Depro-Prevara?? Sp??? - Birth Control Message Board

Starlet · 02-06-2002, 09:19 PM

Anyway.. This thing called the shot.. does anyone know the wait time from the time you get it until you can have unprotected sex? Just checking out a few things.. I have an appointment on the 7 of next month and would like to know a little more about it before I go

whitewolf95 · 02-06-2002, 10:20 PM

Well first you need to know facts that your doctor may not tell you. Also you need to know others experiences with this drug. It is called Depo Provera but many women will refer to it as H***. I am one of those.
Here is what happened with me. I will also post sites in which you can read more about this drug.
I had my first son in May of 1996 and heard about Depo in a college sex health class while I was pregnant with him. Well after discussing it with hubby we decided it might be worth it. I got my first shot July 22,1996 and that is whent he trouble began. Hubby saud he couldnt stand to be around me those first two weeks because I was a B****. I started having the worse migraines of my life. Also I was spotting nonstop. My doctor told me I couldnt have a pap because I was spotting. I had to explain that apparently this was a side effect of Depo and would reschedule for when it stopped. Well it didnt stop. I went in for my second shot on Oct 22,1996. I was still spotting. Then I noticed I had no sex drive and couldnt stand the thought of hubby coming near me. Of course the spotting didnt help my thoughts either. Well we decided that I wouldnt go for antoher shot and see if theing would return to normal. Well I still spotted for a couple of weeks after that. Then my period returned to normal. Little did I know that things werent so normal for my body. I didnt go on any birth control after I stopped the shots. Hubby didnt use condoms either. Well at that time it said fertility should return within a year of stopping the shot. Well a year came and went and still no sign of pregnancy. I then started my lovely battle of secondary infertility. I went through three different infertility doctrs eachone as soon as they heard I had been on Depo told me that since my tests were coming back fine that Depo was to blame. I hard to hear that something I chose to use as birth control was causing my heart ache of not being able to give my son a sibling or my hubby another child. I have talked with many other women who also have had to come to terms with this awful form of birth control. I went through a little over three years of infertility. I was finally able to get pregnant again and have a wonderful 15 month old son to show for those three years of work. But my pregnancy was rated a high risk and I was restricted a great deal which was no fun.
Of course I have also talked with women that love it. I also have two friends that got pregnant while on Depo. One friend is kind of funny. She got pregnant sometime after her first shot and found out when she went in for her second shot. Well she had the baby and figured it was a fluke that she got pregnant the first time and went back on Depo. Well about the time her thrid or fourth shot was due she found out yet again she was pregnant. The shocker with it was that she was pregnant with twins.

[This message has been edited by moderator2 (edited 03-22-2002).]

hotwheels · 02-06-2002, 11:44 PM

DON"T HAVE THE SHOT!
I also had the shot in 1994. All it did was cause problems and heart ache.

My moods changed, loss of sex drive, constant spotting that I had to have a D and C to fix and the worst thing was weight gain, not just a bit but several kilos. It did not matter what I did to try and lose them they just kept creeping on. It took about 4 years before I could start to lose weight again. Whenever I hear of any body considering having it I tell them my story. I have friends who also tried it about the same time as I did and they had similar problems. I only ever had the 2 shots and paid for it for years.

wearesiamese · 02-07-2002, 09:29 AM

While some women have had success with it, I'm one who did not. I had it in the early '90's, and experienced moodiness, some weight gain, and terrible skin problems. I know of one woman who had it and, when it had worn off, tried to get pregnant. She had three miscarriages. When I had it, I was under the mistaken idea that it was a "new" form of birth control. In fact, it had been used for years in third world countries because it is a cheap form of b.c. Also, many women on it skip all their periods. That may sound nice, but it would drive me nuts... I'd probably do an ept every month!! No thanks.

MelanieB · 02-07-2002, 09:58 AM

When I first found out about depo from a friend of mine, I thought "what a fabulous drug!!!" My friend had been on it for a couple months and sang it's praises. She had stopped getting her periods altogether and had no more PMS. Sounds wonderful! So I went to my doctor and asked her about it. She told me that she refused to give it to me. She said that the benefits are not worth the risks and she refuses to give it to her patients. Here's what she told me:

Most women (over 80%) will gain 10 to 20 % of their body weight. For me, that's 15 to 30 lbs. I would go from being 150 lbs (I'm 5'9 so I'm already near the top of my healthy range) to being 165 to 180 lbs. And, she also told me that the extra weight from depo is extremely hard to lose, even years after you stop taking the shot.

She also told me that if you had acne problems as a teenager, then the acne will most likely return. Some women who've never had acne will also develop acne once they start taking it.

She told me that it is difficult to conceive for at least a year after going off it, and that some women experience permanent fertility problems.

She told me that ANYTHING FUNKY can happen to your periods. Some women just bleed non-stop. Some have spotting. Some women don't get periods anymore. Anything goes.

So, I decided not to take it. How hard is it really to take a pill every day? Not that hard. So I decided that the hassle of taking a pill every day was worth it to not risk the side effects of depo.

Back to my friend. Shortly after her second shot, she deveoped very severe acne problems. She went off depo. Years later, she still battles acne. She never had acne as a teenager, and now sees no end to her skin problems. Are you willing to have that happen to you????

Melanie