How to End Depo Provera

Whether you are trying to get pregnant or interested in switching birth control methods, you should know how to properly stop your method. Depo-Provera is a once-every-three-months contraceptive shot which uses the hormone progestin.

Function

• One way Depo-Provera works is by preventing fertilization: men's sperm reaching a woman's egg.

  Progestin is a synthetic version of your body's own hormone progesterone. If you receive the contraceptive shot Depo-Provera, you may be prevented from pregnancy by preventing ovulation. Ovulation is when a woman's body releases an egg each month. It is unclear whether Depo-Provera prevents implantation, a fertilized egg implanting in your uterus.

Time Frame

• A condom is a non-chemical method you may choose to use after stopping Depo-Provera.

  If you are preventing pregnancy, you must receive each subsequent shot every eleven to thirteen weeks. To stop Depo-Provera, simply do not return for your next scheduled shot. If you are still preventing pregnancy, you should have another birth control method immediately available because you will not know when you are fertile again.

Effects

• One year after stopping Depo-Provera, 68 percent of women had conceived; after 18 months, 93 percent had.

  After you stop Depo Provera, your menstrual period may not return right away, nor will your fertility. In studies, 68 percent of women had conceived after being off Depo-Provera for one year, however 93 percent had conceived after eighteen months. The amount of time you use Depo-Provera does not affect the delay in becoming pregnant when you stop.