Depo-Provera and PCOS (long)

mousekitty · 12-28-2005, 05:51 PM

Hello again, cysters! ^^

Sorry, but it's another LONG post from MK! ^^;;

I did a little, very unsuccessful, internet research to see if there was any link between women who have taken Depo shots for a significant lenght of time and their later developement of PCOS. I was unable to find anything, so I thought I'd turn here.

Little background...

When I was about 12, I had my first visit from AF. Just like my sister, I had HORRIBLE cramps. With in a year or two, my mother and I decided I should go on Depo in the hopes that it would stop my cycle and my cramps. It worked, and I was cycle-less and cramp-less for years. MANY years.

When I was about 16 or 17, though, my mom thought it might be a good idea for me to stop taking Depo and let my body clear itself out of the chemicals. So I stopped getting the shot, and didn't get a period for... almost a year. But I wasn't worried then, because my DR said it was pretty much normal for women on Depo not to resume an normal cycle for a while.

Well, when I turned 18 or so, I decided that, due again to cramps... and the fact that I had a boyfriend, that I wanted back on Depo. So I started my shots again. No problem.... until I went to my DR (different one from before) and she kept getting high blood pressure readings on me in her office. She recommended that I stop depo again. She was worried that Depo may have been causing my high BP.

Ok.. so months go by, and AF starts again. Still cramping, again. And worried about not wanting to get pregnant (I was just a young newly wed at the time). So my DR puts me on an oral BCP, which I react horrible too (BP issues again). From that, I get on the patch, and things seem to work out ok.

Then I loose insurance... loose my ability to get the patch or any BCPs... and that is about the time my periods stopped. I wasn't taking any meds (didn't have any $$$ for them), but for about a year or two, I only had 3 periods.

So.. I went to the DR again, explaining my AF problems, as well as other issues that I've had. DR tests me and decides I have PCOS.

My question to you all is this: Have any of you had simular problems after long term use of BCP, or specifically, Depo-Provera?

Like I've said, I've looked and looked to see if there were links, and came up empty handed.. but I KNOW, even if its just circumstantially, I can't be the only women who's been diagnosed with PCOS after longterm Depo treatment. But I am perfectly willing to admit I'm simply grasping at straws, too.

Maybe I'm just looking for something that could have possible triggered my PCOS. It just seems to me that almost everything that can go medically wrong with a person has a trigger. Maybe not the same trigger for every person, but usually there is a trigger (or several) for illnesses.

For years, I was always a sick child. When I was born, I was born with a teratoma tumor in my abdomon. Luckly, it was found and removed before I had any lasting harm (atleast, that's what the DRs told my parents). However, the tumor did do some damage to my spleen, kidneys, and perhaps my ovaries. Still, the DRs said the damage wasn't bad, and I shouldn't have ANY lasting or longterm problems despite the fact that I was a 3 month old infant who had just had a softball sized tumor removed from her. >.> <.< >.> Logical, right?

Well, my mom wasn't convinced. And she was probably right. I was always the first to get sick at school, the one that stayed sick the longest, and the last to recover fully. I'm still like that, usually. And it has lead me to be a bit of a hypochondriac.

Maybe that is why I'm grasping at straws here with this post. But, either way, I'd like to get other cysters opinions on this.

Thanks alot, guys! Take care and good luck!
-MK (^.^)/

Merideth · 12-28-2005, 11:17 PM

I was on depo for 4yrs and it also has crossed my mind if there was a link between this. Before on depo, my AF stopped all those yrs I did not have a AF. Then when i stopped getting the shots it took about a yr. for my AF to come back. They were irregular (seen a gyn). It took a 1 1/2 for me to conceive. Then when I had my dd I started getting the depo again, but this time it seems like maybe it wore off because I kept on getting my AF every mo. as of before I wasn't. So I decided to change I got on the Patch everything was fine. Now, I am TTC, I have been trying for almost 2yrs. I did not have my AF for 3 mos. and decided to go to the dr. were I was dx w/ PCOS.

guineapig · 01-01-2006, 07:46 AM

It will be on my tombstone that IMO Depo causes PCOS! I was healthy, thin, lovely skin, normal AF, healthy mind, etc. Then I went on Ortho Tri Cyclen regular followed by Depo. And things have been hell ever since. It took 8 years & drugs & hard exercise to lose the 8 sizes I gained on depo. Same for the acne. My periods haven't been normal since and I haven't ovulated but twice in two years. And half the time I can't remember splat.

I totally blame depo, cause who gets PCOS overnight at age 22? Especially with NO family history of it?

longing4abab · 01-06-2006, 08:24 AM

i was on depo just 2 shots then patch and ring then 16 months after the first time i got 1 shot and AF didnt show up for over a year i was POAS every month before i started myBCP and always neg

and it was flustering as heck, then this all came about, HOWEVER this all started the frist time i was on depo... now that i think about it.... also, im now finding family memebers who have it and didnt know they had it till i told them about me

demora · 01-06-2006, 11:00 PM

I had one depo shot after I had my son, they made me take some sort of BC before they would release me from the hospital (yanno being single, young, and having a baby = sl** to some people). So I opted for the shot and figured it would give me some time to research my options. My experience with BCPs before was horrid!!!

Well, with Depo, I bled for 3 months straight, not spotting either but a full on AF type of flow.

After that, I was put on Tri-Phasil, which is a low hormone BCP.

