?pregnant?

Good morning i have a few things i am worried about. First off i am 25 years old and i had my first depo shot at the beginning of December. i am due for my next one in march. I was on the depo before for almost 4 years i got off it in 2006 cause i had high blood pressure. When i was on it the first time it took about 3 shots for my period to stop and i never had any issues with it. This time around i haven't had my period at all since just a few days of spotting a brownish discharge. Also when i got the shot she never gave me a pregnancy test before the test. I have had horrible heartburn everyday all day since the the start of the new year. I have gained so much weight that i now have stretch marks on the lower part of my stomach. Just recently my stomach itches very bad and a sharp stabbing pain in the middle of my back. I have been cramping so bad some days that i am doubled over in pain or it wakes me up at night. Could this mean that i was pregnant before i got the shot or is it just side effects of the depo? I am very worried please help!!!

[Elaine Brown, MD]

Hi!
The first thing to do is a pregnancy test!  A home test would be fine, they are quite accurate.  If that is negative, then the symptoms are likely a side effect of the depo shot. You may want to consider something else for birth control if you are gaining that much weight -- its very hard to lose!
Good luck!
Dr B

[mraffety]

A related discussion, depo was started.