HI,

I saw in the news yesterday that "they" are saying that the pill does not cause weight gain. I saw an interview with a Dr. saying that that's just an excuse we all have when we start gaining weight. I'm sorry, but I know for a fact I gained weight after starting the pill. Now my excuse is that I'm almost 40, hehe. :confused:

Well, I will bet the 15 pounds of fat I gained, that that Dr. is somehow associated with one of the BC companies, either works directly for them or is getting some huge kickback....you were probably watching an infomercial disguised as medical news! :eek:

The pill generally causes water weight gain, which isn't "true" weight gain. When the woman in question DOES gain actual weight, it's usually because the pill caused an increase in appetite, which in turn caused the patient to eat more and therefore gain weight.

you can state it in a complicated way if you prefer, which is like saying water doesn't quench your thirst, but it is the atoms in it and the chemcial reactions they cause in your body that causes the result, or you could get philosophical and say an orange isn't really orange, but appears to be that color from the amount of light it absorbs and reflects, but I am a simple person who keeps things simple. Pill has chemicals that increase appetite that results in increased food consumption that results in weight gain....sound better? I prefer pill causes weight gain and leave the chemistry behind it to the pill's pharmaceutical company. Makes me roll my eyes when people argue that it only causes water gain. So all the extra food eaten from the increased appetite just disappears and burns without causing weight gain? Increased mass size of thighs, stomach and face is all water? Not in my situation. I wish I was the one of the people who only gained water, but me and every other female I personally know who takes or took the pill gained lard fat weight gain.

How can they deny that it can affect your weight? It's even stated in the information leaflet as a possible side effect...

I was on the pill for 16 years and over the years increasingly got heavier and heavier. I was constantly hungry on it and took really bad shaky, sweaty dizzy turns if I went more than 4 hours without food. I could n't even sleep at night for the hunger and doctors found nothing wrong with me. I went to the gym 3 times a week for 2 hours ( constantly got into trouble for pushing too hard ) 1 hour of physio, and 2 hours of yoga back strengthening classes and walked at least 14 miles a week as well as 12 hours a day heavy housework, gardening and DIY ! Yes I lost weight, but could n't get below 12 stone and was ready to pass out with hunger at the gym. Don't get me wrong ..... I loved being on the pill but since stopping 4 months ago to TTC, I have lost 2 stone without trying whatso ever ( I gave up with the gym too ). My appetite has completely gone and I no longer take the shaky turns.

But if they say the pill does n't cause weight gain .......................:rolleyes:

thing is, if you can resist those extra hunger urges for about two weeks or so--fill up on something like water if you can't stick to not putting much on your plate--then your body will realize you aren't going to give it extra food and settle down. tougher than it sounds, but if you know taking the pill will make you hungrier (esp at first) then it makes sense that you'd work hard to eat less. no need to starve yourself, of course. just whine for a few days. tee hee. that's what i did & it worked. i didn't gain a thing.

Yeah, well, I was watching what I ate (counting calories) and for me the weight didn't come from extra eating....

I have been on birth control for 11 years. Most of the time I was on ortho tricyclen but got switched to lo for a while, then trinessa, etc. I have been having a lot of problems lately so my dr. gave me a 3 month sample supply of Ovcon-35 to try. My weight has been the same since I was 19 - I am 27 now - between 130 and 135. Yet somehow I magically gained 15 pounds in the last two months since I started Ovcon-35. Coincidence? i think not. Even at my heaviest I have never weighed 150 .. it has to be the ovcon.

my daughter gained 20 lbs on lo ortho she was miserable about it. the nurse at her college said it wasn't the birth control pill. bull,,,,, she went off it and started losing the weight. she had only been on it 8 months

I'm in your daughter's position right now. Have been on BC for about 6 months and HONESTLY have not changed my eating habits whatsoever and still have gained almost 15 lbs!!! What the heck!!

I'm in your daughter's position right now. Have been on BC for about 6 months and HONESTLY have not changed my eating habits whatsoever and still have gained almost 15 lbs!!! What the heck!!

Me too, except my weight gain has been over three months, so it has been even faster!! What the heck is what i always say too.

I was on the pill to regulate my periods, but the cons outweighed everything. I heard the pill makes many women infertile after they get off of it if they took it for a long period. Also, it made me feel tired all the time, very moody and I gained so much weight and weighed more than I ever had before so thank god i'm back to my normal self again. I think they should make smaller doses for smaller sized people because I felt hormoned out and going bezerk. What a nightmare those few months were. The doctor recommended I take the pill, I think she wanted me to get fat or something because she kept saying how skinny I was and never mentioned the fat side effect. I'm not going to go back for a folllow up appointment until I lose all the weight I gained from it, that b***.

