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What are the side effects of depo?
There are MANY possible side effects. Here are some of the common ones: irregular and prolonged bleeding, absence of periods, weight gain, intense mood swings, depression, loss of libido, pain at the site of injection, headache, breast tenderness/pain, hair loss, fatigue, bone pain and pregnancy symptoms. For a complete list of possible side effects click here.
i was told that I wouldn't get my period, why am i bleeding?
Not all women experience the absence of periods side effect. Irregular and prolonged bleeding is also a side effect. Either way, both experiences are good indicators to the hormonal chaos that Depo is causing. Most times it's one or the other. Women either don't bleed and struggle to get their periods back OR they can't stop bleeding, often times needing help to restore cycles.
I missed my shot and now I’m really not feeling well. Is this normal?
Many women experience what's known as Depo Withdrawal when stopping injections. It doesn't matter how many shots you've had either, many women that have had only one shot experience Depo Withdrawal symptoms. Effects can be extremely unpleasant and can last a long time. Some of the symptoms women experience when stopping Depo are: heavy and persistent bleeding, extremely sore breasts, lactation, digestive problems, headaches, intense moods/swings, hormone imbalance, fertility issues, feeling generally unwell, pregnancy symptoms, etc. For more information on Depo Withdrawal click here.
why do i keep getting sick after getting the shot?
Depo activates the glucocorticoid receptor which suppresses the immune system. By suppressing the immune system, it makes it A LOT harder (like almost impossible) for the body to fight off viruses and infections.
Does Depo cause infertility?
Depo is an anti-fertility drug which means that it can impede fertility long after it's been stopped. Many women have not been able to conceive after Depo. Others have needed medical help to restore fertility. Depo routinely impairs reproductive health.
is it normal to feel like you’re pregnant on/coming off depo?
Many women experience pregnancy symptoms both while on and or coming off Depo. The shot wreaks serious havoc on hormones, often causing these super-intense pregnancy symptoms. Many times women take repeated pregnancy tests because symptoms are ongoing and acute. For some, these symptoms go away within a few months - for others it can last over a year.
are depression, anxiety & suicidal thoughts side effects?
Depo often negatively impacts mental health. Many women experience: (some women noticed preexisting conditions worsened) depression, super-intense mood swings, out of character anger outbursts, panic, anxiety, suicidal thoughts, crying a lot, etc. Know that you're not alone. If you need someone to talk to about what Depo's done send an email here.
When will my period come back?
Every woman is different. For some women, their periods return quickly and for other women it can take several months. And then for other women... it's a year plus. Some women say that when their periods did return, they were a lot worse (often longer too) then they were before using Depo. Many women have needed medical help to restore their periods.
is depo made of progesterone?
The Depo shot does not contain the natural hormone Progesterone, it contains a synthetic form of Progesterone called Progestin. Progestin can cause a lot of problems in the body and shouldn't be confused with real Progesterone. If you want to learn more about what's actually in the Depo shot click here.
is the depo shot used to chemically castrate sex offenders?
It's true. In some places around the world the Depo shot is used to chemically castrate male sex offenders. Depo suppresses hormones to such low, low levels that in doing so it halts libido all together. This effect, affects women using Depo for birth control too though. Many women say that their libido tanked while on Depo. Same drug, different uses, similar effects.
When will Depo be out of my system?
Every woman is different. It can take months, even years to fully clear Depo. The best thing that you can do is support your body's natural ability to rid toxins. Drink lots of water and eat foods that help the liver get rid of toxins like: garlic, avocados, apples, carrots, walnuts and turmeric.
what can i do to detox depo?
There isn't anything that can reverse the Depo injection. The best thing that you can do to detox Depo from your body is to support your body's natural ability to get rid of toxins. Drink as much water as you can and eat foods that help the liver get rid of toxins. Foods like: garlic, avocados, apples, carrots, walnuts and turmeric.
where can i share my experience with others?
To share your Depo story click here. You can use your name with a photo OR as anonymous, it's up to you. Either way, thank you in advance for having the courage to share your experience.
is weight gain a side effect?
Yes. Weight gain is a side effect of the Depo shot, common at that. Generally speaking, if women experience this side effect weight gain is significant, we're not talking about a few extra pounds. Weight gained on Depo is often difficult to get off too.
will i have a hormone imbalance after depo?
A hormone imbalance is almost guaranteed after using Depo. Depo pushes hormone levels so low that they're near menopause levels. By stopping the production of important hormones it can cause a cascade of problems, starting with a hormone imbalance. Some women have not been able to produce certain hormones on their own after using Depo. Others need help. For others, their hormones never restored balance and premature menopause was imminent. To learn more about hormone imbalances click here.
what can i do to minimize/lessen side effects?
