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Conception

When's the best time to get pregnant? Use our interactive ovulation calculator to work out when you're most fertile and most likely to conceive.

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Original poster

How long did it take for your periods to come back after stopping Depo???

50 replies

Calista · 06/02/2006 21:15

My last injection was in May last year and have had virtually nothing apart from tiny bit of spotting at the beginning of January. I've managed to persuade DH to try for no.3, but nothing's happening and it's so frustrating! Made worse by the fact both DS's were conceived in month 1 (although I had been on the mini-pill previous to those pregnancies).

How long did it take for your periods to come back after? I know it can be up to 12 months but am interested to hear others experiences of it.
TIA

OP posts:

Hattie05 · 07/02/2006 21:35

Calista - the truth is i don't know, if i don't conceive in a couple more months i will go back to the docs for more tests. I have normal periods now - although no period pains which i used to suffer with badly.

Yes the pill was intriguing to me also, i didn't believe him but thought oh well i've got nothing to lose and it definitely worked! And i don't quite know how to explain it, but i felt more 'normal' once i came off the pill, but that may be the pyschological effects of getting a long awaited for period.

I think that blood tests showed i was lacking progestorone, so he gave me a progestorone only pill for three months. When i questioned he said that for 'some' women, receiving it artificially is enough to make the body start making it itself.

QE2 · 07/02/2006 21:40

Worst contraceptive thing I ever had, the depo. Once I stopped using it, I bled constantly with only a day off here and there for 18 months. Awful.

Original poster

Calista · 08/02/2006 21:25

Hattie, was it the combined pill you went on or the mini-pill? I can't have the combined pill as I get migraines with auras.

OP posts:

Hattie05 · 08/02/2006 23:50

Funnily enough, it was the mini pill they offered me first, but i refused as had lots of trouble with that in the past. So they gave me a different one which was progestorone only. Not sure how that works cos i thought that meant it is the mini pill!

Anyway you should be fine.
It will be interesting to hear if your doc agrees with this method of treating cos i'd never heard of it before.

Original poster

Calista · 09/02/2006 20:54

Ta, I'll let you know.

Got my fingers crossed for you ttc as well, will look out for your pg announcement! Are you on any of the ttc boards?

OP posts:

cheltenhamgal · 09/02/2006 20:57

mine took seven months to come back and was bliss but then I wasn't trying for a child ! good luck

Hattie05 · 09/02/2006 21:21

No i havn't ventured there yet Calista, i feel like its tempting fate!

I kinda pretend i'm not ttc hoping that i will! as first time round we did not 'try'.

If people ask me in rl if i want more children, i just say yeah i think so.

homemama · 10/02/2006 15:10

Hi, it took a year for my periods to come back then another 4mths before I started to OV. I have always known when I'm ovulating (mild pain, discharge) so I'm pretty sure it wasn't happening.
I would never take it again, nor would I recommend it to anyone. Basically, it made me fat and frigid and I felt down all the time. DH put up with a lot. It wouldn't surprise me it wasn't a contributing factor in a great many divorces.

mawbroon · 10/02/2006 16:13

I must say that I really liked Depo and especially not having any periods.

I decided to stop Depo but wasn't ready at that point to become pg so went from Depo to the pill. I had artificial "periods" from taking the pill for three months. Then I stopped taking the pill to ttc. I had a period after the last pack of pills, missed one the following month and then resumed the month after. After coming off the pill (three months after the last Depo injection finished) it took a year to conceive. There is no way of knowing of course if this was because of the Depo or not.

My sister has a friend who was a few days overdue for her injection and fell pg, so as with all things pregnancy related, everyone's different.

Hattie05 · 10/02/2006 17:12

We all like the 'no periods' aspect, but that is about the only positive point about depo.

I fell pg with dd straight away first time round - having been on depo for a few years already, so i didn't expect it to cause me any probs. Its true we are all different, but imo the figures of women that have probs to conceive after depo are way to high.
Many docs and nurses are now telling people not to go on it if they want children in the future. I hope to see every single doc and nurse be advising this in the very near future.

Original poster

Calista · 17/02/2006 21:31

Been to Doc's today and didn't get told to go away and wait till I'd been off the Depo a year at least, as I'd expected!

She seemed quite concerned that I'd bled more or less constantly (usually spotting, sometimes v. painful cramps and flooding) whilst I was on the Depo but had no bleeding at all since my last injection 'wore off' last August. Apparently it's usually the other way round!

So I'm having blood tests done on Tues and will know the results by th end of next week.
Feel quite relieved that I'll at least know what's happening soon.

OP posts:

beansprout · 17/02/2006 21:41

What are the blood tests Calista? Have just come off Dept and want to have another baby at some point so am interested!

