When will I finally Lose the Weight After Depo Provera?

ccorreia19

After losing just about 20lbs and maintaining my weight loss for over 1.5 years from 146.5lbs to 127-129lbs (since I fluctuate so much), I switched from the pill to Depo on March 21st (after a pregnancy scare) since then have put on 7lbs as well as constant bleeding and spotting; I have always been regular. I am so disheartened over this weight gain, as I worked my butt off to lose the weight after having kids. I continue to lead a healthy lifestyle with healthy eating. I am due for my second shot but I think I am going to switch and go back on the pill, I really do NOT want to gain anymore weight back.

peariel

I am so happy to have found this thread. Here's my Cliff's notes:

+ I have been eating clean, cardio + weights about 5-6 days a week for years. At least 30 lbs overweight. Have a heart disorder which makes hrm ineffective but not many other side effects. Tried WW repeatedly, high protein for months, vegetarian after, Can't lose weight.
+started low dose loestrin in 2011, switched to depo in 2014. Have lost and regained the same 3 lbs the whole 3 years.

My conclusion? Has to be hormones. If you can lose weight on bc, I'm happy for you, but stop posting here like the rest of us just aren't trying. It's incredibly offensive and inaccurate.

madisunnocole

I've been on depo for 10 years, and I've experienced every side effect known for this drug.....low to no sex drive, weight gain, weight loss, hermone inbalance, early menopause symptoms, low testosterone, low estrogen, my body hair even stop growing. ...Ive had it all! When I first tried it I gained 20lbs within 6 months. I was a college dancer, very active and I was a very healthy eater. My doc failed to tell me that I was going to gain weight....I hated it! While on the shot I couldn't get the weight off any kind of way. When I took breaks in between the shot I danced, exercised, ate the right the foods and worked out...and it fell right off! I then stopped using the shot and the weight kept slowly fell off. At that time I couldnt believe that a drug could make me gain weight since I controlled what I ate, how much I ate and how often I exercised, wow was I wrong! A few years later when I got in a serious relationship I went back on the shot.....amazingly this time I LOST weight, it was great. My new OBGYN told me that many women experience weight loss when they get back on the shot after cleansing their system of the shot for a few years. So unfortunately you risk the chance of either losing/maintaining your weight or gaining UNCONTROABLE weight as my doc explained......I gave the shot a rest for 3 years and enjoyed my new skinny then went back on for the third time thinking I would have the same weight loss experience! I am still very active, work out on a regular basis, I eat right and so far I have put on 40lbs within 2 yrs on the shot, again I have no idea what to do with weight! I've tried everything. ...Nutrisystem, Hydroxicut, prescription diet pills so far the weight is SLOWLY......very, very slowly falling off. I've never had a problem losing or maintaining my healthy weight.....so this time I'm done for good, Im sure like before the weight will fall off after 3 months of no depo in my system. ...I won't be doing depo ever again!

CourtlovesGeorge

Hi all,

I have been on the depot injection for only the last 3 months and have gained 4-5 kilos.The side effects remember can effect everyone differently some people lose weight and some people gain weight. The weight gain is a common side effect of the depot injection I would know because I'm s registered nurse giving them out. Women come off it constantly due to the terrible side effects weight gain, anxiety, mood disorders and headaches are the most common. The weight will eventually drop however it takes a good six months for the hormones to leave the body. People saying its us over eating that's rude and not the case the depo injection is commomly known to cause weight gain in women. I have come off the injection straight away cause it changed my personality and I gained crazy weight. The hormonal pills and injections effect every women very differently.

Thanks

paymentm

When i was on Depo I maintained my weight and actually feel on the lighter side of my normal weight. 165lbs-170lbs. Once off of Depo and onto an oral contraceptive I gained 25lbs in six months. I feel that it may have been hormones from the shot but now that I've been off it since November I've had no issues.

Miss_TeaPot

My mother was on depo after she had my brother for 8 years. She dropped it rather quickly. She had also gained 50 pounds and lost it in about 4-6 months. I was so jealous!

geruza123

I'm 22 I tried to depo once about 3 months ago. It should be currently wearing off. I'm going to let it wear off because although I had gotten thicker before the shot I did notice that my appetite grew after getting the shot. I started getting cravings for fast foods. I'm never going on it again. The idea was to not get pregnant after the shot and now people are asking me if i am pregnant. People are assuming because of my weight that I am pregnant. I am going to stick with condoms for now

nandez4dinger

I am in the same situation. I started the depo shot in August 2013 weight was 115# I just got my last shot in July weight is 145# I am beyond irritated and I'm on strike refusing to take any more hormones! Hubbys turn I had used depo many years ago and the same thing happened but I just thought it was my eating habits as a teen...wrong!!! Everyone is affected differently!

