Depo-provera Lack of Sex Drive, Heavy Periods, Yeast Infection, Lb Woman, Ulcerative Colitis

First off, let me say that I have been on Depo for 3 years now. I actually like it but I realize that I may be doing something potentially dangerous. I have no idea what else to do though because like many on here, I have atrocious periods and cramps. I am a small petite 95 lb woman, but I would have heavy periods in which I would have to go through a super plus tampon every two hours at some points. I had ulcerative colitis in high school which made me anemic for a while so I decided it wasn't good to be having such a heavy period and losing so much blood. But really it was the cramps that were the worst, they would keep me from work/school. I have had no periods in about two years now which is awesome. I had tried one of the pills back in my past and I seemed to have allergic reactions to it, but the depo seems to work BUT......

There are some things you should know about before you go on this. It DOES decrease sex drive. For the first two years I was on my depo I was still having sex, but for the past year I'm like Meh. I think it partially has to do with the fact that my last relationship was HORRID (I'm paranoid of men now and their intentions), but I also think its the shot contributing to the lack of sex drive. Also, if you are skinny/slender and you get on the shot, its likely that you will remain the same (at least I did), but if you are normal sized or on the heavier side, you will gain weight. I know some women who gained 40 lbs off of it. I also know some who have had worse side effects from it, like, nearly fatal, so I had to think a lot about things before I got on it.

I do have to say the worst side effect for me, and this is embarrassing, but hey, its the internet, right?.... was it made me smell not so good down there. I had never had a problem like that before, I had never even had a yeast infection or anything weird, and from the 4th month or so of being on the shot up to the 10th month (a 6 month time), lets just say it was horrible. I think that also decreased my sex drive because a guy DID say something about it and you can try to explain to them that its your hormones trying to adjust to B.C. but they don't understand. I stuck with the depo because I had a feeling that it would eventually go away, and it did, but good God that was horrible.

The mental side effects didn't really affect me. In fact, I feel that depo made me more sane. It seems that for me, the side effects level out after a year or so, but for the first year it may be hell at times. It's completely possible to be a positive, happy person on depo. I have learned as I have gotten older that happiness is sometimes a choice that isn't easy to make, but is necessary. Usually I find that if I am depressed its because I'm spiritually dead or I just went through a time of emotional trauma, but then again I guess thats situational depression and not clinical depression. I did suffer I guess what you would call an emotional breakdown while I was on depo, I don't think it was the depo, it may have had a little to do with it but it was mostly a bunch of stuff that happened to me a while back. During this breakdown I realized that I either had an impetus to change for the better or I could keep fading and negating myself, and I chose the better option. Sometimes a change in mindset will make all the difference in the world.