The only way to stop side effects is to stop the drug that's causing them. Once you take Depo, you're stuck with it until your body can get rid of it. Unfortunately there is no way to minimize or stop the effects from happening.
Why do i feel overly emotional/crying all the time/extremely angry?
The Depo shot can really do a number on mental health. Many women experience out of the blue and out of character bursts of anger and sadness. Many women say emotions were insanely intensified on Depo, that they felt the need to cry all the time, they lashed out in anger, experienced unusual rage and sadness and were highly sensitive to surroundings.
i'm lactating, is that normal?
Some women experience lactation, a milky liquid coming from one or both nipples while on and or coming off the shot. It's not that common but it does happen to some women. Extremely painful breasts is common with lactation due to Depo.
Is bone pain normal on depo?
Depo has a black box warning for bone loss. Bone loss can start immediately after going on Depo and bone loss isn't always recovered after stopping injections. Many women experience all kinds of bone pain with Depo, sometimes it doesn't ever go away and problems with bone health only worsens. Many women experience: nagging and persistent bone pain, pain in joints, fractures, broken bones, Osteopenia, Osteoporosis, Osteoarthritis, Arthritis, Bone spurs while on and or after stopping Depo.
Do women experience dental problems after using depo?
Yes. Many women experience declining dental health after using Depo. Many women have had their teeth crack, chip, break, fall out, erode and have required significant dental work to save their teeth or remove them.
are side effects rare or uncommon?
No. Rare and uncommon side effects aren't so rare and uncommon. A LOT of women who use Depo experience all kinds of horrible side effects. Want to see what side effects others have experienced? Click here.
what do women complain about the most when it comes to depo?
Irregular and prolonged bleeding (can't stop), not bleeding at all (can't get period back), super-intense moods, not feeling like themselves, hair loss, low libido, headaches, weight gain, pain, bone issues, generally not feeling well, pregnancy symptoms and Depo Withdrawal, delay of fertility, hormone imbalance and infertility post-use.
why didn't my doctor tell me about the risks?
Lack of informed consent is a universal issue when it comes to Depo. Doctors routinely don't properly inform patients before use and when ill effects start happening - Depo is never to blame. Most doctors simply aren't educated on the drug, therefor vital decision making information isn't relayed. Many women are only told they might gain a bit of weight or to take Calcium due to bone loss risk. But that's it - and for some they don't even get that.
what are the possible post-use effects?
Blood and lymphatic system disorders, bone mineral density loss, cardiac disorders, congenital and familial/genetic disorders, ear and labyrinth disorders, endocrine disorders, gastrointestinal disorders are just a few post-use effects. Click here for the full list.
what is depo withdrawal?
Depo Withdrawal is AWFUL. One shot or eight, it doesn't matter when it comes to Depo Withdrawal. Many women experience all kinds of unpleasant symptoms for a long time and without any understanding/compassion. Some of the awful and sometimes quite severe symptoms women experience coming off Depo are: heavy and persistent bleeding, severe cramping, hot flashes, extremely sore breasts, lactation, digestive problems, headaches, intense moods/swings, hormone imbalance, fertility issues, feeling generally unwell, pregnancy symptoms, etc. For more information on Depo Withdrawal click here.
Your question not here? No problem. Send an email here to get it answered.
GET THE FACTS
BACKGROUND
Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, [DMPA] better known as Depo, or the Depo shot, is an injectable contraceptive. It's administered by injection in either the arm or buttock once every three months. Given its questionable safety profile, there's no reason the drug should be on the market at all. With a long list of terrible side effects – the risks are high, sometimes fatal.
Depo has long been the subject of medical controversy around the world. The contraceptive's notorious side effects include: prolonged, irregular and or excessive bleeding, delayed or complete loss of fertility, amenorrhea, suppression of immune response, stroke, hair loss, breast cancer, osteoporosis due to loss of bone mineral density, weight gain, depression, vision loss, loss of libido... and that’s just for starters.
Depo's a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone which is called progestin. Depo shuts down the natural production of hormones, suppresses the immune system and thins organ tissue making the woman susceptible to infection and disease.
Product information says Depo "should be used only if other treatments have been considered to be unsuitable or unacceptable and should be used for the shortest period of time possible."
Worth noting is that continuation rates of Depo are low. Only around 50% continue using it in the first six months and a mere 23% at end of the first year. No wonder. The side effects are the worst!
Depo is linked to genocide and population control. Depo has been disproportionately marketed to poor women, women of colour and institutionalized women. If you want to learn more Google "Depo and Population Control."
