Birth Control Frustration

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24

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  • MSepp
    MSepp Posts: 228
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    well for me I found that the ortha patch works well for me im losing and im keeping it off.

    It would be nice to not take a pill every day.
  • jaydburry
    jaydburry Posts: 2
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    I was having the exact same issue on birth control in general (the pill, the shot, estrogen free pill) it didnt matter what I did the scale would not budge not even a little bit (this was recently since I had my daughter 2 years ago I did weight watchers and was on BC and it took me forever to loose 18 lbs only to gain it all back) So I stopped taking the pill about a month ago and started my diet and excercise about a week ago and I have lost three pounds. Its not a lot but its a start and atleast the scale is moving haha
    I have also read articles about how birth control can actually prevent your body from building muscle which isnt good if you're trying to loose weight because muscle helps burn fat. So if your not comfortable going without birth control I would suggest talking to your doctor and see what they say.
  • meghan6867
    meghan6867 Posts: 388 Member
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    I've tried a few different birth controls. I used depo in college and packed on forty pounds. I was also extremely emotional and moody. Then I switched to orthotricylen and used that for about five years. While my visible side effects were certainly less noticeable... ortho caused extremely and chronically high blood pressure.

    For the past year I've used Implanon and, I couldn't be more thrilled with it. One simple injection and I don't have to worry about birth control for three years! No side effects what-so-ever... I'm sure this isn't the case for everyone, but for me... it works incredibly well.
  • ajevans2674
    ajevans2674 Posts: 31 Member
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    I had the same experience a few years ago, only it was because of a different medication. I ate super healthy and exercised every day, but steadily gained weight over the course of a 4-5 months. I'd say your best bet is to try a different BC pill or form. I had a friend who had this happen, changed which pill she was taking and in a few months, she was back to her normal weight and much happier! Good luck!
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I've been on Birth control(LoEstrin 24 FE) since 2009 and have had no problems losing weight whatsoever.. So I'm highly hesitant to blame my 40 pound weight gain on the pill. I know what made me gain weight.. and it wasn't the pill. It was the fact that I drank every weekend and ate like crap in college.

    How much water do you drink and do you eat your exercise calories back? Only reason why I ask, is because most pills make you gain water weight.. not actual weight. That can easily be fixed by drinking extra water.

    As far as the exercise calories go, if you don't eat them back and you don't have much to lose, the body may be holding on to everything it's got. So play around.. eat more, eat less, lift weights, do cardio, until you find something that works.
  • BeautyFromPain
    BeautyFromPain Posts: 4,952 Member
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    It might be your pill - I can't say since I'm not your doctor.

    But in the meantime, be honest with yourself. Does "eating healthier" really mean you're eating fewer calories? If you haven't been counting and you're going based on your memory, you'd be surprised to find how many calories you can pack into "healthy" foods and forgotten trips to McDonald's and Taco Bell. Is your exercise really enough to support a higher calorie diet?

    I just see that you're new, you've been on this pill for years, and you don't have that much to lose (which means it's not going to come falling off). Give it some time with the calorie counting and counting your exercise. Eat back most of your exercise calories, and see what happens. Good luck.

    If you want more help from the longer-time members here please open your diary.

    The frustrating part is that I AM in fact coming out below my calorie goals for the day. I've started hitting the gym when they open so I can get my workout in before work. Burning on average 500-600 calories per visit.
    How far under on average?

    Are you eating your exercise calories? Also, opening your diary might be helpful for us to give you more ideas...
  • MSepp
    MSepp Posts: 228
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    I had the same experience a few years ago, only it was because of a different medication. I ate super healthy and exercised every day, but steadily gained weight over the course of a 4-5 months. I'd say your best bet is to try a different BC pill or form. I had a friend who had this happen, changed which pill she was taking and in a few months, she was back to her normal weight and much happier! Good luck!

    Thanks for the comforting reassurance :) And for the friend invite! :D
  • MSepp
    MSepp Posts: 228
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    I've been on Birth control(LoEstrin 24 FE) since 2009 and have had no problems losing weight whatsoever.. So I'm highly hesitant to blame my 40 pound weight gain on the pill. I know what made me gain weight.. and it wasn't the pill. It was the fact that I drank every weekend and ate like crap in college.

    How much water do you drink and do you eat your exercise calories back? Only reason why I ask, is because most pills make you gain water weight.. not actual weight. That can easily be fixed by drinking extra water.

