Sex & Romance
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Depo Provera
I am getting married Aug 7 and so I went to the Dr in April to get on BC so it could get in my system and I could get used to it. I decided to get the Depo shot and the Dr told me that it has the same effectiveness as most other forms of BC but a few of my friends have told me that they know ppl who have gotten pregnant on the shot. I am in school and do not want to get pregnant anytime soon so I am concerned. Does anyone have an opinion on whether or not the shot is an effective way to go?
Re: Depo Provera
She shot is very effective, mostly because it reduces user-error. As long as you get the shot on time, the risk is very small (although it does happen, as with any birth control).
That being said... I'm not a fan of depo. I used to work at Planned Parenthood and we tried to steer people away from getting it if they were willing to use another method. For one, if you are one of the people who have a negative side effect, there is nothing you can do to make it go away until your three months are up. If you take the pill and have an undesired side effect, you can stop taking the pill. Second, depo is linked to bone loss and carries a strong warning about that. Something to consider, although I'm not trying to tell you that you should automatically rule it out.
I just got off of depo. I've been on it for over a year and I really liked it. The only reason I'm switching back to BCPs is because we want a shorter term birth control. FYI, it can take up to 2 years to ovulate after stopping the shot, although most people start sooner than that.
I didn't gain weight or have any negative side effects other than occasional spotting, which you can have with any hormonal method.
I was on depo for a year or so when I was younger... it worked for BC, but I was also one of the unfortunate ones who had the side effect of weight gain.
I gained almost 60 pounds in the first 4 months. That's not something I would risk happening before a wedding! LOL
I know of several people who got pregnant on Depo. as a nurse, I recommend that all women on Depo get pregnancy tests periodically (like every 2 months).
one girl I know was on Depo for ever. she was about my size, 5'5" or so and about 125, 130 pounds. so pretty little. she had been dating this dude (my friend) for 6 months when she had some really bad stomach pain one night. they went to the ER and the ER ran a pregnancy test which was positive. so they do an ultrasound to look for the baby. there was nothing in her uterus, so they started scanning around her pelvis to find an ectopic pregnancy. nothing, so they scanned further up into her abdomen.
the baby was found wedged between her liver and her diaphragm. get this yall: it was 8 pounds and full term (there are tests that can be done on newborns to determine if they are term or not). they delivered a healthy baby girl that night via abdominal incision. the baby girl is about a year old now.
and if no one else caught it yet, the dude wasn't the father since she had gotten pregnant 3 months before they started dating. but he adopted her anyway and they're getting married.
moral of the story: if you're on a method of BC that stops your period, take regular pregnancy tests.
Glenna Harding Photography
WOW Pooh--has your friend been on I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant?
I was on Depo for about a year. It was effective and all, but I HATED it. It made me have violent mood swings and I was a raging b!tch all the time. You may react differently, but I've talked to a lot of women who have tried it and have had the same experience. If you find you're extra irritable after you start it, you may want to consider switching.
Just take it on time... my doctor always advised me to err on the safe side and make my appointments a week or so before my "expiration date," or whatever you call it, just to be covered.
I was in the same boat as you..I am a student and was getting married and was not looking for kids to be in the near future. I decided to go with the depo after some reserach about the effectivness. I received the first shot in April and when I went to get my second shot in July I had gained 30 lbs. I had horrible mood swings and depression. I got my second shot but I am not getting my third. My sex drive is basically non exhistent and the side effects aren't worth it to me. I had great success with a BC pill so I switching back to that in September. Just have to remember to take it at the same time everyday
I was also officially diagnosed with endometriosus while on Depo (it wasn't the cause). While on the BC pill before I had virtually no pain or symptoms but with Depo the pain was horrible! I am defenitly looking forward to going back to pills.
I too was on Depo for years and HATED it by the time I got off of it. One thing I really liked was that it stopped my period all together, BUT that was after the first 6 months on my period constantly! My Dr gave me a pregnancy test every time I went in for the shot. I also gained a ton of weight on the shot. My mood swings were OUTRAGEOUS!!
Good luck to you on the shot. I hope all works out for you in your BC search. And congratulations on your up coming wedding!
I was on Depo for about a year before I got married. It was the 3rd or 4th kind of hormonal BC I had been on. If I didn't ever want to have sex or be in a relationship it would have been great--because I never thought about sex, EVER. It killed my sex drive and really put a damper on me and my fiance's relationship, so much so that I made a point to get off of it and get it out of my system before got married (we switched to NFP and charting).
Just like any other BC it is effective as long as you get your shots on time. It was really nice not having my period (or just some spotting). It is also a progesterone based birth control so that might be helpful to know. Some people react differently to different hormones.
Personally, if you are just looking for a birth control I would go with the pill. The side effects of the Depo (even though I experienced very few compared to others) weren't really worth its conveniences.