Depo provera shot

First of all, Depo can obviously cause side effects, however, how many people from this site actually checked that out before taking the shot?!

I understand all the frustrations. . . I myself have been on Depo for 6 years and never had a side effect until just last month. I have now discontinued this shot because of this side effect, but knew that at any point in time these effects could potentially happen.

I loved it every month I was on it, however, I had two separate instances that made me get off it. Every BC option has its ups and downs, and not every BC is for everyone.

My suggestion is simply to see what the pros and cons are for each BC and for women to research it enough before "just trying" a BC option!

I got on the depo shot 6 weeks after I had my 4th child in March of 2008. I got my period 2 weeks after I got on the shot. That lasted 2 weeks, then 2 weeks after that on June 4th, I started another period, and it's still going strong to this day....July 22nd! My sex life is not doing so good, I'm always to tired or just not in the mood. I'm really feeling bad for my boyfriend of 11 years, but now that I know of other people having this same problem I can talk to him about it. I decided NOT to get my 2nd shot, which was suppose to be on the 18th of this month. Does anyone out there know when all this will end?

cherilyn wrote:

I was 18 when i first got on the dep prova and 30 when i got off i wanted to have another child. i've been trying for a long time now i'm 35 and still can't have another child i believe that this birth control made me sterile. SO THINK TWICE ABOUT THIS BIrtH CONTROL BECAUSE IT Might NOT BE FOR U.

I have got the dep prova I am on my 2nd shot and it is driving me crazy. Once I got the 1st shot I dnt bleed for a month and 2 weeks which is not bad but then I just started bleeding out of no where and it took me 2 months to stop. Now I have went and got my 2nd dose and I got it a day ago and I have already started bleeding. What should I do? I hate this and it is messing up my life and sex life with my husband. I was on it once before when I was young and I never had a period for 2 years but now it is taking my body on a toll. if you know what I mean.HELP

I got on this shot my freshman year(now a jr) and I thought it was perfect. I did gain about 5 pounds the first time, but I though I was still cute and was like whats 5 pounds. Okay then a year later I took my last shot in march and OMG!! That shot played the heck out of my size 7 body with curves and a flat stomach to die for!! This took me to a size 13 in 6 months. I went from 130 to 170! Thats 40 pounds! I just stop gaining in september and can't get this weight off! Please ladies just take the side effects seriously before taking it. I had to get back on the pill to start my periods again. I think thats what stopped the weight gain, having a period. :-(

I come off this injection in august 08 and have just got my 1st period on 10th jan 09.this wasnt to heavy so i dont no if its a proper one.as ive herd they are heavy.me and my husband had sex 14 days after when i am fertile so lets see what happens.one thing i have noticed a side effect with this injection was i got thinning hair at the front of my head and never new it was this drug.since ive come off this within 3 months its got thicker.i think all these chemicals we pump into are bodies are a risk and we shoulnt be shocked.we should have are familys and get our husbands to have the snip.in america they are trying to ban this drug so it must be bad,and it all comes down to the doctors who give it to us who are not educated enough about it.I now do not trust doctors these days and thank god for the internet where the public can do their own research.good luck to everyone trying for babies it will happen but dont let it take over your life then you will find it will happen when your not expecting it and then that will be a surprise.if you worry and stressed it will take longer im trying but practise makes perfect lol xxx

Guest wrote:

this is my second time using depo .an im worried i becuz a while ago i was going for a walk an my stomach started hurting really really bad like something was clutching my insides.well when i got home i went to the bath room an a thing that looked like bacon before its cooked came out of meat also smelled like raw meat. an i started bleeding for two weeks then it stopped . then couple days after my vagina started smelling like raw meat like the thing that came out of me.what can this be please let me know

Your body is stopping your eggs from dropping on depo. As a result the dead unfertilized eggs probably clotted and basically dropped out. Seek consultation by your doctor please.

I've been on Depo Provera for about 5 1/2 years and I love it. I was a normal, healthy person before and I'm a normal, healthy person now. I have gained some weight, but I still see myself as pretty, and I am happy with my body. I did stop getting a period after probably the 2nd or thi3rd shot, which has been great. I have had some symptoms some other people discuss on this message board - like joint pain, moodiness, and anxiety - but I can also attribute those things to, 1, working out or doing unusual exercises for the first time, and 2, ...being a woman. Also, I had the anxiety long before I started the Depo.

The only two things I would be concerned about if you've been on it for a while, or if you just started and want to be on it for a while, are calcium intake and possible early menopause. If you want to take it now, you probably have to sign a waiver indicating that you know about the possible relation between Depo Provera and Osteoporosis. Second, I recently switched doctors and my new doctor warned me that it can cause early menopause in women who have been taking it for a long time. Personally, my fiancee and I don't want kids and if we ever do, we've discussed adopting, so we're okay with that. But A LOT of women aren't, so if I were you I"d probably shop around for another birth control. But if you dont want kids and are happy with the depo like I am, I'd say stick with it.

I was considering Mirena, but I dont like the idea of a little foreign piece of material stuck in my insides. I feel like it would come out during sex or I'd go to pee and ..oops! It would fall out. Or it would stop working. I just dont like the idea of that.

