Strange things can happen to people of all ages. The importan thing is that you're getting help for it. Hopefully someone else on this orum has experienced this, or klnows someone who has :)

I'm also young (20) and on the Depo shot, and my problems have been similar! I'm just not that interested in sex since I've started the shot... I've been really excited maybe 3 times since then (a year ago).

I agree, it's totally frustrating. I haven't been to the doctor though, so please let me know what you find out!!

Many forms of hormonal birth control can lessen a woman's libido; this is a very common side effect that I believe even I have experienced to a degree. However, you should still be able to become turned on and enjoy sex; you just don't have the desire to do so!!

depo is used for chemical castration of sex offenders is it any wonder you dont want to have sex

Depo provera reacts VERY differently in the female body than it does in the male body. It is not a form of female chemical castration.

I'm on Depo and I am not anti-depo and I think it's very annoying when people tell me not to eat meat, not to take certain birth controls, who I can or cannot love, not to abort, and otherwise try to control my life. Thanks, but no thanks.

everybody reacts differently to depo, I was answering the post from the experience of having been on depo for four yrs, and after my second dhot I have had one problem after another, muscle spasms, tingling in my face and arms, extreme fatigue, bloating, headaches,pelvic pain, after about shot eight I have double vision with difficulty focusing, joint pain, abnormal pap smear requiring cryosurgery,tendonitis in my left ankle , not to mention minor stuff like not wanting to have sex or the internal pain when you do have sex, my doctors never once mentioned it could be depo , they just kept shuffling me around to specialist for each thing. I didnt get my shot in july 2007 only because my sister said that you shouldnt be on it for more than 2 yrs, {my doc didnt mention that either} I googled it on the internet for the first time in oct just to see when i should get my period, and thats when i found all the other stories like my own , I was horrified, I did finally get my period in oct for 10 days , nov for 21 days dec for 3 and january it was 22 then it stopped for 2 then came back for three more . This is how it has affected me , and many other people , I just think we should be more informed about the effects, other than you might gain 5 lbs, thats about all the pamphlet from the doctors office said, I gained 40 ,

The average weight gain is about 15 lbs a year. Common side effects are dizziness on the day of the injection and burning at the site. Other side effects are a lower libido and a long waiting period for returned fertility afterwards. And if you use it for more than 2 years you should get on calcium supplements. A long initial period when first injected and extended spotting is also common.

I knew ALL of that when I got on it. Did you? All of those other side effects are RARE things that can happen on ANY kind of birth control, they are not specific to Depo so stop demonizing it. "Many other people" isn't true: these severe side effects are the minority. Do you really think this drug would be legal if 80% of the people on it reacted like you? No.

The real truth is that most people react like I did. No effect. I was dizzy the first day and yes, it burned when injected. I had 2 weeks of spotting a short while in, when my period would have been due. I lost a little libido but nothing major; I could still get horny when I felt like it and masturbate. I could easily have been turned on for sex. I have been a little extra lucky in that I haven't gained any weight.

So that's the real truth.

Eiri, I hope I didn't sound like I was bashing Depo... I love everything else about it, but I've never experienced reduced libido while on other birth controls. And I certainly won't stop taking it or tell people not to just for that reason. I was curious to see if other people were experiencing the same thing I was, and I found a few on this forum. Depo is a great option, and just like any other birth control, there are going to be side effects.

My gyno was frank with me about most things when I asked for the shot, so I knew pretty much what I was getting into. The spotting and occasional mood swings are MUCH preferable to periods from hell. And since I don't plan on having kids soon, I don't mind the wait for fertility to return. My gyno even admitted to me that, in the nearly thirty years he has been giving Depo, his patients are generally more satisfied with the shot than with other forms of birth control they have tried. He gave me several reasons--it's among the most effective, the simplest and easiest to remember, and for many women it reduces or eliminates periods. My only caveat would be, like you said, to make sure you are taking calcium supplements while on Depo, especially if you're on it for more than 2 years.

So no, I don't think people should be running around bashing Depo because they've had a bad experience. But I don't think there's anything wrong with reaching out to look for some support from someone in the same situation--just keep it friendly, people!

