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Implanon Failures

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
Anyone seen this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12117299

Pregnancies on the implant.

Any thoughts?

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Given that nothing is ever going to be 100% effective, and given how many people there are that probably have one of these...*shrug*. I don't see why it's such a big deal?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I haven't got round to doing the maths - that thought had crossed my mind though.

    Although, I guess I can see why in a way. Most other things you can put down to user error to a certain extent, or at least there's relatively obvious potential to not work. As a user, it's pretty tricky to see how you could do anything wrong when it just sits in your arm.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I haven't got round to doing the maths - that thought had crossed my mind though.

    Although, I guess I can see why in a way. Most other things you can put down to user error to a certain extent, or at least there's relatively obvious potential to not work. As a user, it's pretty tricky to see how you could do anything wrong when it just sits in your arm.
    600 is 1% of 60,000.

    I would expect more than 60,000 women to have one.

    Also, I think it's one of those things that's just unfortunate. Maybe it just doesn't work properly with your body or whatever. One of the things they always say is that everybody's body reacts differently and stuff, so why is this any different?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Would be interesting to see how many people are using the implant and aren't pregnant.

    Apart from condoms, I actually think it is one of the best forms of contraception. After all, none are 100% effective, and if it is over 99% effective then that is actually pretty good considering that it lasts for so long and it doesn't require a person to remember to go back after several months, as is the case with injections. It is also easier than having to remember to take a pill (the effectiveness of the pill in reality must be alot lower - with people forgetting to take them, taking them at the wrong time etc).

    I wonder how many people will see this article, go and get their implant removed with the idea of going on another form of contraception and then fail to sort it out and get pregnant? Not a lot I reckon, but at least a few :p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Listening to the radio at the moment, its starting to sound like the problems are cock up with inserting it in the first place - like it never getting into the arm in the first place..........
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Franki wrote: »
    600 is 1% of 60,000.

    I would expect more than 60,000 women to have one.

    :yes:

    1.4m apparently, according to a source I saw at work today.

    When you consider that condoms are reported to have 2% failure rate and "The Pill" anything up to 1%, this really does give a different perspective on the story. And yes it's about the implanting rather than the drug itself. I am sure this story has no connection to the fact that a newer, easier to implant, version is currently being implemented :chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    What you have to remember that not everyone understands what it means when the pill is 100% effective.

    Even when having unprotected sex it is possible to not get pregnant. The 99% success rate of the pill means that it will work 99 women out of 100 even when used correctly, now there is a good chance that the 1 in 100 occurrence where the pill doesn't work will not lead to a pregnancy.

    So all in all when looking into the story and realising that most of the issues have been down to the implant being installed incorrectly as opposed to failure of the device, even so the number of women reporting pregnancy is still pretty low compared to this with it installed.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    G-Raffe wrote: »
    now there is a good chance that the 1 in 100 occurrence where the pill doesn't work will not lead to a pregnancy.

    Ummm... no. The failure are the number of women using the contraception who experience at least one pregnancy in a year divided by the total number of women using the contraception - so by definition it leads to pregnancy
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Most other things you can put down to user error to a certain extent, or at least there's relatively obvious potential to not work. As a user, it's pretty tricky to see how you could do anything wrong when it just sits in your arm.

    Quoted failure rates for contraception are usually based on perfect use, so for example if the pill is quoted as 99%, if it is taken exactly as it should be by 100 women, in 1 year's use (as Big Gay said) one of those women will get pregnant. Failure rates rise with imperfect use.

    IMO no contraceptive is 100% effective, so unless you abstain, you weighs your odds and you takes your chances. It's mighty shit if you're the 1%, but there you go.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's pretty much what I would think, although by the sounds of it there's more to the story than first appears.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's pretty much what I would think, although by the sounds of it there's more to the story than first appears.

    Yep, I think you're right. There's a lot of talk about mistakes and problems with the actual insertion, which I accept is a slightly different thing, but I still think there's is some amount of mountain/molehillness going on.

    I actually watched half a story on the local news about it earlier, and had to turn it off cause it annoyed me too much. There was a woman on whose implant had been inserted wrong, and she had a fairly small scar from where they'd had to dig it out. And I would have felt a bit sorry for her, but I looked at getting the implant quite recently, and the literature actually said that removal is more difficult than insertion and you are often left with a small scar, so it was only really slightly worse than what would have happened anyway, and the way she was banging on you'd have thought they'd accidentally chopped her arm off.

    Again, a bit shit if it's you it's happened to, but probably some perspective needed. How many women had them inserted right and didn't get pregnant on them?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Yeah, I think everything apart from the cock up of the insertion to the extent that it wasn't going to work/wasn't ever in the arm in the first place is just tough luck really.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Having thought about this a bit more, I guess one problem with the implant is that many women stop having periods with it in.

    So whereas if a woman was on other form of contraception she may notice something being up, if no periods is normal for her then it might take her longer to realise she is pregnant....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's one of the things that has always put me off it.

    Not completely rational I know, but always gave me the creeps slightly when I was on Cerazette that I'd never know if I was.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That's one of the things that has always put me off it.

    Not completely rational I know, but always gave me the creeps slightly when I was on Cerazette that I'd never know if I was.
    That's the whole reason I want one >.<
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my partners had an implant since 2009 and its worked fine.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Having thought about this a bit more, I guess one problem with the implant is that many women stop having periods with it in.

    So whereas if a woman was on other form of contraception she may notice something being up, if no periods is normal for her then it might take her longer to realise she is pregnant....

    A fair point which I had not considered!

    That said, I think you'd be pretty unlucky (lucky?) if your only symptom of early pregnancy was missed periods. Although maybe people blamed things on the implant hormones?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ben Goldacre has written a piece on this story which is worth a read
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Ben Goldacre :thumb:
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