Ladies only!

I have the implanon, it is the implant that goes in your arm. It is good for three years, and actually the most effective form of birth control available (according to my doctor). I have no period anymore, its only been in for 9 months! I love it!!

Remember everyone is different. My daughter could not do the implant, made her so sick and she gained alot of weight. Hopefully you find something that will agree with you. Good luck.

I have always had horrific cramps. Even when I was 10 years old. Exercise does NOT help it. Makes it worse, in fact. I've also passed out before and if I don't get it under control I will be vomiting and unable to walk on day 1.

My advice? Stop messing around with BC altogether if you don't need it to prevent pregnancy. It makes me SO ANGRY that they are still throwing that stuff at us after 50 freaking years. The only good thing it may do for you is reduce bleeding (heavy bleeding means a heavy endometrium and possible endometriosis.) I don't have heavy bleeding, so it was useless for me. And made me psycho and fat.

My advice? Walk into your OBGYN and demand heavy painkillers. I've used hydrocodone and even Valium with great success. Strangely enough, buspomine (Buspar) works well for me, too. Basically anything that is a relaxant or anti-anxiety works. It is so infuriating that doctors can't make that simple connection. The uterus is a muscle. The muscle contractions cause the pain. So obviously a muscle relaxer would help! DUH! But initially, they will just look at you like you're a drug addict.

DEPO, no period, no problem! Best of luck to you!

No offense to anyone. Taking a pill is not an answer. Why stop something that is naturally meant to happen? You're hurting yourself. Wake up, people!

I tend to have a painful menstrual cycle. I soak a towel in hot water, apply to where the pain stems from, a few minutes, no pain

This is kind of how I feel, too. I know a number of people who have had surprise pregnancies on various hormonal options (pill, Mirena, etc.) and the problem with some of these is that if you're not getting periods, you may not know you've had a failure until a couple of months into it. :-(

To the OP, you can always go for Mirena later. Try the lesser invasive stuff first. It's not common knowledge, heck I didn't know about it until I was like 22 or 23 and had already been using the pill for years. But it's worth it. I now have no cramps, just light bleeding, and no other period problems... and no synthetic hormones in my system! :-)

When my cramps get too painful (ie: I can't move), I'll hop in a hot shower or use a heating pad. I've mostly gotten used to being in pain every month. I have to be in pretty bad shape to go for pain medication. Most of my family relies heavily on pain meds to the point that nothing gives them relief.

OTC like Mydol just makes me go to sleep which doesn't relieve the pain. BC has never made the pain go away.

DEPO, no period, no problem! Best of luck to you!

I bleed 75% of the time on Depo


You have been checked for endometriosis right to make sure it isnt that?

No offense to anyone. Taking a pill is not an answer. Why stop something that is naturally meant to happen? You're hurting yourself. Wake up, people!

I tend to have a painful menstrual cycle. I soak a towel in hot water, apply to where the pain stems from, a few minutes, no pain

No offense, but cramps are not "naturally meant to happen." They usually result from overactive prostaglandins or endometriosis. If you are able to stop your cramps with a hot towel, you have no idea what actual, horrible menstrual cramps feel like.

I had the equivalent of the implant in a pill, cerazette, dunno if it has the same name in the US?
I had pretty heavy periods before that, and mine actually stopped completely after a while, such a blessing! The pill, implant, can stop them.
Now I'm on a different pill because after a good few years I was getting breakthrough bleeding.

It was great the first few months and then I started cramping horribly and it got worse and worst..doc even checked it and at that point it was fine.. then one day... out it came

I get very intense pains and exhaustion for two weeks before my period. I tried the Pill around ten years ago, and it helped, but it had other negative effects, which were even worse than the pains, so I stopped taking it after three months.

Nowadays, I find what helps is to go for long walks every day, which include some hill walking. I don't know why this works - I first found it helped when I went hiking in Scotland with a friend. Now I just walk to work every day, which includes some hills, and this controls the pain, although doesn't fix it completely. Other types of exercise can make it worse, but somehow walking several miles, including uphill, helps - and if there is no uphill part, it doesn't help. Changing my diet also has helped - a lot of foods made the pains really bad, so I experimented with different food and found that eating very simple natural foods, in very small portions, helped. I have to avoid junk food or the pain gets really bad. I also need a lot of sleep during that time, or I become too exhausted to function. I eat food rich in iron, potassium and sodium, and that helps too.

The doctor has suggested I try different contraceptive pills, as it's likely a hormone imbalance, or endometriosis, and this can by helped with the Pill, as it alters hormone levels, but I don't want to risk it, as my body is very sensitive to whatever is put into it, and I don't want another adverse reaction. Having said that, having taken the Pill in the past, even though it was only for three months, has actually had longterm positive effects: ever since, my period has been regular, very light, and only lasts three days. Before taking the Pill, it was very irregular, quite heavy, and lasted five days.