SezxyStef

Currently using depo...since October 2013...prior to that Mirena for 7 years..prior to that Depo for 10 years....note ticker below.

Therealobi1

Have been on the depo shot for 6years now, also been on it years before daughter born, Not even sure if its impacted the rate of my weight loss or not i just keep at it . It hasnt prevent losses though. Good luck you can do it.

Jodsmission

Had a Depo shot March to stop ovarian cysts. Not only didn't stop the cysts but have been bleeding for 3 1/2 months straight. The doctor has given me a script for BC pills to stop the bleeding ,which will also cause weight gain, While I have lost in the last 4 months I have killed myself to do it and I have this bloated look to my stomach (almost look pregnant) I can't shake. Please someone tell me how much longer before this crap is fully out of my system? Will my weight change when it is?

Jojopepe

I had Depo-Provera almost 20 years ago....I felt great while I was on it but only had 2 injections. When I went in for my 3rd I had gained 100 lbs in 6 months. As with you I thought it would come off but it did not. I have tried FOR YEARS to get this weight off. I am now on the HCG diet and am so happy to FINALLY be losing weight. It has been 16 days and I have lost 14 lbs.

TutuMom41

Ugh! Started taking Depo Provera last May. Within months, I had already gained 15 pounds, but I didn't put it together that the Depo is what was causing my weight gain. I ended up having two more shots and gained a total of 50 pounds. I was about 3 pounds underweight before and now I'm 13 pounds overweight. I stopped getting the shots and hoped the weight would just come off, but it didn't. I exercise like crazy and eat a mostly vegan diet. I thought there must be something else wrong with me and had every blood test known to man done on me. All the labwork came back as 'normal' and I'm back to questioning if this could be because of depo. I finally am getting a normal cycle as of this month and have lost about 4 pounds in the past month or so. I have never had an issue with my weight. Am I finally turning a corner with my weight loss journey? Will the weight come off easily now? Advise from other would be very helpful!

I have been on depo since I was a teenager. You have to eat the food to gain the weight. It is possible to loose on depo
I also hope 3 lbs underweight is not your goal

AllieBear88

I have been on Depo since August of 2011 and have lost 50+ lbs. It isn't the Depo that makes you gain weight, unless you already had a weight issue to begin with. Your doctor should have explained that to you. I still get the shot and am still losing weight.

Every body is different. I wasn't hungry while on it at least three to four days a week. I gained weight. My acne worsened. My sex drive was GONE and I hated being anywhere near people.

My best friend was on it and lost so much weight on it she was underweight and sick. Her sex drive was through the roof and she had no skin problems with it.

Berry2084

Quick update from me so I did come off the depo but mainly due to moving to a country where I can't get it haha.

My last shot was in Aug 2013 and so far it appears to have made little difference to my weight loss. As it has been nearly a year I guess it wasn't the depo for me that was causing the weight gain, through increased appetite I just have a big appetite.....

However I know everyone is different.

Not sure I'd go back on it when I get home it takes a while to work its way out of my system which is annoying to say the least.

Jodsmission

I have been on depo since I was a teenager. You have to eat the food to gain the weight. It is possible to loose on depo
I also hope 3 lbs underweight is not your goal
[/quote]

Its great that you have had a success story with Depo but to say you have to eat to gain is not true. You can hold water due to high hormone levels . Just because some people may have a good experience doesn't negate how many woman have horrible experiences on Depo.There is no question that I had to work twice as hard to lose while it was in my system and as I mentioned in previous post I bled for 3 1/2 months. Not spotting . bleeding. and when it left my system I had bleed so hard that I looked like I had lost a baby.
Some people get rashes with penicillin some don't every body is different. You can't say you can't get a rash from peneicillin because I didn't .
same priniciple.

stacey31

I started on Depo for the first time at the end of April 2014, I have since gained 8lbs, now am not saying I have been perfect in my eating habits but I haven't seen weight go on that quickly ever. So I started to research depo and checked the side affects and found that weight gain is common, so I've deicded to come off it, the 3 months is up today, hopefully over the next weeks/months I will see the weight come off, I've also started changing my diet to support the weight loss as well. so we will wait and see

Side Note: I saw that someone mentioned weight gain to water rentention, well over the last week, I have been going to the loo at least every hour and sometimes up twice during the night, which is completely not like me, so I wondered if that was an affect of the depo wearing off, just a thought!

