A Fife mother has lost the sight in her right eye and lives with facial paralysis after doctors discovered four brain tumours they say were triggered by the Depo-Provera injection she relied on for almost 30 years.
Tammy Croston, 47, from Cupar, first had the contraceptive jab in 1999. She continued using it on and off until 2018 when double vision struck. Doctors initially blamed dry eyes and migraines. Then one morning she woke up unable to move the right side of her face, with her eye turned permanently downward.
Scans revealed four meningiomas pressing on her optic nerve and brainstem. Surgeons say the tumours were caused by the high-dose progestogen in Depo-Provera. Tammy now warns every woman she meets: “If this saves even one person, it will be worth it.”
From Routine Jab to Life-Changing Diagnosis
Tammy was just 20 when she started the three-monthly injection. Like millions of women worldwide, she chose Depo-Provera because it was convenient and highly effective.
She had no idea the hormone medroxyprogesterone acetate could cross the blood-brain barrier and stimulate tumour growth.
For nearly two decades everything seemed fine. Then in 2018 the double vision began. Opticians prescribed eye drops. GPs blamed stress and migraines.
“I was driving my kids to school and suddenly saw two of everything,” Tammy told the Daily Record. “I thought I was going mad.”
By 2021 her symptoms exploded. She woke up one morning with the right side of her face collapsed. Her eye pointed down and inward. She couldn’t close it. She couldn’t smile.
Emergency scans at Ninewells Hospital in Dundee showed four meningiomas – one the size of a golf ball – wrapped around her optic nerve and brainstem.
Doctors delivered the bombshell: the tumours were directly linked to long-term use of Depo-Provera.
The Science: Damning Evidence Keeps Growing
A major French study published in the British Medical Journal in March 2024 analysed over 100,000 women. It found that using Depo-Provera (medroxyprogesterone acetate) for more than one year increases the risk of meningioma by 5.6 times.
Women who used it for more than five years faced an even higher risk.
The UK medicines regulator (MHRA) is now urgently reviewing the safety of high-dose progestogens. In France, Depo-Provera is no longer prescribed for contraception at all.
Pfizer, the manufacturer, continues to defend the jab. A spokesperson said patient safety is their top priority and they are “monitoring the data.”
Yet lawyers in America have already filed multiple lawsuits against Pfizer on behalf of women who developed meningiomas after using Depo-Provera.
Daily Life With Permanent Damage
Tammy has undergone multiple brain surgeries. Surgeons removed as much tumour as possible, but some remains too close to critical blood vessels.
She is completely blind in her right eye. The lid no longer closes properly, so she tapes it shut at night. She has no feeling in the right side of her face and cannot smile symmetrically.
Simple tasks like pouring tea or walking downstairs are now dangerous because she has no depth perception.
“I look in the mirror and don’t recognise myself,” she says. “My kids say ‘Mum, your smile’s back’ when only half of it moves.”
Driving is gone. Her job as a care worker is gone. Depression hits hard some days.
Yet Tammy refuses to stay silent.
Warning to Women Across the UK
Thousands of British women are still receiving the Depo-Provera injection every three months. Many have used it for decades, just like Tammy.
Health experts now urge any woman who has been on it long-term and experiences headaches, vision changes, seizures or facial weakness to seek urgent scans.
Early detection is critical. Meningiomas grow slowly, but by the time symptoms appear they are often large and dangerous.
Tammy wants every GP surgery to contact long-term users immediately.
“I trusted this jab completely,” she says. “I feel betrayed by the system that was supposed to protect me.”
She has joined support groups where dozens of women share almost identical stories – years on Depo-Provera, sudden diagnosis, life-altering surgery.
Many are now asking: how many more cases are out there waiting to be discovered?
Tammy’s fight continues. She is sharing her story everywhere she can, determined that no other mother wakes up one day unable to see her children’s faces.
If you have used Depo-Provera long-term, talk to your doctor today. And if you’ve been affected, share your experience below – together we can force real change.
