Let's talk about Birth Control

mindy2185

I have taken the pill and the shot, the shot to me was most effective BUT i gained 40 lbs. in 2 months! Yes-40 LBS!!!! I weighed more then, than when i was full term with my son. As soon as I stopped getting the shot, almost over nite it seemed like, 20 lbs. dropped! I am still carrying the other 20 around trying to work it off! With the pill I did not gain weight.

Yasmine91

I use the contraceptive implant, experienced no weight gains but my period's are messed up :P

anshaw03

I'm on Mirena as well, coming up on my 3rd anniversary with it. I adore it. No weight gain, I barely have periods, and no side effects that I have noticed. I didn't gain weight from the pill (that I knew about) but I was very hormonal and needed something with less side effects.

chubbybunnee

Birth control CAN make you gain weight, not always fat, but water weight, and like mentioned above, can change your BMR so your normal eating habits may have to change depending on how your body reacts to the hormones.

I have been on birth controls nonstop since the age of 18. I have used various BC pills, Nuva Ring, the Patch, the Shot, and my last two I were on were Yaz and Seasonique. I gained weight about 5 pounds with every single one of them and my "Cravings" went up with each one. I started taking water pills and the extra weight would stay off while I was taking them.

I do have to mentiont his though because it is super serious! I have always used BC as instructed and never had any previous health problems with the exception to be overweight and having a bad back, when last year I was diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism and DVT (BLOOD CLOTS) in my right thigh. I loved seasonique when I was on it because I only had a few periods a year and they only lasted 2-3 days. After I had the blood clot at the age of 27, I started looking online and found out that Seasonique has a higher percentage of DVT's and Pulmonary embolisms in young females then most other BC's. There are forums dedicated to parents who have lost thier daiughters due to these blood clots and some were on no other medications adn were healthy and not overweight. This has a chance of happening with any birth control, but I would highly recommend that if you are considering a new form of BC, please read the studies and try to look for one with the lower risks and lower reported percentages of fatalities. I almost died because of my birth control and can never be on birth control again because now I am high risk for more clots due to the damage my previous clots have done to my veins.

My doctor told me that some BC methods don't use the same hormones as others. For example, your body will absorb the medication from the patch if you are on that BC, and certain factors can make your body absorb more then it should at one time. These factors include heat, like if you are on a heating pad, or if the patch is defective. So the patch though convenient, isn't as consistent as other BC methods.

I am only sensitive about BC now because of what happened to me. I never smoked, so I didn't think someone my age with a history of being on it just fine would ever have any complications. Be Careful girls! Don't end up a horror story! PLEASE always be mindful that BC is not completely safe just because it is commonly used!

Now I am just 1 person out of the 1% that it happened to last year, and that means that 99% of you will never have issues, but be cautious because no one ever thinks that they will be part of that 1% until it happens!

sunkisses

If you don't get the information you want in this thread, you'll find a zillion answers if you click "search" and type in "birth control".

mindy2185

while we are on this womanly subject, how do you fight the urges to not work out or binge eat on your period????? this is one of my biggest struggles!

GoldEyes

I stopped taking Birth Control for the very same reason. When I started taking it... I gained 15-20 pounds. I thought maybe I was just gaining weight as I was getting older, but all of the working out and watching what I was eating, didn't do a single thing for me. Kept the same working out/eating regime, but stopped taking the birth control and dropped the 15 pounds very quickly. I mean, I have been married for 10 years, so really, but we are not trying to have any kids. Thankfully my husband is okay on taking on the role of protection.

Okay this is exactly my situation. I work out a LOT. I mean, like, 2 hours of cardio a day, and eat a very clean, zero processed foods diet that I would say is 50% Vegetable, 35% protein, 15% fruit, lol. I mean, I should not be gaining weight. I am always at a caloric deficit. I lift heavy 5x a week. It's frustrating because (sorry TMI) I really hate using condoms, but I hate being fat more. Part of me feels guilty for asking SO to buy condoms all the time, but I've been paying for my BCP all along so....guess I can give it a shot and see how it goes.

How long did it take after stopping for the weight to come off?

Believe me, condoms aren't really preferred here either, but I guess it's that, keep the extra weight, or have babies, lol. And I actually enjoyed being on the pill, as it balanced my hormones out, so I didn't get in to that sad/mad/depressed mode the few days before my period starts and I miss that.

Honestly, it took 2-3 months to drop the weight. I assume it was because I had to get the hormones out of my system first but after that, it seemed the weight just came off.

eddyca

Im on Yasmin, and I actually lost about 9 lbs when I started taking it

Same here! I take Safyral though which is the same thing except it contains folate. I get the WORST carb cravings during the last week of active pills. I'm like a pregnant woman, I get extremely fatigued and hungry. I'm actually relieved when I'm on the placebo week because I feel normal again despite that TOM.

aldale

Birth control pills most certainly can cause weight gain. I took Estrostep for years without any weight gain or other problems. Then I decided to have a child. While I was breastfeeding my son, my gynecologist told me I could take a progestin only pill Micronor. I gain 60 pounds in three months including thirty pounds of baby weight that I had lost after my son was born. I kept telling the doctor that I was hungry all the time, and she kept telling me that it was because I was breastfeeding. And my milk was severely drying up. My best friend then had a baby and they put her on it. She also gained weight and eventually was not able to breastfeed anymore. We both knew something was up. We started researching and this is what we found in the information packet that comes with the pill.

"Carbohydrate and Lipid Metabolism
Some users may experience slight deterioration in glucose tolerance, with increases in plasma insulin but women with diabetes mellitus who use progestin-only oral contraceptives do not generally experience changes in their insulin requirements. Nonetheless, prediabetic and diabetic women in particular should be carefully monitored while taking POPs.

