1 month and 4 days

I am happy to report no problems! I'm just posting to reassure that I haven't abandoned this blog and I WILL keep updating it, even if there is nothing to update you with!

I'm still waiting on the blood test. I'm thinking maybe at month 2. That will ensure that the hormones will be in my system and any problems will be noticeable in my blood work by then.

And let me say how ecstatic I am about my skin! Well, my face at least. Since I work out and sweat, my bra line on my back creates some blemishes, but that is from sweat, not hormones. Having clear skin, everyday, really makes life easier. Not to mention no periods. (knock on wood! I hope I don't jinx this good thing I got going!)

Anyway, I'm glad to see some people have actually read this thing!! I hope it helps and gives you hope that Implanon might not be as bad as other girls make it out to be!

1 month Anniversary!

Today makes it 1 month since I got the implant! As of now, I'm pretty pleased with my choice. I haven't been having any troubles, which is one less thing I have to stress about.

As far as my mood, it has been improving with the help of counseling and just getting into the groove of college.

I have been noticing slight, very slight cramps. There are several things it could be, paranoia is one I am thinking of mostly.It might be a sign of spotting, it might be a sign of an on-coming period or it could be nothing. This birth control, if nothing less, keeps you guessing (on a side note, I have been told that I worry too much and "terriblalize" situations. Perhaps that is noticeable with the cramps, mood, etc.) I just really, really want this birth control to work out. I don't have any other options at this point. Of course, there are always other forms of birth control but, true to form, I would worry too much about "accidents". I need as much reassurance I can get.

Well, I'm going to get my blood taken soon and see if these hormones are lowering my Lamtical (anti-seizure medication) levels. I'm hopeful!

Day#28

Well, I haven't seen any real side effects like acne, weight gain or spotting but I have been a bit down in the dumps lately. It COULD be because I just dumped that guy I was talking about a few posts ago and that I dumped my boyfriend of two years only 3 months ago. I'm still hoping I come out of this on my own and it isn't my bc that is causing this slope in my mood. I am a full time student at college taking 4 senior level courses, working only one job about once a month and trying to save up for Grad school in two years. I've got a lot on my plate! I am going to counseling right now to help with the stress and emotions I've been having but I have been going since before I got the implant. Life is a bit much to take at times! It's nice to have an objective someone put things in perspective and give you some advice to get going.
Anyway, once again, side note into my personal life! I guess I will see what tomorrow brings and blog about my mood on my one month Anniversary!

Day #23

I am happy to report no side effects! My period is gone, no spotting to speak of, no moodiness AND my skin has not been this clear since I was on the pill over a year ago. I took mircogestrin and even though it is not one of the pills that clears up your skin, it did mine. I think any birth control just helps clear my skin up, but probably not for most? All I know that my skin is amazing and I love it!
My weight has been a struggle to lose but that was the case even before I got Implanon. I seem to have plateaued, so I'm neither losing nor gaining. I have started the couch25k program and I am doing well with that.

Well, that is all I have for right now. 

Day #20

Today will be a week since I started my period. I have not had a period that lasted 7 days since middle school until now. Granted, it has been very light after the first two days and it is still tapering off as of now. I will say that today looks like it is at it's end and hopefully that will be the last of the bleeding I will have.

I really hope that I don't keep spotting! I don't want to ruin my fancy Victoria Secret Pink underwear or never get the chance to wear them either! Okay, okay, I don't have an audience for them at the moment but still! Every girl likes to wear cute undies.

  Some other girls have complained about wasting money on liners, but should I continue to spot, I will use some reusable, cloth pads.

  I know, I know!! You are thinking what the hell are those and why would anyone wear them?!?!
Well, for me, I figured...why not? It's not going to kill me and if i don't like it than I won't use them.

 If you haven't looked into them or heard of them or are just grossed out by the idea, I would recommend at least looking at what people are selling. You can look at a few websites that mass produce them like lunapads or moonpads, but they are expensive! I recommend going on Etsy and looking at those. Not only are the ones on Etsy cheaper, but they are softer and cuter! Just looking at all the super cute patterns is fun! So, if you are bored one day, just look! (Okay, that's my little endorsement. I'm not some super vegan, healthy person. I don't recycle as much as I should, I love steak and I shower, shave, wear make-up and shamelessly rock my fav clothing brands....did I mention how much I love steak?)

  Here are some pics I took of ones I just bought (never been used so don't worry). I bought them on Etsy from bloosmpads. They are so soft and just well made. I have other ones but they are about 3 years old and were never cute to begin with (I think the website I got them from was Manymoons. But, like all the websites now, they are much more expensive than when I bought them.) Anyway, now you can say you have looked...

 Here is what they look like when they are snapped back.

 Here is what they look like from the other side. The backing fabric is fleece so it won't move when you are wearing it.

