Stopping birth control and weight gain.

what is your status with weight loss/gain now? I too went off the pill after being on it for many years and got a paragard and have gained quite a bit of weight for me. any advice?

Yes I have this problems as well. Although I 15 I took the birth control recently for hormonal problems and my doctor prescribed it. I eat so little and i have put on 8 pounds in a week. I don't know what to do at all since I can't get off them yet my body has blown up in size so fast

I am also off pill and gaining weight continually for over 1/2 year. It's depressed coz i am eating 1500 kcal/per day (super-healthy) and excercise a lot. I don't know what to do. 

I went off the pill after 10 years of taking it. I'm 30, and I gained 30 lbs in 6 months. My doc says that due to something to do with androgens, my metabolism has slowed way down now that I'm off the pill.

Don't get on the pill!

Though I am a teenager I was on birth control for really heavy periods (I was passing out due to blood loss)

I stoped in December and have gained 20 pounds since. My diet has actually been HEALTHIER and I have been working out but I still gained anyway.

My Doc says my hormones are messed up and I should go back to normal after a while. I'm going to start working out more to get some of this weight off but it's still upseting to randomly gain so much weight.

Thank you for these comments. I just went off the pill after being on it for over ten years. Some of those years i was on it because doctors were trying to regulate my hormones because I have migaines. I do admit, my headaches this mont have been worse since I have been off the pill and I have gained a large amount of weight. I barely have any pants that fit me. I don't even look the same to myself. It's not nice to feel like this all of a sudden. Thanks for helping with the explanation. Now for a solution . . .

unfortunately, I can also relate to all of you, and as a (recent) previous poster mentioned, it does usually have something to do with androgens...which are the male sex hormones. 

I went on Marvelon 1 year ago (I had also been on it years ago), to help balance my hormones after my second child, as I was having problems with acne and zero success at losing the last 10 lbs (vanity pounds!) and my daughter was already 2.5 years old at that time, so we're   My weight did not change at all for the first 2 - 3 months after starting Marvelon; however, after that, I did notice that all of my weight-loss efforts (running, kettlebells, very clean diet) were finally showing some slow, gradual results, of about 1 - 2 lbs loss per month, whereas before Marvelon, none of my extreme efforts resulted in any weight change whatsoever.  I did suspect that my sudden, minor 5 lb weight-loss might have had something to do with Marvelon, but it happened so gradually   over a period of about 9 months, that I though that maybe it was really all of my exercise/diet efforts that were finally starting to pay off.  However, I just stopped Marvelon 2 months ago, and bam.....up 5 - 6 lbs instantly....all in 1 week.... and without any changes in diet, exercise, medications...nothing!  All of my "hard work" over the past year to lose 5 lbs, was completely negated in 1 freaking week of coming off the pill.  Also, I am a Registered Dietitian, so although that doesn't make me perfect with my diet/exercise by any means, my physician totally believed me when I emphatically informed him that I did not make a single change to ANYTHING I was eating or doing during that week that I gained the weight, other than stopping the pill. 

Although, I think a shift in fluid balance is somewhat to blame in some instances, I also think that the shift in hormone balance is largely to blame for why some women lose, and some women gain when the come off of the pills.  I do think in my case, and with the particular pill I was on (Marvelon), my weight and skin are better when on that pill because of its effect on androgen hormones like testosterone.  Unfortunately, I don't think I will have any easy time losing this 5 lbs that I have just gained, but all I can hope for is that that I'm done gaining!!!

 

Did your weight ever go back to normal? I too, am gaining weight after discontinuing the pill.

I stopped taking the pill after 18yrs and have also gained weight around my stomach area, have always had a flat stomach so this is very depressing. I didn't expect this to happen.

I started taking the pill in February 2012 and maintained my weight the 4 months that I took the pill. As soon as I stopped taking it my weight jumped around 12 pounds in 3+ weeks! What am I to do? I am a college athlete therefore my weight is very crucial to how I preform. I exercise daily and eat fairly healthy. Nothing has changed since being on the pill. I believe the pill is the reason for this weight gain. Should I start back on the pill and see if my weight goes back down?

Exact same story for me. It's extremely depressing and wish it would go away. I've read that it take 1 year for your body to get back to normal after stopping but I feel like a whale and want to be back to my old body and not feel so puffy and bloated. Jeans I bought 2 months ago don't even fit. It is unreal. I can't understand how doctors have no explaination for this.

It's very discouraging reading all over the internet about this happening and no other solution other than "get back on the pill"... I'm sure there has to be, but people usually only make a point to post when they are having issues and never come back with any positive results. My only solution apparently, is to be hopeful that by the time I want to get off it again there will be a better solution. LOL  soooo sad.....!!!

