Depo needle and getting pregnant again.

[blackSheep1]

In sept 14 I began the depo injection. I have had 3 shots and wish to fall for our second child. I'm worried as I have been told that it can take a year or even more to fall! If I've only had 3 shot, 9months (due to end beginning of May), will it still take as long. Also I have heard terrible stories of when people have come off of the injection. Bad side effects? Sore breasts and heavy bleeding for weeks? On my injection I've had no periods and am really scared. :-(

[Megzelegz]

For the past few days I had light red blood, but now it’s pibk And I’ve got cramping feeling sick headaches upset all the time and Also a little tender breast, and constipation do you think I could be pregnant?

[Megzelegz]

I was on the depo I only had 3 shots and I was supposed to have one in July and I never and in August 28th I had my af but it was very heavy with loads of clots and now I’m having loads of periods quite close together. Me and my partner want to have a baby and I was wondering for your opinions how long do you think it will take me to get pregnant please get back to me because everyone is scaring me that I won’t be able to have kids for years or even months and me and my partner really want a child x

[aquablend]

Owner Just a word of caution about Holland and Barrett. I find them extremely expensive. Funnily enough, I found everything I needed in Asda, after having almost choked whilst looking at the prices in H&B. £4.50 (yes £4.50) for 30 High Strength 100mg capsules of CoQ10 in Asda. Everything else was £1-3 each in Asda. Asda's b complex was ok, but I found a better strength in Superdrugs. A shame as I had already bought the Asda version. Always next time!

Vapo I use both Ovia and Fertility Friend. Fertility friend picked up my ovulation, whereas Ovia hasnt.

jelli I have never been informed about what depo can do to fertility and I have had 3 shots over the last 15 years. 15 years ago I remember being asked if I had ever been pregnant, as they would only give it to those who have had children, but that seems to have changed now, as anyone can get it. Strange....

[Vap0]

Owner download the app ovia (it's free) populate it with all of your data from the last couple of months and it will give you your most fertile days. I start testing when it goes green on the calendar.
Best of luck.
I'm still not ovulating after my depo 20 months later so it can take a long while. AF came back after 9 months off depo, albeit very erratically.

[OwnerofDoge]

Me again! If my last cycle was 31 days (which is how long it used to be so hopefully back to normal) when should I expect to ovulate and when should I start checking?? Thanks

[PotteringAlong]

But jelly that's still less than 12 months from AF returning until now - even if you have no problems at all it's not unusual for it to take 12 months to conceive so you might be blaming the depo for no reason there! If you're ovulating then the depo has come out of your system. If you do everything 'right' you only have a 30% chance of getting pregnant each month - you might just need a bit more time.

[jellypi3]

I wasn't told anything about the side effects of depo though to the fair I started it when I was 19 so I don't think I'd have cared at that age. Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh n

[OwnerofDoge]

hi again all, thanks aquablend for your update! I did a Holland and Barrett raid and now have a similar morning arsenal of pills i'm trying! I picked up some EPO and coQ10 to add to seven seas folic acid and iron and my B complex. AF arrived yesterday so I am just really hoping I ovulate this month - bonus if I conceive too, obviously!
Jellypi sorry to hear about your long wait. Were you also woefully uninformed about how badly depo would delay things? I feel quite angry about that, it's a good job I'm a compulsive Googler or I'd have waited even longer. Fingers crossed for us eh!

[jellypi3]

I'm in the less successful category. Was on depo for 5 years, came off feb 14. Af returned Oct 14, ovulated Jan 15. Still not pregnant. Hate depo with all my heart.

[PotteringAlong]

I've got pregnant twice after being on depo - first time I was on it for 4 years, pregnant 7 weeks after coming off it. Second time on it for 9 months and then pregnant 12 months later but I was still Breastfeeding a lot for the first 6 months of that.

[aquablend]

Oh and I believe it was also down to my taking the pill to jumpstart my system.

[aquablend]

Hello all,

Just to update.

