Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

I have my 6 week pp obgyn appointment next week. Ideally I'd like a shot or pill that will last for 1 or 2 years.

Has anyone gotten one of these shots/pills or considering it?

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

If you are BFing, just make sure you can use this form of BC.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

I'm pretty sure I know someone who got the shot and it completely screwed up her cycle big time. Not sure if that is a usual side effect, but it happens.

Personally, and this is just my opinion, it just seems very unnatural to me. We are supposed to get a period every month and using hormones to make it stop for a year or 2 just seems like going against nature to me. Again, just my opinion.

I hope you find something that works best for you!

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

yup. me. i was on the depopervora for over 9 yrs.. NEVER had a cycle. then BAM preggers with twins!

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

I have to STRONGLY advise you against the depo provera shot. There are many woman who have no side effects from it but plenty more who do...like me.

I got the shot in February 2008 because I was having trouble remembering to take the pill. You get it every 3 months. I only had 1 dose and started bleeding about 3 weeks later. I wasn't aware that that was a side-effect (for the first year) and decided that I didn't want to bleed so much all the time so decided to discontinue use.

In that time up until about a month ago (so we're talking 1 year and 1 month) I may have had 15 or so blood-free days. I turned anemic. Gained weight. Tiredness. Depression. All things I could have avoided if I did my homework.

That being said, it can take up to 18 months for your cycle to go back to normal and obviously it depends on the person because I do know people who got pregnant right away from it. My experience is NOT uncommon. I am very fearful that I cannot have anymore children because of how I messed up my cycle. I've been about 3 weeks period free so I'm hoping and praying I'm getting back to normal.

not worth it in my opinion.

If you're serious about 2 years than do an IUD instead.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

I got an IUD. It can last up to 10 years but you can get it taken out whenever you want. I got the paragaurd, so no hormones.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

I tried Depo too. I ended up with some serious depression and weight gain from it. I had to go off for my own sanity. Personally I ended up not having any periods after my body adjusted to the shot but I could not deal with the depression.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

i was on depo for years. before my first, and then for a couple of years between my 2 kids. (they're almost 5 years apart) i can say i loved being on depo, and had no side efects from it. got rid of the monthly cycle so no cramps.... which was the main reason i took it in the first place ( i can't take estrogen based pills because of a family history of breast cancer, and because the couple of times i did try them they made the cramps even worse than they were to begin with) i tired the mini-pill and it helped a littl bit. depo was a life saver. i was so much happier on it. i had my tubes tied during my second c-section and part of me wishes i had just gone back to the depo shots because it would mean no periods and no cramps at all.

and it took about 6 months for my cycles to come back once i stopped taking the shots... and once they came back they were right where they are supposed to be. every 24-26 days. i never had issues with screwed up cycles. i got some breakthrough bleeding when i went back on depo after my DS was born, but it wasn't bad. and it did stop.

i know people can have problems with it. but others are fine with it. you might want to try the mini pill first to see how you react to it. its the same hormones as the depo shot, just in lower dose. which is what my OB/GYN did before i got my first shot, since i had such bad reactions to all other birth control pills i tried.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

nope, wouldn't consider it.... I've always been a bit worried about tinkering with hormone levels...

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

I had a friend that did it and she had major problems with it. To me it's not worth it to mess with your hormones like that.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

Ask your doctor about the newest form of birth control pills..you might not want to go the Depo route unless you are certain you do not normally experience any hormonal side effects from birth control..it can alter the cycle and if i remember right, it delays having a baby in many women for about a year after stopping , give or take..takes the hormones a bit of time to level out after..
I sold Birth Control Pills , actually extended cycling ones, Seasonale and Seasonique. There is no medical reason for needing a period and alot of times it helps people who have endometriosis, PCOS and other conditions

I remember reading all of the literature about having a period versus not, and one point was made-years ago, many women were pregnant alot more frequently during their childbirthing years and didnt have nearly as many periods as the average woman of today has..more medical issues have been shown to exist with having so many frequent periods versus way back when, thought it was interesting...
Honestly, i took extended cycling pills for years, getting a period every 3 months and loved it...I did have alot of trouble having a baby but it turned out I had severe endo, pcos and lost a tube, lol..amazed i had a baby at all honestly but, medically, you are fine without a period every month, i am not sure i would want to go a year or more without one but, every few months is no biggie.

Message edited 5/1/2009 7:49:19 AM.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?

As someone who tried the Depo shot years ago and had some major complications, I'd shy away from that route. In fact, my dr won't even prescribe the depo shot anymore because of the bone loss.

SInce you are BF, I think your only option is the mini-pill or condoms.

Re: Has anyone received/considering getting one of those long-term birth control shots or pills?