Hi, I have been on Depo Injection for 2 years now and having some side effects, I can put up with all but 1!
I'm having extreme pain when having intercourse, just even touching 'it' is so painful and irritant. Whenever my fiancé and I try..it's like I've been slashed a million times with a blunt razor blade inside for a week or longer... it's a real problem, PLEASE!! Someone help me!! At wits end and I've been passed from one doctor to another for a little over a year now.
I don't want to come off this contraception as it has kept my epilepsy away... it's given me a life again - outside of a hospital or my home, without being supervised 24/7. I have a 4y/o and would like to keep her! (My epilepsy is that bad that before this injection, my daughter would of been in care if it wasn't for my mum but she's too ill to save me again) please...
I'm having extremely painful sex whilst on the depo injection, PLEASE HELP???
Question posted by JasminHyslop on 15 Sep 2015
Last updated on 21 September 2015
Answers
Yes, I had exactly the same problem when using Depo. I used it for 18 years, though, because no consultant suspected the Depo being the cause of the pain. I had investigatory operations & procedures, & all the time it was the Depo.
It took a long time before the pain during sex died down, once coming off Depo.
Depo is just a long lasting dose of progesterone. Have you considered a progesterone only contraceptive pill? It could be worth asking whether this would be useful for your epilepsy, & replace the Depo with that instead, as it is a daily dose, rather than a oil based pool of progesterone, that sits in a muscle, being released slowly (which is what Depo does).
Iv tried the pill, it gave me a 4 year old! Haha didn't work, that's why I hate this situation I'm in. Depo injection is the only contraceptive that's helped control my seizures... so I think it's a choice between my fiancé and me being seizure free... lol
Can I ask roughly how long it took for you to get back to normal? As I heard one woman say it took her just over 2 years... bit scary lol
I wish I could help on the epilepsy front. I know nothing about the condition though.
I now use natural family planning. If you learn how to do it, which takes a couple of months to get your head around, it's more effective than most other forms of contraception. If you don't do it properly, it's a waste of time, but I researched on different websites how to do it.
It's difficult to say how long it took me to be pain free, as I wasn't sexually active for part of the time when I was coming off Depo. I'd say it was somewhere between 1-2 years. I used latex free condoms until I learned how to use natural family planning. I have a latex allergy/sensitivity.
Do you think that you could use natural family planning (your family planning clinic can teach you how to use it effectively) & then keep the epilepsy under control with other drugs?
Hope so x
I'm not sure... even my specialist doesn't know why depo has helped control it... I have a doctors appointment in a few weeks time to ask about other options &/or a counter-act drug that'll help the side effects. Hopefully I get an answer as this is the first time I am able to drive and have my little one alone - by myself. I'm so confused and scared as to what to do... hopefully there's a counter-act drug (I heard of one but I don't know if it covers painful sex). Fingers crossed...
I hope you get some answers & relief x
Thank you very much!!! You have been a huge help! Xx
One thing I will mention, is that I didn't start getting answers on my health conditions (M.E., Ulcerative Colitis, Depression & Anxiety, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Hyper-Mobile Joints Syndrome, Vertigo, Gall Bladder Disease, Pancreas Pain & a few other things) until I started combining help from my Doctors/Consultants/Orthodox Medicine (Normal Medicine) with the advice & treatment of a very good Complementary Therapist. Not just anyone, though. I researched to find a genuine, experienced person, as I was wary of fakes & alike.
I have cured/eased more of my illnesses via complementary medicine & nutritional changes, than I even managed with orthodox medicine.
The problem is, complementary medicine is slated by many, because it's seen as some sort of fakery or which craft! It's so silly, because many of our orthodox techniques & remedies, come from nature & natural/ancient alternative medicine.
My own personal 'guru' was Jan de Vries. He just sadly died a couple of months ago, but was one of the most lovely men. Once a trained pharmacist, he gave up the profession, to work with Alfred Vogel (you may have come across the A Vogel health products). He was the only person that Mr Vogel ever trained, & he moved over to the UK from Holland. He has a few practices in the UK, & has helped me (free) on several occasions, & also my mother.
He has written many brilliant books. The one about the story of his life is amazing. But I was thinking you could get ourself a copy of his book, 'Migraine and Epilepsy', which you can get from Amazon. I can certainly recommend him & his advice. After surviving the Holocaust he made a pact with God to help people with his medicine. He has helped so many people at no cost to them, & I am sure he can certainly offer you some suggestions as to avenues you might not have explored.
