Birth Control and Weight loss

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kelly_gelinas
kelly_gelinas Posts: 137 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone who stopped taking birth control found that it helped with weightloss? I have recently gone off birth control, and was wondering if it would help with weightloss.

I have heard that people have had trouble losing weight while on different forms of birth control whether an IUD or birth control pills. I am not saying this was the case for me, but have recently gone off all forms of birth control and was interested in knowing other peoples body responses to being off all hormones from the pill/IUD.

My husband and I are interested in starting a family in the near future, and I wanted to get healthy for our future pregnancies.

I am interested in all responses. I know everyones body is different and responds to hormones differently. I was just hoping to get feedback for my personal interest only.

Replies

  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Birth control never interfered with my weight loss goals. I currently take Ortho Tri cyclen Lo... In the past I tried every birth control out there and each of them resulted in a child :P
  • KristinNicole82
    KristinNicole82 Posts: 164 Member
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    I felt like birth control was making it much harder for me to lose weight. When I stopped began to lose more. It might depend on what kind of birth control you were using. I was on the pill.
  • Pearsquared
    Pearsquared Posts: 1,656 Member
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    I was the opposite - going on birth control helped me lose weight. I was such a mess during my period that it was interfering with my weight loss.
  • hoyalawya2003
    hoyalawya2003 Posts: 631 Member
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    Nope, no difference. Pretty sure that the medical studies back that up, too (with the exception of Depo-Provera).
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,926 Member
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    I've been on the pill since before the age of 18. I'm almost 35. I've never had issues losing weight. My biggest hurdle is getting my mind in a place that lets me lose weight. What kinds of BC I take have nothing to do with it.
  • chandanista
    chandanista Posts: 986 Member
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    Nope, no difference. Pretty sure that the medical studies back that up, too (with the exception of Depo-Provera).

    Even Depo varies from person to person. I am a mess when I'm off it--nearly all my weight gain (and related mood swings) were when I wasn't on the shot. All loss this year has been while on it.
  • thesophierose
    thesophierose Posts: 754 Member
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    Birth control never interfered with my weight loss goals. I currently take Ortho Tri cyclen Lo... In the past I tried every birth control out there and each of them resulted in a child :P

    That's a lot of kids lol.

    But its different for everyone. :)
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
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    I stopped taking them in August and got a copper IUD. It didn't have any affect on my weight.
  • futuresize8
    futuresize8 Posts: 476 Member
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    I took birth control pills for 20 years. I took the kinds that had varying levels of hormones, all three weeks the same level, and one of the last ones I took knocked my period out for weeks on end and had some wickedly unappealing side effects.

    Now that I've been off of all BC for several years, I haven't noticed any increased ability to lose or gain weight, but I do feel remarkably better overall. I learned that I'm hormone sensitive. Taking the pill made me sometimes feel imbalanced and depressed...and in my natural state, I'm a really grounded, happy person.

    Feeling better overall has given me more energy to exercise and to care about my health and well-being.

    While I believe everyone is different, it's also important to look at other factors in our lives that can influence weight gain...like that most women tend to begin taking BC in their late teens... about the same time that we may have lifestyles that become more sendentarty (less school sports, more studying or working) and when we begin making independent choices about what to eat.

    Just something I've pondered.

    Good luck with your family planning...exciting times and a great reason to get healthy!
  • tenilleless
    tenilleless Posts: 88 Member
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    I know that if you just went with the first pill you tried and didn't go back to tweak things with your doctor, your pills might not have been right for you. I just started taking BC in the last few months and I noticed that with the first pills I took, my breasts definitely got larger, which I wouldn't complain about except for having to get larger bras. If you do see a big difference then when you're done having babies, I'd try a different brand/dose of BC to see if something works better.
  • keem88
    keem88 Posts: 1,689 Member
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    i've never had any issues while losing weight on bc, i have yet to be off it since i started it over 3 years ago
  • cnave99
    cnave99 Posts: 63 Member
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    I gained about 7 lbs (that did not go away!) with Nuvaring a few years ago. Got an IUD and seem to be on a losing trend.
  • joannaneedsfitness
    joannaneedsfitness Posts: 16
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    I have been taking Ortho Tri cyclen Lo and it makes no difference to my weight.
  • babyj0
    babyj0 Posts: 531 Member
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    I'm taking Levora, and it hasn't affected me. I guess its different for most. It has messed with my hormones tho. :sad:
  • tonyajohn
    tonyajohn Posts: 46
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    Nope, no difference. Pretty sure that the medical studies back that up, too (with the exception of Depo-Provera).

    Even Depo varies from person to person. I am a mess when I'm off it--nearly all my weight gain (and related mood swings) were when I wasn't on the shot. All loss this year has been while on it.

    ^This. I've lost 17 lbs on Depo. I wasn't on any birth control when I gained 10lbs last year.
  • Confuzzled4ever
    Confuzzled4ever Posts: 2,860 Member
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    I gained on everything except mirena.. which is what i'm on now. I love it. It doesn't interfere with anything, my crazy moods went away, which I had with every other type of BC out there.. and the TOM if a breeze now. I'll never look back. And since any man I marry would have to be super convincing to get me to agree to another child.. i'm just gonna stay on it. :~)
  • cassieubanks
    cassieubanks Posts: 18 Member
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    I had a Mirena IUD put in ASAP after having my last child 10 years ago. I had the first one for 5 years (maximum time) andwhen I went to have it taken out, I had no problem saying yes to another being put in the same day. I never had a period with them, and I really liked it. I never had any of the side effects (that I noticed).

    Over a period of ten years I gained a total of 176 pounds. I went from 180 pounds to 356 pounds! I never attributed it to my IUD...I just thought having children changed my metabolism. I tried everything to lose weight. I was even on here several times. I tried Metifast and other doctor prescribed weightloss. Nothing worked long term.

    I had my second IUD removed on October 10th...about 15 days ago. In 15 days I have lost 13 pounds. It literally started dropping off the same day I have the IUD removed. I did nothing different for almost a week. When I felt different, I weighed myself and was sooooo happy. I decided to start tracking my food and walking on here. It is just falling off so easy, I can't even tell you how good it feels.

    I am convinced it was my IUD. My cousin-in-law is a pharmacist, and she said that it is not common, but it can be a side effect.
  • cassieubanks
    cassieubanks Posts: 18 Member
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    I gained on everything except mirena.. which is what i'm on now. I love it. It doesn't interfere with anything, my crazy moods went away, which I had with every other type of BC out there.. and the TOM if a breeze now. I'll never look back. And since any man I marry would have to be super convincing to get me to agree to another child.. i'm just gonna stay on it. :~)

    I thought my horrible mood swings were just what all single moms had. I would get soooooo mad! Since having my Mirena removed, I have had very few mood swings.
  • Naener
    Naener Posts: 167 Member
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    I too, stopped taking my BC pills about 4 months ago... i had been on some form of BC since i was 17 years old (im now 29) since im not with anyone, and working on my health, i figured it was time to let my body regulate itself for a while...

    I too LOST weight on Depo... between 4-7 pounds, but it made me psychotic for 2 years lol

    I was on a normal level triphasic pill called Norinyl for few years after that... i gained a lot of weight in that time, some of it i can attribute to the hormones, but most of it was my life style...

    most recently, i was on Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo.... ive been doing MFP as a large deficit and working out 5 days a week though... so i couldnt tell you if stopping the pill has helped my weight loss :/

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