Implant (Nexplanon)

It can be complicated to tell exactly how hormonal birth control affects mood, but you’re the only one who truly knows how you feel. Everyone reacts to birth control differently, so if you feel your birth control might be contributing to depression, talk with your health care provider. It might be a matter of switching methods or deciding whether to avoid hormonal birth control altogether, or you may choose to wait it out since some negative side effects go away with time.

No, the implant does not protect against sexually transmitted infections (STIs). The best way to prevent STIs if you’re having sex is using a condom or internal condom. Dental dams, gloves, some vaccines (HPV and hepatitis B vaccines) and daily medications, such as PrEP for the prevention of HIV also offer STI protection. If you’re concerned about both pregnancy and STIs, doubling up with the implant and condoms is a great option.

Most people who use the implant have fewer, lighter periods. That means the implant can improve dysmenorrhea (which is severe pain during your period). And, since it only contains one hormone—progestin—it can be used by almost anyone.

Yes. Ibuprofen and other NSAIDs, like naproxen, can decrease menstrual flow and cramping. So if you have heavy or painful periods, your health care provider may recommend taking ibuprofen to help reduce your heavy flow and/or cramping. These medications can also help reduce the bleeding between periods that are a normal side effect of progestin-only birth control methods like the shot or implant.

Birth control methods with no hormones, like the non-hormonal IUD, condoms, sterilization, lactational amenorrhea[RW5] , and hormonal methods that don’t contain estrogen—the shot, hormonal IUDs, the implant and the mini-pill—are all safe to use immediately after giving birth. Combination pills, the ring, and the patch, which contain estrogen, shouldn’t be used until three weeks after giving birth, since estrogen and being postpartum both increase the risk of blood clots.

For most people, the risk of blood clots is low when they use the combination pill, the ring, and the patch. But smoking increases this risk. If you are over 35 and smoke 15 or more cigarettes a day, the combination pill, patch, and ring are not safe options for you. If you’re over 35 and you smoke less than 15 cigarettes a day, talk to your provider about whether these birth control methods are safe options for you.

If you have high blood pressure, methods with estrogen—the combination pill, the ring, and the patch—may make your blood pressure even higher, increasing the risk of a heart attack or stroke. Fortunately, there are lots of highly effective birth control options that are safe and estrogen-free like the progestin-only pill, all types of IUD, the implant, and the shot. Talk to a health care provider about your blood pressure and what birth control is an option for you.

Spotting with the implant) is a common side effect that can be really annoying but usually isn’t harmful. That being said, you’ve got options. If you’ve only had the implant for a few months or less and the bleeding is tolerable, you can wait it out and see if it goes away on its own. You can also talk to a provider about using medications, including combination birth control pills or over-the-counter ibuprofen, to try and stop the bleeding.

With the implant, it’s totally normal and safe to stop having your period; for some people, that’s the whole reason they use the implant.

It’s totally okay to use birth control privately, but some methods are much easier to keep private from a partner than others. To keep your method private, think about how your partner might discover it. Some methods, like condoms, internal condoms, and the pull-out method, are hard to hide from a sexual partner (they are actually more effective with your partner’s help). For the pill, patch, and ring, someone could find your birth control or the packaging, but once you swallow the pill, no one knows you are using it. The IUD is also very discrete, but some partners may be able to feel the strings during sex. Overall, the shot is the most private method once you get it, but it could change your period, so someone might notice. If you are looking for a permanent solution, sterilization surgery is also undetectable, but getting surgery can be hard to hide (and there may be age restrictions and waiting periods depending on your insurance).

If you have health insurance—whether it’s from work, school, your parents, the ACA marketplace, or Medicaid—chances are good that you’ll be able to get an implant with no out-of-pocket cost.

If you don’t have insurance or if you’re on a plan that doesn’t cover birth control, the implant can cost up to $1,300, plus any additional costs for insertion. Depending on your income, you may be able to go to a low-cost clinic to get the implant at a reduced cost. Check with your local family planning clinics to find out if they offer free or low-cost implants (many do).

The implant is extremely effective at preventing pregnancy—as in over 99% effective.

In other words:

Fewer than 1 in 100 people will get pregnant during the first year of using the implant.