When I consulted my doctor she told me firmly that YES. IT IS BECAUSE OF DEPO. going on it for long periods of time can cause infertility and I was told that I will not be able to carry a pregnancy to term for anywhere from 1-5 years- if at all. I've also been told to stay if any other birth control as that can increase my chances of not being able to give birth.
I only got depo shot one time and now 2.5 years later I am still not pregnant. Before the shot I had healthy pregnancy and have one boy. When I got the shop doctor didn't tell me I woun't get pregnant. Its so sad so many people had problems getting pregnant after this shot. I hope I will get pregnant soon.:'(
Hi, I'm extremely concerned with the depo and infertility issue. I made the mistake of getting 3 injections in 2008. I was only 15 and didn't know any better. The only major health issue they discussed with me is bone loss. A year passed by and in fall of 2009 I developed extremely painful cramps. These were not an issue before the shot and I had never had cramps to begin with. They went away for a couple months in 2010 but returned after I was hit by a car, they came every month until early 2011. Then fall of last year I had to leave work twice because I could not stand, I was having major heat flashes and eventually ended up puking. I could barely drive home, I felt like I was on the verge of passing out. In March of this year I decided enough is enough, I'm not going to allow myself to keep living like this. So I went to the ER (I had to leave work early again that day) After waiting 3 hours I was offered an ultrasound. Great, maybe that would tell me if I had developed a cyst or not- which I thought might be the issue. I had no idea what to look for because I wasn't big on anatomy and all that gross junk in highschool. They blamed my cramps on constipation. I'm sorry but that is a load of c**p, I didn't believe it then. So that was a whole waste of 2 grand.My fiance and I are planning on having a child, and for the last 2 weeks I was certain I was pregnant, I hadn't had my period since the end of August.(Granted, they have never been always on time. The only exception is where they would be on time for about 3 months in a row, then they'd get jambled up again) I got my period on Sunday and had to leave work halfway through my shift on Monday. I was unable to stang and perform my job and was having more hotflashes. The minute I got home and laid on my bed I had to rush for the bathroom to puke. I took a hot shower after being unable to get warm as I was trying to lay back down on my bed. The cramps toned down a little bit but were still very painful. I got concerned because I'm positive the Depo is the culprit.I Know I should not of been on that damn shot at 15 years old while I was still developing. But since it's been 4 years I thought my body would have corrected itself. While reading stories about the issues of not being able to conceive I read that a lot of women developed PCOS (PolyCistic Ovary Syndrome) And I believe I have that now.I don't know what to do, I can't afford to go to a gyno because I'm still paying off the bills from the ER back in March. I'm a total wreck I'm scared I'll never be able to have the large family I had dreamed for and in place of children I get pains in my abdomen that send me to the fetal position and make me cry.
I took the depo in Jan 2007 at 23 I was in college in a relationship not remembering to take the pill and thought the shot was a good option I was wrong! It stopped my period right away and I had instant side effects headaches, weight gain, mood swings. I decided not to get the second dose. I did not have a period till that July. It was the most horrific period of my life I had such intense cramps I could not sit, lay down, stand without being in pain. I bled very heavy with huge clots for 2 weeks. I went back to my OB/GYN and she put me on the patch then went on the pill then nothing due to elevations in my blood pressure. I had a relationship for two years and we did not use any protection the entire time we were together I did not get pregnant. I am 28 now been off depo for 5 years and in another relationship and started researching because I find it odd that I have not gotten pregnant in my previous relationship or in my relationship now. the FDA findings and they did a study about returning to fertility :
Return of Fertility
Return to ovulation and fertility is likely to be delayed after stopping Depo-Provera CI. In a large US study of women who discontinued use of Depo-Provera CI to become pregnant, data are available for 61% of them. Of the 188 women who discontinued the study to become pregnant, 114 became pregnant. Based on Life-Table analysis of these data, it is expected that 68% of women who do become pregnant may conceive within 12 months, 83% may conceive within 15 months, and 93% may conceive within 18 months from the last injection. The median time to conception for those who do conceive is 10 months following the last injection with a range of 4 to 31 months, and is unrelated to the duration of use. No data are available for 39% of the patients who discontinued Depo-Provera CI to become pregnant and who were lost to follow-up or changed their mind.
