[nobody]

I have been on depo for five years and i belive my body is ready to be done wth it. 5 years with not even a little spoting and in the past 6 weeks i have gone from spoting to bleeding. there are also concerns that it might be one of the causes of increased depression over the last few years. I have been trying to look into what I might exept while going off depo and mostly what i find is a little scary. any help would be great thanks.

[krystelynn]

My doctor advised me years ago to discontinue use of Depo because of a black box warning regarding bone density loss. I went off Depo and switched to NuvaRing and was on that for a few years (I would keep it in for the entire 30 days and then switch out resulting in no period for the entire time like with the Depo). I have since gone completely off of hormonal BC and switched to the Paragard IUD (just didn't like the hormones in my body any longer). I would (and I am by no means a health professional) recommend switching to something different and if you like not having periods I would highly recommend the Nuvaring. It's kind of tricky at first to get used to, but it was great.

[nobody]

I dont plan on switching to anything else. i just want to get the out of my body. my worry is all the bad things I have read that people say have happend to them while they are going off. increased depretion/irritation, heavy piriods that last for months, feeling ill, sever cramps ext. I have been asking Drs for the past few years if i it is ok to even be on it so long and i am frustrated not that i am readying all of that stuff and the bone density stuff, that they always said it was fine to be on.

[krystelynn]

When I went off of it I didn't get a period for almost a year and then I switched to the nuvaring when they came back. I didn't really have many problems (actually a lot of the problems I was having caused by the depo wore off). When my periods came back they were normal (no heavier that I recall nor more cramping), but everyone is different. I have endometriosis so my periods are generally a little heavier and more crampy than normal ppl (which is why I liked the amenorrhea from both the depo and nuvaring, but now I just deal with it with herbs, teas and meditation).

You could always try some natural herbal remedies to help balance out your hormones (it took me a year from the depo and at least 6 months from the nuvaring to balance out my hormones), like Vitex and there are others on the market to help regulate your moods, cycles, flow and other symptoms. If you have a health food store near you you can go in and ask but I found Vitex to work very well for regulating the hormones faster. Also drinking herbal teas can help too I know Yogi Tea makes some that are great for helping balance things out.

[nobody]

thanks much. I have looked into some detox options and I will look into the teas and herbs you mentiond. I volonteer at an organic food store so I have been planing to talk to some people there about options and we have tones of teas and supliments avalibal. I hope I am as lucky as you when it comes to getting off of this. I think my body is not responding to it a I have already had some sort of a period and brest sorness and I am not due for my shot for another two weeks. I also had spotting twice before that in a 6 week period. I tend to have major sensativities to some medications, I have some very bad depression and mood issues where I can lose control and I have read of some people who have that as a symptom and I dont want to have that double time. I hope it wont be a problem. Knowing that antidepressants do not work for me I dont want to be any worse off than I am already. I have an apointment scedualed with my doctor next week. thank you for your responce it was helpfull and gives me a bit of hope.