USES
Depo isn’t only used for birth control, it’s also used to treat endometriosis and some female cancers. Alarmingly, Depo is also used on male sex offenders as a form of chemical castration in some parts of the world... Yes, you read that right! If Depo has the ability to suppress sexual urges in males like that, no wonder loss of libido is reported by women who have used it as birth control.
HISTORY
The history of the Depo shot is terrifyingly gruesome. Its first clinical trials, done in the 1960's and 70's, were done mostly on coloured, rural and low-income women and women in developing nations – in many cases without their consent. Several women developed cancer or died during these trials, not all cases were reported so it’s unclear what the real impact was. In 1976, 1978 and 1983 requests for contraceptive use was sent to the FDA but was repeatedly denied in the USA. When the FDA approved it in the USA, it was with strong objections.
North of the border; Health Canada rejected the application for use in Canada in 1988. In 1992 an appeal was again rejected on the basis of unresolved long-term health risks for Canadian women. Then, in 1997 Depo was officially approved for contraceptive use but without any documented explanation around the change in the approval decision. Since its approval, Health Canada has issued public notice warnings.
Parallel to efforts in approving Depo in the USA and Canada, the manufacturer marketed the drug in approximately 80 other countries, most of which were developing countries. In these countries, Depo was mostly prescribed within programs for family planning and government birth reducing programs.
Following the FDA’s approval of Depo in Canada and the USA, many women’s groups around the world have repeatedly expressed their objections because of the various side effects that women experience.
OTHER STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
READ the Product Monograph Here
REFERENCES
Product Monograph – Depo Provera, Pfizer Canada 2015, 2018
Reflections on Depo Provera: Contributions to Improving Drug Regulation in Canada, Women and Health Protection, 2007
A Statement Protesting Approval to Introduce Injectable Contraceptives in the National Family Planning Program, kafila.org, 2015
Depo-Provera, Canada.com, 2016
Depo Provera and Women's Health, Vancouver Sun, 1993
Controversial Contraceptive Remains on Shelves, Northern News Service, 2010
The Liberal Government Wasting Money by Donating to UN Abortion and Contraceptives Initiatives, Real Women of Canada, 2016
The Long-term Health Implications of Depo-Provera, IMJOURNAL, date unknown
ETHICS, POLITICS AND CONTRACEPTION CANADA AND THE LISENCING OF DEPO PROVERA, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990
Canada to Approve Depo-Provera, Interim, 1986
Depo Provera: A report on its Prescription Policy among Women of the Ethiopian Community in Israel, Hedva Eyal, date unknown
USAID Needs to Warn Women of the Dangers of Depo Provera, Catholic Lane, 2016
Report: Israel is Sterilizing Ethiopian Women Using Forced Depo Provera Shots, Kulture Kritic, 2016
The Two Serious Problems with India’s New Family Planning Push, Women’s Health, 2016
Depo Provera Patient Information, RxList Internet Drug Index, date unknown
Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, MenstrualReserach.org, 2013
Chemical Castration: The Benefits and Disadvantages Intrinsic to Injecting Male Pedophiliacs with Depo-Provera, Biology 103, 2002
Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, Wikipedia
The Depo Shot is Transforming The Bodies of Women Around the World, Monsters in My Cabinet, 2016
Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, [DMPA] better known as Depo, or the Depo shot, is an injectable contraceptive. It's administered by injection in either the arm or buttock once every three months. Given its questionable safety profile, there's no reason the drug should be on the market at all. With a long list of terrible side effects – the risks are high, sometimes fatal.
Depo has long been the subject of medical controversy around the world. The contraceptive's notorious side effects include: prolonged, irregular and or excessive bleeding, delayed or complete loss of fertility, amenorrhea, suppression of immune response, stroke, hair loss, breast cancer, osteoporosis due to loss of bone mineral density, weight gain, depression, vision loss, loss of libido... and that’s just for starters.
Depo's a synthetic form of the hormone progesterone which is called progestin. Depo shuts down the natural production of hormones, suppresses the immune system and thins organ tissue making the woman susceptible to infection and disease.
Product information says Depo "should be used only if other treatments have been considered to be unsuitable or unacceptable and should be used for the shortest period of time possible."
Worth noting is that continuation rates of Depo are low. Only around 50% continue using it in the first six months and a mere 23% at end of the first year. No wonder. The side effects are the worst!
Depo is linked to genocide and population control. Depo has been disproportionately marketed to poor women, women of colour and institutionalized women. If you want to learn more Google "Depo and Population Control."
