"the insertion did not hurt that bad and i did not have problems with my arm aching.  it did bruise pretty badly but went away after a couple of weeks.  the first 4 months i experienced extreme drowsiness and occasional headaches.  eventually, it went away.  i have not had any significant problems with weight gain.  the hardest side effect to deal with has been the bleeding.  i got the implant inserted mid august.  i started bleeding about a week after that and did not stop until the beginning of december.  since january, i get maybe 1 good week of no bleeding and then 3 weeks of heavy bleeding and spotting. unfortunately, it is to only birth control option for me, but the bleeding is miserable."