Depo-Provera- question for women

[Cheyenne]

Anyone have real life experience with Depo-Provera injections? My GYNO says no Pills for me and suggested this as currently my best alternative. I read all the literature, and I'm not sure about some of the potential side affects. I'd appreciate hearing from you if you are getting Depo-Provera shots now, or have in the past. Do you like it? Do you have any really bothersome side effects? Future fertility isn't an issue for me, I do NOT want to be pregnant.

[Edited by Cheyenne on 07-26-2000 at 05:27 AM]

 

[Gingersnap]

A lot of my friends use it and it is the drug of choice by a lot of university coeds. My girlfriends have all told me that they have comparable side effects to the pill. Having never tried it myself I cannot give you my impressions. It has been effective for them and they love the ease of use.

 

[Cheyenne]

I have to admit, I like the idea of a shot every three months instead of a daily pill to remember. Just not what I'm used to. There was a list of potential side effects, one of which was annual weight gain for every year you use it of something like 3 to 5 pounds. And a stop to monthly periods in many cases- not sure exactly how I'd feel about that one, either.

 

[JetCtyWoman]

I used depo=provera for 4 years......the side effects are very bad, my husband said it totally changed my personality
I gained close to 50 pounds and had very dramatic mood swings, it was the most awful experience i have ever had....after my first shot i bled for almost 3 weeks.....then i had no period at all for 4 years....getting off the depo is a side effect all of its own.....my husband got a vasectomy to get me off the depo....it was either that or he was leaving, he could not deal with the mood swings anymore....i had terrible headaches, and my doctor said that was a normal thing of getting off the depo....and had a 2 month period, guess to make up for the 4 years i didn't have one....and worse of all i cannot shake the extra weight i gained while on it...I would not recommend depo to anyone please read further on the side effects, look it up on the web, there are alot of sights on it

 

[Weird Harold]

I asked my daughterif this was the quarterly shots she was using.

"Was is the key word. I was on it for six months. With the mood swings and weight gain, I might as well have been pregnant."

She did point out that if you do decide to with Depo-Provera, to remember to take your weight off the hip it's injected in. If you don't, it will bruise and be painful for about two weeks.

 

[Cheyenne]

Wow. I think I should have stopped reading after Gingersnap's post.

JetCtyWoman, I have to ask. If it was so terrible, why did you use it for 4 years? Mood swings, weight gain, etc. of that magnitude and I would guess you'd have switched to something else sooner. Unless you were older, like me, and had few options as effective as the Pill or this shot.

Weird Harold, I appreciate you asking your daughter for me and for the tip about getting the shot in the hip. I'm still thinking about it, but leaning towards trying it for 3 months to see how I like it. If the Pill (my blood pressure has gotten too high) and Depo-Provera are both eliminated as choices for me, the most effective methods of BC are off the table. The more I think about it, I'm more afraid of getting pregnant than I am of the potential side effects of the shot.

But I would like to hear from more people. Any of you medical types out there have advice?

 

[Budokan]

My wife used this for a bit but didn't like it; she went back on the pill--much happier.

 

[Kayotika]

My friend seems very happy with the shot, this may of course be because she has a rare disease that is stopped if you stop having your period, and because she now has a reason to get BC without her mom knowing she's sexually active (she's under 18).

 

[Earthmuffin]

Hiya Cheyenne! I took advantage of the side-effect of no period on the Depo-Provera shot for 2 1/2 years. I didn't gain weight like I had with the 3 different kinds of bc pills (pills still gave me PMS from hell and didn't manage to regulate me). The only caution I have (yes, as part of a healthcare team) is: don't miss your appointment date!! No matter what, if you go over the recommended 13 weeks your body will feel the effects (read begin to cycle) AND your provider will be required to perform a pregnancy test on you prior to receiving your shot, no matter if you've had *ahem* exposure or not. *wow, what a run-on sentence* This can be costly health insurance or no. Your local Planned Parenthood or its equivalent should have oodles of info on the shot. Also check your local phone listings for something like Ask-A-Nurse. Hope this helps!

 

[JetCtyWoman]

I used for 4 years due to the fact that it was easier than possibly forgetting to take the pill, I started on it immediatly after my son was born, and i had no desire to have anymore children, I thought it to be most convenient, my insurance would pay for depo, but not the pills, I also had to take a pregnency test before every shot, as someone had mentioned, I found a bulliten board on Depo one day and after reading some of the things these women were going through, I thought Wow I am going through the same things, vaginal dryness is horrible, and you get a loss of sex drive that is horrible, i just recommend reading alot on this before you get the first shot, it takes your body about a year to adjust after you stop taking it.

