Depo Shot

iVillage Member
Registered: 01-27-2004
Depo Shot
2
Mon, 05-17-2004 - 5:05pm
Hello,

I have been on the depo shot for almost 6 years and I have decided to go off of it. I have heard some wild stories about side effects and was wondering if anyone out there had any experience with such. I have not had that bad of a time while on it, but I am kind of afraid of what will happen when I go off.

Please share.

Elica

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
In reply to: elicag
Wed, 05-19-2004 - 8:05am
I haven't heard too many horror stories from women coming off Depo, just from women currently on it! ;) Your body, during the transition, will go from a fairly low-estrogen state to what your normal hormones are (may be different than before as things change over time). As the estrogen comes back into your system, you might have some breast tenderness, you might get a little bloating (temporary), you may have some irregular bleeding, it's possible that you might get some acne that's different for you.... And it could be a year to a year and a half before you start having normal periods, though some women do start cycling right away. It's not unusual for this to take a little while, as the Depo had everything shut down pretty effectively while you were on it. And you might not like your periods again, but who does? ;)

Hopefully bumping this back up to the top will get some other women to respond--I hope it goes well for you!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 04-07-2004
In reply to: elicag
Mon, 05-24-2004 - 11:25am
I didn't have any side effects once I stopped taking Depo the first time. The only thing that was hard was never knowing when my period would start up again. It took over a year and when it did come back it was gradual (a bit of spotting the first time, a day the second time, and then back to normal by the third time).