctor has warned it cud take 6 months for my body to return to normal which is also advised after coming off any contraception at all.

the implant is affective for a set period and once its ran out the affects wear off so weather or not thy have been able to remove it yr fertility should not be affted after the term.

Thanks

Thanks for letting me know as i was thinking whether to have it done as im unsure what contraception to use as i am sick of taking the pill every day.

Oh my god lil!

oh hunny,

thank you so much 4 telling us this. thing is I`m having my implant removed on the 13/jan/09 I AM SO SCARED!
MY FRIEND DONA NAD HERS REMOVED(correction half of it removed) in august as said to me the following:

first: the implant was so deep in her arm muscle that they really had to cut deep to get it!
second: the nurse didn`t exactly wait for the anestetic to start working so when she started cutting that hurt like hell! I quote" It was the most perifying pain I`ve ever experienced!"

third: when they finally did fing the implanon, the nurse tried to pull to get it out and it BROKE!

So now she still has half of it left in her arm, can`t cosieve due to that and is REALLY TRYING, and has a massive scar on the arm 2.

Impanon- no good! Pill-good! Condoms- good!

hope i`m all right on the 13th. wish me luck girls!

Love u all

sienna xx

Implanon hell

hi Sorry sent a blank msg!

I had implanon inserted back in 2006 and had an awful time with it, wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
I bled for a month straight, then was put on the pill (microgynon) at the same time to stop the bleeding. My doctor told me to give it 6 months to settle in! i was moody i lost nearly 2 stone it was hell.
in the end after 9 months i went to a private clinic and had it removed on my own, they were brilliant!
no cuts were made until they found the implant and it came out easy.

Good luck with having yours removed on the 13th!

Carys x

Implanon removal

My daughter had the Implanon inserted in August 2008. She always complained that she had pain in her arm. We went to her gyno twice and tried to have it removed. The first doctor cut her (on 2 separate occassions) and dug around in her arm with no luck at removing the device. We saw a different doctor who refused to try and remove the device because he said it was inserted incorrectly and was in her muscle. We finally had to have the device surgically removed. The surgeon had to use an ultrasound to find the implanon. The surgery went fine and the device was removed last week.

Overall, I think it is a good form of birth control. Unfortunately, there are always risks involved and with my daughter it was that the device was inserted incorrectly.

Implant

yes i totally agree it is a fantastic form of contraceptive when inserted correctly the est ppl are family plannign doctors who do it all the time i loved my implant totally .. glad the surgery went well

The pill and implanon simultaneously

Hi,

Just wondering what type of microgynon your doctor put you on, as I only recently got the implanon, but want something else to stop the bleeding and I used to take Microgynon 50-ED before I got it put in. So what was the strength of microgynon and do you have to take it everyday, or only when you start to bleed?

Thanks,

Private care

hi

how much did it cost you privately if you dont mind me asking because the nhs have tried five times to remove the implant and are now telling me they give up

Implanon hell

Hi

Implanon

i have had the implant for just over a year and have had a few teething problems myself, however my GP is quite good at letting me konw potential problems with all contreception and i was advised of all implanon side effects; Mainly the irregular bleeding. i was experiencing extremly heavy bleeding from what i beleived was being caused by the implant. I went back to my Dr who very kindly said i could have it removed if i chose but said he would like to refer me to a gyanecologist first. I went to see the gynae and after an examination it was discovered that i had a massive cervical errosion and a thinned out cervix which had not been caused by the implanon but by the pill i was on before my implant. since i had my op i have not had any periods, before i had implant i was an extremly heavy periods which would last for 8-10 days and i was left practically crippled at the beginning on my period.

Implanon is not perfect but neither is any other contraceptive drug and there will always be unlucky cases where the implanon has gone wrong and it is unfortuante but the implant is also a good contreceptive implant, except for the condom.

however, I am having my implant removed on thursday so me and my partner can try and have an operation. my doctor has already located my implant luckily (it was practicly poking out of my arm). I am worried about my fertility and whether it will return.

Fertility

i no lots of ppl who have gotten pregnant after having the implant removed one mate had had 4 implants 3 full term and one for a year resulting in her having them for 10 years and was pregnant within 3 months and so was a friend of hers i have had mine removed to try for a baby and have been advised that it can take upto 6 months for the body to return to normal just liek with any contraceptive.

Implant

Hi there, your message was a sound piece of advice.
I actualy have got the implant at the moment and have only had it for around three months now. However I am experience continual bleeding!!! .. I have been prescribed the pill,cerezette aswel to try and counter act the bleeding but it so far isnt having much effect.
Im very confussed as to why this isnt working and whether it is safe to be taking double doses of progesterone ( From the implant and the pill ! ) ?
Did you experience this?or did bleeding settle?!... I would be very grayeful of your views... I am coming to the end of my tether with this frustrating problem!!
Mel : )

Hi mel,

it took my friend kerry 18 months to get her fertility back, she was so frustrated and thought that she can never concieve again.


About the periods be4 i had this hoorible piece of wire in my arm,my period lasted for 4-5 days. Now i get a period TWICE a month and it lasts for 7 days each month.

i am so annoyed and all i want is to have this horrible wire taken out. that`s it


xxx

Omg

im so glad you told everyone this, i came off the pill because of headaches and was unsure about what to do and i wasnt really sure about the implant but id thought about it for a few weeks and decided to go ahead. dont think i will now! Thanks for letting everyone no, you could have saved me alot of bother!

x

Implant

like every contraceptive thy r not suited to everyone there are so horrible storys here but my experiance has been very possitive and i no a few ppl with possitive experiances with it as well so i wud advise u read up on the pro's and con's and make yr own decision based on those i was advised to try the injection for 3 months to see how my body reacted to that as the implant is the same hormone only milder and it is thought a good reaction to the injection means a good reaction to the implant .. to me 3 years total piece of mind and no periods was wat i needed considering how much my periods make me suffer like any with any contraceptive fertility can take a while to return i no 2 ppl who had had implants for 10 years no probs who r both pregnant n became pregnant with in 3 months of having theres removed