Viral TikTok raises concerns about a commonly prescribed contraceptive. What you need to know

A viral TikTok video by on-line influencer Morgan Roos has panicked some customers of a generally prescribed injectable contraceptive referred to as Depo-Provera. Within the video, Roos mentioned she was shocked to be taught the contraceptive she had been utilizing for 10 years was solely advisable for a most of two years.

Roos mentioned she was solely instructed this when she switched to a feminine physician. Many viewers commented that they too had been utilizing Depo-Provera for years—some for so long as 17 years with none steerage from well being care professionals, male or feminine, that they need to have stopped after simply two. However is there actually trigger for panic?

Depo-Provera is a progestogen-only injectable contraceptive and is run each 13 weeks, that means customers need not bear in mind to take a capsule day-after-day. When used as directed, it’s 99.8% effective at stopping being pregnant.

It acts by stopping ovulation, the discharge of an egg from an ovary, and in addition makes the surroundings the place the sperm reaches the egg much less hospitable. Nevertheless, it isn’t simply used for contraception. Some ladies use it to cut back heavy durations or to cut back the ache of endometriosis.

Whereas Roos didn’t clarify why her new physician had suggested that she ought to have stopped Depo-Provera after two years, there are just a few potential explanation why.

Potential harms

Depo-Provera has been related to a discount in bone mineral density, that means that customers could develop weak and brittle bones. This danger is deemed to largely be reversed as soon as Depo-Provera is stopped. Nevertheless, some loss is probably not changed.

Elements such because the age of the individual utilizing the remedy could have an effect on their danger ranges. Adolescents underneath 18 are suggested to strive different contraceptive strategies first as they’re significantly weak provided that their bones are nonetheless creating and rising. Additionally, customers over 50 are inspired to make use of one other type of contraception.

Different potential dangers related to utilizing Depo-Provera embrace a delayed return to fertility, by as much as one yr, that means it may be arduous to get pregnant straight after stopping the contraceptive. Depo-Provera has additionally been associated with weight gain, zits, temper modifications and decreased intercourse drive.

Within the US, the Food and Drug Administration and the drug’s maker, Pfizer, recommend Depo-Provera “shouldn’t be used as a long-term contraception methodology (that’s, longer than two years) except different contraception strategies are thought-about insufficient.”

Within the UK, the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, the physique that units requirements and gives guidance on prescribing contraceptives, points barely completely different recommendation. Its guidance for progestogen-only injectables recommends customers be reviewed each two years to debate the advantages and dangers of continuous to make use of the remedy.

So, no matter which nation you’re in, it’s all the time sensible to ask your physician to assessment your Depo-Provera—no less than each two years—to find out whether it is nonetheless acceptable for you.

For many who would nonetheless like to make use of Depo-Provera, methods to cut back the dangers of lessened bone mineral density embrace taking a calcium and vitamin D complement, in addition to doing weight-bearing workout routines frequently.

And for these for whom Depo-Provera will not be appropriate, different contraceptive methods can be found and embrace oral contraception tablets, vaginal rings, barrier strategies (resembling condoms) and intrauterine gadgets. Keep in mind that barrier strategies are the one contraceptive methodology that additionally protects towards sexually transmitted illnesses.

This text is republished from The Conversation underneath a Artistic Commons license. Learn the original article.