"after having terrible side effects with other birth control methods, i decided to try nexplanon. the insertion was fairly painless (like a hard pinch) and took less than 30 seconds. the bruise on my arm did last for a few weeks (granted, i bruise like a banana so i was expecting this). i got it inserted on dec 28th, 2015 and didn&#039;t notice any major differences until late jan when my period started. this was on target with my regular cycle, so i didn&#039;t think too much about it until it just kept going. at this point, i have been on my period for 10 months. although there have been a couple times where i&#039;ve not had it, they only last for a couple days and are very sporadic. i wanted to try and wait it out, but will prob get it taken out soon."