Background: Depo Provera and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

I am blogging about my periods to see how my body reacts as I continue to increase the amount of live, raw foods I eat and detoxify. This first blog is a background to sum up the events leading to now.

Starting Depo

When I was 15 years old I became sexually active, and a few months later came down with a urinary tract infection. I thought my urinary problems were related to my sexual activity, and refused to say anything to my parents about it for fear they would find out I was having sex. After a month of the horrible burning and constantly feeling like I needed to urinate, a became drastically feverish as a result of the bacteria having spread from my bladder to my kidneys. I was hospitalized for a week while they pumped me full of antibiotics and ended up confessing to my Mother that I’d been having sex.

Very soon after I went to the gynecologist for my first exam and we discussed my birth control options. I am naturally a very absent minded person and did not want to trust an issue as important as staying un-impregnated to my ability to remember to take a pill at the same time every day, and the Nuva-Ring hadn’t come out yet. So I thought Depo-Provera sounded great.

I had never had regular periods. They came every month or so (usually a bit longer than a month between) and would on average last for 10 days. The first day or two the pain was usually pretty terrible. I come from a family that was raised not to complain about things like pain or fevers though, so I would try and take an aspirin as soon as I could and get on with my life. After about 6 months on the Depo my periods stopped completely. Occasionally the first few years I would have some spotting at the end of the three month cycle when it was close to the time for my next shot, put pretty much I never bled after that.

I thought it was great. Little did I realize what the Depo was doing to my body. By the time I was 19 I began having decreased sex drive, I would get emotional fairly often in a depressed way (which is not in my nature, I am very optimistic), and I started to gain weight. I can not directly blame the Depo for all of this, but I am very suspicious of it. Other girls I spoke to talked about having similar effects from it, and when I realized the Depo may be causing these things I stopped taking it and switched to the Nuva Ring. It was April 2005 and I was 21 then.

I had had the same, first, last, and only long-term boyfriend throughout this, and getting off birth control completely was not an option for me. But then a few months after switching birth controls we broke of our 7 year relationship. Nothing particular happened but it was just time for things to end. After being with someone 7 years it can become much too easy to stay together than to break up… but that is a whole other story!

Switch to Nuva Ring

I continued on the Nuva-Ring sporadically, thinking it would straighten me out as I would get periods when I used it. They were never longer than 4 days, and no pain really (like before the Depo). Then I read that periods when you are on birth control are not really periods, the lining doesn’t really build up when you’re on birth control. I had continued struggling with weight issues, weighing over 150 in 2005, 160 in 2006, reaching 170 in 2007. I heard from friends of mine that they lose weight when they stop taking their BC, I never knew this as I had never stopped completely before, and as I was not in any relationships I quickly realized there was little point to my taking the BC. Summer 2006 was the last time I used the nuva ring. I also quit smoking cigarettes Aug 2006, and started running again regularly. I should also note that upon turning 21 in 2005 I began drinking heavier than I ever had before. I am sure that did not help my weight issues.

I only got my period twice on my own in 2007, and once following a Plan B contraceptive. Some stupid asshole I decided to sleep with snuck the condom off in the middle of sex without telling me. BEWARE!! even if you make a guy use the condom they can be sneaky assholes. I suppose that is why you should not have casual sex, but I digress.

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

I was kind of concerned that something may be wrong since I do not menstruate regularly, so I had all the appropriate tests done to see if everything was okay. All the lab results were fine, (and STD free =) ) but since I wasn’t getting them the doc diagnosed me with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Nothing was actually wrong with me, but this is kind of a catch all diagnoses they give women with irregular periods when there is no other diagnosable reason (which is why it is called a syndrome and not a disease). In my particular case I have no other symptoms other than irregularity.

He said all my hormone levels were fine, so I was building up a lining, but for some reason my body was not shedding the lining. This made allot of sense, as the only 2 times I did menstruate in ‘07 were very shortly after having crazy monkey sex with someone. I always jokingly thought they’d knocked something loose up there, and the doc qualified that for me, haha. He wanted to put me on a 10 day course of progesterone (what the Depo is made of) and see if he could jump start my period. I did not want to, so I asked what would happen if I didn’t get my periods. He said bad things could happen later on in life, but at my young age it wasn’t an issue yet.

That was all I needed to hear to not take the meds. It was the first time I was straight up not going to listen to my doctor, and I was a bit apprehensive initially about it. I had just gone through a 2 year long battle trying to get my body back to normal (weight wise) from those stupid hormones. Why on earth would I want to take more now?

I know my body and I am quite confident once I decide to settle down and start having regular sex again my body will start shedding that lining again. I then read recently there is a link between nutrition deficiencies and your period, so that is why I am blogging. To see if there is a difference.

OVERALL

I am going to try and avoid introducing any more of these hormones into my body. I do not think it is a good idea. But if I had to go back, it would be the Nuva Ring. It is very convenient (once a month) and you don’t feel it/notice it in there. Just a word to the wise, be careful when switching from higher dosage BC to lower dosage (I belive NuvaRing is one of the lowest) because you do run the risk of ovulating (especially if you are in your early to mid twenties and in good health). It happened to a friend of mine because they’d discontinued her regular BC. Just be careful!