Depo-Provera Contraceptive side effects

I'm so frustrated with the Depo injections in general. I received my first injection Nov '03...I was 19 years old it was highly recommended to me at the Health Dept because I'm a lazy pill taker and at the time I questioned the side effects, but the general pamphlet I received mentioned NOTHING of bone depletion being a side effect... and after the first few months of constant irregular bleeding, things were great, no periods, no pill, I was okay with gaining the 20lbs for it...about one year in one of my molars just randomly chipped, my dentist told me it wasn't anything to worry about, it didn't need a filing...less than two months later the tooth cracked down the center... I needed a root canal...one year later during my routine visit my dentist found 5 more molars that needed root canals.... 6 months later all my filings began coming out one by one... My dentist said I wasn't taking care of my teeth, but I brush 3 times a day and floss!! It's been 6 years since I started Depo injections, last year in Sept '08 during my yearly, the OBGYN looks at my file and says "oh I hadn't realized you've been on the Depo 5yrs, you need to take a year off, let your body rest" then she handed my some pill packs and a jar of calcium supplements and sent me on my way. I never even knew about the Depo Black Box Warning, now I realize why my teeth are falling out... I need a filing or root canal on every single tooth in my mouth, they are rotting from the inside out....I've put 7grand in my mouth so far... I can't even afford to keep up with it anymore... I wish I had known what not having a period was going to cost me. I'm 25 years old and I look like I've been doing Meth since I was 19.

okay, I was on and off the depo provera for about 6 years. I have been in for a bone density screening and theres no trace of osteopenia. I have however been to the dentist many many times. At first I had 17 cavities, all along the gumline and just below it. About a year ago, I had another bunch, didn't count that time, which I had filled and I had two teeth removed. Luckily molars so you cant tell. I just went back two days ago and I have 6 now. I brush twice a day and floss. I also have a tooth thats really sensitive because the gumline receded. I am tired of this and it almost seems like my dentist is afraid to tell me anything but "make sure you floss and brush regularly." I think when the FDA really discovers what depo does to the teeth, maybe we can get a lawsuit and make pfizer pay for real nice implants....

I decided to use this form of birth control because of convenience and in order to stop my periods. I have been on the shot for about 10 months, and have only had 3 months without a period. For the past 4 months, I have had non stop bleeding, and occasional clotting. I haven't experienced weight gain or hair loss, just absolutely no sex drive. I also noticed that during intercourse, it was extremely painful each time. I am so upset about this birth control, that I am changing to Loestrin. I really wouldn't recommend Depo Provera to anyone because of my personal experiences. However, I know many girls that use the shot and their periods have gone away completely, and have been happy with it.

i was on the depo shot for 2 1/2 years, and the first 6 months i had daily bleeding and that was with the shot in my arm. after the six months i had moved states and the state i was in only did the buttox shot and as soon as i started that for the next 2 years i didn't have a menstrual cycle. i still had mood swings and a few odd head aches, and ridiculous tooth decay. how ever for 6 months after being off the shot i still did not have a menstrual cycle so i went on Yasmin for a month just to make myself have a cycle. after that month i did have a cycle and went off the Yasmin. after that 1st cycle coming back i had a cycle every other week for about 2 or 3 months. everything finally regulated, and after it had regulated i spent the next 2 years trying to have a baby and it didn't work. I then started monitoring my ovulation, which i apparently no longer have. i monitored my ovulation for about 6 months and it never showed up. i don't know if this was result of the shot or not but i know i had an ovulation before because i had gotten pregnant before i went on it and miscarriage.

Depo seemed to be the best thing ever for me when I was on it 4 years ago. When I decided to get the shot the only side effects were weight gain and hair loss. I didn't gain any weight, lose any hair and I had no more periods. After four years of being on the shot I learned that I had Osteoporosis due to the lack of estrogen. I had bones of a 65 year old and I was only 24. Its four years later and my bones have increased somewhat because I take Vitamin D pills and two calcium chews a day. Now I have Osteopenia and hopefully by the end of this year my bones will be back to normal.

I think the Depo is a good birth control method if you don't stay on it for more than two years. Good luck!

I was on the Depo Provera birth control shot for roughly 6 years. It did stop my periods but that was the only good thing about this shot! I am now 30 years old and it has been about 2 years since I stopped receiving the injection. My teeth are decaying so rapidly that they chip and break as if they are made of layers (like a flaky biscuit). When I first started the injections my smile was pretty perfect. My diet and daily regimens have not changed so I can only attribute the dental issues to this birth control shot.
I also suffered from lowered sexual drive, depression, mood swings/anxiety and insomnia while on the treatment. After several years of my issues getting worse I linked them to the shot and no longer received the injections. Since then my other symptoms have gone away but the tooth decay still lingers.
Is there anyone else out there with these same issues? I desperately would love to find help or others like myself.

