Why I will never take Depo-Provera again

Let me start with some background. Early into my relationship with my husband, soon after the birth of my second daughter Aubrey, I suffered a miscarriage. The emotions that I went through after that experience made my husband and I decide to temporarily alter our plans to have more children. So we started discussing my going on birth control. 

After visiting my OB-GYN and discussing our choices we settled on the shot. I wanted an option that was convenient, with the least side effects and that fit into my busy lifestyle. I knew that I would forgot to take the pill, the diaphragm wasn’t convenient, and the IUD seemed too permanent an option for me. Depo-Provera fit the bill. With Depo or the birth control shot as it’s called, you only have to be injected once every three months. If taken within the first four days of your period it is immediately effective at preventing pregnancy. 

Getting the shot was simple enough. I went in for my first injection on November 28th. I was given a complete physical and my doctor reviewed my previous blood work to ensure that my HCG levels were back to pre-pregnancy levels since I had recently miscarried. After ensuring that everything was normal, I was injected on my buttocks, given a pamphlet on what to expect while on the shot and sent home.  

At first, I thought that my irritability and mood swings were a combination of stress from work and the fact that the health of both my parents had been failing in the past few months. As my parents health improved and work commitments waned, it didn’t take me long to realize that I was experiencing some of the side effects of the Depo Provera shot I had read about online. I was snapping at my husband, crying easily and I became too tired for and uninterested in sex.  

I immediately called my OB-GYN who reassured me that what I was experiencing was “normal”. How was this normal? I wasn’t acting like myself and it was affecting my entire life.      

I started searching on the internet to see if my experience was typical while on Depo. There were so many boards and threads filled with users having the same experience as me. I knew that there wasn’t much that could be done, the hormones were already inside of my body and I had no choice but to ride it out. 

One of the biggest side effects that women on the Depo threads spoke about was the weight gain. My doctor did tell me about the possibility that I could gain weight but reassured me that it usually occurred with long term users. Since I had just started and was only on my first cycle of Depo she stated that I shouldn’t be worried. So I wasn’t. The weight gain was gradual. Not even noticeable at first, until one day I stepped on the scale and had gained an entire four pounds in one week. I didn’t understand how I had gained so much weight in a short period of time. My eating habits had not changed or increased, I had even been a practicing vegetarian at this point. 

The next month in December, exactly four weeks after the shot was administered, I got my period. At first it was normal, starting heavy the first three days then lightening up after day 3. Since it stopped on the fifth day, the way it typically did pre-shot era I wasn’t concerned that my cycle had been interrupted. I was told that shot users over time experience little to no periods. But when my period suddenly came back on day seven of my cycle and became heavy I was concerned. Once again I was reassured by my OB-GYN that this was normal and told that our bodies sometimes take a while to regulate due to the changes in estrogen. My period lasted an entire 14 days before it stopped. During this time due to the excessive loss of blood I was often sick, tired, and cranky. I didn’t make it to work a lot of those days simply because I didn’t have the energy to do so. My hair also began to shed and come out with every wash. Being natural and curly I wash my hair often, so every other day I was losing massive amounts of hair in the shower and during my regular hair brushing and combing routine.    

In January my period didn’t show up at all and I am convinced that the Depo stopped my cycle that month. I was constantly on edge worrying that it would come down at any moment so I spent the entire month of January wearing either pads or panty liners. In this time my mood swings were amplified, my sex drive was completely gone and night sweats were added to the mix. I would perspire profusely often soaking my pillowcases and clothes. My husband had to bring a fan into the bedroom just so that I could have a steady air flow to my body. To help with the Depo side effects I purchased a hormonal supplement called Vitex. Vitex or chasteberry as it’s commonly referred to is a natural supplement taken in order to improve female hormonal issues, reduce PMS pain and help improve libido. In addition it helps improve mood by helping to balance estrogen levels in women. You take one capsule in the morning with 8 oz of water and the second capsule in the evening with water as well. This worked wonders not only for my mood but also for my sex drive which had taken a hit once I started the Depo. With my mood under control, I was able to focus on my everyday life once again.           

It’s been three months since my shot ran out on February 28th. The long term effects of just that ONE shot of depo drug have stayed with me. My cycle is still erratic, my moods are still unpredictable and now I fear that my fertility has permanently been affected. There are days where I compulsively obsess about my chances of becoming pregnant again. I don’t have a regular period and ovulation prediction tracking has confirmed that I haven’t ovulated since coming off of the Depo. In fact for some women it can take up to a year after having the shot administered to begin having regular periods and regular ovulation cycles.    

I am still coming to terms with the changes my body has gone through and continues to go through since my experience with the shot. I find that some of my symptoms have intensified since coming off of the shot. My breasts are extremely tender, and my period last month lasted an entire 21 days. I am working hard to lose the fifteen pounds I’ve gained in the 3 months I was on Depo. I am happy to say that my hair has stopped shedding. Although the night sweats have not stopped, they have decreased. My sex drive, thank God has returned to normal.   

To any woman that’s contemplating using Depo-Provera I will say to thoroughly research the drug, the risks and the benefits. Now let me make it clear that my OB-GYN did not do a good job of informing me about the side effects that I would experience on the shot. Even the pamphlet that I was sent home with was not the most informative piece of literature that I’ve read. 

Please don’t be like me and rely on your OB-GYN to inform you, even though that is their job. I know that had I been more informed of the risks and side effects I would not have taken the drug. 

Everyone has their own experience and every woman’s body reacts differently to birth control. For me though, the experience was one that I would not like to relive, thus my reason for not getting a second dosage. Your body is your body for life and anything that you do now to it will affect it in the future. Like I mentioned before, everybody has their own experiences but for me the side effects of Depo-Provera outweighed the benefits. I feel as if I lost more than I had gained while on the shot.