Implant and cystitis

It was great for the first few years, I had no bleeding and didn’t notice any mood problems. After the first time I got it changed, I had constant problems with bleeding on and off. I ended up taking the mini pill on top to stop bleeding which caused horrible dryness, which was very uncomfortable. I didn’t notice my mood getting worse or my sex drive disappearing over the following 6 years, but a few days after I got it out I could feel this weighty sense of dread leaving my body. This contraception was effective insofar as it prevented pregnancy, but it’s hard to tell how much of that was just me never wanting to have sex.

I really enjoyed the implant for the first 12 months, however after this I started to spot more and more and for longer periods. These were also accompanied with increased fatigue and pain. The breakout bleeding than got progressively worse until the end of the 3 year period. Otherwise little to no symptoms which was made the increasing spotting so much more annoying!

I had the implant for over 2 and a half years. When I first went on this, I didn’t have a period for a couple months but then after that I had around a month long period, this was then paired with the combined pill to help it regulate a bit more. I then ended up usually going 3 months without a period and then 1 week of a period with 2-3 weeks of very light bleeding. This was okay. I then recently had my period and since then continued to bleed for over 3 months. I decided that I couldn’t deal with this anymore as it meant rarely even being able to have sex within my relationship. I was going to get it removed early and replaced but decided against it as I reflected on the past year and the side effects that I did actually have. A key one that only really began to affect me around 2 years into it was vaginal dryness and vaginitis which I didn’t even realise was a side effect until recently. Pain during sex sometimes but a decreased libido too. I had also been up and down with my emotions, sometimes I felt extremely emotional and other times like I had no emotions at all. It did seem to work well for the first couple years and maybe getting it removed and replaced early might have helped but I just felt like I wasn’t really happy on the implant anymore, my mood was a lot lower, especially with side effects in mind. Lots of my friends use it and find it really good, I just think it’s luck of the draw how it effects you!