Also, a lot of people on here mentioned that a lot of women get pregnant while using the depo. It's most likely due to the women lying to their doctors about when their last shot was, or forgetting to make their next appointment and then making it themselves and they were wrong about the 12 weeks.. or something along those lines. Like I said, I've been on it for over 5 years and, knock on wood, I'm still a healthy woman.

i was on the depo shot for only 3 months. i wanted it out of my system in the second month. I would get mood swings like crazy, get headaches,and i only got my period once.i gained about 10 pounds.i hated it. its bn 2 months that i've been off it now and i still havent gotten my period. i had unprotected sex and i luckily didnt get pregnant. the shot i heard,stays in your body for a good while. i dont think its safe at all. i regret it. i would stick to using condoms.if you have any questions feel


15 yr. old

Dont do it, please, I thought it sounded a great option and I've 3 week periods that are painful ever since starting and this one has lasted over 5 weeks ! Even more hormone drugs the doctor gave me to counteract it haven't stopped it ! I feel tired, drained and fed up ..... At least with the pill you can come off it and the side effects clear up quickly and you can try another type of pill (there are so many) the depo stays in your body for so long. I never had a problem with my periods before, and I wish i'd never tried this method. Think about it and do your research x good luck

i have been taking depo for 3 years. When i started taking it i had just had my first son, and he was an accident. my husband and i knew that we didn't want another one right off and deffinately didn't want another 'accident' to happen so we did the research and chose depo. it has been the BEST birth control that i have ever taken!!! we are now considering having a second one and we knew when we started taking it that there is an increased risk for conception problems. i am going to stop taking the depo now and go back on a 'pill' for the next year to regulate my cycle again as well as increasing my exercise to help remove the depo from my body. i don't understand how someone can start taking a medication without doing the proper research and asking thier doctor the important questions, like will it affect conception at a later date, and therefor i don't understand why some one can sit there and complain that they are having trouble and that it is the manufacturers fault. This is NOT a bad drug. it did what i wanted it to do, prevented pregnancy, PERIOD. it is like when a tubal litigation doesn't work and you end up pregnant...you know that there is a chance that it won't work. with depo it may work too well. *shrug* this is just my opinion...

I have not heard good things about this drug and this further confirms it.

I was on deprovera for last 2 years, I would not recommend it. I will admit, it was nice not having my period that entire time, however I was unaware of the weight gain issue my dr "accidently" missed that part. I was 170 when I started, I'm sitting here now at 192.

My last shot was in May and so right now my body is going through the transition of getting back to normal. I have tried EVERYTHING to lose this weight, I have been asked several times "how far along I was". I started running, cut my calories, etc. Now, if you have no weight issues and it doesn't matter, perhaps it's an option for you. It helped my PMS big time.



Good luck to you.

i have been on the depo shot for a little over two years now. i have not had my period since the 2nd shot, no cramps, nothing. i didnt gain any weight but then again its not the actual shot itself that causes u to gain weight and i will admit it makes u hungry alot for the first couple shots. but as long as u can manage your diet correctly you will be just fine. i hear some women say that it takes a long time to become fertile again after they have stopped taking the shot, i found that this is a cause of taking the shots more than a week early, this causes it to last longer in your system each time. i have had no problems with it and i absolutely love it!

Some of what ive read here is ABSURD. I think the some women who choose to go on the shot already have a few physical problems and there mind tricks them with a 'placebo' like effect and therefore most of the 'side effects' they begain to notice get written off as the depo shot. It all really suprizes me how many horro stories there are about the depo shot and many of these horro stories come from women stating ' I DIDNT GET MY PERIOD FOR MONTHS!!" - that alone shows that they didnt do their research about the shot before choosing this BC method, considering that that is one of the best known side effects if this drug and a quick visit to google will reveal this.

ANY birth control method and i do mean ANY method will have side effects of some sort. These horror stories are terrible and i feel very bad for the women who havehad these expeirences and I wish them a quick recovery- BUT there seems to be a few too many of stories like these. Depo didnt ruin your life- stop being childish and take responsibility for your actions. Depo might have made your life difficult. but im pretty sure it didnt ruin it. These people come on sites like this and try to scare the living day lights out of others who are looking for information. Those looking for info get a totally biased opinion on the drug because of the horror stories. Everyone should always do their research before taking any drug of any kind and they should prepare their bodies for those side effects the best that they can, such as taking calcium pills in advance as well as other vitamens and having a healthier lifestyle so that their body could cope better.

Really people- suck it up. Depo didnt ruin your life. And if it did make it difficult- that was YOUR personal expeirence and it doesnt mean that it will happen to everyone else. Maybe next time if you would like to 'spead the word of its dangers', it would be much better to suggest others to really research the drug from both sides. Then share your story as your OPINION not a FACT. You chose to have the shot, and YOU chose to etiher be wise and research your options before or not. Lets stop demonizing the shot because YOU made a crappy choice.

And to those of you crying ' OH, i came off of the shot and now i cant get pregnant!' , Depo is considered a LONG TERM birth control method- you should make your mind up about children BEFORE having picking a BC method.  Its just doing its job. Thats why its called birth control. You should stop being such mindless robots and just trusting everything your doctor does/doesnt tell you and take your health into your hands. Be a big girl and take responsibility.