I ovulated on my first cycle off depo, on CD 15. I am now 6DPO. My temp, my cm and the mittelschmerz I experienced, all correlate with CD 15. I even felt a 'pop' sensation, which is when the egg must have been released.

I truly believe it was down to vits and minerals I am taking, as prior experience with depo left me with no period for a year.

Luckily I stopped EPO before I realised I had ovulated.

Prior to depo I ovulated on CD 19-20 and did not experience mittelschmerz.

Again, what I took was:

Evening Primrose Oil
B6
B complex
CoQ10
Pregnacare
Vitamin C
Zinc

All the best.

[aquablend]

OwnerofDoge Evening Primrose Oil is the way to go, but you can only take it up to ovulation. After ovulation, it's best to switch to another vit/min that provides fatty acids. The best way to track if you are ovulating is by temping. I temp and also use opks. Although I must add that if you find that you are not ovulating, then you are ok to continue with EPO for the entire cycle.

I must add that I am taking the following (11 pills per day - tres over the top but working):

B complex
b6
evening primrose oil
coq10
pregnacare
vit c with zinc

Definitely research on what you may feel is best for your particular circumstances, as there is a plethora of things to try.

What I did was google Zita West's Vitafem vitamins ingredients and and built my regime based on the vit and mins contained within the Vitafem.

All the best!

[OwnerofDoge]

Hello aquablend, thanks for your tips! I'm on my GP's radar only because (back before is done any reading about all this stuff) I showed up thinking I was pregnant because the depo withdrawal symptoms were so similar!! I'm taking vitamin B complex but I might go and get some evening primrose if that's working for you? I'd love to regulate the hormones because apart from anything else my migraines have returned with AF - which makes me even keener to make them stop again :-)

Best of luck to everyone

[aquablend]

Hello. New here.

I had one shot of the depo in January 2015, which wore off in April 2015. I have had all of the side effects of it wearing off, which were horrible might I add.

Since my depo wore off in April I have had two AF's, with the first being a withdrawal bleed as I decided to take the pill to jump start my system. In order to kick start ovulation, I am taking a variety of vitamins and minerals. Evening Primrose Oil being the main one, as it balances hormones. I am taking 1000mg per day. I am also taking B6 and a B complex as that will help my luteal phase. I didnt have a luteal phase on the previous cycle.

So far my cm has returned, I have pinching in my ovary area and my opk's are getting darker as the days go by.

I didnt want to sit around waiting on my body, so decided to take charge.

I have also visited my gp to inform her that I am hoping to start ttc very soon. Although she cannot do anything as it is so soon, I have made sure that I am on her radar if say six months down the line I am not pregnant.

Some ladies have to turn to clomid or femara to get their systems going again. If I get no success, I will be turning to either one in the near future.

[eskimoflo]

Hi all,

Just wanted to chip in and say that it's not only Depo that can cause issues. I was on the pill (combined) for 16 years with no breaks. I stopped taking it in November last year and have had no natural AF to date. I have taken Norethisterone twice, once in Jan and once in April in order to bring on bleeds so that the doctor's could do tests (CD3 bloods, Ultrasound, HyCoSy and, on Monday CD21 tests). I think that everyone is completely different: some people will ovulate straight away after stopping BC, and some people will take a lot longer for their bodies to adjust to the change.

I have read the Depo can affect things more than other forms of BC, but just wanted to stick my head in and say that it's not just Depo that screws you up! I would certainly have come off the pill a long time ago if I had realised that it would cause these issues with fertility. Good luck to everyone; really hope we all get some good news soon

[Aliceblue22]

Hi all,

Finding it really helpful to hear everyone else stories!

I was in Depo for about a year, had my last injection in Nov 2014: and so for no AF at all!
It's all getting very confusing; had one teeny tiny bleed on 15th March 2015, and had ovulation pains on 5th April, but not a sausage since :(.
We've been DTD every 2-3 days since Jan 2015; and I'm now starting to get quite anxious that nothing is happening.
Wishing everyone good luck though, as it's been 6 months now for me and no AF yet.

