CoffeeTattoos

free write 

I have been on a birth control adventure recently, and it’s definitely been an interesting one to say the least…

I was on the pill for about 11 months, then I had to stop because it was elevating my blood pressure. However it did regulate my periods and make them lighter than they had been before.

So I switched to an IUD – I got Mirena. I had that for 15 months. Then it started causing me absurd amounts of pain and I had it removed. But before the pain, I absolutely loved it! I had no periods at all.

That left me trying another pill with a lower dose of estrogen in hopes that it wouldn’t mess with my blood pressure. I don’t know if it messed with my blood pressure or not – I was only on it for about 3 weeks. Then Trump became out President-Elect and the nation went crazy about birth control.

And I decided to go ahead and switch to an implant  – I got Nexplanon last Wednesday. (This might seem a bit of a hasty or rash decision, but I had been considering the implant before the election.)

The insertion was a lot easier than I originally anticipated it being. I don’t know where I’d gotten the idea that they would cut your arm to put it in, but that’s not what my ob/gyn did. She numbed my arm with lidocaine and injected the implant into my arm. Then she put a bandaid on the injection site, and put a pressure bandage around my arm.

After 24 hours, I took it off and changed the bandaid. At that point there were no issues that I could see. I was bruised a little, but that was to be expected and didn’t concern me at all.

Last week on Friday, I was sitting and watching Netflix on the tv. I had my elbow on the arm of the chair and leaned on it to adjust myself – my arm hurt. So I decided to take a look – after pulling my arm out of my sleeve, I noticed liquid at the edge of the bandaid. I removed it and discovered that I had blisters where the adhesive had been… Apparently, it seems as though I’ve discovered an allergy to adhesives. This could prove to be quite an issue in life..

So, as I’m writing this it’s Tuesday, and the blisters are getting better. They definitely do still hurt (not shocking) but I can wear long sleeves without gauze and an ace wrap on my arm. And I can touch them to apply Neosporin (and now a prescription ointment) without cringing in pain.

The implant itself doesn’t seem to be causing any major issues though.