"after doing a lot of research and talking to my doctor about my options (she recommended an iud but after looking into iud options the pain of insertion didn&#039;t seem worth it). i had nexplanon inserted in february of 2016. the insertion was literally painless. i am a big wimp when it comes to shots and needles in my arm and i couldn&#039;t feel the numbing shot. i had a large bruise afterward, and my arm was sore for the following week but manageable. over the following months, i definitely gained weight, but i attribute that to bad eating habits and lack of exercise (lost all the weight pretty quick after resuming a healthy diet). i never experienced any heavy bleeding, just skipped a month between menstrual cycles."