Sudden weight gain after stopping birth control?!

What was your treatment ? Sounds like me !!!

Im so happy I'm not crazy. Literally nothing has changed in my life except coming off BC after about 14 years. I was on lo lo estrin, which I would guess was low enough that my BC wasn't overy compensating for a hormonal imbalance (but maybe). I have always been 117-122. I now am usually aboutlet 130 and it's all in my stomach. Now, I am runner, about 40 miles a week and I work out 30-90 minutes 5 days a week. I don't have a day of rest, and I have gained weight since coming off the pill right December 23. I am miserable with myself and even more working out and less calories and better food isn't making and difference :(

I just quit my pill after being on it for 6 years, my husband and I are finally trying to have a baby. I'm SOOOO BLOATED IT HURTS! I take probiotics, live ones from the natural store, and I only feel less bloated when I first wake up. Anything I eat I'm severely uncomfortable after, and I'm a vegetarian. So I was wondering how everyone's updates were?

I wanted to share my story with you all. I've been on ortho tricyclen lo for 25 years for bad periods. I've wanted to get off for a long time, but was too afraid of the negative side effects of getting off mainly the acne. Recently, I came across a blog of women "weaning" off their pill to soften the blow of the horrific side effects of getting off the pill. All of the women who've tried have had success with little to no side effects. I'm halfway through my weaning process and am now cutting 1/4 of my birth control pill. I'll go another month of cutting 1/4, then be totally off. I started cutting 1/4, then half my pill, then the last 1/4. The whole process has taken about 6 months. I know that doctors would not recommend this method, but it's the only way I would have been willing to even try getting off the pill after being on so long. When you just stop the pill cold turkey, your body goes into shock and that's what's causing all of the weight gain, acne, hair loss, etc. in conjunction to weaning, 

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Did you have any luck with the Maca? I've never heard of it but just googled it. Sounds like it would be worth a shot!

HI all i went off Yaz a few months ago and have gained about 20 pounds in 2-3 months. Exercise and low cal diet didn't help. What helped me lose 10 pounds over 3 months is a low carb diet.... I've always had a slimmer waist than hip but after coming off Yaz my stomach bloated and everyone asked if I was pregnant... and don't mention the acne...but after going on a low carb diet the bloating seems to have gone down and only goes up again when I indulge in a carb-binge... acne seems to have disappeared too. By low carb i mean

Hi guys I'm so glad I found this thread. So glad I'm not alone in this!

So I'd been taking Estelle since I was 16. Decided I wanted to go off it when I was 22 as it was causing me severe depression and mood swings and my sex drive was quite literally dead which caused problems with me and my SO.

I finished my pill packet just on the last few days of my holiday abroad and I has gained 2.5kg while I was there which is normal I was enjoying all the different food and alcoholic beverages :-)

A month after I had been home and being pill free I noticed I gained another 2.5kg even though I had been eating healthy and going to the gym as much as I could. I noticed all the weight was in my belly hips and thighs.

I thought ok this isn't working and went on a different pill which was yazmin. Well yazmin didn't agree with me at all I was on it for 2 months and it gave me horrible bloating and acne and my sex drive had died again and I had gained 2 more kg. So all up 7kg in the span of 3 months.

Went back on Estelle because I thought hey I never gained weight on it and was on that for 2 months and yep nothing was working and went off the pill for a second time.

I feel so bad as I think I have totally screwed up my hormones and my body all this stuffing around with the birth control. :/

It's been 2 weeks and I'm super bloated I look 9 months pregnant before I go to sleep and i have been working hard at the gym 3 cardio sessions and 2 weight lifting sessions a week and very healthy eating and cut down on chocolate and wine (my favourite!) I'm going to stick to this for at LEAST 6 months and see how it goes. It just seems like my weight really doesn't want to budge or go down. I'm going to try the dandelion root tea and primrose and probiotics and see if that at least helps the protruding bloating.

I'll give an update in 3 months time :) thanks for reading and remember your not alone! Hopefully we will find a remedy soon!

