depo provera???

[twobabies]

What is depo provera?
I really know nothing about this and my 16 yr old niece is asking me if she should get it???
This might not be the best place to get info on it but I am hoping someone might point me in the right direction. Thanks

[OceanMomma]

It's a contraceptive pill injection that lasts for about 3 months ( I think ). I know at least 2 people who've got pregnant whilst on it & I think it has some wicked side effects. I'd advise her to research it first!

[ediesmom]

My 16 y/o is on it.... not my idea!

She bleeds rarely and severely. Has breakthrough spotting.

It doesn't seem like a very good idea to me. I tell her how it is much nicer to bleed regularly, and that the infrequent bleeding is a sign of something not being' quite right'.

There has got to be a better form of BC out there for women.

randee

[Elphaba]

I was on it. I have to say it was nice to not have a period, since mine were so incredibly painful. However, the side effects are indeed evil, as someone else wrote. Depression is a major one. Me and both my older sisters stopped taking it for this reason. Also, weight gain. Other lovely possibilities include: hair loss, bone loss, blood clots.
Find something else!!!!

[ediesmom]

I just talked to dd last night about this, again. She said she is a month overdue to get her shot, but doesn't plan on getting another one because her body hasn't stopped bleeding for this whole month, and she feels that it needs to clean itself out. What a wise girl I have raised. She has decided to use condoms if active, and bypass the hormones, because they are not working for her.

Randee

[twobabies]

Thank you all! I will definately let my niece know your eye witness accounts! Thanks again.

[Alexander]

I am familiar with this substance.

AFAIK, it is illegal in the UK, (and possibly the EU) because of the possible links to cancer, as well as other serious side effects.

It is used widely in the 3rd world, particulary S. American jungle communities whose populations are difficult to reach by the authories, and by military regimes that want to forcibly control the population growth of "troublesome" regions.

a

[Greaseball]

It is a known carcinogen - according to its own literature, it caused cancer in lab dogs.

I took it when I was 17. I stopped when I was 19, and ever since, my periods have been horribly irregular. I'm talking like, every 14 to 120 days - never know when the next one will be, can skip up to 6 months at a time. That's why I never found out I was pg until 2 months!

[treehuginhippie]

Depo is evil! There is currently a class-action lawsuit against it because of lots of women becoming unable to conceive after using it. I had NO sex drive and gained lots of weight (like 40 lbs) while on it. I was on it for a couple of years and then switched to the pill. I have been off of all BC for 18mo and have yet to go back to having a regular period. Before I started BC i was like clockwork. I started BC when I was 15 and was on it for almost 7 years. I feel like it really screwed up my system.

[Nathan1097]

I took one shot of depo back in late 2001. I got hot flashes, sweats, gained weight, had zero sex drive, and constant bleeding/spotting but no "period", and depression. I don't think it is worth it to put yourself essentially into premature menopause.

[Monkeyfeet]

I know someone also that got preg while on this. She was faithful down to the day when she got her injections also!

[crysmomofthree]

I took the depo shot three times three months apart, I got the last shot in aug of 2001, during those nine months I gained 30lbs, became depressed, and had no periods. I was unable to get pg with baby #3 until nov of 2002, I had always gotten pg easily before (2months of trying) I would avoid this kind of bc there is better stuff out there

[luvmy3boys]

Wow this is an old thread....I am guessing the OP doesn't need to know anymore, but for anyone else who is stumbling upon this thread: DEPO IS EVIL....I got pg on it, I know many people IRL who have miscarried due to getting pg on it or pg within the first couple of years after stopping it, I know one women IRL who became menapausal after being on it (at the tender age of 20), then of course, add the other side effects (weight gain, no period or bleeding non-stop or going between the two extremes, etc). I, personally, think most hormonal birth control methods are not good choices for teens/pre-teens (well, actually for anyone, but especially for younger women), because of the hormonal effects on a still developing body. Also, it is very important to stress that this type of birth control will not protect against STDs.

[applejuice]

Dep Provera is dangerous and evil.

The medicals are always trying to stick it in women who are in poverty. The side effects were well known before it went on the market and I was shocked that it was put on the market.

While it may cause hairloss in some women, I noticed it caused moustaches and beard growth in some of my coworkers when I was working at Motel 6.