 Hopefully, these pics make you reconsider what you think when you hear about cloth pads. I don't even like using those words, but that is what they are! The other term used to re-usable pads, which in my opinion is worse.

 Other than that, things are great. No weight gain, my skin is looking better and better! I'm not moody and my sex drive is still healthy and present. Those are the side effects I worried about the most!

Well, that is all I have to report. As far as the effectiveness in the birth control part of Implanon, I probably won't be testing that out for months but that of course if a choice! ( at least that is what I am telling myself. It is certainly NOT going to be from the lack of options......I hope......)

Day #17

From the last post, I expressed my disappointment in the spotting. Well, the next day, it turned into a full on period. My periods usually have horrible cramps the first day, and this was no different. They were not AS horrible as before, but still hurt enough to be annoying. Also, mine usually last for about 3-5 days and as of now, it's getting lighter but this weekend will be the big indicator, I guess.

My moodiness had been pretty up and down. Of course, I have been going through some stuff to make me moody and I've been stressed from school too.

As far as the acne goes, my skin is looking great! No weight gain, as of yet either.

That's all the update I got for now. Not much, but I am keeping it up! Praying for the bleeding to be just a period too....

Day #14

Well, everything was great.. Emphasis on WAS.

I starting cramping today, but not the kind of cramping I had the first few days. There are cramps women (okay at least me) get before your period and you know they aren't the real deal. Then there are the "real deal" cramps, which is what I was having today.

And so, my fears were confirmed, I am spotting!

On one hand, the optimistic side of me is telling myself that I didn't have my period when I was supposed to back on the 23rd of August, so maybe this is just that. Also, it's just light spotting at this point, but the cramps are indicating otherwise. The pessimistic side of me is thinking that this is the beginning of a 6 month period!

Perhaps it's going to be somewhere in the middle. I don't know. All I do know is that I am worried. I am hoping for the best and expecting the worst. 

Day #12

Not much to update, thankfully! The tenderness is better but it only hurts a little when I press on it, the needle wound is still scabbed over but all in all, it's looking good. No more cramps or food cravings and no unusual moodiness (like I said, most all girls are a bit moody from time to time), no bleeding and my skin looks like it's clearing up if anything, but I don't want to speak too soon. I always breakout before my period.

I'm so happy I chose this (for now at least, time will tell). It really does put my mind at ease knowing that if I should start dating someone that I will have at least to methods of protection. I am dating someone now, but from the looks of it, I don't think it's going anywhere so there is not going to be any worry of protection methods there (side note into my personal life).

The only other thing that is still yet to be determined is if the hormones lower my medication levels. If the hormones do happen to lower the levels, I'm going to get it taken out. Not having seizures is better than sex! (okay, I admit it's been awhile since I've have either but I stand by that statement!).

Day # 9

Well, the past couple days I've been having serious food cravings, cramps and very slight moodiness. However, today I feel like I'm back to normal. No cramps, the food cravings are gone and the moodiness seems to be just me being myself (isn't every girl a tad moody?). I know that my sex drive isn't down, no spotting or even a hint of a period.

The only thing I will complain about is that my arm is still tender! I wonder if the lady who put the insert in hadn't done the procedure too many times and maybe she wasn't as smooth as some. Or it could just be that my skin is sensitive, especially the underside of my arm.

I am happy so far. I read a few posts about other girl's experiences and cramping or "pretend periods" as one girl referred to them is pretty common. I've never had perfect skin, especially before my period, so getting acne isn't anything new and I haven't had the acne I wouldn't expect anyway. I'm also probably about 20 lbs overweight but I am continually trying to at least maintain my current weight, so I will also have to monitor any weight gain for no apparent reason. The side effects go on of course, but those are the ones I read about the most frequently. Many girls were doing fine for a few months and then their periods started to get closer and closer together and some say it still hasn't stopped for months now. Scary, but all I can do is enjoy the lack of side effects I am experiencing at the moment.

One thing I will say though is that last night, I took my Lamictal dosage a bit late( honest mistake) and sometimes, that would result in an aura or a full on seizure and nothing happened! This is a good sign, but I can't just assume that it will happen every time. I can only assume the hormones are in my body but even when I was taking the pill, it was only twice that I saw an aura when I took my meds late and there are other factors that trigger seizures. Usually, several things have to be really bothering me or I'm super stressed out (a lot of the times it was my boyfriend always begging and BEGGING to have sex and it pissing me off so much) AND I wait too long to eat AND I take my meds late AND being scared by something suddenly like when you fall asleep and jump awake or something to that effect AND being too tired. So, I mean I've only had about 7 seizures in 7 years, so it's rare that all of these things happen in one night but they do happen.

 I don't think a soul has read any of this yet, but somewhere along the way, I hope that someone will!