Lipid metabolism is occasionally affected in that HDL, HDL2, and apolipoprotein A-I and A-II may be decreased; hepatic lipase may be increased. There is usually no effect on total cholesterol, HDL3, LDL, or VLDL.

Interactions with Laboratory Tests
The following endocrine tests may be affected by progestin-only oral contraceptive use:

•Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) concentrations may be decreased.
•Thyroxine concentrations may be decreased, due to a decrease in thyroid binding globulin (TBG)."

In easy to understand language, these pills mess up your thyroid functioning and your ability to metabolize carbohydrates. Needless to say, I no longer use that doctor. I started back on Estrostep before I had my daughter. Now I use Mirena. I am still struggling to lose those 60 pounds that I gained with Micronor and take meds for an underactive thyroid. My friend is a diabetic now. It may all be a coincidence but our health problems started after gaining weight quickly while on Micronor.

Talk to your doctor and make sure your pill is weight neutral and do your own research. Take care of your body. No one else will.

BroiledNotFried

I chose not to use an IUD or Mirena.

I read about a potential hazard from Mirena. It could slip inside the uterus and, worse, tear the uterus. This could cause one to bleed uncontrollably. By thte time you got to the hospital, your uterus could be super messed up . . . and if you bled too much you could be in irreversable shock & die.

So, I asked my ob/gyn's nurse about whether or not she's seen a Mirena slip inside a uterus. She admitted that she had, but that it had always been implanted by another doctor then mine. And, she saw it cut one woman's uterus.

Yes, BC has side effects that can kill you too. It all depends on what risks you and your doctor are going to have.

Having had two kids, BC & IUD & all other things, are nowhere near as dangerous as a delivery or C-section!

My older sister took BC through her 50s, to avoid having a hysterectomy & to help her get through menopause. She didn't smoke, exercised, and came out fine.

WilliamsPeggy

I've had the Mirena IUD for 2 years & love it. My OB/GYN has one too & highly recommended it.

purpleipod

I lost 56 pounds while taking Yaz, didn't seem to be a problem for me.

cheri0627

im on the depo shot right now, and yes it has made me gain about 20 pounds in 9 months according to my gyno. i heard the ring helps with that, but i don't trust myself putting something in and having a chance that it could be deffective, plus my gyno told me its common for it to fall out during sex. so im sticking with the shot because i onlt have to remember to go to the doctor every 3 months.

I've only had a problem with Nuvaring during sex once in 5+ years. Most of the time, my husband doesn't even notice it's there.

laurensohn22

Bump to read later **

dad106

I stopped taking Birth Control for the very same reason. When I started taking it... I gained 15-20 pounds. I thought maybe I was just gaining weight as I was getting older, but all of the working out and watching what I was eating, didn't do a single thing for me. Kept the same working out/eating regime, but stopped taking the birth control and dropped the 15 pounds very quickly. I mean, I have been married for 10 years, so really, but we are not trying to have any kids. Thankfully my husband is okay on taking on the role of protection.

Okay this is exactly my situation. I work out a LOT. I mean, like, 2 hours of cardio a day, and eat a very clean, zero processed foods diet that I would say is 50% Vegetable, 35% protein, 15% fruit, lol. I mean, I should not be gaining weight. I am always at a caloric deficit. I lift heavy 5x a week. It's frustrating because (sorry TMI) I really hate using condoms, but I hate being fat more. Part of me feels guilty for asking SO to buy condoms all the time, but I've been paying for my BCP all along so....guess I can give it a shot and see how it goes.

How long did it take after stopping for the weight to come off?

Did you ever stop to think that you are A.Not eating enough or B. Retaining water from all the working out you are doing? Those are very definite factors that need to be considered.

I've been taking the pill since 2009(LoEstrin 24 FE)... and gained 40 pounds while in college. I can tell for a fact, it was not the pill. It was the fact that I ate like crap(pizza, jimmy johns and burger king pretty much everyday) and didn't exercise at all. I also drank like a fish. Once i got out of college and away from that, I've dropped pretty much all the weight except for 11 pounds with no major problems what so ever.

I urge you to explore all options of diet and exercise before blaming the pill.. because I'm highly hesitant to blame that weight gain on the pill.

Katie41907

I completely agree! I gained 30 lbs on the shot. As soon as I came off, the weight dropped within a month! I'm on seasonique low now and I LOVE it! It's hardly messed with my hormones. Sex drive is a little down but the rest is just fine. TMI! I know!

kristindesigner

My husband and I are not trying to have kids any time soon, but we decided that I would stop taking BC. He is a physician and is worried about the long-term effects of BC, with which we haven't had enough generations to evaluate yet. After being on BC for ten years, I cannot tell you enough how much BETTER I feel without those fake hormones in my body!

Now I am using sympto-thermal method to track my temp and other symptoms, so it's more work than just popping a pill. (If done correctly, it has the same effectiveness of BC when taken correctly.) In return, though, I am one tenth as moody, have far less PMS, I'm less emotional in general and I rarely have irresistible carb or sugar cravings. I basically just feel like a saner person. I also see my fitness habits (or lack thereof when I slack off) have more immediate and obvious effects on my body; I think this is due to eliminating the constant water retention that BC can cause.

Other girlfriends who have gone the route of ditching BC have found the same great results. Only one downside so far: my skin is a lot more breakout prone. I'm happy to deal with extra zits, though, considering the benefits I've experienced. I try and always eat ABF meats and organic produce, so it only makes sense that I wouldn't want additives within my own body.