Depo Provera

At 16 I was paranoid as shit about pregnancy...so much so that condoms alone just didn't cut. So off I went to my family doctor to try to get some alternatives/options. The first one she gave me was Depo Provera and it seemed like a pretty sweet deal to my relatively uninformed 16 year old self. I mean, just one little needle every 3 months and that was that! My insurance covered it so each injection cost me less than $5. I must say, I felt a little sketched out when my doctor told me I'd probably stop getting my period but if no periods meant no babies I figured "Okay let's do this!!!". And I did. And dear god, I really wish she'd warned me about the side effects. Perhaps it was the fact that I was 16, but I simply was not aware that hormonal birth control = headaches, depression, total loss of sex drive and severe lethargy. Seriously, it was weird how much my entire system was affected. I had the shots a few more times after that, until I finally realized, DUH. The wonderous Depo Provera = why I've felt like I've spent the past half-year practically comatose. So I quit it and it was unbelievable how much better I felt about everything within just a few (3? 4?) months. I later found out that Depo Provera's side effects stretch far beyond what I experienced and may include things from hairloss to "abnormal skin spots" to bone mineral loss. Who wants that, really?

So, obviously Depo (and hormonal birth control in general) just wasn't for me. I suppose the moral of the story isn't so much "Stay away! It's evil!" but more so "Make sure you're well informed about everything to do with the BC of your choice. Ask questions! Use Google! Be prepared!".

- Vivian