Woman-ly Question

MFPfriend

I'll dive straight into it:
I went to the gynecologist on Tuesday. After many long exams and questions and other stuff, he's diagnosed me with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). He said this has caused my metabolism to slow down and, consequently, made me gain 30 pounds just last year.
He believes that this is why I have irregular periods and heavy bleeding (I'll have anywhere between 14 days and 6 months between my periods, and usually bleed for 10-14 days, with severe abdominal pain and diarrhea).
He's decided to start me on Yaz to fix the issues with my period.

My fear:
I've heard stories that birth control can make you gain weight. I'm not sure if this is true, because he's put me on it so that I can regulate my periods and lose some weight while I'm at it. I don't think he would put me on the pill knowing it would make me gain weight.
Do any of you know if this is true? Or any personal experiences with Yaz? What are the other side effects?

Thank you sooo much in advance! This will be of great help to me.


Other possibly useful info:
19 years old, 200lbs (about 70 to lose)
Asthmatic (I have no clue if that matters)
Not sexually active.

omid990

i was on yaz for a short period, being on the pill did not automatically make me gain weight but it definitely increased my appetite. as long as you stick to your daily calories, you should be fine.

juliehiggins

I have the same thing, I even had a hard time conceiving my daughter and had to take pills to help me ovulate. I gained a lot of weight too, but you can lose it. I was always afraid to try because my doctor said it would be hard to get off, but I have lost 14 pounds in a month! I have an IUD, so I have no periods, but I have heard that Yaz helps you to maintain your weight and doesnt make you gain as fast as other birth controls, but you have to exercise and watch what you eat, or it will not work. This disease sucks, but there is no cure, you can only control it. I am 26 and weigh 159, but I was at 173. I think that since you are only 19 and 200 pounds you should really try to get this under control, for your health. Good luck, let me know if you have any more questions.

Angie1215

I was on Yaz and was scared of the same thing about gaining weight. In my exeperience with it I didn't notice any weight gain. I have family members that were on it and didn't gain weight either. I did have to go off of it though for other reasons because it didn't react well with my body, my moods were way off and i got very emotional. I gave it three months and decided it was better for me to go off of it. It varies from person to person on what your experience will be with it.

countindowntothin

WELL, I have a cousin who also has PCOS, and your very right it slowed her metabolism down to nothing. She packed on about 70 lbs in about 2 yrs time, prediagnoses.....she was actually taking up to 3 different birth controls at one time due to her PCOS, and she didn't gain any more weight, but she didn't lose any either.....

as far as the YAZ goes, there is constantly commercials on tv for this, but there have been several lately that have advised that the side effects can be terrible, including blod clots, weight gain, weight loss, loose stool, migraine, etc...not sure how truly likely those are, but some times the side effects are worse than the symptoms! May want to see if your doc recommends any others also, and look into all of them thoroughly.

april_mesk

I don't see any problems with the pill and weight gain. I have lost 60 in 15 mos. so, I would say no problems with that.

stang41992

I have been on Yasmin (Yaz's older sister as my gyno calls it) for 4 years. I have not gained weight from it, but from my own bad habits :laugh:
I have read research on this too. Apparently, they have said women gain weight on the pill because many times they are in a committed relationship and get comfortable with that person. We all know what happens when we get comfortable!
One bad side effect though, they have done studies on muscle mass and the pill. Women who were not on the pill built muscle 60% faster than women on the pill. This is disheartening to me because I lift regularly and I want to build my muscle. Oh well, either muscles and pregnant or slow muscles and not pregnant. Pretty easy choice for me! Good luck!

carrieberrie

I have had no problem either on the pill. Still continuing to lose weight.

LisaC1026

I also have PCOS (it's pretty severe actually) and I've gained over 40 pounds in the past few years. I have had a very difficult time losing weight (although I can, I just have to be very diligent about my eating and workouts) and it comes back pretty easily if I go back to old habits.

I had a very bad experience with Yaz, but I would not say that that's typical. I had all the signs of having a stroke and had to go to the emergency room (this has been years). I stopped the medicine in within a few weeks my symptoms went away. Thankfully it was not a stroke, just bad side effects. I had even called the manufacturer and reported what happened to me and they said that it was not typical, but that had been contacted from other women suffering from similar side effects.

Hope this helps....my doctor has put me on birth control pills to help minimize the "bad" hormones to help us get pregnant. I was very scared after my experience with Yaz, but I'm on my 2nd month and I'm not having any problems!

Another thing that can or may try is to put you on Metformin (most women with PCOS also suffer from insulin resistance). Metformin is a medication for diabetic's, but research has found that it can help women with PCOS to minimize the insulin resistance, help your metabolism get amped back up, etc.

