Anyone gone mad on the Pill Injection?

[fairyfly]

Im having it this evening and i want to know the chance of turning into an over emotional bad tembered dribbling wreck. Or perhaps i will get spotty. Or fat (ter). Obviously something will happen as i dont have any bollocks.

[nailpolish]

is it the depo?

[fairyfly]

No idea? Do you know which is the best?

[nailpolish]

well i had the depo x 3, put on a ton of weight, and went right off sex. sorry

lost the weight no probs when i stopped, think it was cos the depo gave me a massive apppetite

sorry!

[mummytosteven]

if it's the depo, a few of my friends have had that. one did find it sent her a bit doolally, another thought it was wonderful, another thought it was okay (she had spotting for about a year but no periods after that) but thought that it was worth it to have really reliable conttraception. i think you are pretty likely to get irregular bleeding the first few months on it.

[Donbean]

I was on it for about 7 years and it worked great for several reasons:
1)when the spotting eventually stopped after about 10 months, i had no periods; therefore no pmt, no period pains, to flooding, no wretched tired/weariness....hoorah!!!!
2) contraception all wrapped up, no worries/accidents/nervous waits for periods.
3)no pill to remember/condoms to buy etc etc etc.
HOWEVER, i regret having it for the following reasons:
1)i put on 2 and a half stone in 12 months,
2)i suffered depression (never had it before, never had it since comming off it)
3)It took 18 months for my periods to return to normal, therefor 18 months for my fertility to return to normal
4)i suffered 2 M/C ??????related
5) a friend of mine suffered from aurers(sp) and fitted whilst on it,also had M/C suffered depression etc.
All of the above are recognised problems associated with the contraceptive depot vera injection......nasty.
May be wrong and innacurate here but im sure its banned in the states??????

[TinyGang]

Nailpolish - that's interesting.

Just stopped depo after 3 years(ish) and you describe the problems I've had but docs would never attribute it to depo. I always put the weight down to never shifting it after last pregnancy and having young babies to look after re libido. But that also coincides with when I started taking depo. The weight gain isn't massive, but enough to piss me off

Hope I can look forward to shifting this weight now. How long before you felt back to normal again?

Ff - hope this doesn't put you off - everyone is different I guess and it was very convenient.

[serenity]

Didn't go mad, but I didn't like the side effects and didn't have a 2nd injection.

I think there have been loads of MNers though who have been fine with it, and thought it was great.

[Donbean]

its always my luck for things to go pear shaped
I was on it for ages becaause it suited me so well, its just thinking back (ive been off it for 5 years) i dont have any of those symptoms now.....except the huge bum and thighs of course but that is a side effect of chocolate really!!!!

[TinyGang]

Hmm - depression too Donbean? This sounds very familiar.

Again, I've (and the doctor) put things like this down to post baby, but that was three years ago now. I feel ok, well not great some days, but ok, and am wondering if I'm going to start noticing big differences now I'm off depo.

Can I ask you the same question, as in how long before you felt ok again?

[Donbean]

I was completely puzzled by the depression as i had no reason whatso ever for it. I asked and asked and each time they said "nothing to do with the injection" until a new practice nurse started and she said yes, that it wasnt prescribed for people who were prone to depression for that very reason!
Once i knew the reason i felt better and was back to normal within 18 months, however, i was on it for years. Should be quicker if you have had only one injection surely.

[TinyGang]

Thanks so much Donbean. You were getting the same story as me, and although admittedly I suppose I/the doctor could use just having had twins as an excuse for feeling low, it didn't totally add up for me. I know 'me' and how I react to things and in some ways it felt a bit like a personality change.

Even coupled with the other symptoms - they would always just blame the post pregnancy for everything! It wasn't until I noticed people talking differently on here about depo that I became aware there are sometimes problems associated with it.