 

[Cheyenne]

Thanks, everyone for your input. I decided against the Depo-Provera shots after reading more on the Internet about some of the side effects. My blood pressure is only slightly high when I'm at the GYNO's office, not when it is taken any other time. So, it's my body and I'm insisting on the Pill with monitoring of my bp if the doc is still concerned.

 

[Jade]

I think the key to DP is "convenience." There will be different side effects depending on how your body reacts to the hormones.
Worst one I think.... weight gain... also, your period won't become completely regular for about a year after you stop taking it AND if you ever DO plan on having kids... it could take up to a year to be completely "fertile" (you know what I mean.. best odds and all that) again.

But if you have the time and money (time to go to the docs office every three months and get a shot in your ass/hip... and mooolah to afford it) then by all means give it a try!

Pill doesn't work for me either btw... nothing really does though.

And Cheyenne.. I don't want to be preggo either... with ya all the way!

 

[Adoratrice]

Yeah !!! good for you , I am new here and a bit late for this post but 2cents is cheap so here's mine....I was on Depo for 1 year ...from what my husband tells me I was a bit ummmm irrational to say the least, I would just sit & cry, I cut off all my hair on a bad hair day, I made my husband throw away all his Playboys( I should add that I am Bi-sexual) DUH!! The final straw for me was when I found out that Depo is what they make child molesters take to "hinder" their sexual desire. My theory is that it makes you so crazy that nobody would want to have sex with you therefore making it impossible to become pregnant!!
http://smilecwm.tripod.com/owen/newbie.gif

[Edited by Adoratrice on 08-13-2000 at 09:24 PM]

 

[Bonnie Wee Lassie]

Wow I was going to try this but now I am glad I got fixed instead. Man talk about horroe story.

Bonnie

 

[Cheyenne]

I did see the doc and I did get the low dose BCP (Alesse) which is what I wanted in the first place. It is supposed to be one of the newer ones with the lowest levels of hormones possible. In exchange, I promised to monitor my blood pressure weekly and show up for the first followup visit in 6 weeks instead of the normal 10 weeks. So far, I like this brand of pill. I'm glad I decided to refuse the depo shot.

 

[julia1226]

bad experience

I was on depo for about a year and a half. I had very bad expereriences similar to those of JetCtyWoman. I got on depo after i had my daughter. Instead of bleeding for the average 6 weeks, i blead for about 3 months. I gained a lot of weight. They say you could gain weight--but everyone i know has. I never got my period the whole time I was on it though. Aparently instead of flushing eveything out once a month, it slowly does it all the time, so it never builds up. You could get discharge though, but I never did. Now that I am off, it is hard to loose the weight. And my period comes rarely, I have been off depo for 2 years, so it should be normal by now. I got very depressed, and still am. Depo, with the help of other things, totally changed me. I know you dont care about getting pregnant, but we have been trying for 2 years now, and its not happening. It is cool cause it is only once every 3 months. But other than that, it sucked, at least in my experiences. But everyone is different.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Depo...NO!!

I saw at least 1 post regarding the use of depo provera as a tool for diminished sex drive in sex offenders. This is ABSOLUTELY TRUE! I had the depo injection while still in the hospital after my son was born. I thought I had a severe case of post-partum depression. I gained more weight after the baby than the whole time I was pregnant. I had horrible mood swings and I was nauseated and pretty much completely disgusted if my husband even tried to touch me. That's about the time I read an article in Time Magazine about Catholic priests and the "12 Step" type program used by the church to rehab those charged with molestation. Part of it included Depo-Provera injections. The article had a side bar about depo. It referred to depo as "chemical castration". Many of us have heard that term used in sex offender sentencing and now you know...DEPO IS USED AS A CHEMICAL CASTRATION METHOD!! And nobody really knows long term side effects. In the medical corporation I work for, there are many physician practices. It is standard policy that Depo is treated like a chemotherapy agent. We have to use special thickness gloves for that medication only. We have to use a mask to prevent inhalation during the preparation of the injection, and the patients have to sign a 2 page informed consent prior to each injection. Of course you will have people say how wonderful it is for them, but as a medical professional and experienced user, I say DEPO....NO!!

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

Rabbit, you're right that Depo-provera is used as chemical castration but you're misinformed about its danger.

