Can Birth Control Make You Gain a Lot of Weight

alberg · Silver Member Joined: 12 Aug 2000 Posts: 267

Hello. I am a 23 year old female who has been on the birth control pill since I was 17 years old. I started practicing sex as very young and last thing I needed was to get pregnant that young.
My parents would kill me.
Anyway, I've got used on these pills and really have no problems with any possible side effects that could theoretically occur. But, recently I have noticed that I have put some extra pounds and the thing that confuses me is that I haven’t changed my feeding regime. Just recently I have read that this could be from using these pills. Is this true?

maisano · Newbie Joined: 30 Oct 2004 Posts: 14

I was also interested in this issue before I started using these pills and I have read that birth control pills can indeed alter your water metabolism. Both, the estrogen and progestin, in the pills can cause fluid retention. But, beside this, many studies have been done around the world trying to decide if oral contraceptives cause weight gain and most of them showed no association between the pill and weight gain.
You should also know that there are hundreds of reasons why women gain weight that are not pill-related such as drinking some drugs like antidepressants, changes in eating habits or lack of physical activity.
You could also talk with your health provider about this to switch on another birth control pill if you think it's possible that your pill is causing weight gain.

omg ray · Newbie Joined: 31 Jul 2006 Posts: 5

im very underweight and i just recently got put on birth control. im trying to gain weight so when i got on the birth control i asked for a birth control that would not make me gain weight so that i could gain it on my own without depending on medicine.

the birth control i take is ortho tri-cyclen.
it doesnt make you gain weight

Guest · Posted: 10/18/06 - 21:22 Post subject:

well i was also on th pill and instead of gaining weight I lost like tons of weight and I don't understand why because I don't smoke nor drink so how is it possible that I lost my weight?

Guest · Posted: 10/22/06 - 18:16 Post subject:

what kind of birth control are you using?

Amanda252 · Newbie Joined: 28 Dec 2006 Posts: 15

Ive been on a lot of different kinds of birth control, depending on the birth control. your hungery may very. the depo- shot will make you eat more. but most birth controls. you can control your intake of food eat healthy and workout.... hope i helped

mosquitobooger · Newbie Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 4

I don't know anything about the studies you mentioned but after my first child was born. I was 19 and I got the first of 3 Depo Provera shots and within a month I gained 20lbs. I never got the second shot. 8 months later I decided to try the pill. I gained 40lbs in 3 weeks. I immediatly stopped using them and haven't touched them since. That was in 2000. In January 2006 I had the Merena IUD inserted. It was inplace for 6 weeks. During that time I bled non-stop, like I was having a 6 week long period and once again I gained 25 lbs even though my OB/GYN insisted that I wouldn't gain any weight. After each of the tries at birthcontrol I gain alot of weight really fast and I have NEVER been able to lose it. In 2000 after my daughter was born I was a size 6 weighing 110 lbs just right for my small 5'2" frame. Now I'm a size 16 weighing 200 lbs all because of the birth control. No diet or exercise regime I've tried has been able to make me lose the weight.

Guest · Guest

In the first few days of taking birth control do you feel any side affects?.. if not when will you feel thoughs side affects? im taking yasmin an i only been on it for 3 days.. the mgs im taking is 0.03 is that alot or no????.. PLEASE answer back thank you!!

BloodFlower0017 · Newbie Joined: 13 May 2007 Posts: 1

my gynecologist told me that when you get on a birth control your breasts are supposed to get bigger, and that it is possible to gain about 10 pounds. but from what i see on here, there are many many cases astray from this. everyone's body is different and will react differently to ANY medications. if it's an outrageous amount of weight gained, just get off of the pill and try another one. trial and error sucks, but it's necessary sometimes. i got on the birth control for acne, and it doesn't help at all for me. probably because i'm on lamictal, it makes my face break out pretty badly. hope everyone is well!

Guest · Guest

Hello everyone, first of all i am on the patch and instantly i gained 10 lbs within three weeks. Granted i was pregnant three months or so ago, but i didn't carry full term due to a miscarriage, so basically i carried about 5 lbs. pregnancy weight into the patch. The patch sucks as far as weight gain goes. My boobs that are normally a B are almost D's and swollen. They look unnatural and ugly.

So to make a long story short i ripped the patch off.

Can Birth Control Make You Gain a Lot of Weight

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