I had problems prior to my shot of Depo - since about 4th grade. That's when I got fat.

austinmandi · 01-06-2006, 11:54 PM

mousekitty - my story is similar. I was the only girl in junior high that I knew who had to stay home and take vicodin for cramps. They were horrible and the doc put me on ortho-tri-cyclen to help relieve them but they made me really emotional so I stopped taking them after a few months. When I got to college I decided to go on Depo thinking that it would be great to have af and cramping stop altogether. And for the first year it was. Right after I got my 5th shot at the beginning of the 2nd year, I bled for 17 weeks straight. Needless to say, I did not get another dose. However, like you, it took me over a year to get af again, and the dr said it was probably not a real one, just the excess that had sloughed off. Within those 16 months of being on it, I gained 60lbs, started losing my hair, and my once clear face started to look like puberty all over. It came out of nowhere. And not only do I think Depo had something to do with my pcos coming on full force-but at the same time I started having horrible mood swings which was later dx'd as bipolar disorder. I had never had any problem with that stuff either until after I stopped Depo. I think there are too many of us for it to be a coincidence.

mousekitty · 01-07-2006, 05:38 AM

I wonder what, if anything, we could do to get our "coincidences" researched... the more and more time that goes by with me, the more and more I wonder if Depo isn't the best BC option there is... and the more and more I think it might be very damaging.

Oh well.. I guess most medical researchers are much more willing to research cancer and such than the negative side effects of FDA approved drugs.

(Side note, sorry for sounding so down.. having a bit of a hard time here lately.. rather depressed and such from PCOS and whatever else is wrong with me right now.. but I still wish the best to all of you!)

-MK (^.^)/

MelissaAnne · 01-07-2006, 07:28 AM

All of my health problems started after I took that shot. I've been to countless doctors and finally, one diagnosed me with PCOS. I gained 50 pounds in a year and I've been unable to get it off. The more women I read who have used Depo and then were diagnosed with PCOS is unbelievable. Yet I have not had any medical doctor tell me there is a direct link. I don't think enough research has been done on PCOS to give a resounding "no" on a direct link.

Anderia · 01-07-2006, 07:38 AM

I must add to this because I always thought that Depo was the cause of my PCOS...because before Depo..My cycles where normal and everything was aokay....I only took one depo shot and I stopped it...I didn't get AF right away but when I got her my cycles were crazy! Lasting for a long time and I also had the horrible cramps and 3 months of AF......

This has me really wondering.....

milysa78 · 01-12-2006, 07:46 PM

I am totally with anyone who is highly suspicious of depo. I had no problems at all before depo. I got pregnant easily with both of my daughters, my periods were normal, wasn't terribly overweight.....life was just SO normal. After having my second daughter i went on depo for 9 months. I bled the entire time and nothing has been the same since. In those 9 months I gained almost 40 pounds. This was in 1999, since then I have had 8 mc's and was recently diagnosed with pcos. My doctor says that what likely happened is that i have really had pcos all along but that gaining the weight is what caused it to suddenly start causing so many problems. I don't know, I suppose he could be right but it's awfully coincidental to me. There is a website I found a long time ago that has a HUGE number of other womens horror stories regarding depo on it....I don't remember the site off hand, but if you do a search for depo horror stories you should be able to find it. Good Luck to all!

jenpalmer71 · 01-26-2006, 05:24 PM

depo is poison. i was on it for four years. then last year before my diagnoses with pcos, I had panic attacks constantly. been off the depo for over a year now and have been panic attack free, lost lots of weight and all that good stuff. not gonna ramble on about it but i honestly believe that depo is the cause of lots of bad bad stuff. you know they use that stuff in horses as a tranquilizer too!!!!

01-26-2006, 08:17 PM

My story is similar to the OP. I started my period at age 11. I always had horrible cramps and really heavy flows, plus I never knew if/when I was going to start again. So I think I had PCOS early on, but it was a fairly mild case. At age 16 I went on Depo Provera...and was on it for 7 years. I didn't have a period the entire time. It was wonderful, or so I thought. But in my early 20's, I finally started to think about what I might be doing to my body by not having a period at all. Once I got off Depo, I didn't start my period for over a year. I went to several different docs (GP's, GYN's), all of whom put me on one form of BCP or another in addition to Provera. My PCOS symptoms showed up with a vengeance.

After I was finally diagnosed correctly, I went to see an RE to get pregnant with my daughter. During pregnancy, many of my symptoms seemed to go away. But now they're all coming back worse than ever. I'm in the process of scheduling an appointment to see an endocrinologist at this point.

I sat & thought about it and I have gained close to 100lbs since coming off Depo (not counting pregnancy!), my hair is falling out, I have even more hair on my face & body, my periods are still wacky and lots of other things. I don't know how much is related to Depo, but it sure seems fishy to me.

paininpittsburgh · 01-27-2006, 12:25 AM

I KNOW IT IS POISON! I know it~ I was okay before depo, I feel like it has robbed me of my college years. Robbed me of my beauty. I am fat. Very fat. Depo poisoned me and no one will listen. I want to do something. Scream it from mountain tops so everyone knows, IT IS POISON!

cashtatti · 01-27-2006, 01:45 AM

I also agree that Depo causes PCOS, was thin, had normal periods, and no major problems before Depo. Took it for 1 year no AF and gained 80 lbs in the same year. The Dr's try to give you the BS that it is herditary but cannot be true. Not a single sole in my family has it or diabetes. I have a close friend that had the same situation as I and now also has PCOS. No one in her family has it either. Wish we could sue there paints off.

paininpittsburgh · 01-27-2006, 07:41 AM

You guys are the people I am looking for. The people who just deep down know the shot has something to do with PCOS. I want to do something. I am so sickened by the thought of other women having this happen to them!

It is absolutely horrific!