Birth Control and Turning into a Balloon

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Kavazya
Kavazya Posts: 22 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there -

Obviously this question is geared more towards my fellow ladies of MFP, but I have started a new type of birth control with higher estrogen (as I was suffering from a condition caused by too low of estrogen levels), and have gained 12 pounds and counting in the first 2 weeks of starting the medication.

Since prior to this I had obtained my best weight ever and was really starting to see positive changes in my body, this feels like a considerable blow. Diet and exercise has not changed. Any one else experience this problem? How long and what did it take for things to get back on track?

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  • dmt4641
    dmt4641 Posts: 409 Member
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    Have you been tracking your calories accurately?
  • Kavazya
    Kavazya Posts: 22 Member
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    dmt4641 wrote: »
    Have you been tracking your calories accurately?

    I've been doing my best to. I had to create a rule where I can't eat anything else until I've logged what I've last eaten, and have been pretty good about following it. Also I eat almost the same things daily, so I don't think calorie intake varies too much. I'm willing to accept that my body is probably struggling to get fluid balance and most is water weight, but 12 lbs still seems like a lot to me.
  • CaffeinatedConfectionist
    CaffeinatedConfectionist Posts: 1,046 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Like you say it's most likely water weight, if your actual calorie intake hasn't changed - but you may want to get a food scale and be as strict as possible with your logging, as medications can increase appetite and you might be eating more without really fully realizing it. I had been off birth control for several years and recently started again about two months ago and it has had zero impact on my weight loss. If it continues to be a problem trend (ETA once your body has had time to adjust to the medication, since it has only been two weeks), you could talk with your doctor.
  • capaul42
    capaul42 Posts: 1,390 Member
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    Birth control doesn't really cause weight gain. The added hormones increase your appetite and can cause people to eat more. And often, you don't even notice it. Especially if you're not weighing your food and tracking everything.

    One friend of mine gained almost 20lbs. When I told her to go back to basics and weigh/log everything that went in her mouth, she realised she was eating slightly larger portions, barely even noticeable to the eye, and that she was often taking bites of her son and husbands food and forgetting to log it. She calculated that on a given day she was overeating approximately 700 calories more than she used to, per day. Her deficit at the time was only set at 250 so she was over almost 3x without even realizing it.
  • Maxematics
    Maxematics Posts: 2,287 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Kavazya wrote: »
    dmt4641 wrote: »
    Have you been tracking your calories accurately?

    I've been doing my best to. I had to create a rule where I can't eat anything else until I've logged what I've last eaten, and have been pretty good about following it. Also I eat almost the same things daily, so I don't think calorie intake varies too much. I'm willing to accept that my body is probably struggling to get fluid balance and most is water weight, but 12 lbs still seems like a lot to me.

    "Doing your best to" is a tad vague; either you have been tracking all of your calories or you haven't. Even if you eat the same things every day, portion sizes vary. 12 pounds in two weeks is a lot, so I'd wager that a good portion of that is definitely water, however some of it can also be fat if the medication has increased your appetite and you're eating more.

    Edit: Just realized you have an open diary. Most of your days are partially logged and you didn't log any food this weekend at all. There are several other days within the past few weeks where you've logged either nothing or 400 to 1000 calories. Other days you're over by 300+ calories. You definitely didn't gain 12 pounds of fat in two weeks, but based on your diary I believe you're eating more than you think and some of your gain is due to that.
  • ssmartgirl765
    ssmartgirl765 Posts: 12 Member
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    the estrogen in them could be to high for you.... this is my opinion cause I am on Birth Control too
  • Shiggysho
    Shiggysho Posts: 27 Member
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    I am on Tri-Cycline Lo. Hasn't affected my ability to lose weight in the slightest. Experienced some bloating and water weight gain at first, but BC pills don't make you gain fat. Took about 1-2 months to normalize. I can't speak for higher doses of estrogen though.
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    I'd switch pills. Even if it's mostly water retention, that's not what you want. There are plenty of options. I wouldn't stick to one with that side effect.
  • VintageFeline
    VintageFeline Posts: 6,771 Member
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    7elizamae wrote: »
    I'd switch pills. Even if it's mostly water retention, that's not what you want. There are plenty of options. I wouldn't stick to one with that side effect.

    And it's probably temporary so no need to switch after two weeks and end up with the same issue and switch again and again and again. Water weight usually falls back off pretty quickly.

    As others have said, it's mostly water and possibly a little fat due to your inaccurate logging but the pill itself will not cause the body to suddenly store fat without an excess of energy (calories).
  • Kavazya
    Kavazya Posts: 22 Member
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    Thanks all for the insight. I think I'll just have to be extra careful with logging from now on. Most of the time I use my phone's S Health app to log and not MFP because it's faster, but I think MFP is more geared towards weight loss so I should start logging here regularly from now on.

    And to the point of some, true, its only been a few weeks. Time will tell, just hard to stay calm with such a weight jump haha

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