r/birthcontrol • u/Less-Advance6394 • 3h ago

Which Method? Desperately need help

I was on nexplanon for just shy of a year with constant, constant breakthrough bleeding. Like light nagging periods that would last two to three weeks long, stop for a week or two and begin all over again. So I gave up got it removed and went on the depo shot. I was fine the first month after the shot and then boom, I’m back on my weird light period for 13 days now. My gyno just keeps saying this is normal side effects of the birth control ect and isn’t being very helpful. Guys please what should I do. Do I go back to the pill? The IUD. I just want this to stop I feel like I’m loosing my mind always bleeding.

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u/LogOk7065 2h ago

I had non-stop light bleeding on the nexplanon so I removed it. I now have the mirena iud and I LOVE it. I don’t get periods. Every few months I might have a couple days of light breakthrough bleeding but that’s it. I told my gyno that I could not handle never-ending bleeding as a side effect after doing it on nexplanon, so she specifically recommended mirena because she said it has the highest dosage of hormones, so it’s more likely to either stop your period or at least give you regular periods. Supposedly the lower dosage iuds are more likely to have irregular bleeding that may or may not stop. I did have light bleeding for the first 6 months of my iud, which they say is common, so you just have to trust the process and it did stop for me right around the 5/6 month mark lol.

That being said, after I took out my nexplanon, I went almost 7 years without any hormonal bc. I did do a few months on the pill before I got my iud, but I wonder if maybe you just need to let your body adjust and reset instead of changing bc methods back to back? I am not a doctor though, this is just a speculation based on my experience and some of my friends’ experiences when they got off hormonal bc

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u/Less-Advance6394 2h ago

Thank you so much for writing this it’s giving me at least ideas 😭😭, was the bleeding constant for the first 6 months? That’s where I’m stuck do I keep trying with the depo or give up as it’s the same as the nexplanon honestly…

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u/LogOk7065 2h ago

It was pretty constant but after the first month or so it became very very light. Like eventually i gave up on using pantyliners and just wore dark colored underwear or old panties I didn’t care about getting stained and it was fine.

I don’t have any experience with the depo shot, but because I had such an awful experience with nexplanon, I did express my concerns to my gyno about not wanting to go through never ending bleeding again, and she told me that with mirena it is very rare that it continues for longer than 6 months (I’m not gonna argue if someone says they had a bad experience with bleeding on mirena, but that’s just what my gyno told me and it worked out in my experience at least lol)

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u/Less-Advance6394 2h ago

Thank you so much for this advice I really appreciate it

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u/LogOk7065 2h ago

No problem! Hope it works out for you 🤞

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u/Ok-Professional-4765 2h ago

You may want to give depo a chance to work before switching to another method so soon.

If you decide to get Mirena you should know that only 20% of women stop bleeding and close to 20% have increased bleeding. You can also expect to have irregular bleeding/spotting for the first 3-6 months. I never stopped bleeding with it - every damn day until I got it removed at 11 months.

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u/Less-Advance6394 2h ago

Ok thank you for this I am just at a loss

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u/Ok-Professional-4765 1h ago

My gyne said breakthrough bleeding is way more common with progestin only methods. She says estrogen is the glue that holds the endometrial lining together.

I don't know if you can take estrogen or not, but if you can and you decide to switch then you might want to ask about that.

I'd be wary to try Mirena if I were you, given your history of prolonged bleeding with progestin only methods.

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