the big birth control question

Interesting first post...and very situation-specific.

There birth control drugs that don't casue weight gain. Some can be adjusted, dosage wise, too. Talk your doctor - unless you are willing to risk unwanted pregnancy.

Yup, definitely talk to your doc or whoever prescribed the BC. A quick Google search makes it look like weight gain is a pretty common side effect for Ocella.

One piece of advice - if you do go off the pill, make sure you have a back-up plan (condoms) on hand just in case

I am giving you some very real time experience from my side.

I've been off BC for 3+ weeks now, as I had a TIA that we're now discovering most likely had nothing to do with BC (thankfully), but obviously all doctors have told me to stay off until they're absolutely certain (which I should find out at the hematologist tomorrow).

In those three weeks, I've lost weight. Quickly. Like, went months with only losing .5 a month MAYBE, because I weight train (losing inches before pounds) and I'm at a healthy weight.

I thought I was very anxious and depressed for the last two years (all while being on BC); everyone around me has commented at how cheerful I seem.

That being said, I'm anxious to get back on BC because of a variety of OTHER issues (ovarian cysts, contraception, acne control, PMS control, etc.).

You could try switching BC, going lower, or just trying other methods of contraception (non-hormonal IUD's generally have fewer weight related side effects... but also run their own risks, too). I just know that it's a remarkably rare woman who can have literally no change from BC to off. You ARE messing with your hormones, and even if the side effect is something as benign as "Well, my hair texture changed," it's still a change related to hormonal variances.

You're asking us what we think of the decision, but it's ultimately up to you. I, and every female doc I've talked to, always feel very on the fence about BC. There's a lot of good, but there's some pretty ****ty bad. I am enjoying many things about being off BC... but there are already many things I greatly miss about BC.

It's hard to say as birth control is such an individual thing, the pill I was on worked for me but a friend who took it called the demon pill and hated it! I've just decided to come off the pill altogether as I've been on it for a good ten years and just kind of feel uneasy about being on it any longer. We just use condoms but I am interested to see what happens weight and mood wise too, I had a sickness bug right before I came off it and lost 9 pounds from that. I couldn't eat for a week so was expecting that then going back to eating normally plus having Christmas I would put all of that back on and possibly more, however I actually only ended up gaining back 5lb of it, so although I gained weight technically after coming off the pill it still kind of felt like a loss as I weigh 4lb less than I did a week before coming off it (I didn't bother taking it whilst sick and just never went back on it) even after Christmas eating, could be lucky coincidence could be down to coming off the pill, I'll never really know. What I would say though is do what is right for you and have a chat with your doctor about it and see what they have to say too and what other options they can give you.

Mirena made me put on a lot of weight that I could not get rid of for anything. I started losing again almost immediately after going off (then the holidays it, so ... )

If you are not risking pregnancy, then I see no reason not to see what happens going off of it. Maybe look into a non-hormonal BC.