Birth control and muscle mass
widmer3
Posts: 94 Member
Has anyone found that birth control pills have hindered muscle gain? As far as I know, testosterone is very helpful in gaining muscle and bc pills push those levels way down. I just stopped taking mine for other reasons, and I'm kinda hoping gaining muscle will be just a tad bit easier now.
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Very good question! I have no clue... I've been taking BC since I was about 12 or 13 and have no intention of stopping them until I want to have kids (1-2 years from now)... but I am curious to know the answer as well.0
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Scientifically? Have no clue. Increase in testosterone binding doesn't happen in every woman. Personal experience would have me say absolutely not.0
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Really wouldn't know... I wonder whether it does. Hopefully some more people will chime in as well.0
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I did quite a bit of research on it a couple of years ago, and found articles on it affecting cortisol levels (raising them) and in turn not helping with building muscle, as cortisol helps do the opposite. Also read stuff on it affecting testosterone levels.
I figured after that, since I wanted to really focus on muscle building, and I didn't really "need" the pill (I could just use other non-hormonal BC) I came off it. I had other small issues with the pill prior to that, that weren't worth stopping over but everything together made me decide to in the end. Being female, I'm not exactly blessed in terms of my ability to build muscle, I didn't want anything hindering it even more!
Since then, I've done a couple of bulks, built a decent amount of muscle mass - not loads, but I'm very happy with the amount so far. I have no idea what I could've done while on the pill but also I've had no thoughts about going back.0 -
Thanks for your insight so far. I guess we'll just have to see what happens as I think it's probably different for everyone, but I'm hoping I see some gains!0
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I'm not sure, really.
But….getting off of estrogen BC was one of the best things I ever did for myself.
I started taking regular BC when I was about 17 years old and took it continually until my first pregnancy at age 25. Then I would go back on in between the next two kids. Finally after not being on it for over 2 years (while pregnant and nursing my second son), I figured out it (estrogen BC) was the cause of a lot of my issues. As soon as #3 weaned and I went back on BC, my horrible insomnia came back, my migraines came back and my extreme moodiness/*****iness came back….almost immediately, in that first month of pills. It was like a lighbulb went off…why didn't I put 2 and 2 together all those years of suffering those symptoms in my early 20's??
Anyway…now I have the MIrena IUD which is no estrogen and I freaking LOVE it! Sorry, off topic….but I think estrogen BC is some nasty stuff for most women and, sadly, they've been on it so long that they don't attribute their other symptoms to that.0 -
At most people's working levels- it's negligible. I've been on and off the pill and I still have a fair bit of mass and I'm definitely bigger than I was in November.
For top performers it could have some impact- but I'd say for 90% of the women- who are trying to bulk naturally- it's a blip on the radar.0 -
Interesting that I should stumble upon this topic. I just realized earlier today that I had forgotten to take my birth control pill for 2 weeks now (which is unusual because I hardly ever forget anything like that). BUT I don't take it for birth control (I got an IUD last year in the hopes I could stop taking the pill, but after stopping it, I found out it was keeping cystic acne at bay). So I continued taking it even though I have an IUD. I also think that maybe the pill alleviates some of my depression and irritability, but I can't say for sure. In any case, my acne hasn't worsened in the past 2 wks, so now I have to decide if I should continue taking it or not....potential gains from not taking it would be beneficial.0
