Weight Loss on the pill?

cassielynn217

Hi all!

About five months ago, I went on the pill for the first time in my life in hopes of easing my especially brutal periods caused by my extremely bicornuated uterus. The pain was often so bad that I would vomit and I missed a lot of school. I just started college and I did not want to have a repeat of high school where I basically stayed home every period since walking was out of the question. This lasts for 10 days (because why not make me suffer for an extra 5?)

I have tried three different pills so far with mixed results: the first two caused me to break out in acne, even though puberty was kind to me in that area. They also made me temperamental, bloated, and I felt like I could eat a horse every ten minutes. Basically I just felt really gross and not myself and my stomach always hated me for not feeding it. The pill that I am on now - Emoquette 28 day tablet - got rid of the acne and made my appetite almost nonexistent. I also experience severe migraines, my last period sucked, and I am getting fat.

Before starting the pill, I weighted 105 lbs. The highest it would go up to is 108 but it always came right back down. I had some abs going on and everything was great. I always ate whatever I wanted and people hated me for it. I was the person you would bring to the buffet who would go up six times just to get her money's worth and not have any weight to show for it. I could eat tubs of ice cream and three pieces of cakes and pies on a daily basis. Mind you I did eat healthy, and my diet was loaded with fruits and veggies and lean meats. I tried to stay away from extremely saturated fats and generally gross-for-you stuff. I have hated soda and juice ever since I was a kid, so I only ever drink water, and a lot of it. The last time I ate fast food was probably when I was in the second grade. I just have a sweet tooth and love anything chocolate.

Even a year ago, I ate a lot worse than I do now, and I stayed at 105. After the first month of the pill, I gained about 5 lbs, and I was told this was normal and to wait it out, it would come off again. I continued to gain. In only 5 months, I've gained almost 30 lbs. Even though I felt like I was starving, I resisted the urge to consume everything, and instead ate the way I normally did.

I gained 15 lbs in the four months I was on the other two pills. I switched to this new one and after three weeks of being on it, I gained another 10. Mind you, this is the pill that stunted my appetite and I have hardly eaten because of.

Also, since starting the pill, I was afraid of the weight gain, so I made a conscious effort to eat better. I almost completely avoid sweets, I exercise at least 30 minutes a day, I go for walks, and I've been doing the South Beach diet. I have kept a food journal and have made sure I do not consume more than 1,200 calories a day. Some days I have to force myself to eat. I have been dieting since I started the pill, yet I am still quickly gaining weight. I honestly don't know where my body is finding all this fat!

Not sure if it might make a difference, but the reason my obgyn switched me off the other two pills was because they were high in progesterone, and apparently my body reacts badly to too much of it. My Mom almost died when she got the depo shot and her body reacted to the high levels of progesterone.

I don't know. My hormones are all messed up right now. I have been making an effort to shed the pounds with no results. Absolutely nothing is working. I've tried exercising, dieting, starving, and my body still somehow finds more weight to put on. I'm curious if anyone else is struggling with the same problem?

Also, does anyone have any suggests? I really do not want to get off the pill and go back to the hellish periods that await me. I don't want to have to choose between being fat or being in pain. There has to be some way to shed the weight while on the pill.

Iknowsaur

Have you considered the nuvaring?

I was really sensitive to oral contraceptives. They made my migraines worse and I was very nauseous when I tried them (I tried a BUNCH of different ones over a course of a few years.) I also had issues with cravings. I've had no problems with the nuvaring

Julesdublin

I have been on mercilon for years and I have no problems at all.
I think you have to try different brand of pills until you find the best one for you. You shouldn’t have to put up with these side effects. It’s too much.

cassielynn217

I have considered the Nuvaring, but was advised against it because of the way your body absorbs the hormones.
I will definitely keep trying different brands! There are so many out there, hopefully one of them will work out. My obgyn insists it is not the pill causing all these side effects, but I don't think it is a coincidence that I was fine up until I started on it. She thinks that the migraines are a result of too much strain on my neck from sitting, but I sit just as much now as I did two months ago and I didn't get migraines then! For the most part I've always been healthy and migraines are a first for me. I rarely ever even get headaches.

I think it would make me feel a little bit better to find comradery in all this. Nobody seems to understand what I'm going through and are quick to tell me that I look fatter and need to go on a diet and that I'm crazy to accuse the pill of causing my weight gain. I'm not sure if my body is just retaining a massive amount of fluid or if my metabolism has slowed to that of a sloth.

I will look into the Nuvaring a bit more though, see if maybe it would be a better option after all. Maybe I should try going for a lower dosage altogether?

jbee27

If you search the forums, there is more than one thread about this topic, which may give you more information.

IIRC, there have been numerous scientific studies that show that oral contraceptives are not the direct cause of weight gain, and do not make it more difficult to lose weight. Again, there are many links in other forums.

As far as anecdotal evidence, I have lost 100% of the weight I've lost while taking an Sprintec, an oral contraceptive.