No no, not you. alikat709 was the one bashing it. I'd certainly be willing to support the pain she's gone through, but not when she's proclaiming the horrors of depo like they're absolute truths

I was not bashing depo as you put it, I was only telling my experience after being on it for 4 yrs, My doctors never once said that my problems could be depo related, While I was on it I too felt it was great never having to worry about having a period or getting pregnant, I already have six children. Im just trying to get the word out about the side effects that they say only a very small percent get, If I had been more informed , i could have put 2 and 2 together long ago and maybe I wouldn't have all these health issues now. Its very debilitating, Especially going from a healthy ,very active, mother of six with a full time job outside the home, to someone who now has difficulty putting clothes in a washer because that day your having a painful joint flare up or your muscles in your neck are so tight from spasms that you get the most incredible migrane that you are unable to eat . Or you wake up in the morning and can't figure out how your going to get out of the bed because your back is having a big spasm and it seems any way you turn it hurts like hell. I think I forgot to mention my memory problems I sometimes feel like dorey from Nemo. But really I have 23 of the 26 adverse reactions for this stuff and I was constatly being shuffled from doctor to doctor and nobody put it together as a depo problem Until Thank god for internet boards I no longer felt i was nuts and I found thousands of women out there in the same boat as me. I feel I was just really misinformed by the doctors that I trusted my care to . Hopefully my symptoms will go away someday and I will regain my life back . I dont mean to bash anyone by any means , If you took anything I said the wrong way I apologize, I just want answers and to find help with all of this.

I started the Depo shot when I was 19 and weighed 111 pounds. I bled about 25 days a month and gained 30 pounds, and couldn't stand for my boyfriend to get anywhere near me. I stuck with it for over a year and finally switched to Ortho Evra. It was a huge problem for me. Sex was practically nonexistent, I had put on weight, and I'd nearly had a year-long period.

All forms of birth control affects these things, but after a few years on Ortho Evra, I can tell you that I'm very happily sexually active and rare is the day when I'm not in the mood. I have not struggled with my weight, and my periods are regular. Based on my experience, I would not recommend the Depo shot.

I am also 18 years old and have come to find out that I have a hormone imbalance. I kept getting pregnancy symptoms, swollen, tender breasts, late period, morning sickness, food cravings, etc but my tests were always negative. I was on Loestrin24Fe Jan08 and my OBGYN believes I had a miscarriage in March08 and ever since then I have been having prego symptoms but no pregnancy. I was just in the emergency room yesterday 3/1/09 and they ran a pregnancy test via blood work and it came back negative and my period was 10 days late! The DR came back and told me to go see my gynecologist because I have a hormone imbalance. Well I did finally get my period yesterday while in the ER and after scheduling my annual PAPS and hormone test i realized i cant get my paps due to my late arriving period. and i cant call to reschedule they are closed. lol. but from the research I have just done hormone imbalances can cause lots of problems. like i have overactive sweat gland in my underarms hands and sometimes feet. Its called hyperhidrosis so i am just THRILLED to know my life is going to **** in a handbag and god knows why...

i was 24 going on 25 i took depo one time my life has been hell ever since severe acne 2 miscarrages,facial hair acne scarring weight gain i had one child before i took shot and with my second misscarage they told me that if i ever want to have another baby if i get pregnant again i have to take progesterone because my progesterone levels are low u might as well say im infertile due to depo i am now 28 i am much to young to be having these hormonal promblems i wish i had the answers on why i have had these problems

i also had the depo shot quite some time ago. (15 years). My life has never been the same. I had bleeding for Several months, PMS symptoms the whole time. I started falling down, was depressed, gained weight...well, a whole bunch of things! But Dr. after Dr. couldn't figure out what was wrong with me. I am just now finding out that my hormones have been out of balance ever since the Depo shot! What a nightmare! Thank God for Great husbands and amazing Dr.s!

I was on the Depo shot for a year and a half... had less bleeding with first 2 periods and then they completely went away with no spotting. While on the shot I lost 15 lbs without trying and had a very normal libido. I am now off of the shot due to wanting to become pregnant and have not gotten my period back (it has been 5 months) All in all i suppose i am saying everyone is different and it most likely has to do with many many factors that differ from person to person. I dont know if there is a way to know how it will affect you before getting on it.

I was on the Depo shot for a year and a half... had less bleeding with first 2 periods and then they completely went away with no spotting. While on the shot I lost 15 lbs without trying and had a very normal libido. I am now off of the shot due to wanting to become pregnant and have not gotten my period back (it has been 5 months) All in all i suppose i am saying everyone is different and it most likely has to do with many many factors that differ from person to person. I dont know if there is a way to know how it will affect you before getting on it.