Chemical castration is a rather harsh term. It's not really castration at all, because it's fully reversible once the injections are stopped. And diminished male sexual drive caused by depo-provera is simply a function of its nature as a synthetic progestin (a chemical mimicking natural female progesterone). Progesterone is naturally secreted be a woman's body throughout her menstrual cycle and increases in concentration during pregnancy, preventing ovulation until the completion of the pregnancy. Therefore, using an artificial progestin that mimicks the body's natural suppression of ovulation during pregnancy, we can prevent ovulation and pregnancy in non-pregnant women.

This is only has minimal risks, although the side effects (listed above) can be undesireable.

Hope this clears up your confusion.

 

[Bigdog]

Satan's shot

Cheyenne, you can add me to the list of those advising AGAINST Depo. My wife was put on it to control excessive bleeding. It not only didn't work, it made her PSYCHOBITCH! She was only on it for 6 months but it seemed like forever. We finally got tired of all the problems and got a "den remodel". Every now and then I get flashbacks to that time and I shudder.

 

[Tess1]

Wow, ok, I had some of the same questions that Cheyenne did. Being a single woman in her early 20's, I do NOT want to get pregnant, and had heard that depo provided an effective alternative to the pill. But, after reading this, you've changed my mind totally. Definetly need to change that appointment now. Thanks

 

[miss_piggy]

I've been on Depo for about a year now and I love it. My periods have all but stopped. I don't have to remember to take a pill every day. I also like Depo more than condoms, because my S.O. doesnt have to stop and put one on.
I had my doubts at first. After my first injection, my periods actually lasted for about 3 weeks and the cramps were pretty intense. Eventually my periods got shorter and farther apart. I haven't had a period now in almost 3 months. One of the rarer side effects I had was some mild depression and loss of appetite. Neither was severe, but they were noticable.
As far as weight gain, I haven't had a problem with it. I haven't noticed any difference (good or bad) in my complexion. Depo is the most effective, non-permanent form of birth control.
To wrap it up...if you can tolerate some side effects for about six months, I highly recomend it.

 

[splitLiquor]

depo-provera

bad bad idea.
mood swings.
weight gain.
now, some years later, non-stop menstrual.
no ovulation at all.
guess what? lower doses of the same drug to reset body?
sound like fun to you?
Certainly isn't fun for my daughter.
Just thought I'd throw that in there.
Think very carefully before getting into the stuff.

 

[Cheyenne]

A blast from the past

Wow, an old thread comes back to life. Since it was my thread to start with, the update for me is that I still like the Alesse low dose bcp. I get my blood pressure taken every two weeks and I've had no problems at all. I'm glad I chose not to go with the Depo after posting the question here. I'm sure I made the right choice for me.

 

[goddess_euphoria]

YUCK!

Just have to add my fun experience in as well... I only did one depo shot, 3 months was enough for me!! Weight gain, totally depressed, I would just cry over nothing (psycho bitch for sure!) And before that I never had really bad cramps, but durring those 3 months I had some that just brought me to my knees they were so bad. It was a horrible experience! None of my girl friends will try it, because they not only heard how it was, they witnessed some of my freak out times... went to the movies once night, a comedy, just flipped out in the middle of it, started crying and had to leave. ~shudder~ yucky stuff.

 

[dancinvixen]

Bad idea

I was on the Depo for over 4 years. A great idea for a teenager, who's mother doesn't believe she's still a virgin. But in all actuality, it's not the safest idea. I became pregnant while still on the shot, and miscarried due to the depo. Also due to the depo, the miscarriage was worse than it should have been and I had to be sedated for a full two weeks <found out then I was allergic to demerol. Also, I didn't find out out about the miscarriage only last year during my annual pelvic exam.You can ask later.> The cramps I had when I had my period on the depo, where unbelieveable. They could literally lay me up in pain, unable to do anything, While on the depo shot, I went from being a very active, healthy, 125lb, 5'6 woman, to being a very tired, often sick, and 210lb woman. After this happened, my drs. and I decided that depo wasn't for me, neither was the 5-year norplant. The only option for me, was either sterilization<I wanted kids> or the Pill. I have happily been on the pill for about 8 years now. And the only time I became pregnant from the pill, was when I didn't take them, I now have three wonderful children<1 boy and 2 girls>, I was able to come closer to my original weight<now at 140> and my periods are only 2 1/2 days long, and no cramps<unless I've had grease or milk>. If you don't want kids, and yo cannot take the pill, I would suggest you try norplant instead of depo. While somewhat similar, they are actually very different. I hope this helps. You can alwasy email me, and ask more. <s>