Medscape article on weight gain with Depo

[Miss Vickie]

Many of us have experienced weight gain with Depo Provera, an injectable birth control that you take every three months. While it's effectiveness is not in question, many women have reported weight gain, but were told by our doctors that it was "all in our heads".

This study seems to dispel that myth, and gives doctors some guidance when it comes to the weight gain that 25% of women experience when taking this drug. It seems that some women start gaining weight quite early (in the first three months) and those women seem to go on to continue to gain weight, weight that's associated with certain health problems because it's predominantly abdominal fat.

From the article:

July 29, 2009 — Most women using depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA) who gain excessive weight experience more than a 5% weight increase within 6 months, according to the results of a study reported in the August issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

"DMPA-related weight gain is linked to increased abdominal fat, a known component of metabolic syndrome, which raises the risk of obesity-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, stroke and diabetes," corresponding author Abbey B. Berenson, MD, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, said in a news release.

"The amount of DMPA administered to a woman does not change based on weight, as occurs with some medications," Dr. Berenson said. "The drug may be more concentrated in the tissue of a woman with a [body mass index lower than] 30 [kg/m2] and may contribute to excessive weight gain, but more research is needed."

The goals of this study were to determine whether early weight gain in women receiving DMPA predicted continued excessive weight gain and to identify risk factors associated with early weight gain in these women.

 

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