Question:
PLEASE HELP i began to spot daily about 7 weeks ago

I have been on the Depo Shot for 7 years (no periods) i had surgery in April..but for the last 6-7 weeks i have been spotting(not a full period, just enough to be aggrivating)my doc said its my body going thru changes and to stick it out.. has this happened to anyone else? i think i'm going to stop listening to my surgeon and find a OB/GYN    — charrise R. (posted on July 25, 2002)

July 25, 2002
I'm not on the depo shot, but pre-op was VERY irregular. Even when I did have my period it was no more than spotting for 3 days. Well, I started post-op like most. It stopped 2 weeks later. Then, 2 weeks after that I started again and have been bleeding ever since. I'll be 11 weeks post-op this coming Monday. I just called my Gyno to get in to see her. I hope what your surgeon said is right. I assume this is just my body cleaning itself out after many irregular periods that were always several months apart. I don't have any words of wisdom for you, just wanted you to know someone is in the same boat. I hope it stops soon. This is realllllly irritating! :)
   — KelBurt

July 25, 2002
hi first please let me know what is depo shot? one of the main reason i did the surgery was 1st lose weigth because my period was missing i not been able to get pregnant and i been married 9 years i have a long way to go but now i did a ultrasound and they told me that i have a policystic ovarion syndrome in other words my ovaris have multiple cistic i dont know what to do and if i was you take a second opinion or go to ob/gyn good luck.
   — mabel S.

July 25, 2002
I DO think it is your hormones/body adjusting to weight loss. I am sure you have heard it before, but our fat deposits store all sorts of neat stuff (hence the name, deposit). When you start losing fat, your body starts unloading these hormones, and some of our bodies go crazy. Also, look at it this way- you have been on the shot for 7 years, with probably no changes in your body, now all the sudden you are loosing a lot of weight, it is going to take a while for everything to even out. If your shot worked 'one way' when heavy, it may work 'another way' on someone lighter. Who knows, it could lose it's effectiveness. I would be very careful, you may be MORE fertile, and you may consider using another contraceptive (even though you had the shot).
   — Karen R.

July 25, 2002
I was always like clockwork before surgery. In the six weeks since surgery, I have had 3 periods! In between, I have also had light spotting. My doctor (surgeon) said that it is very normal to have your periods get all out of wack after surgery. First because you've had major surgery and that is devastating to your body, and second because your body is losing so much so fast it doesn't know what to do with itself! I think it will even out, but Karen is right, you should be using another birth control method until you've checked the fertility issue with your GYN. Here's to stopping this nastiness as soon as possible!
   — cjabates

July 25, 2002
Great it's not just me! Well I started Depo about 4 years ago, i took it for a year, went off for a little over a year and went back in may this year; and I have been spotting off and on since I got back on it. It seemed to be letting up until the week before surgery (last week). And I have been spotting every since, at least every other time I use the bathroom. I do believe it is a hormonal change. I have lost any major weight yet. I will consider the birth control patch after I loose at least half of my weight. It's very easy and has been tested to be as good as the pill. However, the do recommend you to be near 170 for it work properly.
   — Myckialea

July 25, 2002
I just came from a support group meeting tonight and they said that this happens because women have stores of hormones in their fat and when you start burning the fat off as fast as post ops do, it tends to flare up the hormones. Some of the women had to go on birth control (or increase the dosage) for a while to regulate it, and others had no period at all for months and had to take medication to jump start it. Sounds kinda strange, but I guess it makes sense.
   — Dana B.