This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Hawaii chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.
Many women use birth control, but what kind of birth control do you use? I have been on one type of birth control for three years–Depo-Provera. This method is said to be the most effective way to prevent pregnancies along with sterilization (which you probably won’t want to do unless you never want kids).
So what is Depo-Provera? Well, according to The Women’s Health Group, Depo-Provera is “a long-action form of birth control. It is an injection given every 12 weeks under a doctor’s supervision.” Once you get the injection, the progesterone injected into you prevents ovulation from happening. This way, no eggs can really be released into the uterus tube. The injection also creates a sort of “mucus wall” in your cervix, to prevent sperm from getting through.
The first time you get the shot, you must wait a full 24 hours before it becomes effective. If you’ve already had the shot, you must go back to get an injection every 12 weeks or three months, for it to continue to become effective. If you get your next shot within twelve weeks, you don’t have to worry about waiting 24 hours, it is still effective. You will no longer have a period or menstrual cycle once you start the injection.
Although Depo-Provera is said to be the most effective method of birth control, with less than one of every 100 women getting pregnant while using it, there are some risks that doctors either make light of or simply don’t mention at all.
2. Loss of bone density
Doctors have mentioned this to me before, and they’ve all told me not to worry about it because I’m not “older.” Doctors recommend that patients stop taking the injection after two years because of loss in bone density. Depo-Provera is said to be directly associated with a higher loss of bone mineral density, but apparently, it’s “totally reversible.” After I started feeling as if my leg bones were weak and sometimes sore, I was told that taking daily vitamins would reverse the effects.
3. Nausea and headaches
During the three years that I was on the injection, I experienced headaches or migraines, about once every two weeks–sometimes even more.
4. Loss of sex drive
Unfortunately, I was not informed about this when starting the shot. Virginia Beach OBGYN states, “Depo-Provera works by convincing the body that it is already pregnant, and inhibits estrogen production. Depo-Provera is a high dose of hormones and could lead to a decreased sex drive. Most women who get a Depo-Provera shot find that their sex drive decreases.” So because your body believes that it is pregnant, it makes sense that your sex drive would decrease. In addition, an interesting fact that I discovered in a women’s health chat group, is that the Depo-Provera drug is used as a “castration drug” on chronic sex-offenders. When injected into male sex-offenders, it is supposed to reduce their sex drive and sexual fantasies.
Other side effects are irregular bleeding, stomach cramping, abdominal cramping, nervousness, dizziness, weakness/fatigue, and vaginal discharge and irritation.
