For the Ladies, help!!!!

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aleciaj7
aleciaj7 Posts: 39
in Health and Weight Loss
I have used the Implanon arm implant for birth control for like 5 years, I've never had any issues I've always LOVED it! I don't have to think about it and it kept me from ever having a period. I have always had debilitating cramps, like terrible, can't move, crying cramps, so when I first found the Depo shot and then Implanon I was ecstatic! Anyway, to my point, I've lost 50 lbs since the end of July and the last 2 months out of nowhere I've found myself having a period. I'm assuming it's related to the weight loss, wondering if any of you have encountered anything like this? Will it ever go back to normal? I am a nurse and have talked to a couple of docs and they said estrogen is stored in fat cells, so when you lose weight quickly that estrogen is released and so you can have like a pseudo period, which I'm guessing is what I'm having. Hate to post about these kind of women things on here lol, but with so many of you having lost quite a bit I'm hoping someone else out there is in the same boat!

Replies

  • aleciaj7
    aleciaj7 Posts: 39
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    bump?
  • glenette1
    glenette1 Posts: 140 Member
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    I wish I had an answer for you. I have the Mirena IUD and also do not have a period but during the past 2-3 months I've had period-like symptoms so maybe it's related. Using my post mostly as a bump. :)
  • athenaheim
    athenaheim Posts: 496 Member
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    I have had at least two periods this month with occassional bleeding. My doctor had told me at the beginning of the year when I had started to lose weight and then quit again because of surgery that it was because of the weight loss. Good luck
  • lanzaroteblue
    lanzaroteblue Posts: 198 Member
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    Hey there,
    I've just had my 3rd implant. I had to have it early.
    My 1st one lasted the full three years and the 2nd
    one stopped being 'effective' about 6months early.
    I saw my getting periods again as a sign that my
    implant was coming to the end. The only time I
    got a period with the 1st one was in the last month
    of it's life. So it's worth seeing if it's time for a new
    one... (not meaning to scare you).
    I too LOVE it. I hope my answer helps
    Nicola x
  • liesevanlingen
    liesevanlingen Posts: 508 Member
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    Never used the implant, but I've heard and read an awful lot about how weight loss/gain can mess about with your menstrual cycles because of the estrogen in fat cells. I suspect that's your issue, so I wouldn't worry too much. I would expect that once you stop losing weight, your body will start regulating itself properly again. However, you may want to use another method of birth control for a few months just to be sure. Hormones can be very bizarre.
  • Teazybabee
    Teazybabee Posts: 24
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    Hello and good morning. This method of contrecption is only authorized for 3 years of use and then you need to replace it. So...you are probably having the bleeding because the medication levels in the blood stream are not adequate. Be careful, because at this point, you could also become pregnant. Check out drugs.com for more info.
  • texancountess
    texancountess Posts: 52
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    I've been on implanon for almost two years now and I've always had my period. It's short now, only about 2 days long, but it's there like clockwork every month. The presence or lack of a period does not indicate the effectiveness of the birth control. Having a period or not depends on the way your own hormones interact with the hormones in the birth control. Hence why some women on implanon have constant spotting/periods and some have none. It could be that with your weight loss, your hormonal balance has changed and your period could be back to stay.

    Note that I am a musician not a doctor and that this is based all on my own research when I was looking in to getting the implant.
  • margieyoumans
    margieyoumans Posts: 181 Member
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    I can't speak to the effects of weight loss on birth control but I do know that weight loss does affect our cycle. My husband and I tried hard to conceive after our now 10 year old was born. I would only have 1 or 2 periods a year. In late 2010, I started loosing weight. In January 2011, we found out I was pregnant. I truly believe it had a lot to do with my weight loss.
  • starjumper12
    starjumper12 Posts: 64
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    what you should really do is get some hormone testing done. if you don't know what your estrogen/progesterone balance was before the BC (and i don't know what the active hormone is in your particular BC), then you really have no idea what's going on. if you were previously estrogen-dominant and are using a progesterone-only BC, and then lost weight and reduced the estrogen dominance, you could have break-through bleeding. in my experiences, my breakthrough bleeding doesn't stop until i go to my dr and get an estrogen/progesterone cycle.

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