I was on the pill to regulate my periods, but the cons outweighed everything. I heard the pill makes many women infertile after they get off of it if they took it for a long period. Also, it made me feel tired all the time, very moody and I gained so much weight and weighed more than I ever had before so thank god i'm back to my normal self again. I think they should make smaller doses for smaller sized people because I felt hormoned out and going bezerk. What a nightmare those few months were. The doctor recommended I take the pill, I think she wanted me to get fat or something because she kept saying how skinny I was and never mentioned the fat side effect. I'm not going to go back for a folllow up appointment until I lose all the weight I gained from it, that b***.

The pill does NOT make women infertile.

The pill does NOT make women infertile.
Well, they say it doesn't make women fat either, but I've heard of a lot of women no longer able to conceive once they got off of it...

I was on nuva ring first and didn't gain weight. I switched to yasmin and gained 5 lb in a month and I was always hungry. I got off the pill and lost the 5 lb instantly. So whether it is water weight or fat weight, who cares if both are making you look bigger and clothes fit tighter!!! And the hunger was really bad for me. So in any event even if the pill indirectly makes you gain weight it is still happening therefor a problem!

So whether it is water weight or fat weight, who cares if both are making you look bigger and clothes fit tighter!!! And the hunger was really bad for me. So in any event even if the pill indirectly makes you gain weight it is still happening therefor a problem!

I don't understand why you are saying "who cares" if it makes you look bigger and clothes fit tighter. I guess you're an exception, but most girls don't like to look bigger and have their clothes fit tighter...

Also, not sure why you are inserting "indirectly". That's like saying aids "indirectly" leads to death, for example if someone gets sick from conditions associated to aids, people don't say it indirectly was what lead to the death (they don't say directly either for that matter).

or smoking "indirectly" leads to lung cancer. Do you want to go into to the biology of it or what is your point saying "indirectly" and where are you coming from saying "who cares"? I don't understand how you are thinking.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think what besafe20 is basically saying about the 'weight thing' is that weight gain is weight gain, whether it's due to water retention or an increased appetite, it doesn't matter. Essentially, both types of weight gain will make you bigger and will make your clothes fit tighter. That's how I interpreted what she said anyway. Also, another way you gain weight on the pill is by it slowing down your metabolism. This happened to me on Estrostep FE. Yeah, I might have been eating a little more while I was on it (not entirely sure, don't remember as it was four years ago). However, at the time I was working out regularly (at least 4 days/wk) trying to lose weight and ended up gaining instead. I'm not talking about muscle either. I'm talking about 15lbs. in 5 months and going from a size '12' to a '16'! :nono:

I don't understand why you are saying "who cares" if it makes you look bigger and clothes fit tighter. I guess you're an exception, but most girls don't like to look bigger and have their clothes fit tighter...

Also, not sure why you are inserting "indirectly". That's like saying aids "indirectly" leads to death, for example if someone gets sick from conditions associated to aids, people don't say it indirectly was what lead to the death (they don't say directly either for that matter).

or smoking "indirectly" leads to lung cancer. Do you want to go into to the biology of it or what is your point saying "indirectly" and where are you coming from saying "who cares"? I don't understand how you are thinking.

Your argument is flawed. They DO infact say someone died of "AIDS-related complications". AIDS itself does NOT generally result in death. AIDS obliterates the immune system. It's the oppertunistic infections that move in and take up residence in a person infected with AIDS that ultimately cause death.

BeSafe was not saying she did not care about weight gain, but that she did not care whether it was water weight or fat that caused the numbers on the scale to go up.

My bad! :angel:

Yeah you had my post totally wrong. The other posters were correct. I meant why would it comfort us women to know that the pill dsoesn't cause an increase in fat but water weight instead. Either way you are looking bigger and clothes get tighter. And the doctors are saying the pill doesn't directly make you get fat but the increase in appetite would. If you are starving all the time then you have to eat and gain weight or be miserable starving. So whether the pill directly or indirectly makes you gain weight it is still a problem. So thats what I meant hope I cleared that up.

Well, for most women it's not water weight gain only but also fat weight gain. Most women (except for the few lucky ones including yourself I guess) gain more than 5 pounds. If I remember correctly, you were on it for a month and gained 5. I agree most of that could be water weight gain, but read the hundreds of other posts here and you'll see that women gain a lot more. I gained 15 pounds in 3 months and it freaked me out. LIke other women, no matter how much I ate, i still felt hungry.

My sister got on the pill a couple of weeks ago (to regulate her period after a miscarriage of twins) and the doctor told her that the pill also slows down the metabolism.

After getting off the pill, I immediately lost a few pounds which was probably water, but I'm working on the rest which is fat - on my thighs, butt and stomach....The hormone in the pill gives you cravings, like during the PMS time except it lasts for every day of the month instead of for those few days.