Weight gain

[tingo]

Is it true that I'll gain weight on the pill?

 

[Eilan]

*shrug* I didn't.

I'm sure other women have had different experiences, though.

 

[SweetErika]

Yes, some women do, but it's almost always because they take it with an extra amount of food to avoid nausea (like adding a snack at night with the pill), not due to the pill itself. Infrequently, the hormones can have an effect, though that's the exception, not the rule.

 

[Eilan]

FWIW--my best friend from high school went on the pill shortly before she got married. Her husband-to-be didn't want her to take BCP's because he didn't want her to "get fat" (his words).

The first year she was married, she'd gained about 50 pounds. I always wondered if it was the pill or the lifestyle/activity changes that brought about the weight gain.

 

[Norajane]

50 pounds!

I think I've read that a gain of more than 5 pounds isn't related to the pill, unless there are other unusual hormonal things going on.

I didn't gain weight going on the pill, nor did I lose or gain when I went off it.

 

[Eilan]

50 pounds!

I think I've read that a gain of more than 5 pounds isn't related to the pill, unless there are other unusual hormonal things going on.

I didn't gain weight going on the pill, nor did I lose or gain when I went off it.

Yeah, going on/off didn't affect me one way or the other, either.

I always wondered if getting married and settling into a routine had something to do with her weight gain, particularly since she was always pretty active in high school and got married about four months after graduation.

 

[Norajane]

Yeah, going on/off didn't affect me one way or the other, either.

I always wondered if getting married and settling into a routine had something to do with her weight gain, particularly since she was always pretty active in high school and got married about four months after graduation.

Now I don't feel so bad about my freshman 15...

 

[NewAndEager]

I gained just over ten pounds when I started birth control pills. However, I was fifteen at the time, so it could have just been the other changes you go through at that age. I also dropped the weight really quick without doing too much additional exercise, beyond what was normal.

I've switched pills four times now (in five years), and have never experienced another weight gain during the time of switching.

 

[M's girl]

I sure did gain weight. I don't remember how much (it's over 20 years ago I started) but it was apparent. Not much later I started taking other 'medications' which even made it worse, so I don't know what gain weight was a result of the pill and what was a result of the other medicine I took.

All I know is that I stopped using the pill about two years ago. I take far less medication because my migraine attacks got a lot less frequent and around the same time that happened I met M and my sexlife improved 200% which resulted in some extra exercise And although I'm far from slim, I have lost a lot of weight in the last, say, 18 months....

 

[SweetErika]

I think I've read that a gain of more than 5 pounds isn't related to the pill, unless there are other unusual hormonal things going on.

I've read and been told this by doctors as well.

The only weight gain I experienced in eight years of taking various pills was in my boobs: to the tune of a full cup size in a month, and it didn't go away when I stopped that pill or lost weight in general. Nothing else got bigger...my bras just didn't fit anymore. However, that particular pill had one of the highest levels of hormones, and caused other problems, including severe mood swings, breast tenderness, and headaches, so the boob growth was more along the lines of a hormonal/development issue than "weight gain" IMO.

 

[PowerLifter84]

I read a good article talking about how taking a pill does not lead to weight gain. Give me a few minutes and I will see if I can find it.

 

[PowerLifter84]

Here you go:

Birth Control Pills Do Not Add Pounds

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

By Salynn Boyles


Women taking birth control pills should not blame their method of contraception when they put on a few pounds.

A newly published review suggests that there is no truth to the widespread belief that oral contraceptives and other forms of hormonal birth control cause weight gain.

“Women do tend to gain weight over time, but as far as we could tell there is no evidence of a causal relationship between taking birth control pills and weight gain,” researcher Laureen Lopez, PhD, tells WebMD.

Lopez and colleagues with the nonprofit reproductive advocacy group Family Health International reviewed 44 hormonal contraceptive trials that included information about the study participants’ weight fluctuations.

Three of the trials compared hormonal contraceptives to inactive placebo, and none showed a significant difference in weight gain among either group.

Forty-one studies compared different types, dosages, or regimens of hormonal contraception.

While women in some of the studies did gain weight, Lopez says there was little to suggest that the weight gain was caused by hormonal contraceptive use.

“Any weight gains that were noted were minimal in terms of health significance,” she says.

The researchers concluded that it is not possible to say for sure that hormonal contraceptives don’t cause weight gain. But they added that “no large effect (was) evident” in the studies they reviewed.

Their analysis appears in the latest issue of the Cochrane Library, published by the nonprofit health policy review group Cochrane Collaborative.

Fear of gaining weight is one of the most common reasons women choose less effective methods of birth control over the pill and other hormonal contraceptives, says Columbia University assistant professor of ob-gyn Katharine O’Connell, MD.

And weight gain is commonly cited as a reason for getting off the pill, she adds.

She tells WebMD that the belief that the pill makes you fat is especially strong among young women. And she says many doctors still warn their patients taking hormonal contraceptives about possible weight gain.

O’Connell and colleagues at Columbia have completed their own review of a different group of studies examining birth control and weight gain. They also found little evidence of a connection.

And in a recently published study comparing low-dose birth control pills to a vaginal contraceptive ring, they reported no significant weight gain in either group.

“Birth control pills will not make you gain weight, but eating too much and not exercising will,” she says. “I know it sounds simplistic, but it is the truth.”