Let me know if you have more questions, I know a lot about this topic, especially when it comes to infertility.

carrieberrie

HERE IS A GOOD ARTICLE

(WebMD) Women taking birth control pills should not blame their method of contraception when they put on a few pounds.

A newly published review suggests that there is no truth to the widespread belief that oral contraceptives and other forms of hormonal birth control cause weight gain.

“Women do tend to gain weight over time, but as far as we could tell there is no evidence of a causal relationship between taking birth control pills and weight gain,” researcher Laureen Lopez, PhD, tells WebMD.

Weight Gains Minimal

Lopez and colleagues with the nonprofit reproductive advocacy group Family Health International reviewed 44 hormonal contraceptive trials that included information about the study participants’ weight fluctuations.

Three of the trials compared hormonal contraceptives to inactive placebo, and none showed a significant difference in weight gain among either group.

Forty-one studies compared different types, dosages, or regimens of hormonal contraception. While women in some of the studies did gain weight, Lopez says there was little to suggest that the weight gain was caused by hormonal contraceptive use.

“Any weight gains that were noted were minimal in terms of health significance,” she says.

The researchers concluded that it is not possible to say for sure that hormonal contraceptives don’t cause weight gain. But they added that “no large effect (was) evident” in the studies they reviewed.

Their analysis appears in the latest issue of the Cochrane Library, published by the nonprofit health policy review group Cochrane Collaborative.

Fear Drives Choice

Fear of gaining weight is one of the most common reasons women choose less effective methods of birth control over the pill and other hormonal contraceptives, says Columbia University assistant professor of ob-gyn Katharine O’Connell, MD.

And weight gain is commonly cited as a reason for getting off the pill, she adds.

She tells WebMD that the belief that the pill makes you fat is especially strong among young women. And she says many doctors still warn their patients taking hormonal contraceptives about possible weight gain.

O’Connell and colleagues at Columbia have completed their own review of a different group of studies examining birth control and weight gain. They also found little evidence of a connection.

And in a recently published study comparing low-dose birth control pills to a vaginal contraceptive ring, they reported no significant weight gain in either group.

“Birth control pills will not make you gain weight, but eating too much and not exercising will,” she says. “I know it sounds simplistic, but it is the truth.”

Sources: Gallo, M.F. Cochrane Library, Jan. 25, 2006, Issue 1; online edition. Laureen Lopez, PhD, research associate, Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, N.C. Katharine O’Connell, MD, assistant clinical professor of ob-gyn, Columbia University, New York City.

MFPfriend

Oh, thanks for the article.

MFPfriend

I have been on Yasmin (Yaz's older sister as my gyno calls it) for 4 years. I have not gained weight from it, but from my own bad habits :laugh:
I have read research on this too. Apparently, they have said women gain weight on the pill because many times they are in a committed relationship and get comfortable with that person. We all know what happens when we get comfortable!
One bad side effect though, they have done studies on muscle mass and the pill. Women who were not on the pill built muscle 60% faster than women on the pill. This is disheartening to me because I lift regularly and I want to build my muscle. Oh well, either muscles and pregnant or slow muscles and not pregnant. Pretty easy choice for me! Good luck!

I think that's true about the birth control and weight gain. It makes the most sense.

I'm not too worried about muscle mass, and I'm even okay with losing some as far as I'm concerned.
Last year, I was in a weightlifting class for PE, and the PCOS contributed to me having intensely high testosterone levels, which in turn made me get WAY buff. I was able to clean around 105 pounds (12 reps, 2 sets). I got really buff that year, and I'm okay with losing a little of it, or maintaining.

Demetria

I'll dive straight into it:
I went to the gynecologist on Tuesday. After many long exams and questions and other stuff, he's diagnosed me with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). He said this has caused my metabolism to slow down and, consequently, made me gain 30 pounds just last year.
He believes that this is why I have irregular periods and heavy bleeding (I'll have anywhere between 14 days and 6 months between my periods, and usually bleed for 10-14 days, with severe abdominal pain and diarrhea).
He's decided to start me on Yaz to fix the issues with my period.

My fear:
I've heard stories that birth control can make you gain weight. I'm not sure if this is true, because he's put me on it so that I can regulate my periods and lose some weight while I'm at it. I don't think he would put me on the pill knowing it would make me gain weight.
Do any of you know if this is true? Or any personal experiences with Yaz? What are the other side effects?

Thank you sooo much in advance! This will be of great help to me.


Other possibly useful info:
19 years old, 200lbs (about 70 to lose)
Asthmatic (I have no clue if that matters)
Not sexually active.

So he specifically said it would help you lose weight? Did he talk to you about other side effects, what hormones, and how much of the hormones were in the medication? Check to see if Yaz has a website to help answer your questions.

hth,
Demetria

kstefanski

I was on Yaz for about 3 years before it randomly started messing up my hormones and made me have like two periods a month. Not cool.

