Depo-provera, week one

[marydell]

So I got the shot on Friday.  I got the full-strength shot, figuring that if I get the weaker shot and it doesn't stop the pain, I'll have to try the stronger shot before I know if this is the right path, whereas if I get the stronger shot and it does help, but I don't like the side effects, I still have the weaker one as an option.  Basically I just don't want to screw around with this any more.

Five days in, my experience is probably meaningless, but I'm going to record it anyway because it may be useful for some other woman, including for future-me, who probably will forget this stage of things.

Good:  I've been cheerful. Probably because of having a sense of progress, rather than for anything hormonal, but maybe it's the shot. My energy is much better, and my appetite is less--probably because I eat constantly to fuel up, and I don't feel tired most of the time now. This has got to be the shot; I've been doing a whole lot of stuff I'm normally too fatigued for.  I hadn't thought of the regular tiredness as a problem, because I have a fairly sedentary job, but the doctor didn't like it and has sent me for a thyroid test just in case.

Bad: I've had a headache or two. I've been unreasonably sleepy, although that's passing.  Sleepy as distinct from tired--if I hop up off the couch and go do something, I'm fine and have plenty of energy, but if I sit still I get snoozy. And I'm very VERY achey today--my neck & shoulders are really stiff, which has been coming on for a couple of days.  This is partly because of being more active suddenly (a lot of my activity involves slinging Charlie over my shoulder), but I also think it's the shot.

Neutral:  I'm craving red meat.  I normally eat it pretty often anyway, but I suddenly am craving protein in general and red meat in particular, rather than carbs and more carbs, which is my usual staple food.  Not that I don't still want carbs. But I'm thinking about what to have for lunch and "steak and eggs" is kind of obsessing me. Even though I'm allergic to eggs. So, I've started taking a multivitamin but I can see I'll need to figure out some kind of proper nutrition, food-wise.  Depo-provera lowers your good cholesterol and raises your bad cholesterol, and mine is already bad, so I need to try to keep my steak ratio fairly low.

Fot those who've had provera side-effects (i.e. anyone who's ever taken it), did they start right away?  I assume they are going to build over time but I'm not sure when I should expect the bigger stuff to hit me.  Presumably it'll depend on what the stuff actually does to my period, combined with the weird hormones I seem to have naturally.

Comments

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

It was mainly poor management by the Family Planning Clinic, in the days before Depo was known to be troublesome with side effects. They wouldn't dream of putting me on it now. From what I recall, low oestrogen can happen with some people but doesn't sound all that common, and if yours is high to begin with then it's less likely to be a problem, of course. As long as they know what to watch out for you should be able to keep an eye on it. It should be tweakable. I know there's a trend for treating PMDD and menopausal symptoms with Mirena plus adding back a little oestrogen, for instance, so presumably they can mess around with the exact hormones you're getting if need be.

Thyroid is meant to be a tricky one, you hear all sorts of stories of "ah but the conventional tests don't show up problems properly".

[marydell.livejournal.com]

Yes to the thyroid stories - unfortunately 90% of the sites I've found that say "tests don't work" are also selling something :) but in my case I suspect the energy thing is more hormonal than thyroidal. But maybe the test will turn something up. Everyone I know who's on thyroid meds has an obvious reason like "I had half of my thyroid removed" or similar.

Endometrial implants/growths react to estrogen, and also can (creepily) produce their own pseudo-estrogen, so estrogen becomes a villain when it's normally a good thing.

(There are sites that talk about "estrogen dominance theory" but 100% of them are totally selling stuff, and I can't find any scientific reference to the theory. It's one of those "Dr. so-and-so talks about his theory" and on the sidebar is an advert for "Dr. so-and-so's anti-estrogen creme" kind of things. )

[elettaria.livejournal.com]

I've waded through the thyroid stuff and the oestrogen stuff as well, it's a right nuisance, isn't it. My mother's got low thryoid and is on stuff for it, but hers showed up with the conventional tests, and I think it might be related to all the stuff caused by having breast cancer and then lymphoedema in her case.

I'm not suggesting that you have ME, but I do know that energy levels and general state of health in ME respond strongly to hormone levels (e.g. a lot of women feel better while pregnant), so it wouldn't surprise me if a hormonal imbalance could cause fatigue in other women as well.

I wonder how many of the weight gain problems reported with Depo are direct, and how many are indirect (i.e. caused by increased hunger)?

[marydell.livejournal.com]

I think the weight gain is Depo is probably from metabolic changes, since so many women report gaining wait in spite of eating the same or less. Since hormones seem to regulate metabolism, it makes sense to me that it would do that.