[OwnerofDoge]

I'm a bit scared of soy because apparently it can hinder ovulation if you already are, so I'd better find that out first, but good to hear it has worked for some and I may give it a go in a few cycles time if nothing happens...

[OwnerofDoge]

Hi all, and thanks for your replies, the good stories and the not so good! I got my Amazon opks today, what a bargain! I'm pretry sure my period is on its way but I'll stay positive about my chances next month until the opks tell me otherwise. I'm sad I didn't do my research earlier on the depo and come off sooner but it's true, it did have its advantages like no periods.

2 very close friends announced they're expecting this week so feeling the pressure but trying not to...

Good luck to all the depo 'victims' and congrats to the successes!

[Snowie8]

I think everyone is different but I was on depo for around 13 years. I loved it as no periods and I never wanted an unplanned pregnancy. Came off 2 years before getting married. Went on progestrogen only pill straight after coming off depo for 1 year, then had one 'clean' year with nothing. Yes, I had irregular periods for 12 months (a full 7 day period every other week, Tampax LOVE me!) which wasn't fun, but... Exactly on 12 months I started having regular periods, 3 cycles and I was pregnant (I'm 32 btw) Expecting in early Nov and everything looks heathy so far. I was very worried as there are so many horror stories out there but I just wanted to share a good one My advice is not to use as a short term solution and give it time to go back to normal. After 13 years period free I think 12 months is not too bad a time to wait to get your fertility back! You will be fine, just wait and see.

[Vap0]

After depo I had terribly sore boobs for months
ownerofdodge I agree with buying the opk's on amazon - that's what Ih ave done and tested every morning.
I also started taking Soy Isoflathomes (dubbed the natural clomid) this cycle which has kick started ovulation.
Have a read about them and see what you think, I wish I had known about soy months ago.
Not been caught this cycle but fingers crossed for May
Am waiting to be prescribed clomid on 11th
Never again will I use depo.
There are stories where people get back to normal and are caught quickly however I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings it sounds like more people take a year or 2 to get back to normal

[Rememberallball]

Hi OwnerofDoge,

I only had the 1 depo last summer before we decided to ttc but my periods hadn't returned by Christmas so we went to GP. Because I'm over 40 investigations can start after 6 months so had to wait until March before anything could be done. In January I took 7 days worth of norethisterone to try and kick start the return of my periods. I had a short bleed a couple of weeks later and another 2 weeks after that (both in February). I have now gone on to have 2 more 'normal' length cycles of 30 & 25 days with +ve OPKs on the second cycle.

Perhaps get some OPKs iff Amaxon - I buy them in packs of 50 for around £6 so not that expensive as buying in the shops. Also, if you do have another bleed appear now, perhaps talk to your gp about taking something to delay your period and see if that rights things rather than going back on the pill?

[OwnerofDoge]

Hi, I have a question for those of you who were on depo - I had my last injection last July and my periods have just restarted - with 2 in 2 weeks! and feels like another one just about to start after, 2 weeks after the last...

We're not really 'actively' ttc ie not paying much attention to timing but I'd like to know whether it's even worth timing stuff... is the only way to know whether I'm ovulating to do the OPKs? This seems expensive given I might not do so for months!

My GP said it was best not to go on to the pill to get my cycle back to normal because we were ttc... but maybe that would be quicker than not ovulating for months anyway, iyswim? does the pill kickstart ovulation though?

thanks for any insights!

[allotherusernamesaretaken]

I was on depo for a few years. It took 3 months for AF to return to normal and I was pregnant the following month. It's not all bad news!

[Vap0]

Hi
Depo for about 10 years
Decided with DP to have a baby 2 years ago
Stupidly had last injection as we were going on holiday
If only I had known it would take 9 months for af to appear
19 months later and no ovulation

Hope it is different for you as you were on it for a shorter time.