Depo Provera and TTC

Q: I got the Depo Provera shot two months ago. When can I get pregnant? Can I take herbal medications or Clomid to speed up ovulation?

A: Depo Provera is an intramuscular injection that prevents ovulation, and works reliably for at least three months after the shot. The average woman will ovulate about six to nine months after the last shot. There are no herbal medications that could help, and Clomid does not usually work reliably so shortly after the Depo shot.

Depo Provera is a birth control medication which is injected into the muscle. It contains the synthetic hormone progestin or depo-medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) which helps regulate a woman's ovaries similar to the way the natural hormone progesterone works.

Depo-Provera prevents pregnancy in one of three ways:

1. It prevents ovulation, preventing the ovaries from releasing an egg.
2. It thickens the cervical mucus which acts as a barrier preventing the sperm from reaching the egg.
3. It changes the lining of the uterus preventing implantation.

The depo provera injection prevents ovulation for at least 3 months after an injection and often it takes more than 3 months for your ovulation and fertility to return. Many women on depo provera don't have regular menstrual bleeding, and getting a regular period usually means ovulation has returned, but you can become fertile and ovulate even before the first period.

This is what the manufacturer of Depo Provera says about return of fertility:

Because DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection is a long-acting birth control method, it takes some time after your last injection for its effect to wear off. Based on the results from a large study done in the United States, of those women who stop using DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection in order to become pregnant:

• about half of those who become pregnant do so in about 10 months after their last injection;
• about two thirds of those who become pregnant do so in about 12 months,
• about 83% of those who become pregnant do so in about 15 months, and
• about 93% of those who become pregnant do so in about 18 months after their last injection.

The length of time you use DEPO-PROVERA Contraceptive Injection has no effect on how long it takes you to become pregnant after you stop using it.