PROGESTRONE AND WEIGHT STALL/GAIN

DANCHAN1

Any women out there on progestrone? I have been delaying starting the drug. I used it about 5 years ago and noticed that even eating clean and working out both cardio and weights I could not drop any weight. Hate to go through that again.

Anyone else have a similar experience

cafeaulait7

The Depo shot made me too hungry and I had bleeding issues, synthetic progesterone pills still made me too hungry, but Prometrium (bio-identical and FDA-approved) works very nicely. I take it vaginally, which is supposed to cut down on the side effects. Works for me I'm glad I started back on it again, but only in this form that agrees with me!

Iknowsaur

The Depo shot made me gain 20 pounds in a month, after 2 years of maintaining a 100 pound weight loss /: Kinda ruined my life for the last year, as it sparked a much larger weight gain afterwards (it stays in your system for 6 months.) I can't blame it all on the Depo, but I certainly know where it all started. It also made me feel horribly sick a lot of the time. Ugh.

I cannot say enough terrible things about Depo.

Edit - Have you considered something like the Nuvaring? It's one of the only birthcontrols I've tried that hasn't given me bad side effects.

slawless12

I had mirena which releases progesterone placed at my 8 week postpartum check up. After 3 months on mirena i had gained almost 40lbs even while dieting and excising. I am just now getting back on track after not being on a progesterone birth control method for almost a year with 27 lbs down. In my opinion the worst birth control to be on.

Vune

I have the mirena for the second time now, and I find I lose just fine. The depo shot was a factor in my initial weight gain. It's going to be different for everyone, unfortunately.

dnelson976

Hm. Interesting question. I take progesterone as hormone therapy (not as birth control) and never considered that could be why my scale is stuck... Have you asked your doc about it? I'd love to know the response.

susylou123

I take progesterone, and I haven't noticed any real difference in appetite, if anything I find it better because I don't get the real PMT hunger that I used to get. I have tried five or six brands of pill with different balances of hormones in before I found one that worked for me though. So I guess maybe trial and error with a good doctor who knows what they're talking about (some will just say that your side effects are just something you have to deal with, which is definitely not true) I hope this helps and good luck!

caspercb

I switched to a progesterone only pill the just after Christmas, I'm on Cerazette. The Depo made me go mental, panic attacks, paranoid, 3 months of hell. Tried the combined pill - turns out I'm alergic to the extra oestrogen.
The POP for me is going brilliantly, just started my 3rd pack. I've had no side effects.
I signed up to MFP shortly after new year as I was worried about gaining weight as a lot of what I've read about the POP suggests you will. For years I've been trying to get back to to my WW Gold weight and never got within 8lbs if it. Since new year with the help of MFP and DIet Chef I've had no problems losing weight, for the first 5 weeks I stuck to 1200 calories and now I've upped it to 1400 and lost 25lbs since New Years Day.

So for me the POP is fantstic but the Depo or Implant are hell.

DANCHAN1

I too take them as hormone therapy. Yes I did speak to the doctors and they really won't committ. When I took it I noticed I slept so much better and through the night which is a big problem for me. But man oh man I am just starting to see my weight loss in my face and my body. The Compount Pharmacist gave me **** over the phone when I told him I don't take the prescribed progestrone. I told him I had had a hysterctomy and didn't need to take the progestrone. He answered "well but you have breasts don't you?"

So I am not sure if that is there way of saying yes it will stall or worse gain but the alternative sucks.

SergeantNarwhal

I'm on that drug and I haven't had any issues with weight gain. My boyfriend, luckily, is a pharmacist and he told me that the hormone doesn't normally directly lead to weight gain, it's more food cravings. I definitely have food cravings that are really intense! And I notice that I have a tendency toward water retention. So, to combat this I try to be careful about what I eat and drink a lot of extra water, especially during my time of the month. Good luck lovey!

princessofredrock

I take Progesterone 100 mg triturate 2 times a day and a 200 mg one at night. I up the dose as needed to combat PMS symptoms! The Triturate dissolves under your tongue.

It is one of the best parts of hormone therapy that has happened to me!

I had horrible PMS! Now it just comes and goes! No pain, no cramps, no bloating, no weight gain and no food cravings.... just normal! Love it!

I hope you can find a Dr who just does hormone therapy! They will be able to help you!

Good luck! :flowerforyou:

lexbubbles

I had a long discussion about this in another 'medicine weight gain' thread when somebody told me hormones can't have any effect your metabolism Hint: they can. They do. Your hormones are what control your metabolism, by and large.

Reduced progesterone can have an effect on metabolism and also affect production of thyroid hormones (free-t4 etc). Unless your estrogen is also monitored, a reduction in progesterone can also lead to estrogen dominance in the body.

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/808684

http://donnawhitehormonemakeover.com/wp-content/themes/donnawhite/pdfs/Are Your Hormones Causing You To Gain Weight_ Article.pdf

Reduced estrogen also has an effect in that way except that estrogen reduction also makes the body hold onto fat (estrogen is also produced in adipose and your body needs it to function. If your ovaries stop producing it, then the body increases estrogen production in fat cells, ergo...) which is why a lot of women gain fat in menopause. I'm one of them - I was on strong hormone medication that put me in artificial menopause and gained 50lb in a matter of months. Every time I'm put on any hormonal treatment whatsoever I gain weight - usually more than could be expected.

I will say, though, that my gynaecologist told me that progesterone treatments such as the implant can have a weight gain effect due to the hormone imbalances etc etc

tl;dr any and all hormone imbalances will affect the function of your body and can cause weight gain and not just as a result of increased appetite. But it doesn't affect everyone the same because, spoiler alert, everyone is different.

cafeaulait7

Yeah, the balance really matters and that's where a lot of gynos fail patients by just sticking them on the pill, any pill, like they are all the same.

I gave my experience above, and I should say that I am estrogen high and also have high androgens (PCOS and endometriosis). My progesterone is naturally quite low as a result. So my experience with added progesterone will probably be different than someone taking it for birth control when theirs isn't naturally low, you know?

Progesterone is probably safer to add than estrogen, btw, but do be careful about what you are adding on for birth control. Try to find a doc who will add on the one you are low in and avoid those that you are high in. I was on the pill for years when younger, and my estrogen was already through the roof. Not good. Nowadays docs really should be doing blood or saliva tests before prescribing, imho.