USES
Depo isn’t only used for birth control, it’s also used to treat endometriosis and some female cancers. Alarmingly, Depo is also used on male sex offenders as a form of chemical castration in some parts of the world... Yes, you read that right! If Depo has the ability to suppress sexual urges in males like that, no wonder loss of libido is reported by women who have used it as birth control.
HISTORY
The history of the Depo shot is terrifyingly gruesome. Its first clinical trials, done in the 1960's and 70's, were done mostly on coloured, rural and low-income women and women in developing nations – in many cases without their consent. Several women developed cancer or died during these trials, not all cases were reported so it’s unclear what the real impact was. In 1976, 1978 and 1983 requests for contraceptive use was sent to the FDA but was repeatedly denied in the USA. When the FDA approved it in the USA, it was with strong objections.
North of the border; Health Canada rejected the application for use in Canada in 1988. In 1992 an appeal was again rejected on the basis of unresolved long-term health risks for Canadian women. Then, in 1997 Depo was officially approved for contraceptive use but without any documented explanation around the change in the approval decision. Since its approval, Health Canada has issued public notice warnings.
Parallel to efforts in approving Depo in the USA and Canada, the manufacturer marketed the drug in approximately 80 other countries, most of which were developing countries. In these countries, Depo was mostly prescribed within programs for family planning and government birth reducing programs.
Following the FDA’s approval of Depo in Canada and the USA, many women’s groups around the world have repeatedly expressed their objections because of the various side effects that women experience.
OTHER STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
- Since the approval of Depo in Canada, there have been numerous government prosecutions, drug recalls and class actions suits where the manufacturer has either lost or settled. Or is still in progress.
- Some people are deeply concerned that Depo is the new forced sterilization.
- There is a strong correlation between Depo use, HIV infection and minority status.
- Widespread usage of Depo is common among institutionalized women.
- Depo in some cases may prevent ovulation. In other cases, there may be ovulation and fertilization, ultimately the drug's effect on the uterine lining causes an abortion. Depo is an abortifacient; a substance that induces abortion.
- It has been repeatedly said that Depo poses a risk to women’s health.
- The drug offers temporary sterilization, in some cases fertility doesn't return.
- In more developed countries, like Canada, Depo is disproportionately prescribed to society’s marginalized and disadvantaged groups. It's noted that recipients are often not fully informed of the side effects and potential health risks of the drug. These groups are noted as: Aboriginal women; women with disabilities; incarcerated women; girls and women in long-term care facilities; women with drug/alcohol addictions; poor women; women of colour and teenagers.
- Prior to its approval, Canadian anthropologist Patricia Kaufert cautioned that Depo would not generally be prescribed to “… the Canadian women of the white middle class. The women at risk live in the Third World, or are Canadian women who are poor, Native, immigrant, the mentally, physically or morally disadvantaged in the eyes of the community.”
- A publication written by Canada’s Women and Health Promotion concluded that “The evidence currently available has not established that Depo is a safe drug.”
READ the Product Monograph Here
REFERENCES
Product Monograph – Depo Provera, Pfizer Canada 2015, 2018
Reflections on Depo Provera: Contributions to Improving Drug Regulation in Canada, Women and Health Protection, 2007
A Statement Protesting Approval to Introduce Injectable Contraceptives in the National Family Planning Program, kafila.org, 2015
Depo-Provera, Canada.com, 2016
Depo Provera and Women's Health, Vancouver Sun, 1993
Controversial Contraceptive Remains on Shelves, Northern News Service, 2010
The Liberal Government Wasting Money by Donating to UN Abortion and Contraceptives Initiatives, Real Women of Canada, 2016
The Long-term Health Implications of Depo-Provera, IMJOURNAL, date unknown
ETHICS, POLITICS AND CONTRACEPTION CANADA AND THE LISENCING OF DEPO PROVERA, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1990
Canada to Approve Depo-Provera, Interim, 1986
Depo Provera: A report on its Prescription Policy among Women of the Ethiopian Community in Israel, Hedva Eyal, date unknown
USAID Needs to Warn Women of the Dangers of Depo Provera, Catholic Lane, 2016
Report: Israel is Sterilizing Ethiopian Women Using Forced Depo Provera Shots, Kulture Kritic, 2016
The Two Serious Problems with India’s New Family Planning Push, Women’s Health, 2016
Depo Provera Patient Information, RxList Internet Drug Index, date unknown
Society for Menstrual Cycle Research, MenstrualReserach.org, 2013
Chemical Castration: The Benefits and Disadvantages Intrinsic to Injecting Male Pedophiliacs with Depo-Provera, Biology 103, 2002
Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate, Wikipedia
The Depo Shot is Transforming The Bodies of Women Around the World, Monsters in My Cabinet, 2016