I've just been reading your website about the above as I've started these this year and find it brilliant I have no periods but I have found I'm quite
irritable sometimes (more than usual). I was really writing about the "being afraid of injections". I was hopeless, fainted when I had a blood test at age 10, then again when I had my BCG injection at school in my early teens and when I had my ears pierced and it became a psychological thing.

When I had blood tests during pregancy and any I've had since i ask to lie down and close my eyes. I recently had an injection for tennis elbow which made me feel very sick and dizzy but I managed to remain conscious but since having the (to date) 2 depo injections I'm ok, purely because they are not in my arm, but a nice fleshy part,and I cope with this fine.

So anyone who maybe thinking of not having the injection purely because it is an injection, should think again, as if I could do it, anyone can.

I am 20 years old and have been maried for two years. I had been on the shot for 2 1/2 years and stopped using it a year ago this month. I didn't have any problems with it until the last shot when they pinched a nerve and I had pain in my leg and buttock for a month after that. I finally got my first period back in July and it has been very irregular since. I have had two periods a month each lasting 7-10 days and heavy the whole time. You can imagine the strain it puts on our love life. The second to last period I had was 12 days long and so heavy I became dizzy and sick. I had to go to the emergency room. I will never go on the Depo shot again because the irregularity is so stressful after not having a period for almost 3 years. Not to mention I gained 20 lbs. after I started the shot. Thank you for providing this site.

i have been having a contraception injection for quite a while now. my daughter is a year old next month so it must've been shortly after that.
i thought i was going mad but after reading other peoples postings on this site i have found the answer.
i don't get the headaches or the heavy bleeding but i have been miserable and very moody and aggressive. my sex drive has gone out of the window totally and it's very frustrating for my boyfriend who i love to bits but he says i'm so cold towards him lately, which obviously hurts and i want to put right.
when we do manage to have sex it hurts and i tense up. have any other users had this symptom?
i'm due for my next injection next month but i will tell the nurse and see if i can come off of it, and see what happens?
i thought i was going mad but after reading all the postings i thought i was just tired what with working and bringing up 3 kids. i don't feel like socialising and my get up and go has got up and gone!
thankyou

Whilst looking at your website i was amazed on all the negative reactions of people about the depo injection. I have been on it for over 6 years and from day one no bleeding no pains no weight gain! i think its the best contraception ever and the only one i would use,as for the comments of other people if it didnt work then why go back for a second one! your doctor should have explained the side effects when you had your first one and i know many people who are on it and are happy with it and they have no side effects. I find it quite good as you get it done once every eleven weeks and you dont have to worry about as its over 99% effective and I've experienced that for the last 6 years no problems and ive not experience any side effects! depo rules!!

I took 3 shots of Depo...had a bit of spotting the day of my first shot, and then no periods whatsoever. Experienced no negative side effects really. I actually lost weight while on the drug (changed my lifestyle) and I'm finally getting back to normal after being off of it. My periods did take about 5 months before I had anything happen. At that point it was just abnormal spotting here and there. At 8 months after my last shot I started getting very regular periods every two weeks, and now at 12 months after my last shot, my periods seem to be finally getting back to a normal cycle every 28 days. Yup, it took me a whole year to get back to normal, but that was what I was told by my doc. I also have two girlfriends who were on it...one of them took a year to get back to normal, one of them took 9 months, and they are both now happily pregnant.
Like some of the other users here, I just want to say that DP is not all doom and gloom, it can be a very effective method for some.

I've been off of Depo now for 3 months and will never take it again. I became moody, despondant, unable to deal with everything life threw at me, gained 40-50 lbs, my blood pressure skyrocketed, and I developed an anxiety disorder. My doctor denied any of this was caused by Depo and even went so far as to say that my weight gain and depression were not side effects of the drug. However, they were not present before I started getting my shots. My sex drive diminished to the point were I almost didn't want to preform on my wedding night! Now that I've been off of it for a few months my BP is returning to normal, I'm less moody and depressed, and my sex drive is picking back up, but I still haven't had my period and am wondering if I will ever again. We'd like to have children again some day, so I pray that my body can get back to normal.

