I was on depo provera (the "shot") in college and it was fine. I gained some weight but it was fine because, hey, I was in college and I already had a boyfriend :-) People expected you to gain weight anyway.

When graduation was nearing I wanted to loose weight so I stopped taking the shot (which by the way is the same thing they give to male sex offenders in hopes they will not attack again), my period came back in a month or two and I lost weight. Cool.

In Feb of 2005 I decided to get on the shot again because the thought of not having a period seemed great. Well, of course I gained weight again but the scary part is that it's been 6 months since I've STOPPED taking the shot and my period still hasn't come back!!!! At the beginning of this month I had a little spotting but that's all.

In my opinion it's not worth it. I never thought I hear myself say that I'm looking forward to seeing my period but I am!!!

I wouldn't do this either. My period is already wacky enough, even on the pills and the patch it still wasn't/isn't right. I've had sooooo many problems and side effects with BC it's not even funny. I've taken 3 different types of pills and the patch and they all suck for me :( I guess it's just different strokes for different folks, but I don't see this helping me.

Personally, I wouldn't. I'm currently taking care of my mother who is suffering from metastatic breast cancer. I think because of that I an anti to anything that isn't natural. I have also had a breast lump removed that was benign but, it was a hormone assisted tumor. The doctor said, it was a product of a couple years of birth control pill use. IMO, if God intended for me to have a menstrual cycle every month, then so be it.

What kind of mess is this?

What is the point of being a woman if you don't have periods?

Men skeet. Women bleed. :o

I feel this way too. I know just what you mean.

The same thing that happens to your bones and muscles and everything else when you die. They deteriorate and fade away.....


IT'S THE CIRCLLLLLLLE OF LIIIIIIIFE......

Like a few people posted above--I'm too nervous, because of my maternal history of Breast cancer and cervical cancer, to try anything that my body hasn't already done for me. Not like there's a 100% chance I won't get anything, but the odds are closer than not.

enigma_AKA

Here goes TMI, but maybe it'll help someone - I did. It worked very well at first, but then I had crazy side effects (extreme bleeding) which they said happens to one out of whatever % of people.

As far as cancers - BC actually lowers the risk of cervical cancers. But you have to watch out for blood clots & strokes.

Would I consider getting something that completely supresses periods? Yes. I'm one of the few that has debilitating periods at time ( can't walk, work, anemic, nausea, tired, extremely painful to say the least). Plus, I don't plan on having any more kids.

Interesting. I never knew that.

enigma_AKA

I have problems with BCs too. The last time I took them I got a blood clot. :(

I don't know what I'm going to do when I get married b/c that would be the solution of choice.

SC

Soror, I sent you a PM.
SC

Bear in mind that the pill is, in essence, a low dose of synthetic versions of the same hormones that flood your system during pregnancy. We're designed to be drowning in those hormones for most of our reproductive lives. It's not without risks -- just as pregnancy is not without risks -- but it's very natural in its own way.

Also, when you take a break from the pill, the bleeding you get is not actually a "period" in the biological sense, because the uterine lining has been prevented from building up during the previous three weeks. This is why so many women have lighter flow & reduced cramps on the pill -- the uterus bleeds as a reaction to the drop-off in hormones when you take the sugar pills, but you are not actually shedding the material you shed during a non-pill period.

This may be TMI but here goes: I have polycystic ovaries which means that I constantly have cysts form and rupture on my ovaries. After an ER visit, I went to see a gynecologist who told me that the best way to control it was to put me on birth control to prevent my body from having a "real" period. I asked her to put me on Seasonale because 4 times a year sounded too good to be true. Turns out it was. I was told that during the first few months light bleeding or spotting was normal. Except that mine lasted for 18 continuous days and was so heavy that I was sent back to the hospital for an anemia test because I was losing so much blood. After that I switched pills ASAP and am now on Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo. Sometimes if I don't feel like getting my period for whatever reason, I'll do the three week cycle, but I will never go back to Seasonale again.

wow :eek:

Ditto! I'm glad you got that fixed, that sounds so scary!

You know, all this talk reminds me of a convo I had with a friend over Christmas break. She said that she had excessive bleeding (to the point where the inside of her lips and eyelids were WHITE), so her doc put her on Ortho. The pill made her so depressed, her parents took her to the hospital for counseling. They were scared because she is normally such a happy person and but over the months she got so depressed she would just sit and cry and eventually started to talk about wanting to kill herself. Fortunately, one counselor caught that she was on the pill! Turns out the hormones messed with her serotonin levels and caused a severe imbalance in her brain (which the doc said can happen depending on the kind of bc and the person taking it). They put her on Yasmin(sp?) and after a few months of that, she was back to her old self.