Depo Provera Birth Control Shot...

If you like it and it is working for you then just stay on it. NO birthcontrol is 100%. I was on Ortho for years taking it EVERYDAY at noon, then got pregnant with my oldest. After his birth went on to another pill again NEVER missing one and nine months later again I was pregnant with son #2. Pills are listed at 99.9%, I guess I was that .1%. At the birth of #2 I had my tubes tied, and since then have had no scares, but have run into 6 people who got pregnant after having their tubes tied for years. I guess what I am trying to say is again if you like it and it works for you then stay with it. If you do happen to get pregnant then that is a strong baby meant to be here.

I was on it for 4 years and it hardened my ovaries and it took us 6 1/2 years to conceive once I came off it so I don't think you should worry about getting pregnant on it, it will be when you decide you want to be pregnant that will be the problem. My RE said that 80% of his infertility patients at the time were Depo users.
I would never use it again-I am using Ortho Evra patches and also Nuva Ring now.
C.

P., I was on it for many years, from 1992-98 I think??? I loved it while I was on it (I loved not having a period for one thing) and I never got pregnant while on it. The problem was, once I went off of it I had a migrane headache everyday for a year. I went to every specialist to figure out what was wrong with me and a year after I stopped using it I finally got my period and as soon as I got my period, the headaches stopped. I don't know for sure, but I'm thinking something about the depo was responsible for those headaches. After I had my daughter and decided to go back on birth control I decided there was no way I was doing the depo again so I have now had the Mirena IUD for the past 2.5 years and love it. It's more convenient, with the Mirena I don't do anything for 5 years as opposed to the shot every 3 months and like the depo, I don't get a period with the Mirena either. Just a thought for you....

I had every single side effect that they have listed for the shot, night sweats, mood swings, hot flashes. I was miserable!

I was on the deop shot for about 2 years and never had a problem.

Good luck!

I was on the shot for 4 years and never got pregnant. I did however gain weight with it and had a lot of problems getting pregnant when we finally decided we were ready. I don't know that the infertility issues had anything to do with the shot, but I can't say it didn't either.

It is one of the most reliable methods because it eliminates 'user error'. I was on it for years and even a few times when I felt like I 'could' be pregnant, the doc wouldn't even do a pg test once they realized that I was on DepoProvera. Now, I won't say NEVER...there is always somebody with a story...but you're pretty safe. The only thing more reliable is a tubal, or abstinence but that's no fun!

~L.

My friend's sister got pregnant while on the shot. It was over ten years ago, so maybe it's been improved since then... I have the Mirena IUD and I love it!

Hi, I was on it for about 7 years from 1993-2000 and I got pregnant in 2000, about 2 days after I missed the shot - so call it user error, but that was quick and definitely uninteded. Other than the pregnancy (now a wonderful 8 year old!) I thought depo was great. After the birth of my son, I switched to an IUD, not the mirena one, I wanted something non-hormonal so I went with a traditional copper IUD w/ no hormones, that worked great until I had it taken out in 2005 or 2006 and I got preganant again shortly after it was removed. After my 2nd baby I got surgically sterilized, so nothing now... good luck, but make sure you get the shot on time or a few days early!

P.~I have been on Depo now for almost three years now. I have never gotten pregnant. I have talked to my OB about this and she has never had one of her patients get pregnant on this. I believe its because the lining of the uterus becomes so thin and the eggs don't ovulate that we can't get pregnant. I hope this helps.