Question:
I am not sure where to begin my story with Depo so I will just start at the beginning...

In Dec. 03 I decided to become intimate with a guy I was dating for three months. About two months before having that thought, I told him about the Herpes because I knew I liked him and no need to waste each other's time if he was going to opt out based on my condition.

In any event On Jan 3, 2004 I got a shot of Depo. It stays in the body for three months. A couple of weeks after the shot I experienced a lot of irritation in the vaginal area - and despite the fact that me and the brother traded HIV tests, I had my doctor to a workup for all STD's. I had not contracted anything, and the doctor said nothing was wrong.

A few weeks later I was back to the doctor again...more tests and a bacterial infection was found. I was prescribed flagyl.

I started having outbreaks on a regular. More in frequency, and more painful. I also began a bleeding cycle that lasted until April - this made it harder for doctors to see what was going on with me. During this time, I believe the bacterial infection never quite went away. I had two more bacterial infections one in March and another in June. With the severity of the outbreaks I thought to ask my doctor if there was a correlation study done with HS2 and Depo... but before calling her, I did a google search and found a study had been done on mice which indicated that HS2 carriers were 100 MORE TIMES LIKELY TO HAVE SUBSEQUENT OUTBREAKS - DEPO REDUCES THE BODY'S IMMUNE SYSTEM SO THAT THE BODY CANNOT PRODUCE ANTIBODIES TO ADEQUATELY FIGHT THE VIRUS - AND DEPO MAKES IT EASIER TO BECOME INFECTED WITH THE VIRUS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE IT.

After 12 years of living with this disease drug free - I had to take aclovir to fight the disease. I am still on aclovir to this date. I do not know if my body will return back to normal. The weight that I gained on the Deop is off. The bleeding did eventually stop (after3 months) My immine system had become so warped that I wound up with 17 outbreaks at one time.

I started Depo to have a more intimate relationship with a man, that I basically walked away from because of everything that was going on at this time. He accepted the fact that I had the disease but the rest of this was just extras that I had not even bargained for.

So Do not use Depo if you have HS2. If you are a guy, use other methods with your partner. If this happened to you... let me know. I am trying to do something about this.

Answer:
I also had bleeding for 3 months when I first started on Depo, and it was shortly after starting the shot (a few months) that I contracted the virus. my immune system was so week that my initial outbreak was very severe, with probably 20 lesions, swollen lymph nodes, and flu-like symptoms. I stayed on the shot and the first year with the virus I experienced an outbreak on average every 2 - 3 weeks. I would just heal from one before the next would start. I had lots of problems with Depo which led me to discontinue the shots after a year, I didn't even make the connection to my outbreaks or even contracting the virus until reading your story. very interesting. I just figured the virus was running it's course and after a while would slow down, which it did, after I quit the shot and changed my eating habits and did everything in my power to keep the outbreaks to a minimum.
Just wanted to let you know I had a similar experience. The virus connection aside, I think Depo is BAD NEWS. Now I've managed to go a few years w/ little to no outbreaks :D

Answer:
Cindylouwho,

Thanks so much for your reply. Depo is very bad news. If you know of any other women please direct them to this site so they can post a reply. I appreciate you sharing your story and it is encouraging to hear that you returned to some sense of normalcy.

I am currently attempting to go off of aclovir for the third time this year. Wish me luck.

The literature as issued by the manufacturer says absolutely nothing about HS2 carriers or the fact that the drug basically diminishes your immune system. I have never had so many vaginal issues in my life until Depo. Thanks to the repeated visits to the doctor's office and speaking with various doctors, they all seemed to acknowledge that women with HS2 have more frequent outbreaks on Depo - yet the question was never raised by my doctor. I was able to put 2 and 2 together because I had lived for 12 years with the disease with approximately 3 - 4 outbreaks per year. Like you I watched the frequency triple in two months.

I want so to pursue a legal action, or at a minimum bring this issue to light. If you don't know of any women with similar situations, but have connections with news media or newspaper editors, I am willing to write a story about this hidden secret.

If the pain you endured, was anything like I went through, it is so unnecessary. I truly thought I had contracted HIV and was going to die. ISomeone told me that HS2 could make you bed ridden - and I actually was for 3-days.

I think Depo may work for some women, but the fact that it does so much damage to the immune system cannot be ignored.

Glad to know I am not alone. Glad you are in good health!