It can cause pain and irregular bleeding.
Endometriosis is a common problem, affecting more than 6.5 million American girls and women of reproductive age.
Symptoms also seem to get worse around the time of your period.
Verywell / Laura Porter
There is no cure for endometriosis.
Endometriosis is one of the top three causes of infertility.
Depo-subQ Provera 104is acontraceptive injectionthat contains a progestin(a hormone that blocks ovulation) called medroxyprogesterone acetate.
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
This FDA-approval served as the first new medical remedy forendometriosis painrelief in 15 years.
The hormones that control your menstrual cycle naturally rise and fall throughout your cycle.
This rising and falling can cause endometriosis symptoms to become worse.
When this blood touches other organs, it can cause scarring andinflammation, which is what causes pain.
The use of Depo-Provera allows your hormone levels to stay stable throughout your cycle.
It helps to thin the lining of the uterusthis can lead to lighter periods or none at all.
Depo-Provera may also preventovulationand lowers the amount of estrogen circulating in your body.
The idea here is that the less estrogen stimulation the endometriosis tissue receives, the less cell activity occurs.
This slows down the growth rate of the tissue.
Just like the lining of the uterus responds to these hormone levels, the endometriosis tissue does as well.
What Other Medications Treat Endometriosis?
When you use leuprolide, it basically stops all hormone and ovarian activity.
For six months, 153 women used Depo-subQ Provera 104 and 146 women used leuprolide.
Additional research confirms these results.
The main reason for its effectiveness is thatDepo-Provera can help prevent ovulation.
However, Depo-Provera may be a more temporary treatment for endometriosis.
Depo-Provera also does not treat infertility associated with endometriosis.
If you want to become pregnant, surgery may be the best treatment option for endometriosis.
Depo-Provera is as effective as leuprolide and other GnRH agonists in treating endometriosis-related pain.
However, leuprolide is more expensive and is associated with more uncomfortable side effects.
A boxed warning is the most serious pop in of warning issued by the FDA.
Depo-Provera use may also delay the return of your fertility.
Some women reportirregular or continuous bleedingwhen using Depo-Provera along with otherunwanted side effects.
Our Healthcare Provider Discussion Guide below can help you start that conversation.
Get our printable guide for your next healthcare provider’s appointment to help you ask the right questions.
Center for Endometriosis Care.Infertility.
FDA News.FDA Approves New Indication for Pfizer’s Depo-SubQ Provera 104.
2018;14(4):399415. doi:10.1080/17425255.2018.1461840
AbbVie, Inc.Lupron Depot for Endometriosis.
2006;21(1):248-56. doi:10.1093/humrep/dei290.
A systematic review and meta-analysis' [Reproductive BioMedicine Online 31 (2015) 20-29].Reprod Biomed Online.
2016;33(4):534. doi:10.1093/humupd/dmg030.
Pfizer Canada, Inc.Product Monograph: Depo-Provera.
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office on Women’s Health.Endometriosis.