Anyway, I did gain weight while on Yaz, but because of my habits, not because of the pill. Also, I lost about 10 pounds while on Yaz, so it is definitely possible to lose weight with it. I am trying out different pills now, and am still losing, so, for me, I can't blame the pill for making me gain all that weight before, no matter how much I'd like to.

MFPfriend

I'll dive straight into it:
I went to the gynecologist on Tuesday. After many long exams and questions and other stuff, he's diagnosed me with PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). He said this has caused my metabolism to slow down and, consequently, made me gain 30 pounds just last year.
He believes that this is why I have irregular periods and heavy bleeding (I'll have anywhere between 14 days and 6 months between my periods, and usually bleed for 10-14 days, with severe abdominal pain and diarrhea).
He's decided to start me on Yaz to fix the issues with my period.

My fear:
I've heard stories that birth control can make you gain weight. I'm not sure if this is true, because he's put me on it so that I can regulate my periods and lose some weight while I'm at it. I don't think he would put me on the pill knowing it would make me gain weight.
Do any of you know if this is true? Or any personal experiences with Yaz? What are the other side effects?

Thank you sooo much in advance! This will be of great help to me.


Other possibly useful info:
19 years old, 200lbs (about 70 to lose)
Asthmatic (I have no clue if that matters)
Not sexually active.

So he specifically said it would help you lose weight? Did he talk to you about other side effects, what hormones, and how much of the hormones were in the medication? Check to see if Yaz has a website to help answer your questions.

hth,
Demetria

Oh, no, sorry. He didn't say it would lose weight. But he knows I'm trying to lose weight now, and he confirmed it was a good idea. Then he decided to start me on Yaz. It wasn't an idea to lose weight, but this is the first time I've been with this doctor, I just want to make sure that what he's prescribing won't hurt my goals.

And sorry about the confusion. Sometimes I'm not too great at explaining what I'm trying to say.

July24Lioness

Hi, I am a fellow cyster, LOL.............I was diagnosed with PCOS in March of 2003 and also diagnosed with diabetes.

The reason that most women's metabolism is slowed down with PCOS is because of insulin resistance, which is pre-diabetes.

The best combatant to insulin resistance and being able to shed pounds is a lower carb eating plan that focuses on CLEAN, unprocessed, whole foods.

I can send you information to support this if you would like, please send me a PM.

MFPfriend

Hi, I am a fellow cyster, LOL.............I was diagnosed with PCOS in March of 2003 and also diagnosed with diabetes.

The reason that most women's metabolism is slowed down with PCOS is because of insulin resistance, which is pre-diabetes.

The best combatant to insulin resistance and being able to shed pounds is a lower carb eating plan that focuses on CLEAN, unprocessed, whole foods.

I can send you information to support this if you would like, please send me a PM.

I used to eat a lot of processed... since the diagnose on Friday, I've cut down some (because my gyno said no more HFCS, because my metabolism wouldn't even try to burn it- the insane testosterone levels I have instantly turn in to fat) processed food. I don't think I could really ever go totally clean, because I don't get to decide what food comes into the kitchen, and I don't think I could ever go way low carb because I can't go completely clean.

July24Lioness

You can clean it up a whole lot by focusing on good protien sources (eggs, meats (non-fried), nuts), then lots of veggies and some fruit............. little dairy here and there.

Hi, I am a fellow cyster, LOL.............I was diagnosed with PCOS in March of 2003 and also diagnosed with diabetes.

The reason that most women's metabolism is slowed down with PCOS is because of insulin resistance, which is pre-diabetes.

The best combatant to insulin resistance and being able to shed pounds is a lower carb eating plan that focuses on CLEAN, unprocessed, whole foods.

I can send you information to support this if you would like, please send me a PM.

I used to eat a lot of processed... since the diagnose on Friday, I've cut down some (because my gyno said no more HFCS, because my metabolism wouldn't even try to burn it- the insane testosterone levels I have instantly turn in to fat) processed food. I don't think I could really ever go totally clean, because I don't get to decide what food comes into the kitchen, and I don't think I could ever go way low carb because I can't go completely clean.

kammy92

I've been on the pill for a long time (19 yrs) and never gained weight from it...might depend on the person and their body.

Veronica320

I also take Yaz for my PMDD/birth control. It has made me gain weight (since I started taking it 2 yrs ago), but I continue to take it because it really works for me and my symptoms.

Edit: Just wanted to be a little more clear. I didn't gain the weight over the 2 yrs. I gained about 15 lbs within a few months of switching to Yaz. I had previously be on Triphasil for 10 yrs before that with no weight gain.