I hope this helps and good luck and prayers to all trying to conceive a baby.
-I am an angry person in the world due to another of man kinds inventions.
I was on and off depo for about 3 years. The last time i was on it i was on it for about 8 months and i sudddenly had a 5 month long non stop period. I was on depo when i was 16 and at 20 got pregnant but lost it. after loseing it i decided to get back on the shot and now i am 23 and my husband and i have tried to get preganant but nothing has happened starting to wonder if depo messed me up some how
I took the shot for 5 years. In my mid 20's. I meet my husband in 2001 and married in 2002. To this day I have never
got pregant and we don't use birth control. My periods are 24 days start to start. I know when my period is comming.
But I have noticed that since I turned 40 my periods are heavier and my mood swings are worse.
Hello everyone,
I had been on the Depo Provera shot for over 6 years, and finally I decided to get off it. A few of the reasons being how dangerous/unhealthy it actually is when you use it for more than a couple years, and the possible cause of infertility. Plus the Osteoporosis thing, as well as many other reasons. I was very freaked out about what would happen to me since I was on the shot for over 6 years, and I looked EVERYWHERE for answers about how long the withdraw symptoms/mood swings would last, and I couldn't find anything. So now that I know, I decided I'd share.
My last depo shot was in July, and wore off in September. I started to feel the side effects very shortly after: started to feel slightly hormonal, plus my breasts ached, etc. Within a month or two I was definitely deep in the withdraw symptoms: I have never had such strong mood swings. I'd feel like crying for no reason at all, and sometimes I did. The smallest thing that usually doesn't get to me would suddenly send me into a bad mood, or even a depression spell. Every week or two I'd get such a strong mood swing that it would last for a few days, then it would be over until the next one. It was hell, and I was an emotional wreck.
Thankfully my boyfriend was amazing. It was both of our decision that I needed to get off the shot and most importantly he helped me to research the side effects of coming off the shot, and long term risks etc, so he knew what to expect. I was completely open & honest with him with my worries and fears, how I felt and how hopeless and aggravated I sometimes felt. After several mood swings I started to know when another one was coming up so I'd tell him when I was starting to feel ever-emotional and that helped him a lot.
It's hard to describe- I'd wake up and start thinking, and the smallest thing would immediately send me into hateful feelings towards myself and other people: 'I wonder why she said that last night. Did she say it to be mean? In fact, maybe she's always mean to me. Maybe everyone is always mean to me, I just don't see it. Whats wrong with me that everyone hates me?', and before I had even got out of bed, I'd suddenly find myself so upset over nothing, and I knew I was probably starting another 1 or 2 day mood swings, at which point I'd tell my boyfriend that I'm feeling emotional.
The other serious side effect was how tender my boobs were, and how much bigger they were getting. Tender isn't really the word for them: it felt like I was hit by a truck sometimes! Well, thats an over exaggeration, but they definitely felt like they were 2 big bruises: I'd give someone a hug and it would hurt so much, when I slept on my side sometimes it hurt them. If they got bumped at all, they would ache, and you'd look down expecting them to be bruised but they weren't. But you only had to look in the mirror to tell they were obviously much much bigger, so it doesn't surprise me how much it hurt. Out of the whole time, I went through 2 ache spells, one was minor and only lasted a week, and the other came a few weeks later and lasted 3 weeks. If the ache gets too bad you can always take Ibuprofen or something, that helps.
My mood swings, from start to finish, lasted about 3 months. Everyone says it varies from person to person, plus depending on the length you were on depo, so I can't say anything about what anyone else should/would feel: I can only say how mine went. I actually feel a LOT better now too. Plus some good news: I just got my first period since getting off the depo! I thought it would take a year, but it's only been 4 months. It lasted 5 days, and I was off my period for a week, and then it started again even heavier than before. So, it's going to be crazy getting my body sorted out, but I'm so happy I'm on my way.
