I got off the depo shot in aug 06 and have been waiting to get my cycles back. Well, this month I spotted a lil bit in the mornings of feb 1st and Feb 2nd so I thought that was a cycle. Now today I am spotting a lil bit again. My question for all of you is did any of you have irregular cycles months after getting off the depo shot and if yes did u get two cycles in one month? How long were you irregular? Do I count the spotting on the 1st and 2nd and now today as dif cycles... I am soo confused and need advice badly. How do I know when I ovulate then?
Oh and by the way I can't go on the pill or any other form of estrogen because i have blood clotting issues. So the only b.c i can take is either the depo or the IUD....
Every woman is different, but what you're experiencing is completely normal. I would recommend going on the pill to get regular cycles, but I gather from your other posting that you cannot do that because of a blood clotting problem. So, just wait it out, and your cycle is likely to become normal again soon. It could, however, take up to a year, so try to not be concerned in the meantime. Of course, if you don't want to get pregnant, it means heightened vigilance because you don't have a regular period to tell you that you're not pregnant, nor do you really know when (if even) you ovulate.
There are progestin only (Depo is progestin only) birth control pills that breastfeeding mothers use. You could ask your dr about that. Otherwise you could try herbal rememdies to regulate your cycle like Vitex. As far as knowing when you ovulate, you could chart your temps. Hope that helps.
That depo is NASTY, I was one mine for over a year and then stopped, didn't have a cycle for three months and then the first one I thought I was having a miscarriage becaues I was on the floor in so much pain and hemmoraging. I had a cycle that lasted 2-3 months, heavy after that.
Then I went on it again (becaues I'm dumb) really becaues i'm not good at remembering to take the pill, I went off it and started the Nuva Ring (god send)That is the BEST birth control ever!!! Becaues i started anouther birth control I didn't have the cramps or wierd cycle.
So thats my advice is to start a diffrent form of Birth control, head into the DR and let them know....
Kristie,
I was on the depo shot for about a year in 2003. When I went off it in 2004 my cycle was normal from the begining (took me 3 months to get one) however my ob/gyn did say it could take up to if not longer a year for a normal cycle, it depends on the person. I got pregnant in 12/05. Sorry I couldn't be more help.
It might take two full years to clear the depo out of your system. It takes a long time to recover from it because its that distruptive. I would spend a lot of time healing the body with good fresh fruits and vegs. Red raspberry leaf tea and I would take brisk walks daily. After getting off the depo its hard to know when you ovulate period! So if you want to avoid pregnancy I would use a condom....getting pregnant after using the depo will only hurt your body more because it needs time to recover from strong stuff that was put into the body. I bet if you goggle depo you will find websites to talks about recovering from it because it has hurt a lot of poeple.
I was on Depot for 4 years and when I finally stopped taking it my periods never went back to normal. Before Depot I could narrow it down to the hour as to when it would come but Depot through my cycle all out of whack. It's definately different for each person and after being off it for a number of years (I think 5 now) my periods were still sporadic (prior to my pregnancy). If it raises that much concern for you and you don't want to get pregnant your best bet would be to talk to your doctor. Good luck!