Stopping Depo-Provera: The good, the bad and the sore boobs

Easter came along and so much chocolate was consumed (it’s my hormones). We got loads of Easter eggs donated at work so I figured an egg a day keeps the hormones at bay, except it didn’t. So this next lot of hormone hell lasted just over 2 weeks, if we are following my new cycle then this just ruined it. The usual symptoms started, although I have realised that each time I get a wave of hormone havoc it is more extreme than the last. Is that a good sign? So the nausea was now intermittent throughout the day, headaches on and off, cramps and tiredness. I also started with insomnia during the night, I felt tired all the time and could easily fall asleep but I’d be awake for 2-3 hours in the night which lasted about a week. Now for the most extreme symptom to date, what we have all anticipated – the REALLY sore boobs! Now, when I was a teenager mum always said I’d be glad to have small boobs when I’m older. And yes I am. If my boobs were this painful then I feel very sorry for the bi...

God, how much I have become to hate this phrase! Yes, ok I have all the symptoms of being pregnant but no I am not!! And actually I’m bloody well infertile right now and maybe forever!! Just needed to get this off my chest. I never really thought about this phrase before yet I’ve heard it loads especially at work where about 90% of us are women. I have probably said it a number of times myself to other women. I have definitely been asked it many times (not just recently) and not usually in a serious way but in a jokey/throw away comment kind of way and its never bothered me before. But now I can’t stand to be asked it especially when people don’t just take no for an answer. I don’t want to explain myself all the time and I don’t want to think about not being pregnant and the not knowing if I ever will be. I think my hormones have definitely made me more irritable and perhaps I am taking it to heart too much and equally I absolutely know that the person asking isn’t trying to be h...

So after that week in February everything calmed down and I felt well again which was nice as I had booked to to go to Iceland as a surprise for my boyfriends 30th birthday, so thanks for settling hormones, we had a great time. Jump to 10th March and it started again. At this point I was wondering if there was some sort of pattern as it had been 4 weeks since the symptoms began previously. Could I call this my new menstrual cycle? This time wasn’t so bad though (to begin with). I had intermittent ‘period’ type pain in my pelvis and back but no bleeding. I felt fatigued and my body was achy for a few days. Then it really ramped up around the 23rd of March, I remember this week because I was on annual leave from work and it was the first week of  COVID lockdown. Absolutely not a complete waste of a precious weeks holiday. Symptoms this time were similar to the first lot in February but I’d say more extreme. The nausea was often in the mornings and then again in the evening, the ac...

This was the week that everything began to change and my hormones started raging (not even being dramatic now). So my post depo symptoms began approximately 8 weeks after missing my injection. See I knew there was a good bit! An extended 8 weeks of feeling well and zero side effects. Anyway my main symptoms to begin with were nausea (sometimes vomiting), fatigue, aching body, period type tummy/back pain but no bleeding. Then I became constipated, bloated and needing to wee more. Back to old trusty Google - what do these symptoms mean? You’re pregnant! Fantastic! What a miracle when I’m not ovulating. Obviously I knew this wasn’t the case, how could I be when I hadn’t even had one menstrual cycle let alone regular cycles. I think the worse symptom was the nausea/vomiting – it got boring really quickly! Although, in case you’re experiencing this, I found that lemon and ginger tea helped. Being at work whilst feeling like this wasn’t much fun either, especially when you’re listening t...

At the time I didn’t know this would be my last injection. I had thought about stopping as myself and my boyfriend had discussed having children in the future but hadn’t really planned to stop. Then in November I had my scheduled smear test and it came back as abnormal. I remember opening that letter and my heart dropping immediately thinking the worse mainly that something might be wrong meaning I can’t have a baby. I think most people would have instantly thought about the big C (cancer not COVID – this was before we were panicking about that) which is definitely what my boyfriend thought. I don’t remember being especially worried about it being cancer other than to make jokes about it… I won’t go into too much detail about that as I’m sure I’ll offend someone but making light of a situation is my way to not let things worry me. I don’t think my boyfriend appreciated my humour at the time but my friends did and even my mum joined in with the jokes. I had to have a colposcopy (wh...

If you are reading this blog then you likely already know what Depo-Provera is and, like me, have stopped the depo and are looking for stories from other women to see if how you’re feeling is ‘normal’. Or maybe you’re thinking about starting it and are looking for some advice which hopefully this provides. Before I stopped the depo I scoured the internet in search of information and some reassurance of what to expect. After my last injection I continued to look for other women’s experiences and facts about what was happening to my body and when I would be back to ‘normal’. I couldn’t find anything that just gave me the facts and read many horror stories along the way from women sharing their post depo symptoms. I quickly realised that there are no hard truths as such and everyone’s experiences are different. So I decided to write this blog so other women can follow my experience, hopefully share their own stories too and selfishly for me to have an avenue to offload! I don’t want this...