i took one shot of Depo, and i still say i never should have... i had daily bleeding for the 3 month span, plus weight gain and nausea and breathing issues. but the main problem was my moods and mental health, i was either crying or enraged all the time and had very bad anxiety. also, i just did not feel like myself, i had no idea who i was anymore. so i got off it, then 6 months later another doctor suggested i try the lowest possible dose of the pill. well i only took i think 2 doses, because it ended up giving me morning sickness... waking up puking at 6am. but i think that those 2 doses somehow combined with the not-yet elapsed dose of Depo i'd had... it can take a year to wear off... because i am still feeling the mental and mood effects. i'm beginning to think it's taken a permanent toll on my mental health or something, or that maybe i'm just crazy, or hormonally off balance. i feel like i should be on sedatives or anti-depressants, or both, because i'm still very stressed/worried/nervous/anxious all the time. the other problem is that i don't have health insurance. Planned Parenthood gave me the Depo, and a Women's Clinic hospital doctor put me on the pill... i haven't seen my actual doctor in a long time. so i really need help but feel like i don't know how and would have no way to get it.

*** if anyone has any suggestions... i really need the help, i've posted this experience as a reply to other people's experiences... just because i'm struggling to reach out, i'm really trying to find some sort of alleviation for the god-awful mental mess i'm in.
please & thanks,
JesoftheEast

It kept me bleeding day in day out it's ridiculous!!!!! I was depressed like crazy, I recently stopped the shot and the blood flow of my period is much better, my hair is growing , and I'm living life to the fullest, no depression. I wish the doctor would have been truthful about the damn side effects

tooth decay, hair falling out, numbness/tingling in upper back & left arm, joint pain
I was on Depo (on & off) for about 8 yrs I have teeth of a 80 yr old!! (I'm only 28) they just keep breaking & decaying I finally figured out it Has to be from the Depo
I'm currently on the Mirena & I also just figured out I have been having some S/E's with that too UGH I wish there was something for us w/o all the nasty S/E's
GL e/o

I have been on Depo for about 7 years. I never had a problem, I never had any periods at all. When i went off I became pregnant in 3 months. I have decided that I will never go back on it just because everyone has warned me about the horrible bone decay. I am awaiting a bone density test in March and I am very nervous. It took this long to actually start listening to what people were telling me about this drug.especially my doctor. I tried the pill 2 months ago (tri-cyclon_ for the 1st time and it is the worst thing I have ever done. I am depressed beyond words. I have no desire for sex no desire to eat, or to be social. this is where brown stuff hits the fan. I am done with needles,pills and any other thing that put chemicals in the body. Condoms, I have no choice. I am sick sick of being mentally and physically sick, on account of putting crap in my body.

Well I started a brown discharge Last Thursday and had called my doctor to schedule my appointment for the following day to receive my shot. The weird thing was I started on my 24th day, when I always seem to start on my 35th day. That evening my husband and I had sex, normally it helps me start the heavy flow, but this time there was nothing. I went to the doctor bright eyed and bushy-tailed that morning and explained the situation. Not even two weeks before I had come in to talk about my options I was 10lbs lighter. She found it kind of odd that I gained that much weight and she thought I might be pregnant, but the pee test came back negative. So, she decided to give me the shot anyway. Well, it has been 5 days now and no spotting and definitely no flow. Just heavy discharge which I was having before the shot and bloated too. I had breast tenderness before I received the Depo-Shot, but of course it has increased sense than. I have had more back pain after sitting for long periods. I feel nauseated, but get relief after eating a small meal. Thirsty all the time and always tired. I can't say I am depressed, because I have been on Paxil and Hydroxyz for the past three months. There is a possibility I could be pregnant, because I am married to a man who refuses to wear condoms. With any medication comes risks, and at this time in my life I believe I am truly blessed to have a beautiful healthy baby boy and don't need another. I do say if God wants me to have another one he will make it happen. Even though I am in this situation, with all these side effects, there is nothing I can do about it now. Whats done is done, there is no reversing it. With any chemical you put in your body you take the risk of some side effect good or bad. We just always hope for the good. So I guess basically I am saying that yes I have some side effects, but what drug doesn't give you some kind of side effect. It seems a lot of people are complaining about weight gain. I can tell you most of it is water weight, you can take care of it with an herbal diuretic and if you want to go on a diet where you eat every two to three hours healthy I would recommend ****** It truly works, trust me I know. Good Luck everyone and Blessings to All.

Horrible!! Awful!!! I've only take the second shot and just recently learned that it's been ruining my life. No one told me about its side effects. I had to find out on my own after months of thinking I was going crazy. Job performance plummeted, heartbreaking problems with my otherwise wonderful love life, loss of friends and desire to even communicate with anyone. Severe depression (including suicidal thoughts), horrible moods swings, loss of hair, headaches, constant bleeding, and worst of all this feeling of doom that horrible things are going to happen to me. I wish I had been forewarned. I was just told that the shot was a great contraceptive. Now I feel like I can't trust anyone.