The quarterly contraceptive injection contains enough hormone to stop ovulation for 3 months, alter vaginal mucus and endometrium to prevent pregnancy. The only injections of this type are Depo Provera and Contraceptive which can completely suppress menstruation during this period, although minor bleeding may occur during the month.
This type of contraceptive can cause absence of menstruation with the presence of small bleeding during the month and the fertility returns to normal after 6 to 8 months after the last injection, but some women can notice that the menstruation takes about 1 year to return to normal after stopping this type of injection.
Benefits of quarterly contraceptive injection
It has the benefits of reducing menstrual flow, combating PMS, and reducing the risk of endometrial cancer, ovarian cancer, pelvic inflammatory disease and may help control the symptoms of endometriosis. It is especially suitable for women who can not use estrogens and is a good choice for women with sickle cell anemia or with epilepsy because this type of medication decreases seizures, although why is not yet fully known.
How to start using
For women who did not use any hormonal contraceptive method such as the pill or the monthly injection, one should take the first injection until the 7th day of the menstrual cycle, without the need to use a condom. To start using after delivery it is recommended to take between 21 and 28 days postpartum if you are not breastfeeding and after 6 weeks if you breastfeed, although not exclusively.
What to do if you forget to take the injection
If the woman misses the next injection on her due date she has only 2 weeks to take the injection without having to use a condom, but the injection can be applied up to 4 weeks from the planned date, being careful to use a condom until taking the dose delayed
Main side effects
It can lead to rapid weight gain, but if weight gain is slower, although constant, this is not due to the effect of injection, but to diet and lack of physical activity. Other effects may also occur such as headache, abdominal pain, mood swings, and loss of sexual desire.
In the first 3 months of use, it is common to have sporadic vaginal bleeding after the first injection, which tends to disappear and the woman will not menstruate for about 1 year, after which small vaginal bleeding may recur.
When not indicated
Before 3 weeks after childbirth, if you smoke more than 15 cigarettes per day, if you have diabetes or some complication of diabetes such as eye or kidney impairment, for example in case of hypertension, if you have any vascular disease, thromboembolism, cardiac ischemia, stroke, infarction, systemic lupus erythematosus, and in case of migraine with aura. It is also contraindicated in case of liver changes such as cirrhosis or tumors.
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