SOURCES: Gallo, M.F. Cochrane Library, Jan. 25, 2006, Issue 1; online edition. Laureen Lopez, PhD, research associate, Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, N.C. Katharine O’Connell, MD, assistant clinical professor of ob-gyn, Columbia University, New York City.

 

[M's girl]

Hmmmmmm..... oh well...... [shrugs]

Must have been a coincidence then. I'm telling you: right after I started, without any other changes in my lifestyle I gained weight. It's not like I blew up like a balloon or so, but it happened and was visible.

My hormones have been playing tricks on me for as long as I can remember and after about 25 years they have finally calmed down a bit. The combination with the pill (I changed birth control pills a few times because of all sorts of trouble, including heavy migraine attacks) was not always a success. I now use an IUD for birth control and I finally have a combination of medication that I can battle my migraines with successfully at SOME times, plus they have decreased somewhat too.

So I don't know, maybe it's all a coincidence but to me, the weight gain, and finally also weight loss again, were at least synchronized to my pill using time as a way of birth control....

 

[SweetErika]

Hmmmmmm..... oh well...... [shrugs]

Must have been a coincidence then. I'm telling you: right after I started, without any other changes in my lifestyle I gained weight. It's not like I blew up like a balloon or so, but it happened and was visible.

My hormones have been playing tricks on me for as long as I can remember and after about 25 years they have finally calmed down a bit. The combination with the pill (I changed birth control pills a few times because of all sorts of trouble, including heavy migraine attacks) was not always a success. I now use an IUD for birth control and I finally have a combination of medication that I can battle my migraines with successfully at SOME times, plus they have decreased somewhat too.

So I don't know, maybe it's all a coincidence but to me, the weight gain, and finally also weight loss again, were at least synchronized to my pill using time as a way of birth control....

While uncommon, it's certainly possible the pill was a major factor for you. I don't doubt it given what the one did to my breasts in such a short period, and it's a well-known side effect with other hormonal methods like Depo Provera and Norplant. I'm guessing a (relatively) small number of women like us who are very sensitive to hormonal fluctuations anyway do have bona fide negative weight/body changes from the pill.

Almost every doctor I've spoken to about the pill tried to debunk the myth that it causes weight gain. I certainly believe the pill doesn't cause it for nearly all women, but there's always that small percentage that has unusual side effects. The funny thing was that I didn't ask about weight gain, and the way the doctors brought it up led me to believe they were focusing on the point that the benefits of the pill are far more important that side effects and unwanted pregnancy. As you know, I had a similar experience with migraines...not one doctor ever said the pill might be causing some of my migraines, and I can only assume they were thinking, 'Oh well...she's going to have bigger problems if she gets pregnant, so preventing that is worth the risk of giving her extra headaches.'

I did a horrid job explaining that, but hopefully it makes some sort of sense.

 

[M's girl]

Almost every doctor I've spoken to about the pill tried to debunk the myth that it causes weight gain.

The funny thing was that I didn't ask about weight gain, and the way the doctors brought it up led me to believe they were focusing on the point that the benefits of the pill are far more important that side effects and unwanted pregnancy.

As you know, I had a similar experience with migraines...not one doctor ever said the pill might be causing some of my migraines, and I can only assume they were thinking, 'Oh well...she's going to have bigger problems if she gets pregnant, so preventing that is worth the risk of giving her extra headaches.'

I did a horrid job explaining that, but hopefully it makes some sort of sense.

No, you did not do a horrid job.

I kept some of your comments in the quote. I think the whole medical industry is such big business moneywise that the 'minor' side effects are sometimes withheld or so, I don't know...

 

[ickle_stace]

i believe i put weight on when i went on the pill

if women didn't put weight on when they're on the pill, why did my doctor have me in every 3 months to check my weight and blood pressure? it was routine because he claimed the pill had made me put weight on and it made my blood pressue a tiny bit high, and so he took me off the pill because it can lead to strokes

the pill also gave me horrible migraines when i had my period, which completely stopped when i came off the pill

 

[naxalite0906]

The pill and depo made my gf gain weight (so she says anyway, but it was more than 10 pounds and after reading this thread you guys could be right) and it also killed off her sex drive, which wasnt particularly high in the first place. I wouldnt recommend it based on what we went through, but then again it could vary for other people.

 

[bigmahi]

You are as likely to lose weight as gain weight.

It's been rigorously studied up and down backwards and forwards.

 

[Bramblethorn]

You're replying to a 13-year-old thread. OP has probably made her decision one way or another by now.

 

[jehoram]

I'm a male, so I don't know from birth control pills.

But my weight went up ... a lot ... when I quit smoking. I don't know whether it was because nicotine was an appetite suppressant or something else, but I gained about five pounds a year for the next eight years. The funny thing is that I don't think my eating habits or intake changed that much, so I'm wondering if the nicotine was upping my metabolism or something.

 

[AveryElle]

You know what’s worse than weight gain? An accidental pregnancy.

 

[Jada59]

I'm a male, so I don't know from birth control pills.

But my weight went up ... a lot ... when I quit smoking. I don't know whether it was because nicotine was an appetite suppressant or something else, but I gained about five pounds a year for the next eight years. The funny thing is that I don't think my eating habits or intake changed that much, so I'm wondering if the nicotine was upping my metabolism or something.

I quit smoking. I did gain but I was pregnant. Hehe. I also had a thyroid problem so I was losing and gaining 12 pounds overnight. That was 22 years ago. I now weigh the same as I did before I was pregnant. My body just seems to like this weight!