Depo Provera
I know different people handle Depo differently, but I wish someone would've warned me about Depo before I took the shot. Here's my experience with Depo (this was before RNY though). When I began taking Depo in 1998 after my youngest son was born I was not thin by any means, but I was tall, bigger-built and muscular and weighed in at 185 pounds. I took it for 2 years and in that time I went from 185 to 235 pounds. I didn't change my diet/eating habits or activity level at all! I completely blame Depo for that part of my weight gain. The only good thing I have to say about Depo is that I no longer had periods while on it. I also have a friend and a cousin of my husbands who experienced substatial weight gain while on Depo.
Good luck. I truly hope there are some other options out there for you!
Good luck. I truly hope there are some other options out there for you!
I have a lot of negative things to say about the Depo shot. Because of that damned thing, I had gained 80lbs in 6 months and i continued to gain until I had surgery . It obliterated my metabolism (according to doc.) causing it to basically shut down. I was SUPER moody... I don't mean getting teary eyed over Hallmark commercials, I mean literally yelling at strangers in public because their kid was misbehaving and biting off the heads of cashiers if they came across a miss read UPC code. I was miserable and mean and that is totally not who I am. I tell everyone to stay far far away and I seriously wished it would get pulled from market. Oh and I only had 2 applications of the shot... that's 6 months worth of birth control and it did all that damage. I can't imagine what it would do on continued use. Not worth it in my opinion.
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I personally don't like Depo because I gained weight while I was on it and had a continueous(spelling?) period for the whole time I was on it. That was pre-op. Now before I could have surgery I had to have something done to stop heavy flow that caused me to be anemic. I ended up have the endemetrial ablation done(still have a period every month and it has been over a year since it was done) and in the process they found fibroids. I was really looking forward to not having a period but I wasn't one of those people. It has lighten up some, but I still have to wear a pad and tampon(tmi!!). If your don't want anymore kids check into it.
Timeka
Timeka
If I didn't want to have more kids, I would definitely choose ablation.
Meanwhile, my experience on depo shot had nothing to do with weight. But, I took the shot and it worked for 3 months- no cycle, it was amazing. I had no qualms about taking the second shot. My surgeon wanted me on the depo because the clot risk is lower on depo than regular pills and I needed BC of some sort because my uterus bleeds continuously without intervention (when I was heavier, this was my PCOS, I have hope this will not happen to me at a smaller weight).
The second shot hurt worse than the first one. And, lasted much less time. I spotted for 3 months after the second one. Also, I was told to take extra calcium because depo can leech calcium from your bones, which no one wants. Spotting for 3 months is better than bleeding heavily for 3 months, so even though I was concerned about getting a third shot, I did it anyway. My surgery had to be postponed due to anemia, which I have suffered with before and after surgery. I was supposed to have the surgery during the 3 months of the first shot. I ended up having it 2 weeks into the 3rd shot instead.
The third shot hurt worse than the second shot. I'm talking a golf ball sized knot at the incision site that was there for a week or more. And, it stopped no bleeding. And, it lasts for 3 months, and I was a new post op. So, even though there are some BC pills that can be taken with depo if you are experiencing it's most common side effect (which is bleeding), you can't take them if you are a new post op because they increase the blood clot risk. My anemia was bad again, and I couldn't tolerate the lovenox shots either because I was basically bleeding to death from my uterus. SO, this meant I couldn't afford to add anything into my system that might cause a blood clot because I wasn't taking anything that could prevent them either. So for 3 months I suffered and bled under the watchful eye of my surgeon and my gynie... When the depo shot wore off, I went on seasonique, which I can tell was absorbed because the bleeding stopped. And, then I proceeded to do what I can for the anemia. Recently, I have had some iron infusions that will hopefully do the trick as my hemoglobin was 6.5 and my ferritin was 3...
I don't recommend the depo shot, my experience with it was horrible. My gynie was not at all surprised that I bled for 3 months straight on the shot, it's the number 1 side effect. The first time I took it, when I was supposed to have just the one, it was a great choice, but if you need it for longer than 3 months... yeah... it can be not very pretty.
Good luck in your search for what will work best for you! :D
Huggles!!
~Sarah~
Meanwhile, my experience on depo shot had nothing to do with weight. But, I took the shot and it worked for 3 months- no cycle, it was amazing. I had no qualms about taking the second shot. My surgeon wanted me on the depo because the clot risk is lower on depo than regular pills and I needed BC of some sort because my uterus bleeds continuously without intervention (when I was heavier, this was my PCOS, I have hope this will not happen to me at a smaller weight).
The second shot hurt worse than the first one. And, lasted much less time. I spotted for 3 months after the second one. Also, I was told to take extra calcium because depo can leech calcium from your bones, which no one wants. Spotting for 3 months is better than bleeding heavily for 3 months, so even though I was concerned about getting a third shot, I did it anyway. My surgery had to be postponed due to anemia, which I have suffered with before and after surgery. I was supposed to have the surgery during the 3 months of the first shot. I ended up having it 2 weeks into the 3rd shot instead.
The third shot hurt worse than the second shot. I'm talking a golf ball sized knot at the incision site that was there for a week or more. And, it stopped no bleeding. And, it lasts for 3 months, and I was a new post op. So, even though there are some BC pills that can be taken with depo if you are experiencing it's most common side effect (which is bleeding), you can't take them if you are a new post op because they increase the blood clot risk. My anemia was bad again, and I couldn't tolerate the lovenox shots either because I was basically bleeding to death from my uterus. SO, this meant I couldn't afford to add anything into my system that might cause a blood clot because I wasn't taking anything that could prevent them either. So for 3 months I suffered and bled under the watchful eye of my surgeon and my gynie... When the depo shot wore off, I went on seasonique, which I can tell was absorbed because the bleeding stopped. And, then I proceeded to do what I can for the anemia. Recently, I have had some iron infusions that will hopefully do the trick as my hemoglobin was 6.5 and my ferritin was 3...
I don't recommend the depo shot, my experience with it was horrible. My gynie was not at all surprised that I bled for 3 months straight on the shot, it's the number 1 side effect. The first time I took it, when I was supposed to have just the one, it was a great choice, but if you need it for longer than 3 months... yeah... it can be not very pretty.
Good luck in your search for what will work best for you! :D
Huggles!!
~Sarah~
HW 316/ SW 264/ CW 187/ GW 158
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