I saw this post was posted a year ago, but I just now saw it.
When on Depo - you dont get a period. It holds all those hormones at bay. When you get off the depo. It can take you 18 months to get back to normal. In that time, you may have spotting, or heavy bleeding at irregular intervals.

She can take prenatal pills (providing the dr ok it) to help her body get back to normal. But it can take a while, and is a long process.

This is the normal situation.

Some people are lucky and get everything back in a few months. Even get pregnant in a few months. But only a few do.

I had my last depo shot in the end of Oct 2010. I should have gone in Jan to get it. I did not, as I want to have another child soon. So, if in Jan of 2012 I have not conceived, then I am able to start getting help for infertility.

There are some small chances that I may not conceive on my own- these are the risks everyone runs.

If she is not trying to get pregnant, she has no reason to not be on the depo shot, really. But I understand if her parents made her get it. another option for her is to get on a birth control pill, that would help as well to get her body back on a normal schedule.

I want to add.... People are scared of the weight gain -- the average of the test participants were 5 pounds a year.

As far as any other side effects - it varies. Did you know that when a company produces trials on medications, any thing that happens while you are on it goes in as a side effect. If someone has a headache, it goes as a side effect (even if its not caused by the med). If someone gets nauseaus (could have been what they ate), it goes in as a side effect.

This is how I look at it. Regardless of the side effects - if its for you its for you, if its not, then its not.

As far as a class action suit, I dont think anyone would ever win, as infertility afterwards is a side effect. And a risk you run. Doctors even tell you this when you get it -- at least they told me, and others that I know who had it.

I want to add.... People are scared of the weight gain -- the average of the test participants were 5 pounds a year.

As far as any other side effects - it varies. Did you know that when a company produces trials on medications, any thing that happens while you are on it goes in as a side effect. If someone has a headache, it goes as a side effect (even if its not caused by the med). If someone gets nauseaus (could have been what they ate), it goes in as a side effect.

This is how I look at it. Regardless of the side effects - if its for you its for you, if its not, then its not.

As far as a class action suit, I dont think anyone would ever win, as infertility afterwards is a side effect. And a risk you run. Doctors even tell you this when you get it -- at least they told me, and others that I know who had it.

Three months after your last shot, you are probably still infertile. The shot lasts, as a rule, about 13 weeks. We have women come in 12 weeks hence their last shot to be sure. You may still be in the "safe" phase of the hormone. Most women, not using any birth control, will conceive within 1 to 2 years. Most within one year of stopping the Depo. It is not uncommon to take 6 months to get your period back, so you should not expect to be fertile yet. It is possible, though. Act as if you are.

There are no studies showing "permanent" infertility from Depo. There is a "small chance" that any woman may not be fertile. I have come to believe, after years of working with women in childbearing, that there is no such thing as "the doctor says I may not be able to conceive." Unless the doctor has done extensive fertility tests, they just don't know. In actuality, the only "test" is going without birth control. Women in their 20s will take a year or less to conceive, as a rule and it takes longer, as the woman gets older. But, there are exceptions.

But, in many surveys, as well as those of us who have seen many women on this form of birth control (not just anecdotal friends and family) the "5 lbs weight gain" is rare. The average I saw as a Maternity-Post Partum nurse was 30-60 lbs. I need to be honest, taking "prenatal" vitamins will do nothing but give her very expensive pee. It does nothing to increase fertility. No one, not even pregnant women, need these iron laden bundles of constipation. Food provides enough nutrients for any woman. There is no vitamin that will increase fertility, if she already has a healthy diet. Women trying to conceive should be taking 800mcg (micrograms) of Folic Acid a day to reduce the risk of neural tube defects, but aside from that, there is no magic bullet for pregnancy. Even Folic Acid will not "help" you conceive.

I had a Depo shot about 12 years ago and it was terrible. Took a long time to get it out of my system. I would not recommend it to anyone.