SezxyStef

I started on Depo for the first time at the end of April 2014, I have since gained 8lbs, now am not saying I have been perfect in my eating habits but I haven't seen weight go on that quickly ever. So I started to research depo and checked the side affects and found that weight gain is common, so I've deicded to come off it, the 3 months is up today, hopefully over the next weeks/months I will see the weight come off, I've also started changing my diet to support the weight loss as well. so we will wait and see

Side Note: I saw that someone mentioned weight gain to water rentention, well over the last week, I have been going to the loo at least every hour and sometimes up twice during the night, which is completely not like me, so I wondered if that was an affect of the depo wearing off, just a thought!

Weight gain has to be listed if any of the participants in the 5 clinical studies reported weight gain....any amount...even if they were not on a calorie controlled diet...this is the way trials work. Any symptoms that are "odd" must be report to the study leads and reported as possible side effects.

There is a tendency for women to gain weight while on therapy with DEPO-PROVERA CI. From an initial average body weight of 136 lb, women who completed 1 year of therapy with DEPO-PROVERA CI gained an average of 5.4 lb. Women who completed 2 years of therapy gained an average of 8.1 lb.

Women who completed 4 years gained an average of 13.8 lb. Women who completed 6 years gained an average of 16.5 lb. Two percent of women withdrew from a large-scale clinical trial because of excessive weight gain.

http://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/archives/fdaDrugInfo.cfm?archiveid=11565

You may experience a weight gain while you are using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection. About two-thirds of the women who used DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection in the clinical trials reported a weight gain of about 5 pounds during the first year of use. You may continue to gain weight after the first year. Women in one large study who used DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection for 2 years gained an average total of 8.1 pounds over those 2 years, or approximately 4 pounds per year. Women who continued for 4 years gained an average total of 13.8 pounds over those 4 years, or approximately 3.5 pounds per year. Women who continued for 6 years gained an average total of 16.5 pounds over those 6 years, or approximately 2.75 pounds per year.

These are quotes from the clinical studies...

But to be frank sounds like average weight gain of a woman who isn't watching calories...

As for the other side effects there are warnings all over the clinical studies about who should and shouldn't be taking this particular method of BC...

If you are counting calories and in an actual deficit you won't gain weight with depo...it's science.

twiggycmt

Hi this is actually my first post... felt like I had to say my story.
So I had the injection about 3 years ago now. The first one I had gained crazy amount of weight in 3 months (about 14 pounds) .. plus my hormones were all over the place (sudden out burst of tears). At the time I didn't think of this weight gain and mood changes being down to the injection so I had my 2nd one only to be confronted with loads more weight gain (don't know exactly how much as I was to scared to weigh myself but at least 3 dress sizes) plus constant bleeding. So when my next injection was due I told nurse my symptoms and she said to do the 3rd one as it will all settle out once you have the 3rd injection. So I took the 3rd one and of course more weight gain as well constant bleeding/ mood swings. After that I thought no more, so I stopped the injections.. but then two weeks after I was due the next injection, the bleeding stopped and I didn't have period for about a year after!!
Even now I am still struggling with weight. I eat very healthy (mostly raw) and exercise at least 4 times a week at the gym. I think it has messed up my metabolism for good. So please please please, anyone who is thinking of having it... just be careful after the first injection and you are showing negative symptoms.

MumToTyeandMyah

Depo has stuffed my body, l have ran 8km 6 days a week since l was 22, lm now 36 and still running. l have put on 5 kg since having the shot for about a year, l felt like l was running for nothing, so l have stoped the shot. I have noticed that l have more energy after being off the shot for 3 weeks but l haven't lost any weight yet. This depo shot is very bad for your body and should never be taken for more than 1 year because it destroys bone density, 3 doctors have warned me about this. I was on the pill for 15 years and never had any weight gain. I have quit the shot not just because of weight gain but because l need strong bone density to raise my kids and run long distances. Good luck everyone and remember dont stay on depo for more than 12 months. I will never have it again and would never recommend it to my friends or family.