[Donbean]

Absolutely TG. I got talking to a girl when i had been off the injection for about 2 years. She was researching the depot because she had stopped driving etc because she had suffered from 2 fits. Totally related to the injection.
While we were talking it dawned on me that many of my physical and psychological problems were identical to hers and she had linked them to the injection.
I never had fits but she made such sense and confirmed my suspicions.
All i needed was for some one to tell me that i wasnt going potty and that there was a valid reason for me wanting to drive my car into the nearest tree and do away with myself. This kind of thinking was/is TOTALLY out of character for me and frightened me!
Kind of confirmed beacause i have been totally back to my normal self since comming off it.

[Dophus]

I had depo a few years ago. 'In depo' is the type of injection rather than brand so 'depo' is what you are having.

Pros:
no periods
no worries re contraception

Cons:
Put on weight
didn't want sex.

My periods didn;t return for over two years. PErsonally I wouldn't reccomend it for that reason as having a drug stay in your system for that length of time following a single dose can't be good for you. It is a completely non-physiological form of pharmacological intervention.

I'm sure you have considered the alternatives but I have recently had tyhe Mirena device fitted. All OK so far.

[Dophus]

I had depo a few years ago. 'In depo' is the type of injection rather than brand so 'depo' is what you are having.

Pros:
no periods
no worries re contraception

Cons:
Put on weight
didn't want sex.

My periods didn;t return for over two years. PErsonally I wouldn't reccomend it for that reason as having a drug stay in your system for that length of time following a single dose can't be good for you. It is a completely non-physiological form of pharmacological intervention.

I'm sure you have considered the alternatives but I have recently had tyhe Mirena device fitted. All OK so far.

[TinyGang]

This is very worrying. Whenever I have mentioned it to my doctor, I have just been palmed off with the PND line and given AD's (more medication) which I didn't take because they made me feel worse. I have asked about whether depo would have anything to do with it and it was always denied.

Again, like you DB, completely out of character for me to feel this way. AD's of course should be prescribed carefully when and if required, I'd never question that, but I wonder if in my case I should have just come off depo instead, to see.

Dh and I have had some rough times over the last 3 years due to the symptoms mentioned here and coupled with a young family which were always the cause of it all according to the doctor. I would question that now having read this and I wonder if some of our difficult times could've been avoided, tbh.

[Donbean]

I managed to get hold of the literature accompanying the injection and all that i have mentioned is included in the "cautions" bit.
It may be coincidental re all of your problems but then again it may simply be down to the injection. Makes you think though doesnt it.

[Flossam]

Sent me absolutely stark raving looney. Just ask DP. I've had it twice a couple of years apart. The first time symptoms where only mild, got very tearful, crying for my dead gran, my horrible nose etc .... Second time I really did find everything get too much. Haven't admitted this to anyone other than DP before but I frequently contemplated suicide, every little thing got too much, couldn't deal with anything. I had just qualified as a nurse which was also stressful, which may have contributed. Since coming off I am as normal as I possible could be . You can ask for a drug reactions form if you believe you have been adversely affected by medication - I wonder if it would be worthwile looking into?

[nailpolish]

TG - i felt back to normal pretty quick

i avoid contraception with even a hint of hormones now, im getting a coil (copper) at the end of the month

[Flossam]

Sorry NP, should have asked in email - are you all back to normal now with your bleeding - hope you don't mind me asking here!

[nailpolish]

hi flossam yes fine now

it was so mysterious

what i did was stop my pill early (the packet i was on) had my week off then started back on another packet

then it was fine

thanks for asking!

i was so worried, but ok now

[nailpolish]

cant wiat to get off hormone contraception

[Flossam]

Glad your ok. I hope the coil works better for you! I'll let you know if and when I hear back from Mayfair.

[purpleturtle]

Fairyfly - I'm thinking you're probably not reassured by what you've read here! Did you have the injection anyway?

I'm another one saying steer clear, I'm afraid. Hoping to come off the ads soon, maybe my sex drive will return one day...

[Donbean]

The good news is that sex drive returns...eventually, then ds came along and now im just too tired to be bothered....poor dh! lol!!