Can birth control keep me from losing weight?

Hey Bridget, how do you know I didn't PLAN to have 7 children???? ;o)

every person is different. i have to take birth control because of my PCOS and i have taken Yaz since i was 16 (i know, i know. i've seen those stupid Yaz commercials). i've found out the hard way that if i don't take the pill, my appetite is crazy and i gain weight. while on it, i don't feel that urge anymore and have actually lost weight.

To Gibsy,
while i share your concern with someone touting 'natural family planning' as "effective" on a website where who knows what impressionable young mind might be reading along, and i sooooooo agreed with many of your remarks,
it seemed kinda harsh to call the person who posted her opinion on it as having 'paranoid' ideas, imo.. I read all her posts, and did not pick up anything i'd call paranoia, but rather, it seems to me she has a deep concern about health risks of some forms of hormonal birth control. That was my take on her posts, but, i should not try to speak for her. I"m new here, i don't know what all is going on about previous postings, etc. but on this thread, i understood her posts and heard her, i just don't think 'natural' family planning IS that reliable at all.

i LOVE LOVE LOVE that you found such relief of your PMS and other health problems through Nuvaring, YAY!! So many women seem to have to struggle along til they find one that works best for them.

Yeah, point taken. I'm speaking from my own experience, growing up in a household where my mom was actually quite paranoid about the dangers of pharmaceuticals in general, including birth control. She had a lot of issues herself so it was understandable, but that experience did eventually help me understand that one person's negative experience can't be universalized. It took me a long time to think through it and discover that in some cases they have a lot to offer, and that alternatives aren't *automatically* better. I don't mean to assume anyone else is coming at it from that place. I stand by the rest though. It is extremely irresponsible to constantly tell everyone that they should NEVER take a medication that helps them. That they should use a method that has a really high failure rate instead. There is a line between reasonable concern and caution, and fear mongering. There's a line between considering *potential* issues and suggesting that these issues will always arise. I retract the "paranoid" comment but I stand by the rest of it.

I was on a pill that made be gain at least 15lbs but once I switched to a new one I have been slowly able to lose it.

Abstinence is the only 100% guaranteed method of pregnancy and STD prevention. I have 8 younger siblings. I know that condoms do not prevent pregnancy. give me the pill. I have done my research and this is what I will use till my husband and I are done cresting our family. After we have our last little one he is getting a vasectomy. And he volunteered because he did his own research on it and tubal ligation.

I asked my doctor about this when she prescribed me the mini-pill and she said that in her experience women tend to just be more relaxed and happy once the risk of pregnancy is removed and she thinks it's that that makes people put on through overeating if they do and nothing to do with the hormones.

This doesn't sound fact based to me at all. What about stress pounds?
That sounds like a folk story to me. sorry

I think it was more a cutesy little opinion the doctor expressed. Something they thought up and just blabber off, forgetting they're relaying it to a patient. I've had doctors of all professions do that after they get to that "friendly" stage with you. Long story short I don't think it was meant to hurt the person by saying it or accuse a woman, now "relieved" of her birthing problems, to then overeat from joy.

Ask yourself this, "Did I start gaining weight around the same time I started this particular medication?" If the answer is yes, then I would say you need to contact your doctor to see about alternatives.

I have no idea why you're on hormone therapy and I don't plan on asking as that is way too personal. I'm not here to judge you but I can say that medications sometimes do have side affects. If you feel this is a necessary medication for you, then by all means talk to your doctor to see about an alternative that may not have these same side affects.

The other part you need to consider is opening up your diary to your fellow dieters. Sometimes, someone might spot something and go..."Hey, you're not....and that caused me to experience no loss in weight." In other words, having an open diary entry makes it easier. I know I've been warned not to go under the amount of calories that the system gives me as that can cause your body to think it's starving. Are you eating ALL the calories the system lists or are you always under by 300 or 500? I've seen tons of posts where people did that and started eating those extra calories and were shocked when the weight started falling off again. Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts. Hope they give you some ideas.

I would consider another option. I was looking into the shot and a lot of my nurse friends were talking to me about all of the issues with it... including hair loss and weight gain (and apparently these are common side effects!)

My hormones are messed up and the pills typically mess with me too much, some make me sick to my stomach, some make me depressed etc.... so, after talking to my DR, I choose the Nuvaring. You wear it for 3 weeks and take it out for a week to have a period, or you may wear it back-to-back and not menstruate. It is the only birth-control that I have tried and liked. I haven't had any side effects or problems with it at all.

In response th NFP. I have friend who did NFP. She charted EVERYTHING for 6 months prior to her wedding. They wanted to wait a year after getting married to conceive. She got pregnant on one of the first three days of her honeymoon (she spent the last three days of her honeymoon pushing her husband away to avoid pregnancy).

To the OP - Depro could make it harder to lose weight or cause gain. As other posters have mentioned there are lots of options so talk thru concerns with your doctor.