Other than Mr de Vries, I purchased the books by Andreas Moritz. His life story is amazing, & sadly he is no longer with us, but he outlived his life expectancy of just a teenager, due to a health condition, by using nutritional changes & also doing liver flushes. Now, there are a lot of sceptics around doing liver flushes, mostly people who've never given them a try, but I've had some huge relief by doing them, so I'd recommend at least reading up on the Andreas Moritz liver flush (as other people have tried variations & they aren't safe nor effective). .~
If you read his book, 'Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvination' & another of his, 'The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush', you will learn the role of the liver in the body (I didn't know there were so many functions of the liver!).
Your hormones are controlled by your liver (as well as other glands), & if the liver is blocked or slow in functioning, it can really affect lots of different bodily functions.
I'm just thinking out loud, here, but if Depo makes your epilepsy better, & Depo is mostly just the hormone progesterone, could it be a hormone imbalance that worsens or causes your epilepsy? I don't know, but it makes me wonder if the problem is too much oestrogen, or not enough progesterone, & therefore could correcting the hormone imbalance (by helping your liver), also provide epilepsy relief? I realise I'm possibly wrong, but I don't think it ever hurts to read & learn, & consider new possibilities. Just an example of the sort of thing I'm getting at, by considering other approaches. You can let your consultant know about any reading you are doing, & get their input. I'm not suggesting you take matters into your own hands or anything! Mr de Vries always sent copies of his work to a patient's consultant, & worked alongside them. It was 'complementary' medicine, not 'alternative' medicine.
I'm a great believer that knowledge is power, so even if you decide neither of these men have something you consider to be a possible solution, at least by reading them & excluding them you can decide for yourself & know that you have tried everything to heal yourself.
Doctors told me they had given up on my colitis, & the only solution was to remove a section of my bowel. I was 21, & NO WAY was I going to have to live with a colostomy bag, until I'd exhausted all other options.
With Jan's advice, I was able to cure my colitis (diet mostly, but occasional supplements), & I'm now 36/37 & it's been in remission ever since I was 22! Quite scary, to think I could have had that surgery unnecessarily!
I hope I'm not giving unwanted advice. I just don't like to hear of other people who feel they are stuck & have run out of options with their health. A healthy life (& sex life) are so important :)
Feel free to add me as a Friend on here & private message me, if I can be of future support x
Lou
P.S. I mentioned the bit about Jan de Vries & God, but I'm not actually religious myself. I believe in something, but not a set religion. Don't want you to think I'm pushing advise in the name of religion. I just know what it's like to be ill, & I lost a close friend from complications following years of epilepsy.
Good luck. Keep reading & researching & keep an open mind to new developments in medicine, & to natural alternatives :)
I mentioned I had a copy of Andreas Moritz's, The Amazing Liver & Gallbladder Flush', but I just checked, & it's actually called, 'The Liver & Gallbladder Miracle Cleanse'. He wrote both, but it's the latter I have.
I've saving up for a copy of 'Timeless Secrets of Health & Rejuvenation' :)
I am very grateful for your help, although I have tried herbal remedies which made my seizures worse, meditation which didn't help at all - but didn't make them worse, I have tried hypnotherapy..after a friend said this technique helped her, first of all it starts with 'when having a fit my brain will tell itself to calm down and ease' then next step is 'able to control itself to not have one'... didn't work at all. I have a combination of reasons for fitting - hormones, anger and stress. I am going to ask my doctor if there is anything else or another way around it.
I know how you feel, I too lost a friend and 3 uncles to epileptic seizures. A lot of people don't realise just how serious they can be and how it effects others, emotionally, aswell as ourselves... so I take my epilepsy extremely seriously as I don't want my daughter to grow up without a mum, she is disabled herself and needs me more than anyone else.
Even if there wasn't something else that could help control both epilepsy and stop periods (very anaemic) but something that could ease them / not be as bad as they usually are then that would still be a bonus as long as the pain stayed away lol
Do a bit of research on the natural remedy, Agnus Castus. That has balanced my hormones really well, lessening PMS/PMT & getting a regular cycle.
You can't use it with any form of hormonal contraception, as it would work against it to rebalance your hormones which could mean you end up pregnant, but if you weren't using any hormonal contraception, then it might be worth a try.
Obviously you'd need to check you could take it with your epilepsy & any other drugs.
I'm very sorry to hear about your relatives. It's so unfair.
You certainly sound like a very strong person, to be caring for your disabled daughter & trying to deal with your own health condition. I'm sure she also provides much of your motivation, too, though :)
I wonder if the POP/Progesterone only pill (being that it's also progesterone only) would have the same effect on your epilepsy? If so, it could be worth seeing if it helps with the pain side of things.
Keep reading, learning & questioning, It can be daunting, but so worth it. It's great to hear that you've already started trying different techniques. I'm sure you will find something that works for you.
Related topics
depo-provera, pain, side effect, injection, sex
Further information
- Depo-Provera uses and safety info
- Depo-Provera prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Depo-Provera (detailed)
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