Birth Control?

Ive started dieting but recently, due to frequent periods, my doctor has put me on birth control to regulate my periods.

Will this affect my weight loss or make me gain weight? I knew of one girl who gained a whole bunch of weight as a result of taking the pill.

I gained 10lbs in the first 2 weeks on birth control. It was so depressing, I ended up discontinuing the drugs. I'll never ever go on them again. Now I'm fat and I can't shed the weight.

Birthcontrol doesn't "Make" you gain weight, but it CAN increase your appitite.  So you start eating more without meaning to, and it can get out of control.  Some people gain, some people don't.  It also depends on the dosage.

i think it has a different affect on each individual...birth control has done wonders for me...ive lost weight since ive been on it (although i dont think it has much to do with the pill) its cleared up my skin etc.  the only time i am heavier is when i have my period...which is completely normal...i would give it a try and see how it works for you

i'm 28 and was on the pill (many different estrogen forms) and the ring for about 13 years. When I stopped taking birth control about 2 years ago i was completely able to lose those "last 5 pounds." I definitely noticed a difference in my hips, which had always been, ahem, curvy.

i didn't necessarily gain weight when i started, that i remember, but it does make me think the estrogen made a womanly difference. not that it helped out in the upper area.

and obviously it wasn't that big of a hurdle considering i'm birth control free and working on those 10 lbs again.

I have been off and on the pill several times in the last 10 years and it has not affected my weight in the slightest- definitely depends on the individual.

I went on the depro provera shot about 7 years ago and gained 50 lbs. I think it slowed my metabolism, and increased my appetite. I was just eating a lot more food, and unhealthy food. Look at the stats on your particular birth control. It should tell you for example 5 people in 1000 reported weight gain. Also, as far as I know most people only gain about 5 lbs. The formulas now have a lot less estrogen in them than they used to. There are also many types to try, so talk with your doctor if it doesn't work out for you.

I've been on BC for like 5 years, and switched between like 10 kinds, and the only one that made me gain was Depo. Depo is the devil.

What kind of bc are you on, there are so many, and they have different effects.

Also different women can react differently to the same bc. Many women seem to have problems with depo, but I must be some sort of freak of nature as I love it. {no more TOM for almost 3 years now}, though I do have to exercise and make sure I get enough calcium, things I would do anyway.

They key is to continue to eat healthy, get plenty of exercise and don't smoke.  Sometimes you may need to try different forms of bc until you find one you can live with and you like.

I feel like BC has made me gain weight too. And the weird thing is, after I got off of it for a about 6 month, I stopped having regular periods... and the weight remained too...

The only hormonal birth control proven to cause significant weight gain is the depo provera shot. The idea that 'the pill' causes weight gain is a myth. It's based on a couple of things. One, 'the pill' can increase hunger, so continue to watch what you eat. Two, almost every woman whether on 'the pill' or not gains weight at the end of puberty in her late teens/early twenties and this is also the time that many women start taking 'the pill'. Trhee, older high dose pills did cause weight gain, but these pills are not on the market anymore. Last, you may retain water and gain this way, but again, it's not significant.

Well, I gained a little under 5 pounds when I started taking it, but I attribute that more to starting college and eating many more french fries than I had in high school. I switched to seasonale (4 periods a year)  a year ago and my breasts have certainly benefitted from it (not that they needed any help), and I think that's part of why I am constantly 135 to 138, rather than the 132 to 135 I was on the normal 28 day ones.

Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease ask your doctor to do a blood test to measure your hormone levels before he/she starts you on the pill. Every person's body is different, and different pills work for different people. Most BC pills are low enough that you shouldn't experience side effects on the scale, but if you do, then you are on the wrong pill.

I'm on Yasminelle now, and it's the best I've ever used!

like some others said, it depends on the person, the type, the brand and just about everything else....

you dont know until you do it. EVERYBODY is different.

for example, ive heard over and over again that the depo shot is evil, but ive also heard over and over again that its fabulous for some people..it all just depends.

I personally take seasonale due to horrid crippling cramps...4 a year > 12 a year...cramps literally stops me in my tracks, i pass out, and am bed ridden...along with all the bloating and..uh..stomach issues..etc etc.....so it works for me :D

Ive also been on three other brands, and didnt gain weight with any of them.....now eatting like crap...yeah gained weight from that :D

i went on yasmin about a year ago due to horribly rediculous cramps, headaches...the works. it has done wonders for me and no weight gain. 

you might want to talk to your doctor about pcos if you have the following symptoms:

infrequent/no periods
excessive hair growth
hair loss on the scalp
unexplained weight gain

i just say that because i've never had regular periods, and now, at 23, i was diagnosed with pcos.

I started taking Birth Control shortly before I started consciously trying to loose weight, and I haven't noticed any kind of slowdown because of it. I was on Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo for 3 months and then switched to the NuvaRing (which I LOVE, by the way - I highly recommend it), and have still managed to lose 35 lbs. in 4 months.

I also say depo is the devil!! It didn't cause me to gain weight, and it actually made my appetite go away, but I instead had a constant heavy period that lasted 5 straight months! I've been on about 4 other kinds of bc since, and they all had different effects on me (dryness, spotting, infections) but I didn't gain any weight from them.

birth control made my boobs bigger lol

I want to go on birth control (not for sexual reaons... I just want clearer skin and stop all this period madness). But I don't know how I would bring this up with my mom...