Spotting on Depo--Please help!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-01-2003
Spotting on Depo--Please help!!
3
Thu, 07-29-2004 - 8:55am
I got my first depo shot 8 weeks ago, and for the past four weeks I have been spotting. I know that this is a common side effect, but is it common to last for a month? And how long until I should expect it to stop. It is not a problem now, but I am getting married in October and of course, I don't want to be spotting on my Honeymoon. Does anyone know how long this normally lasts? Should I consider something else? Any help/advise is appreciated.

Thanks,

Aprile

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 07-29-2004 - 1:59pm
Irregular bleeding is -extremely- common with Depo, some women have no bleeding at all, other women have constant spotting. It's very dependent on the woman, which makes it very difficult to say if your spotting will stop or not. It might, but it might not.

In some cases, your doctor can give you estrogen to take (daily pill, most likely) that may help stop the bleeding. I'd probably call the office and check to see what they think the next course of action should be. You've got some time to think about whether or not you want to continue and time to try adding estrogen.

Hopefully you can get this straightened out before October. Best wishes!

Judie
Co-cl for Birth Control
Judie Cl for Birth Control 
iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2004
Fri, 07-30-2004 - 1:35pm
the same thing happened to i just started getting the shot in may and about 4 weeks in i started spotting for about three weeks. and now i spot for a few days after sex which is a pain but i was told that most of the time the spotting stops after the second shot. i'm hoping that it works for me that way.
iVillage Member
Registered: 07-01-2004
Mon, 08-02-2004 - 8:36am
I have been on depo for over 4 years, and I love it.

I had a lot of random spotting the first year I was on it. After that, everything leveled out and I will have a period about once every 4 months now. Rarely, I will have some spotting, but that is normal. I talked to my doctor about it awhile ago, and he explained it like your body just needs to flush that stuff out every once in awhile. I think it takes some time for your body to get used to the dose hormones being shot in your arm every three months! :)

Call your doctor and see what he says. Some people handle depo very well, and others hate it. If you aren't having any other side effects (like weight gain), you may want to stick it out for the next few shots and see if things calm down.

Let us know what happens!

Good Luck!