Sexual Health (young people)

You have the option to go back. If you've got any concerns, you have the option to go back even within a month and get it removed if you don't like it. It's completely up to you and any woman who says, "Oh they wouldn't take it away from me," and like, "My doctor said keep going for three months and I didn't want to." She obviously didn't go on the internet and type in Family Planning clinic in my city because it's not hard. My doctor was rubbish, gave me no information and when I contacted the reception to see when I could make the appointment she offered me one in about three months' time which I didn't want, I wanted it sooner than that. So my doctor was absolute rubbish which is why I went to my local GUM clinic. And there were two others attached to the university hospital that I could have gone to but I went to the Family Planning one just because it was closer. Three in one city and, you know, it's not a big city because I was in [city], three but you know so if you're living anywhere that doesn't have one you're probably in a village in the middle of nowhere. It's impossible to not have it done and if someone tells you they can't take it out, go somewhere else because you're entitled to have it taken out if you don't want it.

You were told that?

Yes. You don't have, they recommend that you keep it in for three months because after that the side effects will stop and you'll probably like it but if you don't want it for the three months or you put it in and suddenly you've gone up half a stone already and you're bleeding all the time, you're very welcome to have it taken out and go back on the pill or go on to condoms or go on to any other thing you want but it's your choice and it is always your choice and that's what they stressed to me which is why they were so different from my doctors. Your choice, if you want it you have it, if you don't come, we'll take it out.
 

(The accompanying video and audio clips are played by an actor)

Because first, before I never thought about implant, and when, when I knew it was working and everything I found it really marvellous. I was like, wow, for three years, and you don't even need to take the pill every day to remember it, and this kind of details. 

But it makes it better. And now it was nice, I felt nice when I read the prospectus about it, I found it really nice, so I thought, I'm gonna start to study next year, I'm not planning to have children the next three years and anyway, if I change my mind I can take it out. 

My metabolism will come back normal as soon as you take it off, contrary to the pill that, it takes time for the ovaries to work properly and everything. So, I don't know, I found it more safe somewhere, like for your body and everything, so I decide to change. Maybe in three months I will complain and I will say that it was a really bad idea, but I want to see '

And for the first couple of months it was great. It was fine but then it all started to go really, really iffy. I had a lot of breakthrough bleeding and I think, I think nearly for about two months it was like I had a period for two months. So I had two months without anything then two months with it, two weeks without, another four weeks with it. So completely ruined my entire cycle, just completely ruined it. And because I think the thing you have to remember is when you get these things put into your body they are releasing a chemical hormone into you that your body may naturally produce on a small scale but when you put it [the implant] in that amount is going to have an adverse effect on your body and the balance and everything which I think you get told but I don’t think you get told it in enough detail like.

But I found that doctors are very much, these are your options. Pick one that you think you kind of like and see how it goes. They don’t really warn you that when you put this into your body you are essentially messing yourself. You are messing up your cycle because after, I’ll get onto it, but after I took it out it took about six months for my cycle to go back to normal which, you know, it’s not very convenient really because you can’t really do anything because you don’t want to put more chemicals in after you’ve just taken chemicals out. And so that went on. So I had it in for about, I think, nearly a year before I was like, ‘No it has to stop. I’ve given it a fair shot and I don’t want to be dealing with this anymore.

So I went to my GP. I told them what was going on and they said, ‘Ok fine it sounds like you need to have it taken out’. And it’s, it was ok. I made an appointment. Went in, completely at my own, what’s the word, at my own convenience and I went to surgery and it was a really weird procedure. You lie down and of course they put in the anaesthetic again and they slowly slide it out and you can kind of. You don’t really want to see it when they slide it out because you know what it looked like going in. And yeah they took it out and there, and yeah. And it took a long time for it to heal up and like I said it took six months for me to, for my body to go back to normal.
 

So why did they suggest you use both methods at the same time? What did the doctor say?

With using the injection as a contraceptive, I would just say make sure that you are comfortable within yourself and you’re doing it for you and you understand the risks. It does have different effects on different people so you can’t go by someone else’s experience to judge whether you want to but if you are to try it, I would say probably have the breaks and not for long periods of time because that’s when obviously the worser side effects are more likely to have an affect but I don’t think it’s a bad form of contraception, in moderation. And for younger women, I think that maybe they should think even more about it especially like how I was fourteen to, in the, like when you’re developing and things like that. I don’t know exactly scientifically if it does have this effect or that effect but just knowing generally that any substance that’s not supposed to be there when you’re developing or have an effect on your body.

If you decided to become sexually active or if for some reason your doctor said that you need to go on contraception to regulate blood flow or to control your really bad skin or something then ask your doctor for all the potential options. Ask them for all the options that you can have be it the pill, the patch, there’s the injection, the IUD, all of them. Really find out about the options that are available to you because what someone tells you is usually only part of what is out there. And once someone tells you what is out there find out for yourself. Go online because it is completely anonymous. No one is going to know. Find out about these different things. Ask your friends. If you have a sister ask your sister, ask your cousins, you know, but just remember that you’re. I think it’s really hard for girls because you feel like you are alone and you’re not and you’re really, really not because I think there is a certain stigma attached to it if you go on contraception it means, ‘Oh well she is clearly spreading it around isn’t she’. Probably she is not, she’s probably trying to be safe and that is a good thing.

And if you are in a relationship talk to your boyfriend because that’s the person who should be supporting you when you do something like this You know and if you do have a really good stable loving relationship where there is mutual respect and trust have him go to the clinic with you. Have him go through the options with you like saying ‘Well I’m going to get this. Do you feel comfortable with that or would you prefer that I got this or I feel happy with this?’ You know like make it be a really collaborative process about what you are doing because at the end of the day it’s your body but if you are in a relationship with someone, you know.