The Shot - Jay,OK

My best friend has been on it for years and loves it. I tried it a few years back before I had kids. I became moody and cried a lot. I googled it and actually found a lot of people who it had a really bad effect on like myself. But I think everyone's different and you might have no issues at all. At least I didn't gain weight on it.

I have been on the shot for five+ years. Absolutely no side effects - no weight gain, no loss of sex drive, etc. Be aware some doctors believe your bone loss could be increased but my current ob/gyn disagrees and recommends calcium anyway. Furthermore, I stopped taking it last fall to get pregnant with our first child. Both my regular doctor and ob/gyn said to relax as it could take up to one year from the last injection to get pregnant. I took their advice and did not stress about the timing. It worked out that I was pregnant within 6 months of the last injection. I say try it. We are all different and our bodies respond differently. Personally I love Depo. It's hassle free and period free - sign me up!

I was on it for about 7 years. At first I loved it, but after looking back on it I realized it exacerbated my depression and anxiety pretty bad. I also gained quite a bit of weight that sort of slowly crept on. Not a big gain all at once but about 5-10 per year that I could live with in the little increments, until I realized I was miserable in my own skin. I have heard that doctors recommend now that you don't stay on it that long, but no one ever told me that at the time. It is just like any other hormone BC. Everyone has different reactions to it, but I think if you are prone to depression/anxiety, you should closely monitor your reaction to it. Which is hard to do on yourself. It was only after getting off of it that I realized how it made me feel, since my side effects didn't come on strong all at once.

I used Depo-Provera and it caused me all kinds of problems. I do NOT recommend it.
I had full-blown menopause symptoms on it (hot flashes, cold sweats, sex drive dropped from nympho to none - in my THIRTIES), as well as mood swings, depression, and migraines. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia during the time I was on it. When I stopped taking it, the mood swings, depression, migraines, and fibromyalgia all disapeared.

I had Depo for a year after I had my first son and I would NOT recommend it. Especially if it's only for a discharge. I HATED depo and I've never talked to anyone that says "Hey I LOVED depo!" Everyone I know has had problems with it. Personally, I was grouchy all the time, got migraines a lot and I gained about 60lb. I'm still trying to lose it 8 years later.

I didn't think that I had any issues until I had been on it for about 9 months, my hair started falling out! Not good! Then when I went off it, it took another year for me to get my period! I wouldn't recommend it, especially if you may want to get pregnant again, because it really messed up my cycle.

Dear E.,
I've never taken the shot personally because I had a hysterectomy, but my friend has taken it for years and she loves it. She's never had any side effects whatsoever. She and her husband both have grown kids from previous marriages and she plans to stay on it until there's abolutely no chance of her being fertile anymore.
I see you've gotten varying responses, but I do know of someone who took her first shot and never looked back. It worked perfectly for her.

I guess you won't know until you try, everybody is different, but because my friend did so well with it I would try it if I was in a position to need birth control.

I wish you the best!

I was on the depo shot for 2 years prior to having my child. I did love it. No periods was the best thing about it and not having to take something daily just once every 3 months. The only side effect I had was a little weight gain, about 10-15 lbs in 2 years time.

I had the depo shot for 2 cycles back in my early 20's and gained about 40lbs...hated it! Never went back!

My OB did not recommend for me to get the Depo shot because it is known to cause weight gain and moodiness.

I see the post about how nobody has ever said they love the depo shot but I actually do! LOL. I have been on it since my son was born last summer. It's nice because I don't have to worry about remembering to take the pill (I was very forgetful when it came to my prenatals so I'm sure I would have forgotten). I didn't have any side effects and no period was a def plus!! I HAVE heard, however, that it can taken women a while to get preggo after though (which my doc says isn't true ... each woman is different and it may have naturally just taken them a while to get pregnant - who knows I have no proof). Anyway ... I guess I will have to wait & see what happens because I just stopped getting it. I will have to see how long it takes for my body to get back in order but definitely no problems during it at all. :-)

Hi E.,

I got the shot after my daughter was born and I loved it, until she was about a year old. Then my hair started falling out, my joints started to ache, I had ZERO sex drive while I was on it. So I had to switch to the pill, which had similar effects. I would say go ahead and try it though, because I got a good year out of it before my body reacted negatively. Everyone is so different. It might be your miracle cure. Good luck : )

K.