how long after getting the depo shot is it before the shot is effective?

Question

and are there any side effects?

Answer 1

http://www.rateitall.com/t-330-birth-control-methods.aspx
Please read these reviews and google "depo provera lawsuit" and read up on how horribly this shot treats the MAJORITY of women who get the shot.

As a former depo user, I'd never recommend this to anyone.

You should use alternative protection for a week or two after getting your first shot. Even then, it is ONLY 99% effective (women have and do get pregnant while taking depo correctly!).

I'd strongly suggest NOT getting the next shot, and going on another form of contraceptive.

Answer 2

It usually takes a week or two before there is enough in your system to pervent pregnantcy. But like the previous poster said I would not recommed the depo shot to anyone EVER. The depo shot is the devil. Please do lots of research into the depo shot and the adverse effects it can have before getting it.

I got the shot one time and I hated it. I had my period every day the entire 3 months and I started gaining weight. I will NEVER get that shot again. I wish they would just take it off the market. Every women I have talked to that has had it hated it just as much as I did for some reason or another.

Answer 3

It takes 2 weeks for the shot to be fully effective. Most of the side effects are extensions of the physiological effects of the drug. The shot is medroxyprogesterone which is a synthetic progesterone derivative. You can experience headache, water weight gain, insomnia, mental confusion, irritability and some gastrointestinal side effects like nausea. The main problem is that the drug hangs around for about 3 months so you will be stuck with the side effects for a long time if you happen to have an adverse reaction. The shot works for some people but I think you will have better results from a tri-phasic birth control pill that more closely mimics your own endogenous hormones. The main thing with the pill is that you have to make sure you take it every day!