And the other update is that I'm getting an IUD. It's made of copper, so it doesn't have any hormones in it at all. Plus it works better than the pill, so it's safer too, plus it lasts 5+ years! And the day I decide I want to get pregnant, I can have it removed. Its a dream come true compared to Depo Provera.
I remember reading a lot about people who were knees-deep in mood swings and it felt like they would never end, but nobody seemed to give answers on how long they might last. So I really hope this helps. It's hard to get through, really, but it's over a lot sooner than you might think. Plus its awesome to be off such terrible hormones.
Hope this helps!
-J
I just recently found this post seeing if people have similar issues with depo. I took Depo YEARS ago after a pregnancy scare in college. I too gained approximately 60 lbs, have been diganosed with PCOS (after years of infertility issues), hypertension, and pre-diabetic. Luckily, I was able to conceive my son 8yrs ago, but I was never able to have a 2nd. most Doctors have all said the same thing, lose the weight. I'm right with you, when I think this should be taking off the market!!!
I was on the depo shot for about 5 yrs many years ago. Before I was on the depo I would get my period every 28days at around the same time of day. When I started the depo I thought great no more periods!!! Well I never bled for the entire 5yrs. One summer morning I had gotten in the shower noticed my hair was falling out more than normal. Didn't think much of it just thought it was my time of the year to "shed". The next day I had a hair appointment. I was there and the person washing my hair made a comment about the amount of hair I was losing still didnt think much of it. When I say down my hair dresser took the towel off my head and started to brush my hair out. He asked me what was going on with my hair. I had been going to the same hairdresser for 8 years or so. I told him I wasn't sure. After he brushed a hair a few more times he told me that he couldn't cut my hair and that I needed to go to the doctor today because there was something wrong he had seem something similiar to what was happening to me and it was somehow related to hormones. I left the shop very upset called my GYN since he thought it may of been a hormone issue. When I got a callback from my GYN she asked me when was I going to be do for my depo s but hoswot I told told her in 3days she advised me not to take it. After about 2weeks I did notice that my hair had stopped falling out. When I went to the doctor she told me that hair loss could be a side effect (but after 5years??) I started on the pill stayed on that for like a month or so decided it was time to get off the birth control and if I was to get pregnant than I have a baby. Was with my fiancee at the time for a few years and we thought maybe it was someones way of telling us it was time to have a baby.After about a year or so we began to worry why wasn't I getting pregnant. Why didn't I ever get my period back?? I would spend so much money on pregnancy tests because with no period for months and months at a time I was convinced many times I must be pregnant. Never got pregnant. My GYN at the time told me this was normal after that shot and as long as I would bleed 3times a year she was comfortable with that.Well I really wasn't so I changed GYN.I now 8years later I have to take a hormone to get my period and hormone to stop that same period because my new GYN feels every woman should bleed every month the way nature intended. I have not been able to conceive a child. Everyone in my family over the age of 20 or so have atleast 1 child if not more except. With my huge family I am the only person not able to conceive. I was also diagnosed with PCOD. When I would ask my GYN if she thought it could of been caused from the shot she always dances her way around the question. I have always thought of it being caused from depoprovera uit how do you prove it?? I wish there was somewhere for all of us to go and meet with someone to see if there was some type of testing that could be done to know if we were just the unlucky ones or is depo truely the cause. Good luck to everyone!!!
I now have hope of still having a baby after reading this. I was on the Depo shot for about a year, then stopped because I was getting really sick. I now have been trying to have a baby for the last three years with my husband, with no success. I have had 4 miscarriages now, and never even thought of the shot being the reason until my father told me of other ladies going through the same thing.
i would like to join in with you with that if that is something you will be persuing because i think people should be aware of this and its not fair to those who do get on it not knowing what they are getting themselves into