My sob story: I have eaten waaay better and exercised more in this last 6 months(after stopping Seasonique) than I ever have in my LIFE(27yrs) and I keep gaining weight(25% of my entire body weight, I gained!!! yeeeesh). I'm sorry to those of you reading this hoping for some positive posts with helpful advice this is just another hopeless post by a very frustrated hopeless person.

Someone must have SOMETHING!!! Please awesome people if you're reading this and something worked for you, or works for you in the future, please come back and share it with us hopeless folks and it will be a glorious day for all~ ;)

I agree. I have not seen a lot of people post solutions to this problem. Although someone did say everything went back to normal for her since she got pregnant and had her first child. But I'm 27 yrs old and am not going to have a child just to get rid of this water weight gain. I have tried some things that helped a little so I wanted to share them.

I have a similar story to most others here. I was only on birth control for 2 months - 2 different ones because I gained weight immediately and tried to switch to another to see if it would help, but it made it so much worse. I went from 108lbs to 123lbs. I was petrified because I was always naturally skinny with a flat stomach and all of a sudden I couldn't fit into my clothes.

Not only did the pills affect my weight, it also changed the regularity of how often I went to the bathroom. Whereas before, I would have a speedy metabolism and went to the bathroom frequently, all of a sudden I had constant constipation and just didn't feel good all around.

I did a lot of research and went to many doctors (gynocologist, endocronologist, family doc, etc) , but no one was helpful. They either told me to wait it out and that my body would turn back to normal, or I was basically making it up. One honest doctor told me she just doesn't know...maybe this was my body's way of transitioning into my late 20's. This was probably my most frustrating time. I was so angry with myself for starting to take the pill and so angry with the doc that prescribed them for not warning me about the side effects if I was to ever get off the pill. I was only on it for 2 months! This shouldn't have impacted me like this!

So now, almost a year and a half later, I am still struggling, though it has gotten a little better for me and I tried some things that might have helped. Here are some things that I tried:

1. Changing my diet - I was someone that was always able to eat what I wanted without gaining weight, but since this whole incident, I had to really watch everything I put in my mouth. I became more conscious of the amount of sodium I intake and the portions that I eat. Drinking lots of water to flush out the excess water and salt really helps too.

2. Accupuncture - I read that this helped some people so I tried it. It did help a little.

3. Natural Herbal Medication - Because I know that my hormones became imbalanced from birth control pills, I started taking Macafem, which naturally supports hormonal imbalance. This did help a little as well. I am currently also taking something called Punarnava Mandoor, which is a natural Ayurvedic Medicine from India. It's main function is to reduce water retention and edema. It smells really funky and is nauseating when drinking it down, but I try to remember the end results I can have by taking it. I haven't taken it long enough to know if it actually works because I do it on and off, but I will try taking it consistently and will hopefully see positive outcomes.

Exercising - I am not one that is naturally into exercising so it's still a struggle for me to do it consistently, but when I do it and sweat, I feel my water retention get better. I plan on joining the gym sometime soon so I can do some cardio and toning so I can see my stomach go back to what it used to be.

So those are some things I tried that helped. Unfortunately, nothing was a miracle for me that brought my body back to normal, but it certainly helped in shedding a few water weight pounds. 118lbs seems to be my consistent weight now-a-days, so I'll keep at it to see how I can make that change. Everytime I have my period now, my hormones fluctuate and I might get a few skinny days in before going back to my "normal" state. I know my old body is there somewhere, so I'll continue my search for a miracle.

If anyone else has anything they tried that was helpful, please feel feel free to share. Hope this was helpful to someone!

I was on BC for almost 20 years and decided to stop about 3 months ago because I wanted to remove as many outside chemicals as possible due to the fact that I am HYPERthyroid (speeds up metabolism). AND since I stopped. I have gained 10 lbs ANNNND my thyroid has gone overactive again! Which usually means RAPID weightloss...soo...coming off BC trumped my excessively overactive thyroid (which caused me to loose 15lbs in 2mos. the year before-despite eating whatever I wanted and not exercising..) Now I am on a very controlled diet (no sugar, gluten, alcohol, all organic, no processed foods) and exercising regularly....and BTW- the same diet minus the exercise while on BC kept my weight steady even when my thyroid went in the underactive direction...which usually causes weight gain...so, chances are its the BC.

I can totally relate...I've been on birth control pills for 20+ years...I immediately gained weight when stopping, I thought my body would regulate itself in a few months...20 pounds, stretch marks, and 8 months later with working out 5 days a week, cardio, weights, running stairs...no relief in site..