Implanon : Implantable Contraceptive

I had nexplanon put in my arm about 4 months ago!! I now have bumps under my skin, cystic acne and my eyes have now developed blepharitis!! Dry flaky skin round my eyes! They're sore and water all the time! I'm phoning the doctor to have mine removed asap!!! Will never have one again!!!

UPDATE! 6/14/2011 All the cysts are gone and I literally have very few pimples. I have scarring left over but I am using Ret-A every other night and the nights between those I use emu oil which I have to say I like better and I am considering just using that alone because the days I wake up and had used the emu oil my scars look softer and less visible vs. waking up from the Ret-A where the skin is dry over the scars and of course peeling from it so then I don't want to wear makeup and it makes me want to pick at my face, ahh.... I have been using Exuviance as my foundation makeup and also there concealer which is a godsend for people with acne prone skin or bad skin in general, so little is needed and realllly makes your skin look so good and feel good even after a long day of wearing it.

I've been on Implanon for about 8 months now, its great for birth control but my side effects have been terrible. The first 5 months on it gave me irregular periods, constantly. After 6 months my period was regular (literally 8 days long) followed with another shorter period for about 2-3 days. After 7 months I've started getting acne all over my face, chest, and back that isn't going away. This has been a long journey but I think ill stick to birth control pills.

The pros: easy breezy birth control and no periods AT ALL for me. The cons: I gained a good 20 pounds in the 10 months I've had Implanon. Not just blaming the implant, but I almost immediately noticed that it increased my appetite and my appetite has not gone back down with time. Also, my face became covered in tiny whiteheads and eventually broke out into cystic acne as well. I've NEVER had acne this bad and I take really good care of my skin. I'm having it removed later this month and I'm planning on staying away from hormonal birth control for a while. Hopefully my body and face will go back to what it was

I just wanted to update from my last post,my skin has started to clear up dramatically. I still have a few cystic like bumps on my neck. They are smaller but getting smaller with time. I have not had any new ones come up, THANK THE LORD! I do however have a lot of scaring and its depressing. The day I had the Implanon taken out I was prescribed YAZ birth control, my doctor said this would help clear it up. I am not sure if it is the YAZ as well helping but whatever I love it and I am so happy that its clearing up all together!

I originally had a Mirena IUD after having my daughter. I was acne free for 3 years while on it, then switched to Implanon because sex was becoming painful. I had it put in June of 09 and in February of '10, I got my first taste of severe acne with a huge cyst on my cheek. This then changed to severe acne (cystic, whiteheads and pustules on my chin, jawline and back) pretty quickly over the coming months. I had it removed in early October '10 and switched to Zovia for birth control and I am just now starting to see an improvement (nearly December '10).

I have had Nexaplon for 4 & half years. The first 3 years were great. no problems, no side affects. Then when it was renewed a year and a half ago I started getting really itchy acne on my face and always in the same spots. My lower chin, just below my eyes on both sides of my nose and on my forehead in one particular spot. Because they keep coming back in the same places my skin has started to badly scar. I also in the last year have barley gone 3 days without some spotting, whereas originally I had no bleeding at all. I have persevered with this for over a year now and have just reached my breaking point. I have booked to get this taken out next week and will go on the pill. I have gone from someone with clear skin and rarely wore makeup to someone with itchy cyst like spots who constantly feels insecure unless i wear make up to cover them. It is a shame because I loved it those first three years.

Fact is, I've never had particularly good skin but after trying every antibiotic under the sun, including a long course of Roaccutane, I'd finally got my skin where I wanted it. After previously having an implant a few years ago with no side effects, I thought I would try one again. For the first two weeks in July, my skin was fine. Then I suddenly had angry breakouts all over my chest and face. Since then, its been a total disaster. I've tried antibiotics, new products, more water, healthier diet....the acne is totally resistant. The biggest struggle I've faced is convincing my doctor that I need to have my implant taken out! On first attempt they said I was impatient and should wait 6 months up to one year! I have persisted and managed to book an appointment to have it taken out. The most frustrating fact is that I had worked patiently to seriously improve and look after my skin, and this implant has attacked it! My face, neck, chest and back has suffered serious breakouts since July now. The acne is red and angry - breakouts have been cyst like and can be extremely painful, especially when they are along the bra line and become sore from wearing clothes. I understand that not everyone reacts badly, but considering that I had no alike reactions to my first implant you just never know! So stay away!!!!

I got implanon initially at my doctors office when I was 16. For the first year my period was completely unpredictable. Sometimes it would be light and long, much like spotting, or sometimes short and heavy (like 3-4 days). In the years since I have only experienced sporadic light spotting. No major periods, I go months at a time without even getting any spotting. So, that's nice. Then literally the day after my first bar had run out I noticed some major changes in my skin. I always had acne prone skin but never really thought much of it. I rushed to make an appointment at Planned Parenthood to get a new implanon put in since I didn't have insurance at the time. I thought this would fix the breakouts, but it didn't. I started breaking out like crazy all around my mouth and chin, sometimes even getting huge cyst like pimples that were under my skin and lasted weeks. I had heard a rumor that they changed the medicine in the implanon but I never followed up on that so I'm not sure. I am 20 now, still have the implanon and have been dealing with this acne for over a year. I have been to the doctor, tried multiple antibiotics and topical solutions and nothing is working. I don't necessarily think it was the implanon itself that caused this but the fact that my hormones became imbalanced when my first bar ran out... I just can't seem to get back to the skin I had. As for weight gain or mood swings I never experienced any of that, but I have a very fast metabolism and have never had any weight issues before. The best thing about implanon is you don't have to think about taking it and you don't even notice it is there. The insertion process didn't hurt at all either because my doctor numbed the area.

I have suffered from acne since 7th grade and I am now a sophomore in college. I have been taking a prescription med to control my skin ever since. I did one course of accutane which was great but then my skin started breaking out again a few months later, and took minocycline which controlled it. I got the Mirena IUD which made my skin HORRIBLE. I even took accutane again and it didn't work, so I got the copper IUD instead and my skin immediately got much better. Unfortunately the copper IUD was awful for my menstrual cycle so I very hesitantly got the nexplanon. I was so worried because I have read almost all negative reviews about acne. After getting it, my skin broke out badly for about 3 weeks but then it perfectly cleared up! It's been 3 months and my skin is nearly perfect. I do take 200 mg of minocycline every day but I have for years and my skin is better than it was before. I am now a true believer that everyones skin is different and what makes someone break out may work great for someone else! I could not be happier with nexplanon :)