Original poster

Calista · 17/02/2006 22:04

Beansprout, can't remember exactly what she said, I remember she mentioned thyroid function, pituitary (sp?) gland, and she wrote a few other initials on the envelope that stood for various other hormonal things. She said once the results were back there were a few things we could discuss in the way of treatment, i.e. going on the mini-pill as Hattie05 said she had been advised to do, and other things that she didn't go into really. I have heard Clomid can be one option, I suppose I'll know more next week. There's no rush to conceive no.3 for us, as ds's as only 3.11 and 2.6, but I want to be back on a regular cycle before we start to try as have read it can be detrimental to pregnancy/baby if you conceive whilst Depo is still in your system.

OP posts:

Rachee · 19/02/2006 04:33

Hi, I was on the Depo for 2 years and it took 15 months after stopping it to have my first period. I been ttc for all of that time and still am. I have now been having periods for six months and still no sign of baby.... Had all the blood tests, nothing wrong. The consultant says that it can take 2 - 2 1/2 years before ferlility returns !!!!

Doctors that are friends of mine have said thay wouldn't reccomend depo if you want to have a family in the future, but that is not public knowledge !!!

Come off it in good time, is my advice. Better still, don't touch it !!!

pmoh · 22/02/2006 16:04

I had my mirena removed 5 weeks ago and I haven't had a period yet. Is this normal? I really want a 2nd baby and I'm afraid to take a preg test in case it tells me I'm not pregnant.

Rachee · 24/02/2006 02:24

Merina again because it's hormones, it could take a while.

There is no right or wrong as to which will return first, your periods or your fertility. Some people do catch without having a period, others ( like me) periods return for ages and still no joy.

Good luck....

nightowl · 24/02/2006 02:41

i had the depo and had a constant period for around three months. i had already decided no more depo as in this time i also had awful night sweats bad enough to wake me up (every sodding night) and i gained 1 1/2 stone. my cycle returned more or less as normal within a month. its been a year now, period is normal but i cant shift the weight.

Original poster

Calista · 24/02/2006 13:19

Well, had Doc's appointment yesterday to get results of blood tests. All is normal apparently, LSH levels are 4.7 (have heard people talk about these levels on here before but not got a clue what LSH is! )Everything is indicative of me being 'mid-cycle', by which she said she meant around ovulation time. I asked if I was ovulating and she said until I have a period they can't tell, as they would test me on certain days of my cycle! Catch 22 then.

I've been given Norethisterone to take 3x a day for 21 days, after which I should have a 'withdrawal bleed'. This should then hopefully kick-start my periods to return. So fingers crossed! If I don't get a withdrawal bleed it's back to the Doctors for more tests.

Rachee, hope you get a BFP soon, have you had any tests to see if you're ovulating? Do you have any children already or is this your first time of TTC?

pmoh, from what I've read Mirena is a very low dose of contraceptive similar to the mini-pill, so shouldn't be too long before it's out of your system. But 5 weeks is still very early days. Good luck ttc!

OP posts:

Original poster

Calista · 02/03/2006 20:46

OMG, how pre-menstrual do these tablets make me feel! !!!

Nearly a week in and I am eating comfort foods like mad, teary, moody, up one minute and down the next, and permanently knackered! Roll on the end of week 3...

OP posts:

lunavix · 02/03/2006 20:47

I didn't get them back. Came off depo in July to ttc, and fell pg in November!

TinyGang · 02/03/2006 20:57

8 months then they came back with a vengance. Took it for 3ish yrs.

Wish I hadn't used Depo. I am not ttc but really feel for those who have come off it and are waiting to get back to normal because they want a baby. I am sure we are not given the full info on this contraceptive

rebecca24 · 02/03/2006 21:51

I went on the Depo for about 9 mth's 3 injection's all together, when i came off it to try and get pregnant the mth's went by and still nothing after 3 whloe years of trying :( (almost 3 and a half) i finally got pregnant :)!!! Never did i think it would take that long. Now after the birth of my baby girl i got the bar in my arm but i hope when i try for another one that it wont take that long.

rebecca24 · 02/03/2006 22:12

:( Me again is it normal to bleed for such a long time i usally only have a period for about 4 day's so im a bit worried that i've been bleeding for nearly two and a half week's now! Am i just panicking 4 nothing?

Hattie05 · 02/03/2006 22:27

Hey Calista, just seen this, glad your docs are starting to take action Fingers crossed for you.

Rebecca - sorry don't know the answer to yours, probably worth checking with the doc, does sound like a long time to bleed.

jessep · 19/02/2014 21:53

Mine took 5 months to return tried to conceive for a yr after that but nothing blame depo definetly

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