"i&#039;ve had the nexplanon since early october 2014, so it&#039;s been well over a year. as birth control, it is effective - but you have to be willing to put up with the side effects. the first thing i noticed was the acne. i&#039;ve never had perfect skin, but my acne has never been out of control before. and i&#039;ve never had acne on my chest or shoulders before, either. the mood swings are absolutely awful. most of the time it&#039;s unnoticeable, but then i&#039;ll have a week where i feel like i&#039;m 13 and experiencing adolescence all over again! my periods are twice as heavy and twice and long as they are naturally. i heard such great things about the nexplanon, so i thought it would work for me, too, since my doctor was strongly against me getting an iud."