I’ve been on many different types of birth control since I was around 19 years old, so nearly 23 years now. I don’t really remember having problems when I was younger, but started having issues with side effects in my 30’s…weight gain, loss of interest in sex, difficulty having an orgasm, and irregular cycles. I have ADHD, so taking a pill at the same time every day is challenging – other than setting an alarm and then potentially having to take it in front of people if I’m not alone when the alarm goes off (embarrassing). I tried the copper IUD to get off hormones, and that gave me horrific cramps and heavy bleeding for 8+ days every month. After that, I tried the Nexplanon arm implant and my periods became completely irregular – sometimes I’d bleed for a month straight, sometimes my period would start on day 10 or 14 of my cycle even though I had just finished bleeding less than a week ago, sometimes my cycle would be over 30 days long. On Nexplanon, my period would just start without warning, and it would be so heavy I’d bleed through my underwear and stain my pants – I started buying all black underwear and keeping extra pairs in my purse. The emotional toll that this took was awful – I felt like a failure – I was a 38 year old woman who was still having period surprises like a teenager. To top it all off, I had NO IDEA these were side effects from my birth control – my doctor and I talked about the symptoms and irregular periods and she thought maybe it was uterine cancer. I had a uterine biopsy done, which was negative, and then my doctor was talking about doing an endometrial ablation to try to solve the bleeding issues. It wasn’t until I had an urgent care appointment with a different doctor about a sinus infection that I finally found out all of these issues were related to the Nexplanon (3 years later). The urgent care medical assistant was asking me the usual screening questions, asked the date of my last period, and I said “well, it’s hard to say, I’ve been bleeding for 3 weeks straight.” She looked at my chart and then said “well, you’re on Nexplanon, so we know that’s probably normal for you” and moved on to the next question. I was stunned! I had the implant removed a few weeks later and have been fine ever since – cycles are between 24-28 days, periods are light and last 4 or 5 days at most. Shortly after, my partner got a vasectomy, so I haven’t needed birth control in years…but I’m single now, and the prospect of starting hormonal contraceptives again is really scary.