Birth control, IBS & weight gain

naku

Hi all!

Never thought I'd post anything like this as I was always one of the "birth control does not make you gain weight, eating does!" -group. But alas... Here we are!

Cut a long story short, I've been on birth control for the last 13 years until 6 months ago, switching pills only once and never felt it affected me in any way.

But like said, 6 months ago I stopped eating the pills I was on at that point (Yasmin) and didn't really register any change caused by this. Now, last Thursday I decided to renew my prescription and start eating them again. At the same time, I went onto my annual post-xmas diet and reduced my calories to 1200kcal per day (and have really stuck to it!).

Ever since that, I have felt incredibly bloated, constipated and just generally off. I have also gained a solid 1kg of weight... (I do understand that this is not actual fat though.. so not going crazy over this). First I thought this is just a side effect of starting my diet but have never experienced this before and the final straw came this morning when I was unable to button up my INCREDIBLY STRETCHY jeans!!! My belly looks like I'd be 4 months pregnant!

Started putting 2 and 2 together and figured out this must be Yasmin rather than the diet.

Also started thinking about this a bit more and realised that the last 6 months I have had no problems with my IBS and also my psoriasis flares have almost completely cleared out. Both of these conditions I was diagnosed after starting on Yasmin and never had any problems before taking it.

Most people seem to have completely opposite experiences with Yasmin, more so losing weight and feeling less bloated, but was wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar to what has happened to me (within 5 days )?

Have now decided to stop taking Yasmin, see if things go back to normal (I sure hope so) and look for alternative methods of BC...

Firefox7275

No one prescription drug suits all patients, read the patient information leaflet or speak to the pharmacist for the possible side effects. Calories being that low you are likely eating a different amount of fibre, lower fat (eases the passage) and/ or carbs (changes in hydration), lower overall food bulk and slowed digestive transit time - this could affect both your IBS and you clearance of waste hormones from the body. It's not necessarily as simple as blaming Yasmin, your restrictive diet could easily be interacting with it.

naku

Like said before, my IBS stopped like it would of hit a wall and died 6 months ago, pretty much exactly the same time I stopped taking Yasmin... And it has come back pretty much immediately when I started it again.

Also, the foods I eat have been high fibre and more or less exactly the same for the past 4-or-so years, the amounts are the only thing changing.

If you google, there's quite a lot of information about Yasmin being linked to IBS.
Also, as one of the side effects (see, I have read the leaflet... and plenty more!) is candida overgrowth I think it must be connected to my psoriasis as one of the causes of psoriasis is yeast overgrowth...

Anyway... Was looking for people with similar experiences?
After 13 years on BC and thinking it had no side effects on me what so ever... This last week has been an interesting experience.

Miztaneha

I can relate. I have been taking the depo shot for almost 3yrs now. Then I stopped hopping that I can lose the weight but it seems like I gained more weight since I got backed on the shot. Now I am spotting like crazy and my husband is piss!!! lol, but I am really considering just getting my tubes tied sometimes this year. I have 4 kids and I am good... So I can relate...

Firefox7275

Like said before, my IBS stopped like it would of hit a wall and died 6 months ago, pretty much exactly the same time I stopped taking Yasmin... And it has come back pretty much immediately when I started it again.

Also, the foods I eat have been high fibre and more or less exactly the same for the past 4-or-so years, the amounts are the only thing changing.

If you google, there's quite a lot of information about Yasmin being linked to IBS.
Also, as one of the side effects (see, I have read the leaflet... and plenty more!) is candida overgrowth I think it must be connected to my psoriasis as one of the causes of psoriasis is yeast overgrowth...

Anyway... Was looking for people with similar experiences?
After 13 years on BC and thinking it had no side effects on me what so ever... This last week has been an interesting experience.

You are welcome.

naku

What's a girl to do anymore these days?!?

I miss having no periods (only had about 4 times per year whilst on the pill) and all the rest... But not willing to feel like this just for the sake of those things!

naku

Like said before, my IBS stopped like it would of hit a wall and died 6 months ago, pretty much exactly the same time I stopped taking Yasmin... And it has come back pretty much immediately when I started it again.

Also, the foods I eat have been high fibre and more or less exactly the same for the past 4-or-so years, the amounts are the only thing changing.

If you google, there's quite a lot of information about Yasmin being linked to IBS.
Also, as one of the side effects (see, I have read the leaflet... and plenty more!) is candida overgrowth I think it must be connected to my psoriasis as one of the causes of psoriasis is yeast overgrowth...

Anyway... Was looking for people with similar experiences?
After 13 years on BC and thinking it had no side effects on me what so ever... This last week has been an interesting experience.

You are welcome.

Thanks!

Im_NotPerfect

I have been wondering about something similar. After NOT being on BC for about the past 10 years, I went back on it this month for other non-BC related issues. Since then (going on my second week of pills) I've been hungry non-stop and my scale is going in the wrong direction. COULD this be BC related? Like I said, I haven't been on it in about 10 years, so I don't remember the effects. I'm taking something called Spintec 28. Supposed to be a very low dose of hormone....but I'm wondering if my body just doesn't handle it well. Never really handled any BC pill well in the past....

laurenz2501

I've only ever heard horrible side effects of Yasmin or Yaz. There's a commercial on TV explaining all of the side effects and a phone number people can call for legal services to sue them. So I wouldn't take Yasmin anyway. I've recently had a similar experience with IBS/bloating/weight gain (although I think the holidays definitely contributed to the weight gain). I never had IBS or any digestive problems until a few months ago when I was eating a lot of the same healthy foods over and over for my diet, including a lot of reduced fat cheese. I think that Firefox had a good point in saying that the change in the types and amounts of foods/nutrients alter your digestive system. I went so far as to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy done but they didn't find anything of course. I also stopped my birth control (Loestrin) about a month ago. I've only lost about a pound, sadly, but I have been on it for about 14 years. I don't really have any answers for you but just wanted to let you know I can relate to everything you said!

naku

I've only ever heard horrible side effects of Yasmin or Yaz. There's a commercial on TV explaining all of the side effects and a phone number people can call for legal services to sue them. So I wouldn't take Yasmin anyway. I've recently had a similar experience with IBS/bloating/weight gain (although I think the holidays definitely contributed to the weight gain). I never had IBS or any digestive problems until a few months ago. I think that Firefox had a good point in saying that the different kinds and amounts of foods/nutrients change your digestive system. I was eating a lot more reduced fat cheese then before and I think that could have aggravated IBS. I went so far as to have a colonoscopy and endoscopy done but they didn't find anything of course. I also stopped my birth control (Loestrin) about a month ago. I've only lost about a pound, sadly, but I have been on it for about 14 years. I don't really have any answers for you but just wanted to let you know I can relate to everything you said!

IBS truly is a *****... So I feel for you.

I never had any stomach related problems until about 5 years ago when I moved countries and my new doc seemed to have a problem with my BC and put me on Yasmin. Suddenly I had every single (digestive) problem you could imagine and was diagnosed with IBS. With time, I learned how to control it (high fibre, no saturated fats) up to some degree, but it never really went away............ until 6 months ago!

Now looking back, it's silly that I didn't make the connection. I had an insanely busy year last year and was super stressed for most of it. Would of made sense for my IBS as well as psoriasis to be worse but no, both have disappeared since the summer!