i can't decide if i want to switch or no

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-04-2004
i can't decide if i want to switch or no
3
Wed, 08-18-2004 - 3:00pm
i'm on the shot and i love only having to think about it once every there months and that i don't have my period and that its 99.7% effective. but i've been having side effects i got my second shot last wed and i've had a headache since i've been feeling sick since then too. plus i hate getting a shots but i'm worried about getting pg on the pill since i'm not good at remembering them and there only 99% effective which is 1 out of 100 girls which seems like a lot to me. i've got three months to decide i'm just not sure what to do but i don't think these side effects are worth the piece of mind i have while on it. any suggestions.
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 6:07pm
I just switched from the shot to levlen( BC Pill) 2 months ago, I was tired of feeling pregnant all the time. I was on it for 3 years. I am happy with the pill just waiting for my period to return. I was bleeding for weeks at a time on the shot. I shoulda stopped sooner. In my case I feel alot better now. I was on the shot for two years after my first child loved Depo but after my second child had nothing but trouble. Good Luck.

Lacey
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-31-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 7:26pm
If you're worried about not taking it on time - why not try the patch or the ring? both extremely effective methods, and much easier to remember. And as far as effectiveness - theoretical effectiveness is 99.9% - it's only if you don't take it right that it loses effectiveness. (source: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/1997/conceptbl.html ).

It's your choice, but I'd talk to your doctor - in my opinion you should be able to have safer sex while at the same time not having headaches or sickness!

~Laura
iVillage Member
Registered: 09-06-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 10:23pm
I am having the same trouble you are. I have been on depo for two years now, only I noticed some side affects that have just been happening in the last six to eight months. I have gained a lot of weight in the past year, and I am an active person. I'm a classical dancer and dance teacher constantly on the go. I get a lot of headaches after I get my shot, I have not been happy at all. Also I have developed a problem with constantly getting yeast infections which is driving me insane. I am not too sure if its related but from the research I have done it just might be.

Before going on the depo I was on a bunch of different types of pills. I was never really happy with what I was on. Unfortunatly I have to go on a pill that has a higher dose of hormones because its believed that I have endometriosis (runs in the family and I had very heavy unbearable periods when I was in high school).

I am just worried that once I go off the depo that I will get a crazy heavy period. And I am worried about what it will do to me.

Can you just start taking the pill right away? or do you have to wait to get your next period? my body adjusts pretty fast to things. I havent had my period since I got my first shot.

I would like to know what you decide to do, and maybe hear from anyone else out there that has switched over.

Thanks :)