Depo question.

I've been on Depo for a little over a year. when my doc told me all about the possibility of weight gain, I basically said 'I'll be damned it I gain weight b/c of meds' and I've lost (and kept off) about 20 pounds since I started it. you just have to be extra careful!

I took it for six months and didn't notice any weight gain but I did have break through bleeding for the entire 6 months (best birth control ever, forced abstinence! :grumble: ) I had to eventually go on the pill to stop the flow.
I think the weight gain is from increase in appetite.

You do have to be more cautious becuase what I noticed while on Depo is that I was making more excuses for myself why it was okay to eat MORE than I should even if not by much. Pretty much it made me feel hungrier...I was still losing at a minimum 2 pounds/week but it had become harder than before (and depo takes about a week to kick in btw). What I started doing was getting A LOT more fiber and protein in my diet and started drinking green tea! Then I was losing about 2-3 pounds/week without quit as much effort as before. Depo's different for everyone though....so just keep good note of any changes you see so you can correct the "side effects" before they "effect" you :flowerforyou: Also, be sure to take Calcium with Depo because Depo doesn't allow as much calcium to absorb into your bones and that is TERRIBLE for you body and will effect you even more once you older even if you'd stop Depo for years. Also, remember that calcium doesn't work as well without a propper amount of vitamin D....ask your doctor about that one thought because i'm not sure how much vitamin D per amount of calcium your sopose to take! Anyway, good luck!

Taking Depo was the absolute worse thing I did in regards to my weight. Very quickly after starting I gained more than 50 pounds, even though my doc had assured me that if I gained, it wouldn't be all that much :mad:

Aside from the weight gain, I also had extreme mood swings. I would suddenly start crying for no reason at all. Happy one minute and so depressed I wanted to run and hide under the covers the next minute.

It was horrible!!

there is the possibility, i've been on it when for years and when i started this weight loss journey 4 months ago i was nervous it would be harder to lose weight on it, but it wasnt. good luck to you. I love the depo shot! i dont have periods when im on it! :happy:

I never got the depo shot but have tons of friends who did - they ALL gained weight and/or bled like crazy. They also said the weight gain was because their appetite was increased.

I am currently using the Mirena IUD and love it. I spot for like 1-2 days and that is my period

Did it hurt when you got it put in? I am currently considering getting the Paragard IUD, but have never had one before and am a little apprehensive about getting it.

I've never used Depo, just the pill. I gained on the pill at the beginning, but I was already on the upswing so it probably wasn't the pills fault. Needless to say I saw pics from a holiday and was like that's enough.. started eating right and going to the gym... weight came off. So you can loose weight on the pill just as easily as you can gain weight. I lost 30lbs over two years (still on the pill)... of course then I met my bf and gained like 10 back over the course of a year :laugh: . Now I'm taking those 10lbs (and hopefully more) off... already 7lbs down.. and STILL on my pill.

I have been on it since it was approved in the US, 1992 I think and I have found that when I have gone off a couple times for months or up to a year a couple times that I got no weight loss benefit from stopping it so I would say no. I have no bleeding on it at all just sustained amenorrhea. So I like that feature. What I did find was that when I went off within the first month or so I would have issues with short term memory loss. Dr said due to hormonal changes and that they happen with any birth control so I always go back on due to that and migraines. The Depo helps keep me from having hormonal migraines as long as I make sure I take it on time. I have had no problems with calcium depletion but I do take a supplement of calcium, magnesium, and vit. E daily, now, but didn't until just a couple of years ago and had no issues prior to that.

With any drug everyone reacts differently. I would say you have three months to figure it out for your body and you can decide if it's right for you in that time. From what I have seen the effects happen pretty soon with Depo. You either experience the side effects or not in the first shot. Good Luck!:flowerforyou:

I never got the depo shot but have tons of friends who did - they ALL gained weight and/or bled like crazy. They also said the weight gain was because their appetite was increased.

I am currently using the Mirena IUD and love it. I spot for like 1-2 days and that is my period

Did it hurt when you got it put in? I am currently considering getting the Paragard IUD, but have never had one before and am a little apprehensive about getting it.

I got the Paragard IUD put in about a month ago... It hurt so bad I couldn't get out of bed for 2 days... Now, I had been on the pill for about 6 years straight with about 4 months off of it before my divorce, when I got off of the pill I had the worst period of my life and that was again how it was when I got the Paragard put in.. I think it was a combo of a lot of things though.. Getting off of the pill, getting the IUD put in, AND my normal awful period all at once.. After the bleeding stopped and the cramps from getting the IUD subsided after about 2 days then it was fine. I have had no problems out of it, no pain, no nothing. I am only curious how this TOM will be. I was really scared to get it at first too but I do not regret it at all. I was needing some kind of non-hormonal birth control and I really believe this was the right one for me..

Hope this may help you think about it...

I sent gogo a private message with the details but I didn't want all of you to have a negative view of IUDs because not everyone has horrid experiences , as noted above. I don't have a copper one, mine is Mirena, a soft plastic and I have been very well pleased. I had slight cramps for a week or so but you gotta think - this is a foreign object being put in your body, do you expect it to be business as usual? Everyone's body is different, and everyones reaction to it is different, but my advice is to get a Dr. you trust (I trust my OB/GYN with my life), get the facts, weigh them and then choose what is best for you. I'm sorry for the woman who had a bad experience, but I just wanted to let you all know that its not ALL bad! Hope this helps...

Good article on it

http://health.usnews.com/blogs/on-women/2009/03/04/is-your-depo-provera-causing-weight-gain.html