    As far as the exercise calories go, if you don't eat them back and you don't have much to lose, the body may be holding on to everything it's got. So play around.. eat more, eat less, lift weights, do cardio, until you find something that works.

    I am trying to drink 6 cups/day. I have a thermos and try to fill it at least twice (it fits about 3 cups). I do try to eat back the exercise calories without going over my goal for the day. I know drinking 8 cups of water/day is a challenge for me. I have cut way back on my diet soda because I know it was dehydrating me...and even my coffee intake is not what it used to be. I thought about trying water pills-but I'm too afraid of what havoc that can cause for your kidneys.
  • fudgebudget
    fudgebudget Posts: 198 Member
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    I have been losing weight at a steady pace with my Mirena. I had a horrible time with the low dosage pills, though - they pretty much erased my libido and I bled nonstop for about 3 months before Planned Parenthood would consider changing my Rx. The Mirena insertion was really not fun, but so worth it since I'm getting 5 years of worry-free birth control for a $20 copay. When my 5 years are up I'm getting another one put in (but this time I'm taking the good painkillers instead of a couple of ibuprofen).
  • susanb573
    susanb573 Posts: 111 Member
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    I am also on bcp and they are definitely making me retain weight (at least in my opinion). But I can't go off them since I'm cycling for surrogacy so I simply make sure I eat super healthy, get my exercise in, and try to feel good about being healthy and not place so much emphasis on my weight right now. I will eventually be able to go off them and all my work will pay off then. Can you change your bc method?
  • turnerjh
    turnerjh Posts: 17
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    I have been on oral contraceptives off and on for almost 18 years. I didn't start gaining weight until I hit my 30s. I did try OTC and hated it, extremely emotional and ate everything that wasn't nailed down. I have been on Kariva (generic for Mircette) for probably the last 8 yrs or so. It is very low levels of hormones, so much that my periods are almost non-existent. As far as an IUD or Mirena, I wouldn't get my hopes up unless you have already had a child. I have not been able to find a doctor who would do that since I have not been pregnant unless there was some medical reason i could not use any other form of birth control. Best of luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding :smile:
  • jess_blonde
    jess_blonde Posts: 229 Member
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    As far as an IUD or Mirena, I wouldn't get my hopes up unless you have already had a child. I have not been able to find a doctor who would do that since I have not been pregnant unless there was some medical reason i could not use any other form of birth control.

    Have you tried Planned Parenthood? From my understanding, they're usually quite good in the US for providing IUDs to nulliparous women. I have never been pregnant and no one so much as batted an eyelash when I requested my IUD (in fact, I knew more about the available types than my gyne did....which in retrospect is a little scary). Your best bet is to go in armed to the teeth with scientific research showing that IUDs are quite safe for nulliparous women. Many doctors are still gunshy after the Dalkon Shield debaucle of the 1970s and have not kept abreast of recent findings. Here's a few to start you off:

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17531622 - all copper IUDs are suitable for nulliparous women


    http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.3109/13814780409044540 - nulliparous women did not show more complications than parous women; both copper an hormonal IUDs can be inserted and monitored in nulliparous women by GPs

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20399942 - nulliparous women desiring effective contraception should be considered candidates for IUDs

    IUDs fell out of favour in North America after the Dalkon Shield (a poorly designed IUD) cause a lot of health and fertility issues. IUDs have remained quite popular outside of North America but many doctors here still hold misconceptions about the IUD. Find a practitioner with lots of experience if you can (more experience tends to lead to a better insertion experience for you).
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I've been on Birth control(LoEstrin 24 FE) since 2009 and have had no problems losing weight whatsoever.. So I'm highly hesitant to blame my 40 pound weight gain on the pill. I know what made me gain weight.. and it wasn't the pill. It was the fact that I drank every weekend and ate like crap in college.

    How much water do you drink and do you eat your exercise calories back? Only reason why I ask, is because most pills make you gain water weight.. not actual weight. That can easily be fixed by drinking extra water.

    As far as the exercise calories go, if you don't eat them back and you don't have much to lose, the body may be holding on to everything it's got. So play around.. eat more, eat less, lift weights, do cardio, until you find something that works.

    I am trying to drink 6 cups/day. I have a thermos and try to fill it at least twice (it fits about 3 cups). I do try to eat back the exercise calories without going over my goal for the day. I know drinking 8 cups of water/day is a challenge for me. I have cut way back on my diet soda because I know it was dehydrating me...and even my coffee intake is not what it used to be. I thought about trying water pills-but I'm too afraid of what havoc that can cause for your kidneys.
    Yikes. Yea, no water pills please.

