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  • Title: Depo-Provera highly effective as injectable contraceptive.
    Author: Denniston GC.
    Journal: Contracept Technol Update; 1985 Dec; 6(12):167-8. PubMed ID: 12280301.
    Abstract:
    Ignorance of the law is 1 of the reasons that more family planning practitioners do not use Depo-Provera, an excellent hormonal preparation and a highly effective contraceptive (99+%). If the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves a drug for use in the US, physicians may prescribe that drug for any use they feel is medically justified. The FDA can give its opinion about the drug's safety, but it cannot tell doctors how to use it. The FDA has approved Depo-Provera for use in the US to treat endometriosis and endometrial carcinoma. Thus, physicians who do not use Depo-Provera as a contraceptive have 1 of 2 reasons: either they have not formed an opinion on Depo-Provera's safety and effectiveness as a contraceptive; or they are tacitly admitting that the FDA has more jurisdiction over their practices than it actually does. Some basic information is required if a physician decides to provide Depo-Provera to his/her patients. Depo-Provera should be administered (150 mg intramuscularly) every 90 days for contraception. Women whould be warned in advance to expect erratic bleeding. After 2-3 injections, their periods should decrease or disappear and remain that way as long as they take the injections. Some women will gain weight with Depo-Provera, but the gain rarely exceeds 10 pounds. Others will lose weight. Occasionally, a woman will bleed excessively. In that case, she should contact the clinic and begin receiving daily ethinyl estradiol for 10 days. That will control the bleeding unless she has an underlying pathology. When a woman wants to discontinue Depo-Provera use, she simply does not get her next injection. Her period may not return for 6-10 months. No evidence indicates that Depo-Provera decreases fertility after discontinuation.
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