I am a 27 year old female medic and I just found this website. I am on the tail end of my last Lupron Depot 6 month shot and I was trying to explain to my boyfriend why I am having hot flashes and crying spells and… dryness. This is the second shot of a two-shot series (6 months each) following the surgery for my endometriosis in January. My last shot was received July 8th. When I first got each shot I had a sharp headache for about two and a half weeks. I also had an ache all over and in my bones for a while like when you have a fever and terrible dryness and low libido for a few months, which is extremely unusual for me I usually have a very high libido.

From my poking around online I read that they use Lupron for chemical castration and that the natural hormone analogue Lupron is supposed to mimic is actually weaker than the shot itself.

If you have DEPRESSION a word of WARNING: I never told my gynecologist I have been being treated for depression and anxiety for about 10 years now, it had never occurred to me that anything he would give me would affect my depression. They were two separate issues in my mind. I had finally been off my cocktail of antidepressants for about a year before I got my shot in January so it did not seem something I should mention atm. Lupron put me in such a depressive state and I did not feel like moving because of the fever ache feeling all over (probably from bone density loss) that it would put me in a catatonic state until I would use all of my willpower to force myself to get up and do whatever it is I was supposed to be doing. I even had to withdraw from my classes and have postponed them until Spring. I had finally managed to become emotionally stable and normally functioning through great mental discipline without medication for a year but a few months after I received the first Lupron shot I found myself having crying spells over things that I would’ve considered trivial, antidepressants or not. I finally went back to my antidepressants after I seriously considered suicide over some name calling. I have been depressed before but never one to want to hurt myself, this alarmed me greatly!! And this is not the only case!! I have read other cases online of people completely disassociating or having mental blackouts in which they were not aware of their actions and suicide attempts in patients who have had a history of mental disorders and some who have not!!

I just want to put a huge warning out there FOR WOMEN WHO HAVE DEPRESSION AND ARE CONSIDERING LUPRON. I can’t tell you if its been beneficial or not, the shot has not completely worn off yet and I hope to the powers that be that it does soon so I will leave that decision up to you. I’ll post again in a few months when I find out if this shot has actually helped me in any way. But I don’t want anyone else with depression or anxiety to find out the hard way like I did that LUPRON WILL MAKE YOU VERY DEPRESSED. My advice is stay away from it if you are currently in an unstable mental state and considering taking Lupron it could be very dangerous for your mental health, I am speaking from personal experience and I considered myself to be in an extremely stable mental state at the time I received my first shot. It says on the side effects packet that patients with depression are to be closely monitored, but that is not something I looked at until after I started having side effects. We all know how long those packets are. So I just wanted to put a word of warning out there for other people in my situation so others will not be caught off guard!

A few other factors for those making mental notes of each post and some interesting/useful things I’d like to share with everyone:

My doctor is very good. I trust him with my life and he was the only one that would continue my pain medication until I could have surgery. He is an older doctor and if anyone needs a gynecologist in Charlotte, NC I’ll be more than happy to send you to him, just ask me for his info. The only reason I had the surgery is because the FDA ruled last year that doctors can no longer give out pain medication for chronic conditions except for back (and neurological?) pain. Trust me, I would have much rather have my 10 Vicodin 7.5 a month (which was enough to manage my pain, occurring during periods, sex, randomly, and bathroom breaks and not enough to abuse if I wanted to) than an 8,000$ surgery which I am still not sure helped me or not. I was given no choice by the new FDA rules.

Also, I have been asking for a hysterectomy since I was 17 (my pain is severe, my endometriosis ruled moderate but mainly on my left side, large spaced out clumps rather than the normal grouping). I am 27 now and still have no intentions of having children. I had cervical cancer ages 17-21 and again at 23-24 and had to have LEEP surgery for that (a heap of fun, they remove your cervix with a laser) and I’m tired of vaginal pain and complications. They keep telling me I might change my mind but to be honest I don’t think severe pain for 2 weeks out of each month and sometimes more is worth me maybe changing my mind one day. I want to adopt anyway, there are so many children already out there without parents.

I understand the doctors view it as a liability if they give a young woman a hysterectomy who hasn’t had children yet, my previous doctor (retired) told me they had a few court cases in which the woman actually sued the doctor after they had their hysterectomy because they changed their mind afterwards about having children. I don’t know if an actual law has passed or if they have other methods of reinforcing this. I wish my personal medical complications and indeed my ability to live life unhindered without pain or cancer was not in the hands of the FDA or based on court rulings in the past. I need SPECIALIZED care for MY medical needs instead of treating me based on other people’s medical histories. I understand they are trying to legally protect the doctors but at what cost to the patient? Who then should we go to when we need things done that the FDA has deemed inappropriate treatment when they themselves are constantly revising, banning, and reducing drugs that they had declared “safe”? I believe I should have a right to decide not to have children just as much as anyone has a right to have them whenever and wherever they please in this country. I wish I could trade uteruses with someone who can’t and wants to have children!

I’ll get off my soap box now. Please feel free to ask me any questions about my experience, and I sincerely hope that what I have posted today will help someone in some way. I do NOT think that “doctors should monitor patients with depression closely” should be in the fine print, it should be on the main side effects list or on the front of the box! This seems to be effecting people everywhere. Please ladies, help get the word out to both men (who get this shot as part of chemotherapy for prostate cancer) and women who are considering getting the shot. You never know who has depression and you might help them greatly, even possibly save their life