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Side effects are a common reason why women discontinue (or choose not to initiate) contraceptive methods. As labels list all adverse effects occurring in clinical trials without a referent group, assessing whether perceived side effects are actually caused by the method is difficult.
In a Jamaican study of the contraceptive implant, weight was measured at 1 and 3 months in 200 women receiving 150-mg levonorgestrel implants at enrollment compared with 200 women receiving implants after 3 months of follow-up (comparison group). Preimplant counseling included the possibility of weight gain. Median baseline weight was 70.6 kg for both groups, and neither group had gained weight at 1 month. At 3 months, women in the implant group gained a median …