depro provera - a question!

pooker · 05-24-2004, 09:44 AM

From what I've read, after about a year of getting the depro provera shots, AF can stop altogether. Is this safe? I thought we had to shed our lining regularly to avoid a cancer risk.

My neice (she's 11) is mentally challenged, and they will not be able to deal with her if she has AF. She is very strong, and b/c of that, my brother has to deal with her. Also, she can't talk, and she can't really communicate at all.
So her doctor is going to give her the depro provera shots. They want to avoid AF altogether. I am concerned and wondering how that all works.

Can someone help me out?

Thanks so much!

heatherz · 05-29-2004, 12:17 PM

When you receive your first shot of Depo, you usually get it on the first three days of your period. After that I had some spotting for a few weeks and then I didn't get my period for 4.5 years. I would say it won't take a year for her period to stop altogether. And it also causes you to gain weight and there can be some moodiness.

pooker · 05-30-2004, 12:37 AM

Thanks...I'm still wondering though how safe it is if your period stops altogether...does it change your hormones so that you're not producing the blood? I sound stupid, at least to my ears. I guess I just thought we were to bleed on a regular basis to be healthy, and if this makes you skip completely, how can it be safe?

Thanks again...

prunepie · 05-30-2004, 01:49 AM

if your neice is mentally disabled... perhaps they might want to consider sterilization if they feel she shouldnt/couldnt handle ever being a mother...that being said.... depo has made many women sick..in the sense of not beign able to concieve...getting hormone problems etc..( this is what i have read and witnessed here and with friends) also its not a guarantee that she wont get her period..some get non stop bleeding.

imo the depo is a very strong hormone deal for anyone not to mention someone young.. my opinion is that a healthy body needs to shed... i mean most drs induce periods in women if they havent had one in a long time to make sure the lining sheds to decrease risk of cancers etc... i dont know this is a tough one.

if she is severely mentally disabled..to the point of non communication etc... i thnk i have heard of some drs doing hysterecomies/sterilization..but not sure about that..

good luck with the situation xoxo jenn

guineapig · 06-05-2004, 12:37 AM

Um, I know I don't know the whole situation, but I don't think depo is an answer to anything. It doesn't stop everyone's periods. It did for me, but it also sent me into maniacal rages half the time. I would literally want to kill people who cut in line at the grocery store! I mean, who doesn't LOL but seriously...I would look at people I didn't even know and my blood would boil and I would see red...over nothing! I became so crazy that the BF at the time ran for the hills. I also was depressed, lethargic, fat, acne-ridden, and just out of it. I would break down 3x per week crying at work and then cussing out people in road rages to where my throat hurt. And of course, in hindsight, IMO it caused my PCOS. When I stopped depo I had AF for 4 months straight. I don't know if depo's the best thing for someone that's already mentally unstable. Let alone a teenager who hasn't really stopped growing or straightened out her cycles yet.

Maybe if AF itself is a problem they could try Seasonelle pill? AF is only, what, 3-4 times a year with that?

If pregnancy is the issue, consider an IUD. It can be non-hormonal and lasts up to 10 years, and SOME doctors will give them to unmarried women...they can "measure" her to see if she's big enough.

It's just my two cents, but I wouldn't wish depo on Saddam Hussein, and there's other options to reduce the # of AF or foolproof-ly prevent pregnancy.

bumbleybee3 · 06-17-2004, 03:27 AM

i am not a docter but i agree with the other women on not giving her the depo. i was on it for about two years and i have never been so sick physically and mentally. i started getting flus and stomac bugs such as gastro one on top of the other to the point where i caouldnt take care of my daughter which scared me and i started to spiral out of control. i was the worst mother i would neglect her because i couldnt get out of bed so sometimes it was so bad i couldnt even get up to feed her and i was a single parent at the time so there was no one else. i was in a severe depression and i couldnt get out. i started to notice and other people started to notice when i wouldnt answer the phone ever and i wouldnt answer the door because i couldnt get out of bed. i couldnt sleep at night and i would sleep all day. i finally went and got some advise and some help and i was put on anti-depressents and i had to set the routine for myself and my daughter to get up at 7:00 am and i wasnt aloud to lay down until 10:00 pm at night so as not to fall asleep. i had to keep myself super busy and grace aswell. i thank god she was too young to remember me that way and i will never forgive myself for what i put her through! it also took me a year to shed the 30 kilos i had put on along with it.
i dont mean to shock or push you but if i couldnt control myself and if it could effect me the way it did then i would worry what it would do to someone so young. there must be a better way.
please do not think badly of me for the choices i have made and for the advise i have given, although you have every right to, my intentions are pure!