Gained 15 lbs on Depo in 4 months

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FreyasRebirth
FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
in Introduce Yourself
Hi. Title pretty much explains it all. I maintained a weight between 118 and 125 for 10 years (including gaining and quickly losing 40 lbs during a pregnancy). Then I went on Depo Provera and it just piled on. Should it come off pretty easily when the drug is completely out of my system or am I going to have to 'work for it'?

Also, I always have a lower appetite when I first decide on dieting. I'm at less than 100 calories and its noon, I'm not hungry. Around the 3rd or 4th day though I have a huge problem when my appetite comes back and tries to make up for the days I wasn't all that hungry. Last time I lost 2 lbs but gained 4 immediately after I let my guard down. How do I stop the boomerang?

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  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
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    I'd say you will have to work for it. I started depo at a normal weight, got depressed and gained a ton of weight, I think I topped out around 220lbs. I was on it a long time and when I finally got off it, I started eating healthy 6 days a week and had 1 cheat day. And started walking. Eventually I got down to 140, went back up to 150 (140 is too hard for me to maintain) then I got pregnant and gained it all back and then some. Now I'm on my way back to 150 again.

    Depo is horrible. You would have enjoyed the recent thread about the discussion of different birth controls...

    And to not boomerang...I'd say starting your day with 100 calories is setting yourself up...even if you aren't "hungry" later in the day, your body starts "thinking" different, it thinks it doesn't have access to food...you are bound to end up bingeing/gorging at some point because your body is thinking "Oh, great, we happened upon some food finally." Your body is still pretty primitive compared to what we WANT to look like. Try to even it out throughout the day 300, 300, 500 and some 100 cal snacks sprinkled in...something like that.
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
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    Could you link to it? I think we'll stay non-hormonal, have one more, and then DH is getting a vasectomy. No hormonal birth control has ever agreed with me.
  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
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    https://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1112290-ladies-i-need-your-opinions-on-birth-control

    I hear ya on your comment on your profile about a cheat day turning into a cheat week...story of my life. Cheat meal, cheat day, cheat month, cheat year...

    No more hormonal for me either. One more kid and fiance agreed to snippy snippy too.
  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
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    Well, that linked failed. I'm kinda computer illiterate. You can you the search thingy though...
  • Hotinadvance
    Hotinadvance Posts: 18
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    The depo shot is the devil - ruined 3 years of maintaining an 80-pound weight for me.

    1. It lingers, beware. I know it has already affected you, but remember that you will have to counteract it passed the 3 months it's supposed to be effective.

    2. Never get it again!

    3. Don't let it ruin all birth control for you - try the nuvaring.
  • mrsjones2point0
    mrsjones2point0 Posts: 332 Member
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    I swear by Depo.

    But I gained 40 lbs when I started it (ok, some of that could have been the post-divorce life-style too, who knows).

    It will not come right off just because you stop it, you will have to work for it just like every other life event that brings on weight gain. Sorry :(
  • joyride12
    joyride12 Posts: 12
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    I was on it for 10 years. I was actually under weight but gained 15 lbs in 4 months at the end. That is when I went off of it. Eat a more balanced diet.
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
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    I did NuvaRing. I'd lose weight on that one actually because I wouldn't be able to even keep water down.
    I had fainting episodes on Mirena.
    I had severe anger control issues on Ortho Tricyclen Lo.

    Birth control ruined birth control for me, not just Depo Provera.
  • emAZn
    emAZn Posts: 413 Member
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    Depo does not make you gain weight, it does the same thing that quitting smoking and altering other chemical changes in your body does.. It alters your bio-chemistry which can lead to an increase in cravings and make you want to eat more food, which if you give in, that makes you gain weight.. calories in is more than calories burned... I never gained a pound because of depo or chantix... I gained because they made me emotional and I ate a whole pint of ben & jerry's
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
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    Everyone i know( that takes the depo) has gained on Depo and 3 of them got pregnant while on the shot and due to the lack of their period didnt realize they were even pregnant until almost their 2nd trimester. I did well on ortho Tricyclin. I didnt gain any weight with it. But everyone is different.
  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
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    Depo does not make you gain weight, it does the same thing that quitting smoking and altering other chemical changes in your body does.. It alters your bio-chemistry which can lead to an increase in cravings and make you want to eat more food, which if you give in, that makes you gain weight.. calories in is more than calories burned... I never gained a pound because of depo or chantix... I gained because they made me emotional and I ate a whole pint of ben & jerry's


    True. Coming off anxiety/depression meds have cause equally monstorous weight gains for me too over the years...

    On a side note, NuvaRing was a hormonal I liked but my fiance hated it. He always felt it...
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
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    Depo does not make you gain weight, it does the same thing that quitting smoking and altering other chemical changes in your body does.. It alters your bio-chemistry which can lead to an increase in cravings and make you want to eat more food, which if you give in, that makes you gain weight.. calories in is more than calories burned... I never gained a pound because of depo or chantix... I gained because they made me emotional and I ate a whole pint of ben & jerry's

    :huh: :noway: and it was the depo and smoking cessation that in fact led to the said " chemical changes" and cravings that in fact led to said "weight gain" ..... :wink:
  • FreyasRebirth
    FreyasRebirth Posts: 514 Member
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    I keep hearing that but I used to be an eating machine. I used to put away 2000 calories at a time, just to show people I could, in my late teens. (I stopped growing at 11 btw.) My weight would go up from the mass of the food but it would come right back down in 2-3 days. I couldn't gain weight if I TRIED. Sit down and eat an entire large pizza? No lasting change. A half-gallon of Breyers? No lasting change (although I am lactose intolerant now so I can't do that anymore). I didn't even fluctuate with the holiday season. In the time right before getting pregnant with my son I'd lose weight every time I got preoccupied and missed a meal. I dropped 3-5 lbs every time I found a new computer game. I used to drink 1000 calories a day in high fructose corn syrup and it never affected my weight negatively. Do you know what I did to lose the 40 lbs I gained when I was pregnant with my son? I sat on the couch, nursed, and ate whatever the heck I wanted. Not only did I lose back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I lost an additional 5 lbs and I didn't exercise a single time.

    I seriously don't think its entirely an issue of cravings (although I can't deny they are probably a variable). I think the hormones are slowing my basal metabolic rate or something.
  • Frankie_Felinius
    Frankie_Felinius Posts: 1,398 Member
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    I acutually remeber reading an article or hearing on the news that Depo doesn't actually CAUSE the cravings...it causes you to be unable to say no and get past the cravings. So in theory, you have your normal cravings but while on Depo you have a MUCH more difficult time resisting/getting over the craving.

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