depo-provera weight question

This is for the women out there -

I've been on Depo-Provera (birth control shot) for years now. Yesterday was my three month shot - it was also the worst binge day I've had since I started calorie counting.

Could that injection of hormones be related to my out of control eating? Does anyone out there take depo, and if so have you had the same weird problem?

ohhhhh i miss my depo shots...long for the days of no periods...but alas hubby got snipped.....i did gain weight while on the shot...still trying to get rid of it......the first week or so after the shot was a hormone roller coaster....

Thanks for responding lightningmd. I think I must be on the roller coaster right now. I never noticed before b/c I never counted calories before.

Hopefully I'll be off the shot for a long while soon. Hubby and I might start up the baby factory in the fall.

Anybody else with similar experiences the week of the shot?

Well I gained 40 lbs while on the shot.  I don't think it was all the shot's fault, but I do think it contributed.  I think it may have increased food cravings as well.  I always wanted sugary things for 5-6 days after the shot.  I went on a pancake eating spree.... it was horrible.

I was on Depo for almost six years.  Before Depo my weight was pretty steady.  I was overweight, but had been maintaining the same weight for years, 165-170.  Then I started depo...175.  The next shot 176...etc.  I ended up gaining 12 pounds a year for 6 years.  I am now trying to lose the weight.  over 70lbs.  I loved depo, but I hate the side effects.  I loved not having my period.  I loved not having to think about birthcontrol.  I loved that it was only one quick shot every 3 months.  I hated that after a couple years my libido started to wain. I don't know that it was the depo, or the weight gain.  Depo was a 2 way birthcontrol for me.  It made me not want to have sex, but if I did have sex I couldn't get pregnant.  I feel bad for my husband we would go MONTHS without sex during that time. 

Thanks all. I haven't gained a huge amount on the shot - maybe 10 pounds. I was wondering if anyone felt huge cravings right after getting their three month shot.

Don't get me wrong folks. I love Depo! No periods, no thinking about pills. If a week of craziness is all I have to worry about then I guess I don't care. It hasn't messed with my libido, but I did see that as a side effect. Too bad lapslazuli.

I haven't been on it myself, but a good friend of mine was on depo for about a year and she gained about 15 lb. She is naturally very slim and active, eats well etc. But she could not shift the weight despite her best efforts until she came off depo and went with an alternate form of birth control. I don't think she gained weight because of binging, though. I think it was just her hormones sent completely out of whack by it.

I was on the depo shot for one year.  After my fourth shot, I started getting really bad migraines (and I NEVER even get small headaches) so I stopped.  One of the things that concerned me the most was weight gain, because I had friends on the shot that gained like 20 lbs. the year they started the shot.  I asked my OB/GYN, and she said that the depo shot will not make you gain a significant amount of weight in one year, and the max was about 5 lbs.  I don't know if the doc was lying, or if my friends were just trying to blame their weight gain on something other than themselves.  Up until my last shot, I was loving it!  However, after the headaches, I stopped.  I am now using the Mirena IUD, and LOVE IT!!!

I was on the shot for about two years and gained about 18 lbs over the course of those years. It was nice not having periods, but when I went for my yearly check up, my dr. informed me that depo had been shown to cause low bone density in women. So I had a bone scan done and of course my bone density came in low. So I stopped getting the shot (and coincidently lost the 18 lbs.) and switched to the nuvo ring (which is awesome!). Haven't had my density checked since August, but hopefully my lifestyle change has helped me return to normal.

So I dont remember having any intense cravings, but I did maintain weight that I had gained while I was on it.

I too am a Depo Lover!  Been on it for 3 1/2 years now, and I definetly wouldn't attribute my weight gain to the shot because when I ate right and exercised I lost and when I ate whatever I wanted while watching a Trading Spaces marathon - I gained! :)  Though I will admit I am hungrier that first week after the shot...but I just adjust and have a few 100 more "Good Calories" that week...

Kind of off the subject (of weght anyway) just wondering if anyone had concerns about the long term effects of having no periods?  My Doc assures me it's safe and I really can't find anything (reports, articles) that say otherwise, but I've got some skepical freinds and family that just keep telling me how un-natural that is???

thank you so much tiatortilla95! It helps to know that I'm not crazy this week. I really felt out of control and not myself yesterday. Today I'm feeling much better.

I haven't heard or read anything about missing periods being a problem. Also, there are other birth controls out there that do the same thing. My doc says it's fine and it comes back as soon as you stop Depo. This is what happened for me when I took a break from it for a few years. My period came right back.

well im on depo and ive been on it since beg august 2006 and from august - january i gained almost 20lbs i do not think it was all from depo BUT i had a baby august 5th got my first depo in the hospital and a few weeks after i had the baby i was like 296-298 somthing like that then by my 2nd shot i was 318lb my dr. said that it looked like it might be makeing me gain wait an by my 3rd shot i need to check my weight an if im still gaining switch birth control, she informed me that some ppl only gain a lil and some ppl continue to gain, my next choice is IUD. also about 4-5 wks into it i spot lightly but i spot did anyone else?

I spotted a lot...another negative aspect of the depo shot for me...

I have always been concerned with not getting a period either.  My doc has also insisted that it is not unhealthy, but I agree with you, tiatortilla95...I guess it's just a strange concept for me to grasp.

Good side effects:  NO Periods at all for 3 years.  

Bad side effects:  I gained weight!!!  Hormones, Hormones, Hormones!!!  I was very Bitchy!

Erica200 - I got the shot after I had my son & I gained 20 lbs w/in 6 months.  So not only did I have 40 lbs of pregnancy weight to lose, I had an extra 20 lbs to lose.  I'm now off of the shot, down 17 lbs & am a big fan of the Mirena IUD.

Ahhh Deprovera....I too used it a couple of years back and I loved the way I didnt have a period, wasnt really moody (not anymore than I already am) and mindless birthcontrol.  However, I gained about 25 lbs in oh 4 months or so....It was aweful...I was at an ideal weight, met my now husband, went on the shot and bam 25 lbs later I was overweight.  I still have about 5 pounds till I am down to my weight after I finished the shot and I have it in my mind that those depo lbs are going to be hard ones to take off!!  Doesnt make sense I know but it is in my head regardless!!  Anyways, just plugging away and although I am trying to find an alternative birth contol I wouldnt try the depo again.  Thinking the patch?  Anyone have thoughts on that one?  I dont believe they have the same weight gain side effects...

I was on the patch for a while, BUT, then i kept having leg cramps and i went to the DR, and this is what i found out 1st of all if ur over 180lb the patch is not as effective (worked great for me though) 2. that it has the same effects as the pill, blood clots, heart attack, etc. they made me go get sonograms of my legs to make sure i had not clots from it, basically they scared me to stop, but then a few months later i kept seeing ads on tv about ppl sueing because of the side effects of the patch so i wouldnt try it if i was you..

See i cant remember to take the pill, so i need a dependable birth control cause we already have 4 an IM DONE! so im kinda scared to get off of it, but i DONT need to keep gaining weight.

My aunt took THe Depo-Provera shots for 3 years and gained 60lbs in that amount of time.  She beleives it increased her munchies.  Seems there are alot of people who have gained a significant amount of weight on that Birth-Control. 

Does anybody have any stats. on the shot?

ok reading all u guys views on depo, is most def making me NOT want to get my next shot i cant afford to gain anymore weight..

its hard enough to lose the weight i got..lol

If you want to have babies you need to get off of it NOW- it can take up to a year for you to be fertile again after taking the shot only a couple of times.

OHHHHHHHHHH NOOO i dont want anymore babies..lol