Fewer periods or no period birth control!!

Is anyone taking this type of birth control? I used to do this but now I'm concerned about doing it again because I'm afraid of gaining the weight that I worked so hard to lose back, but I absolutely hate having periods. I want to eliminate them but at what cost. Can someone please post their experiences with this type of birth control and tell whether or not it's affected your weight if you are also counting your calories and working out? thanks.

I take the pill continuously.  LOVE it.  I I've been on one form or another of the pill since I was 17, I've never gained weight from any of them.

i've been taking the generic pill with the steady dose for about 3 years, I can't think of the name right now, but my doctor said you can take it for three months straight, then take one week off.  On the week off, my period doesn't even come, maybe just 2-3 days of spotting.  no cramps or anything. 

the best part - no weight gain and no crazy mood swings or freak outs.  plus it's only 10 bucks for three months worth.

rdgate ~ two of my best friends have had really bad experiences with the Depo shot as well.  one of them reckons it messed up her periods for about a year (she only took one shot)  then she basically had a period for about 3 months STRAGIHT.  the other just had general health probs with it migranes, weight gain, dizzyness. 

What are everyone's ages?

I'm 31 and I do want kids but I do not want a period for the time being. My doctor gave me Yaz and once I start it next month I plan to just take it continuously for 3 months and then go off, or I may call my doctor to get the acutal pill that is made for that. My doctor told me that her patients have the best experience with Yaz than the others.

Original Post by neishaw:

What are everyone's ages?

I'm 24 now.  So I've been on/off the pill for 7 years.

I took Seasonale for over a year and hated it.  I bled when I wasn't supposed to for the entire time I was on it (read, I spotted probably once a week) meaning that I still had to use condoms, I gained about 15 pounds more than when I was on ortho tri-cyclin, and I was super moody.

 I've not heard anything good from anyone on the pills you take that let you have one period for 3 months, and the shot lowers bone density i think.  

Periods are annoying and gross, but I'd rather deal with them when i expect them instead of what I was going through with Seasonale or having to worry more about osteoporosis which I'm already predisposed towards as I age. 

I was on Seasonale for 2 years and just last month switched to Seasonique (same thing, but with a little lower dose and the "period week" pills also have a little hormone in them to make the period lighter). I also had taken Seasonale for a year just after it came out.

I have to say, the first whole pack (three months) for each time I started Seasonale, I spotted basically constantly. But after I had my period the first time at the end of the pack, I didn't spot at all until the end of month two. I then just stopped taking the pills to have my period and then went back on them after a week.

That worked, but when I talked to my doctor she mentioned the new Seasonique is supposed to have less spotting because of the lower dose. So, I'm just getting to the end of month two on it. I'm waiting to see if I have any spotting. Either way, it means I have a minimum of 6 periods a year instead of 12.

A percentage of women are going to have more frequent spotting on pills like these. It just happens. But most women, according to my doctor, don't have much of a problem with that.

As for the weight gain. I have always been "morbidly obese" while on the pill, so I don't think I would have noticed a few or even five pounds.

 

Good luck!

Dpope

I was on Depo for 2 years ages 17-19, was taken off of it because of the bone density study that had just come out. I got my period back right away. Went back on depo at age 20 and I am still on it at 22. I love it! I've never had any of the side effects or any weight gain.

I've been on Depo for the past six months and I've gained a lot of weight.  I went from about 145 comfortably for the past few years all the way up to 160.  I haven't changed my eating habits or been more or less sendentary - in fact, that's the reason I started on this site was because of the weight gain from getting the shot.

Maybe it will work better for you than it did for me...good luck!

Hi could you tell me what bc u were on that you didnt gain weight from??

what i want to know is what happens during those months that you dont get you're period? wouldn't all the blood and gunk just build up inside you and make you gain "weight"? (not real weight, but still wouldnt it make you rather bloated?)

I tried Seasonale a few years ago and had the same problem with bleeding and spotting all the time, I had to quit it after a couple of months.  I had the best results with Nuvaring.  However, now I'm off the pill after being on it for many years and I'm really liking it.  I didn't notice it at the time after years on various birth control, but I think the hormones on the pill were suppressing something of my personality and now I feel more like myself and more real.  I even kind of like having more of a period now, I wonder when that feeling will wear off though!

I'm 41, have been on the same BC pill since I was 18 (an older one but not so old that it's unsafe, called Modicon or a/k/a Necon, dose I think is .5/35).  I began taking it continuously with my doctor's blessing in 2001 and I could not possibly be happier.  I haven't had any side effects whatsoever, weight related or otherwise.  I had some spotting here and there for probably the first few months, but only VERY rarely since then.

From everything I've read and been told by my doc, any BC pill can be used continually or seasonally other than those tri-phasic ones where the dosage varies from week to week.  Since the bleeding experienced when on the pill isn't in any way natural anyway (it's withdrawal bleeding rather than an actual period from build up of the uterine lining), I've never had any qualms about avoiding it!

Original Post by carmenxox:

what i want to know is what happens during those months that you dont get you're period? wouldn't all the blood and gunk just build up inside you and make you gain "weight"? (not real weight, but still wouldnt it make you rather bloated?)

The same thing happens during that 'period week' as it would be happening during the 3 weeks you don't have your period. Nothing builds up.