I have been on Depo for 10 years. I have managed to lose 60 pounds in the past, gain in back. Right now I have lost 50 pounds in the last 2 years. I think if you work hard you can lose weight.

My only recommendation is to stop getting the shot. Any of the birth control pills and depo have artificial hormones and are really, really bad for you. Check out Fertility Friend or Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Both have free websites that will show you how to track your fertility naturally and safely - and for free. Natural Family Planning doesn't cost anything now (free to learn and do) or later (increased cancer risks, blot clots, infertility, etc.). Also, read ALL the fine print that goes with depo or any other birth control. These products are very dangerous to women and pose great risks that affect you the rest of your life. I know it's in you now and you can't do anything about that, but please do some research before choosing to get another shot.

Deo Juvante, Jen

Natural family planning pretty much is code for "surprise pregnancy". Sorry! Not every woman's cycle is the same and many women don't ovulate like clockwork every month on the same day so natural family planning is very risky. It should be paired with another form of contraception imo unless you are at a point in your life where having kids would be a good surprise.

^i agree with the response about NFP is best left for couples who really would NOT mind an extra baby.
That excludes Many women, who truly WOULD mind being pregnant, very much.


Mayo clinic rates it as having a 25% failure rate,
which i suspect is a Very conservative estimate, as i described in earlier post of mine.
One has to trust the woman with lots of children, using NFP, is telling the truth when she states each pregnancy in her large family WAS "planned".

Some sites rate the failure rate of NFP as much higher, at 40% or more, by some researchers.

I do not personally know any woman who uses NFP who has no children,
or who has only 1 child. Could be women who use NFP who have no children, or only 1 chlld and i just never heard of them. that's possible.

Usually women who use NFP always seem to have large families, and say they wanted each pregnancy, that it was "planned". Which could be true, of course. It could be, that women who want large families, tend to prefer using NFP, could be some coincidence connection there.

NFP I think is totally rediculious and won't work, it's a bit sketchy and I would constantly live in fear of having sex if my partner relied on it.

Have you thought about an IUD?

My only recommendation is to stop getting the shot. Any of the birth control pills and depo have artificial hormones and are really, really bad for you. Check out Fertility Friend or Taking Charge of Your Fertility. Both have free websites that will show you how to track your fertility naturally and safely - and for free. Natural Family Planning doesn't cost anything now (free to learn and do) or later (increased cancer risks, blot clots, infertility, etc.). Also, read ALL the fine print that goes with depo or any other birth control. These products are very dangerous to women and pose great risks that affect you the rest of your life. I know it's in you now and you can't do anything about that, but please do some research before choosing to get another shot.

Deo Juvante, Jen

Natural family planning pretty much is code for "surprise pregnancy". Sorry! Not every woman's cycle is the same and many women don't ovulate like clockwork every month on the same day so natural family planning is very risky. It should be paired with another form of contraception imo unless you are at a point in your life where having kids would be a good surprise.

^i agree with the response about NFP is best left for couples who really would NOT mind an extra baby.
That excludes Many women, who truly WOULD mind being pregnant, very much.


Mayo clinic rates it as having a 25% failure rate,
which i suspect is a Very conservative estimate, as i described in earlier post of mine.
One has to trust the woman with lots of children, using NFP, is telling the truth when she states each pregnancy in her large family WAS "planned".

Some sites rate the failure rate of NFP as much higher, at 40% or more, by some researchers.

I do not personally know any woman who uses NFP who has no children,
or who has only 1 child. Could be women who use NFP who have no children, or only 1 chlld and i just never heard of them. that's possible.

Usually women who use NFP always seem to have large families, and say they wanted each pregnancy, that it was "planned". Which could be true, of course. It could be, that women who want large families, tend to prefer using NFP, could be some coincidence connection there.

There are also plenty of us who are on some type of hormonal BC because of medical conditions. I used to get extremely severe ovarian cysts that would put me in the ER every single month, and I was only about 12 years old! My parents, being Catholic, were of course opposed to the idea of BC. The doctors told them that I risked doing permanent damage to my body and they changed their minds. Once I started taking the pill, they completely stopped. I haven't had one in almost ten years

I couldn't imagine stopping my medication to try and naturally figure out my body. I'm not guessing or estimating when it comes to my health!

Nuva Ring all the way. I know it freaks a lot of women out, but it is a good alternative to the pill, espcially if a woman has trouble remembering it or isn't ready for an IUD. I've been on it 3 years with no cramps, mood swings, weight gain, and minimal cravings. My male gyno cracked me up on my last visit because he said that's what he would take if he was a female haha

I think that the whole birth control and weight gain situation is a total myth.. but then again everyone is different. I have been on birth control for about 5 years now and I have not gained back a single pound from almost 74lbs of weight loss thus far.

Everyone IS different. And many of us gain weight on this thing you call a myth.