There I said it.
Birth control sucks.
And it doesn’t suck slightly. It sucks in an I-don’t-know-what-to-do-anymore type of way. I am over it.
Do I love knowing that I can not get pregnant easily? Hell yeah!
But that is where it stops. That is really the only positive thing that I have to say about it.
I am on Nexplanon. It is the hormonal implant that goes into your arm and it’s 99% effective.
I chose Nexplanon for a couple of reasons:
- It is not a pill so I do not have to remember to take it everyday
- Nexplanon can stay in my arm for up to 4 years
- It is not visible
Nexplanon and I have been on this journey for a year now. And it has not been an easy one.
My biggest problem is the non-stop spotting. When I first started with Nexplanon I was spotting for about five months. That is
a pretty freaking long time. That includes spending money on panty liners and not being able to wear the panties I like. It was horrible.
Then it was the lengthy periods. I thought my periods would get shorter and lighter. Nooooo. My flow is pretty light. But now my periods are nine to ten days long on average every month. Before birth control, my periods were five days long.
The cramps have not really eased either. I am not curled up in my usual ball of pain or staying in bed all day. The cramps are manageable. But they are manageable like a toothache. You can feel it all day long but it is not stopping you from your daily activities. No matter how many pills I take or tea I drink, the cramps are too stubborn to go away when I am on my period.
And even sometimes when I’m not on my period I’m still cramping!
And finally, the mood swings. I am usually an emotional person, and that is okay. But after getting on Nexplanon my emotions have skyrocketed. Those first few weeks after I got it inserted, my moods were extremely unbalanced. I could cry from absolutely nothing. Nothing at all. Nothing will be happening and I could just start crying. I would cry when I was too happy, when I was hungry, at the slightest inconvenience in my life I would cry.
And when I got sad it felt like nothing else mattered except wallowing in my own misery. Being irritated went to a whole new level. I was snappy and moody and everything was bad.
My doctor suggested that I go on birth control pills to help with the spotting and my therapist wanted to give me pills for my mood swings. Do you see the problem here?
Birth control should not be this complicated. With all the science and technology out there you would think there would be something, anything, to make birth control better. And why should birth control only be used by women? Men need birth control that is not just a condom. But they are not ready for that conversation.
I am doing slightly better with the Nexplanon now. Except for the long periods and cramping. I have looked into other forms but nothing else is standing out.
Maybe I should become a scientist and invent my own birth control. But that is a thought for another day.