    Just try to up the water.. As much as you can. Even if you drink tea, I count that as water intake.
  • MSepp
    MSepp Posts: 228
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    I have been on oral contraceptives off and on for almost 18 years. I didn't start gaining weight until I hit my 30s. I did try OTC and hated it, extremely emotional and ate everything that wasn't nailed down. I have been on Kariva (generic for Mircette) for probably the last 8 yrs or so. It is very low levels of hormones, so much that my periods are almost non-existent. As far as an IUD or Mirena, I wouldn't get my hopes up unless you have already had a child. I have not been able to find a doctor who would do that since I have not been pregnant unless there was some medical reason i could not use any other form of birth control. Best of luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding :smile:

    I'll be due for my annual in a couple months so I'm planning to ask about switching my prescription. As far as the menstrual part goes, OTC-lo has managed most of my bad symptoms...but the weight gain is killing me. Thank you very much-I'm planning to get some pictures posted after the wedding. Getting SO excited!
  • tiedye
    tiedye Posts: 331 Member
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    I've been on Yaz and it's generics on and off for 6 years (mostly on) and it makes me bloated, all the time. Even at my lowest weights over these years, I always have a bloat. I'm not concerned about weight gain as much as the bloat. For medical reasons I was on the pill without the placebos=no period for all that time. I'm going off of it at the end of the pack (1 week, yay) and plan to stay off for good.
  • fudgebudget
    fudgebudget Posts: 198 Member
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    I have been on oral contraceptives off and on for almost 18 years. I didn't start gaining weight until I hit my 30s. I did try OTC and hated it, extremely emotional and ate everything that wasn't nailed down. I have been on Kariva (generic for Mircette) for probably the last 8 yrs or so. It is very low levels of hormones, so much that my periods are almost non-existent. As far as an IUD or Mirena, I wouldn't get my hopes up unless you have already had a child. I have not been able to find a doctor who would do that since I have not been pregnant unless there was some medical reason i could not use any other form of birth control. Best of luck and congrats on your upcoming wedding :smile:

    My Dr was more than happy to insert a Mirena for me, and I have no children. Actually, she was really pretty excited that I was asking about it. The problem that I ran into was insurance billing - my first Dr refused to carry the actual device in office (but was stilling willing to insert it) because of reimbursement issues she'd had in the past, and she made me order the device separately to bring in with me at my appt. My insurance company then tried to bill me for "durable medical equipment," and it was going to cost about $600. By switching to a Dr that carried the device in office, it was a $20 copay. Big difference.

    Women who haven't had children have a slightly higher risk of expelling the device, but that's the only difference between a woman with no children and a woman with a birth. For any woman, when they do the insertion they will first do a sounding to measure the depth of your uterus, and as long as it's big enough to hold the device there's no reason they can't put one in.

    If you want an IUD, it's not always going to be super easy in US. Don't be afraid to get on the phone and compare Drs or ask your insurance company what the easiest and most cost-effective path for this would be. Also good news: As of January 1, 2013, US insurers will be forced to cover birth control with no copay as preventative care.
  • kschr201
    kschr201 Posts: 219 Member
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    From what I've heard it's a combo of eating more because of increased appetite BUT ALSO water retention.
  • chatonx
    chatonx Posts: 32 Member
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    Not sure if it's been mentioned or not.. But there was actually a study done recently that showed that Birth Control doesn't actually make you gain weight - Placebo does.

    If I remember correctly - The study had two groups of women, one taking birth control, one taking a placebo, and both gained weight. We've been lead the believe that BC actually makes you gain weight so that when you are on it you gain weight (whether it's by eating, lack of exercise, or it's psychosomatic).

    :]
  • chatonx
    chatonx Posts: 32 Member
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    Also good news: As of January 1, 2013, US insurers will be forced to cover birth control with no copay as preventative care.

    If you don't mind me asking, where did you hear this? I've been hearing opposite for months.
  • fudgebudget
    fudgebudget Posts: 198 Member
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    Also good news: As of January 1, 2013, US insurers will be forced to cover birth control with no copay as preventative care.

    If you don't mind me asking, where did you hear this? I've been hearing opposite for months.

    http://hamptonroads.com/2012/01/timeline-rollout-federal-health-care-law

    http://www.twincities.com/ci_18594325

    I've found it in several places.

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