Quote Originally Posted by cindysue
Hey, As an on-again, off-again depo user, please tell me why you switched to the pill. I have an appointment tomorrow to go back on depo (i'm in a relationship again), but I'm wondering if I should consider something else. I originally started depo 10+ years ago because the pill *induced* acne. No acne on the depo, but I think some side-effects of depo may be lower libido and maybe a little bit of an increased appetite. Also, I swear the cellulite is worse when I'm on the depo. Hard to tell what causes what.....
Hi, Cindy!

Hrm, you ask the tough questions. I'll split this into two sections.

1) Why I switched to the pill and/or things I found out about depo:

* After so many years without my period, I guess I wanted to see some proof that the "plumbing" was still working

* I had suspicions that depo was helping me retain fat (inconclusive so far)

* Turns out depo can cause acne, whereas the pill always reduced acne for me ... for the last several years I've had the really deep, painful pimples that just nest under your skin and make you want to scream

* The main reason I started depo was because I was a younger person who often couldn't know if she'd be sleeping here or there on a given night, so taking BC regularly was a pain. My life isn't nearly as chaotic now.

* When I mentioned how long I'd been on Depo, my doctor encouraged me to take a break

* IMPORTANT: I just came across this article suggesting that Depo causes irreversible bone density loss: http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/172/6/746

2) Effects I've noticed:

* I haven't noted an increase in libido, BUT my sex life has gotten SO MUCH BETTER. Turns out Depo was somehow inhibiting my ability to 'get there' during intercourse. I'd be on the edge, but I'd never quite get there. Very frustrating. As soon as I switched, I realized what I'd been missing and why.

* My breasts got firmer and shaplier. DH is quite impressed; not that he wasn't before!

* The first two months, I had a lot of side effects I don't recall when I first took the pill as a teenager: extreme breast tenderness and stomach upsets being the two prominent ones. Now, in my third month, these seem to have subsided. This may be a result of effectively having two loads of hormones (residual depo plus the pill).