[paquerette]

Horrible stuff! My brother's girlfriend has been talked into it - she wanted the pill but they told her it was too hard to take a pill every day. :angry She was a teen mom so of course they want to stop her from breeding again by whatever means necessary. :irked: Her mom takes her to a terrible family doc in the one-horse town I come from. I wish she'd at least let me take her to PP instead. :(

[lilsishomemade]

I was on the shot and bled everyday for three months! I was looking forward to not having a period (naive, I know), and instead, this is what happened. I would not reccomend it to anyone, the pill or patch would probably be better.

[Charles Baudelaire]

My idiot OB recommended I take it if I was breastfeeding (I was) and it IMMEDIATELY reduced my supply by about 30%. I was pumping b/4 I'd go to work and feeding her throughout the day when I got home, and I usually was good for 6-8 oz of bottled bm per day in addition to the nursing. Surprise, surprise, it went down to more like 4-5 oz/day, and then we started to blow through my "savings account" of frozen bm.

I must've drunk every galactagogue in the universe. My bm smelled like black licorice, like it was Easter in my bra.

I never had a second shot. Basically, with constant pumping and feeding to stimulate bm production, we got through that 3 months. NEVER AGAIN.

Oh, and yet again...if the gods of Karma are listening...would you deities mind ensuring that my sOB comes back as a woman...and one of his OWN PATIENTS?

Thanks.

[Charles Baudelaire]

Sheez. Just saw how old this thread is.

She's probably "Threebabies" now. Especially if she didn't read the replies.

[MrsMoe]

Don't do it!! I had the shot and the side effects were HORRIBLE, from loss of my period from one year, extreme mood swings, and severe weight gain.

Side effects can be so bad in fact, 2 seperate OBGYN's I used to go to refused to give it out. And these were very mainstream doctors.

A very common side effect is also a good amount of weight gain, and no, it's not water weight- with an average of 1.5 pounds per month while on the shot per package insert.

A lot of women would love to see this form of BC banned, and I am one of them. The drug IS evil!!

[koofie]

I was on the shot and bled everyday for three months! I was looking forward to not having a period (naive, I know), and instead, this is what happened. I would not reccomend it to anyone, the pill or patch would probably be better.

I bled for 9 mo. It only stopped when I went on BC pills. Totally wrecked my system for a long time.

[eckmannl]

Just wanted to add my $0.02. I got the depo shot twice when I was about 20. I bled almost every single day for the 6 months I was on it and I also gained 30lbs. I went in after 3 months and they told me that my symptoms (endless bleeding and at that point 15-20lbs weight gain) was completely normal and that it would stop when I got the second shot. It was just advertised as being so great- no period, no pill to worry about. Boy was I dumb.

[boston]

I was on Depo for maybe 3 years total, on and off, during my late teens, early twenties. It caused a really serious depression, or partially caused it, there's no way to be sure. But I was a dark, depressed, very unhappy person and the worst of it definitely coincided with times I was getting "the shot."

I never bled while on it.

I am now using Yasmin which is a low dose oral contraceptive. You have to take it at the same time every day, but it has the fewest side effects. I wish there was another way to make SURE I don't get pregnant besides abstaining from sex or using a more invasive bc method.

I would not let my daughter get Depo.
It is dangerous.

[CarrieMF]

While it may cause hairloss in some women, I noticed it caused moustaches and beard growth in some of my coworkers when I was working at Motel 6.

I have way too many friends who took this drug as the recommendation of their dr's who ended up not being able to concieve again without the help of specialists, most of these friends never had any signs of PCOS until they went off the drug and tried to get pg. Now they all have PCOS which excess hairgrowth like the above is a symptom of. Unoffically based on no studies or anything, IMO in addition to all the other evil things this drug causes PCOS is another one.

[KateMary]

I would recommend the patch for anyone that wants hormonal bc without having to remember a pill everyday. You only have to remember a patch once a week, then a week off for your period. Its very similar to pills, none of the side effects of depo. My niece likes it a lot because she is way too forgetful for pills everyday.

[lactavia]

I was on Depo for about 2 1/2 years. I had no side affects at all except for no periods which was fantastic! I didn't gain any weight, I was happy as pie and life was fantastic. I actually enjoyed the shot. About 6 months after getting engaged, my dh and I were talking about children, so I stopped the depo and decided on a no hormone approach for birth control. (of course by this point I had read all about the horrible side effects and was glad to stop taking it) About 6 months after stopping, I had some major hormonal swings and crazy periods before my body returned to normal. Over a year later I had normal periods and no problem getting pregnant. I will say that I will never be on that again.