You're gaining weight because you're eating too few calories. If you eat less than 1200 calories a day your body goes into starvation mode and will turn everything you eat into fat automatically. If you work out you need to replace the calories burned to be back at 1200 at least.

I agree!! What was your treatment? Help!

What was your course of treatment if you don't care I ask? I was on birth control for about 7-8 years. When I got married in 06' I went off bc and gained 60 pounds in probably 2 years. I was thinking a lot about my weight gain over the past week, and the only thing that changed was the bc.

What was the proper therapy bc I'm having very similar experience.

I am in the boat as everyone here. I'm 37 and I was on BCP for about 25 years, Yaz for the last 5+. I went off of it cold turkey because my husband and I are trying to get pregnant. I've always weighed between 120-135lbs and always had a very small waist. Within 6 weeks I was up to 150lbs with no change in my diet and exercise routine-- almost all of it is in my midsection. The only time I feel "normal" is when my period comes. For about four days the bloating goes away, I drop between 4-7lbs magically, and then it all comes right back. Sometimes I feel alright in the morning, but the second I eat, my stomach area bloats up again... this morning all I had was lettuce and within 20 mins I felt like an elephant. I went to see an OBGYN and he just told me this tends to happen and to watch my carbs. No amount of working out or sweating seems to help much... although some light weight training seems to have helped me lose the bloat in my upper body a bit. I've also started to get acne on my chin out of nowhere. I sweat a ton the second my body temp goes up. The only other change I've noticed is that my hair has started growing for the first time since I was a kid... I haven't been able to get it past my shoulders in years and now it seems to be normal.

I've been testing some natural remedies. I already eat clean: vegetarian and only water and green tea. I drink socially, but I'm going to stop that now to avoid the sugar. Guzzling water seems to help a little bit. I had 7+ liters yesterday (no joke) and I think it helped clear up my face. Salt baths and diuretic foods seem to help minimize some of it (e.g., asparagus). I'm thinking about trying some supplements like Evening Primrose or Dandelion Root. Otherwise, I think I will just start exercising a bit more with some light stretching and that sort of thing and hope that my body works itself out over time.

Right now I'm still collecting my monthly Yaz RX and stock piling it for after we either have children or find out that we can't. I'll have to talk to doctors and do some more research, but my thought is that I'd rather go back on it than feel horrible everyday.

I am experiencing the same thing! I have been off of Lo Loestrin for 2 years and I still have not been able to lean out despite extreme workout programs. The negative sex drive and extreme vaginal dryness has still not returned. Again, doctors say my hormone levels are normal. I'm beyond infuriated! I have never had any weigh issues, anxiety, sex drive or vaginal dryness before in my life. I wish I could go back and never have take the pill! My body seems to have stabilized to the hormone level the pill was giving me during that time. I am not ovulating at all, per the most recent test. They want to give me more pills to get me pregnant, but I was to be back to normal first! Maybe we could have been pregnant by now had I never taken this stupid pill. Has anyone bounced back from this situation?

Hey ladies! I'm no doctor but I have the same issue but have started exercising and eating more healthy foods with no progress. After extensive online research I found 3 women who got progesterone tests and found their progesterone levels to be extremely low. This happens because your body is dependent on the synthetic hormones. Once you come off BCP your body may take months to years to produce natural hormones. Apparently progesterone helps to decrease appetite, lower weight, improve mood (anxiety, depression, irritability). I'm not sure why this isn't more well known and many doctors just tell their patients to eat less and exercise and don't even admit it could be a hormone deficiency... I'm going to my gyno to get a test done as well as my annual.

I feel your frustration!! I was taking yaz for years with no side effects until I stopped taking it in order to try to become pregnant. While I haven't become pregnant yet, I've since gained 20 lbs in 11 months! I exercise with a combo of interval cardio and weights 6 days a week, consult with a dietitian to be sure eating properly and yet... not a single pound lost!!! It's so frustrating and upsetting