I was on the D.P. for three years after the birth of my son. I have put on about 3 stone oin weight although my life stile has not changed. I have migrains about twice a month, which are so severe that I have had tyo have MRI scans and also a CAT scan which thankfully showed no sings of abnormalities. I also suffer from water retention around the times when my periods would have been due. I am very emotional and cry at the most stupid stuff. I feel very down alot of the time due to the amount of weight gain that I have I was a size ten after the birth of my son and I am now a size sixteen. I do not have any periods, which was a good thing to start with, but since ihaven't had an injection for over threee months is now becoming a worry and my doctor says that I maybe in premature menopause. Many of my freinds have been on the unjection and we are now off it we have all had side affects in differant degrees. I have spoken to many people about the injection and have not found one person who did not think it was great to start with but are now realising that the side affects outeay the benefits. I think if you have not had any side affects you are very lucky but beware as there is still time.I would not recomed this to any one and I am really surprised that doctors are still prescribing it. I live in Germany and the German Doctors are very anti it as it messing around too much with your bodies natural hormones. When you actually sit done and think what it is doing to your body is it any wonder that it is not good for you

I am really glad i found this web site. i thought i was the only one going through this. i got the shot in july and haven't stopped bleeding. at first it was just spotting all day long but now it is so heavy that i go though a box of tampoons and a box of pads a day. i just want this to stop. i didn't gain any weight but am having a hard time losing weight. have become very emotional and couldn't understand why. i just thought it was because i was getting older. i would never recommend this to anyone.

Well, much like almost all of the comments I read, I 'm terrified of the long term side effects of Depo. I went to a doctor 2 months before my wedding because my due date was around the wedding date. I told the doctor that, and I wanted to know if the needle would stop my period. That was my only reason - nobody wants their period on their wedding day! So, he gave it to me, not asking me any questions ...barely answering mine. I was sceptical but I did know one girl who hasn't had any problems at all. She kind of talked me into it. I was desperate. I must admit, the needle did help with my pms a little. However, I starting spotting almost instantly and did for the whole 3 months! I had a migraine at least 4 days a week, severe chest pains - which I called the doctor who blew it off as premarital stress. So, I've been off the needle for 5 months, haven't had a period and I didn't know a damn thing about the effect on fertility!! I'm dying to have a baby and I can't get pregnant!! It's so hard! I'm around babies all day, everyday, and I want one so badly. Everytime I think...maybe...I buy a test...then cry for days. I've never regretted anything more in my 26 years!

Thank you so much for this website. The others just don't tell you real life accounts on how this form of birth control really effects a person. I have friends that use this and they comment on how well they like it so I decided to investigate. I have been on Birth control pills for six years and decided that perhaps it is time to look at more convient forms, but the only one that I have found was d.p. The irony of this is that I was going to get the injection today, now that I know the side effects that everyone tends to have I am not going. I will remain on my pills until I am ready for children.
One of my friends that is on the injection tends to feel like everything is her fault and now I tend to contribute that to the injection. Before her injection, she was a fun loving, energetic person and now her life is a mess or so she thinks.
The main reason that I was going to take this shot was because my boyfriend is allergic to latex and in Canada all that we have are latex condoms. The injection seemed more reliable and more convient. But from this webpage which I have been seeking, I am so not taking the injection because I do not want to deal with the side effects. I thought that the pill had some interesting effects but I would never have imagined that the injection had so many problems. I appreciate that all of you have taken the time to write your comments and have educated me further than any person in the medically field could. Thank you very much and you have all helped me from making a mistake that could have effected me. I hope that for all of you soon the problems will go away and I thank you for letting me learn from the events that have happened to all of you. Just remember there is a light at the end of the tunnel and keep your head up with a smile. For if it was not for you guys than there would be another person going into the doctors to begin the long road of pain and suffering.
Thank you once again for your time. You have all taught me a lot and if you only prevent one person from making a mistake than you have done a great job, but I am sure that the use of this website will help many more than one.
Thank you and my prayers and thoughts go out to all of you.

I have been on the depo injection since 1992 and have had hardly any problems with this injection.apart from putting a few pounds on thats all.It stopped my periods since injection number one,which I think is great.Now my husband has had a vasectomy and had his all clear so I never went for my last injection that was due february.My only downfall now is that i still have not had my monthly cycle and am suffering with realy bad sore boobs they feel like solid weights in a morning and horrible tummy pains.So I can't wait to get back to normal,but it was well worth no periods for 9 years and i would recomend it.