I Got The Nexplanon Birth Control Implant and This is My Experience

My relationship with birth control has always been a challenging one that started out in high school.

A girl from my school who was on the patch passed away from a pulmonary embolism, which is a fancy way of saying that a blood clot found its way into her lungs.

After her death, it was discovered that the patch likely contributed to the development of the blood clot because it releases a high amount of estrogen directly into the bloodstream.

She was only 17 years old when she passed and had just started college. Her death and the cause of her death had a profound impact on me and how I went about choosing birth control from that point on.

You can read an article I wrote about her in college here.

There is something about birth control that feels like such an exciting rite of passage into womanhood. It also feels like a form of social currency as well because with having it comes the assumption that you are having sex and lots of it.

Before her death, I couldn’t wait to get on birth control–not only because of what it would signify to others about my active sex life, but also because I heard that it made your boobs huge and having huge boobs has always been a big deal to me.

But after her death, it really forced me to wake up about what it meant to be putting things into my body.

When I finally decided to start taking birth control for myself, I did a TON of research that involved both reading online and consulting with my doctor at the time.

I first started myself out on what is called a combination birth control pill, which has a combination of estrogen and a synthetic version of the hormone progesterone called progestin.

But after about a month on it, I found myself feeling more anxious and emotionally wound up than usual. So, I then decided to try a non-estrogen based form of the pill called the mini pill.

While you have to be much more on top of taking the pills around the same time everyday, the mini pill ended up being the right birth control for me. I had no side effects, I never got pregnant while I was on it, and I never had to worry about blood clots because it was estrogen-free.

And for the last 10 years, it was totally working well for me. It wasn’t perfect, as remembering to take it on time everyday could be challenging, and before the Obama administration made birth control free for those who had health insurance, I was shelling out $10 a month to get it–but I was able to make it work.

However, given that I was about a few weeks away from losing my health insurance that I got through grad school back in August, I decided to revisit my birth control options and try to find something that didn’t require daily maintenance.

My first impulse was to actually consider getting an IUD. But after talking it over with my primary care doctor, I realized that there were cons about the IUD that were hard for me to overlook like constantly checking for strings to make sure it stayed in place or the pain experienced during insertion.

So, then my doctor brought up the idea of a birth control implant.

It is a small rod–about the size of a matchstick that is inserted into your arm and provides birth control protection for around 3-4 years.

I actually had a friend in college who had the implant and had a positive experience with it. The only thing that freaked me out back then was the idea of putting a rod in my arm. It is inserted rather shallowly under the skin of your arm–so you can feel it sitting at the top of the person’s skin.

But now that I was older, and definitely much more tired of demands that taking the pill required, the implant had a much greater appeal to me.

So, listen y’all… I can’t lie–the insertion of the rod hurts like CRAZY and this is coming from someone who has a pretty high pain tolerance. 

BUT– I can say that the process is super quick, like seconds long. Your arm will definitely be sore and potentially bruised for a day or two afterwards and there is the possibility of scarring at the place of insertion.

But now having been on it for the last 5 months, I can truly say that I wish I had done the implant sooner. It is also a progestin only form of birth control–so no estrogen. And while some people have the potential to have a 6 month long period, I was luckily not one of them.

My period was irregular for about 2 months, but once it stopped, I have been period free since.

I don’t feel it when I move my arms, but it was stressed to me that it is important that you are able to feel it through your skin at all times as it can potentially move deeper into your arm.

While I hate that I have a big scar where it was inserted now, I love the freedom of not worrying about pregnancy or my period a whole lot more.

Pros: don’t have to worry about missing a pill, no period, no prolonged feeling of pain after insertion, can keep it in for 5 years, 99% effective, inexpensive (with insurance)

Cons: hurts like crazy when you get it inserted, can bruise/scar, irregular periods/potential risk for prolonged bleeding, expensive (w/o insurance)

So, overall, it’s been a positive experience for me. But I can’t stress enough how important it is to research your options when it comes to birth control. Always know what you’re putting into your body, and if it makes you uncomfortable then don’t feel pressured to take it.

Thankfully, there are a ton of options out there that don’t require you to put either mental or physical health at risk.

To learn more about your birth control options, click here.