Off BCP weight dropped 8) Yay

hey, I posted here last week, very upset that my weight had gone up by 7llbs after going on the Pill - waiting for it to settle into my system, I gave it 10 weeks, before deciding it wasnt right for me - aswell as the weight gain, it was turning me into a basket case.

You guys were super supportive - thanks.

I stopped taking it last week - planning another method.

I have been eating well within my weightloss calories and working out lots - since July (losing steadily), so was v upset at the weight gain. To those who say that the pill can't be responsible for this - they are wrong. It can. I felt horrible.

Today I feel brilliant - weighed in at gym last night 8)

I have gone from 154.5 10 days ago, back to 148 - I am super happy, yay, I can see my abs again.

Goal weight is 135 - So I'm getting back on track.
Just wanted to update you!!!!

Hope everyone is well.
Love this site.

HB

How many days after going off the pill did your weight return to normal?

Holiday, were you working out and eating right when taking it? I've been on the pill and Lupron, a very harsh drug that puts you into a chemically induced menopause, and never gained any weight. I truly think it's a myth.. not to say that you're looking for an easy escape route or anything, we're all different. I just have a hard time believing that BCP can put on weight, like it must be something within your body it's reacting with that needs attention?

Hey,
I stopped taking it last Tuesday. I've gone right back to what I was b4 I started taking it - thank god. I was getting V depressed.

I am so so careful about what I eat and I am an excersise junkie. I play sport or go to gym every day except Fridays.

My cals are around 12-1300 a day, I then account for the sports defecit - I use a heart rate monitor, so its pretty accurate - If I burn off an extra 300 cals, I will eat an extra 300 cals.
So, I'm pretty sure it was the pill. I have been to the Dr's and they said (confirmed really) that this can happen. Yikes - when I'd been working so hard, it really sucked.

The results speak for themselves I think.

Happier now. 8)

Yes, a doctor will agree with you that it can happen, but only if your  behavior changes in response to the pill. In other words, the pill won't cause weight gain or weight loss (and it has been blamed for both), but it CAN cause changes in appetite, just like any of your body's horemones. If you are excersizing and eating correctly for your body's needs, a synthetic horemone cannot cause you to gain weight...where would it get the extra energy to make the 'fat'? unless you're consuming excess energy for the body to store, there's no medically backed way that that can happen. There's no science to prove it. There IS science to prove that appetite changes can be caused by the birth control pill. That's about it.

By the way, you can't lose 8 pounds of fat in a week...that means that any weight gain or loss you've experienced was the result of water retention. This is also another proven reason for weight gain...to further clarify my point above, there is no hard science backing the supposed 'fact' that birth control can cause you to gain FAT if your behavior does  not at all change. Weight gain is either due to behavior changes or water retention.

I recently got off the pill as well. I wasn't comfortable being on hormones for so long (I've been taking it non-stop since I was 18 and I'm now 25) and it was causing other side effects that I decided just weren't worth it.

I too dropped some weight when I went off it. My doctor advised me that would probably happen, and that it would be water weight.

I'm using an IUD now and very happy with it. It was uncomfortable to get put in, but that passed quickly enough and now I don't have to even think about birth control for three whole years. The funny thing is I've been on the pill for so long that I often still get that internal alarm at 11 PM telling me to take my pill! It makes me happy to ignore it.

Shakti, exactly what I wanted to say, just didn't know how to word it, thank you! I hate the bcp gets blamed for weight gain, it's the "end-user" who causes this, the end!

Bravo...

hey holiday....congrats on the weight loss......

to some of you who seem a little overcritical.....well maybe  you are right maybe she didn't loose fat.  Maybe she lost water but the fact remains she lost 8 lbs when she went off the pill.  The reason there is no "scientific proof" that the pill doesn't cause weight gain is because the pill affects everyone different and that makes it impossible to give an accurate response.  And I am sorry but weight change does not only take place with behavioral change in response to the pill.  The pill causes changes in your body and that is enough. 

I think instead of critizing holiday some of you should have stuck with just a Congratulations.

Good luck with the new method you have choosen holiday.
Shanna

I can see how the Pill could make you gain weight--when I started taking a stronger dose of it, it made me extremely emotionally unstable, thus prone to over-eating/emotional eating and not wanting to exercise.  I was, in fact, a basket case.  My own experience was that it could lead to a small amount of weight gain initially, but after my body adjusted, I was fine.

The big thing there is that every woman's body reacts differently to prescriptions.  I'm wondering, holiday_mouse, did you try a lower dosed pill, like Ortho tricyclen-lo or a similar brand?  Sometimes that helps out with things like weight gain/moodiness, etc.

And certainly congratulations on the weight loss.

Holiday-- I had a lot of problems w/ BCPs too.  I tried a few diff kinds and a patch (which ripped my skin off when I changed it!).  I finally just decided not to use any kinds of contaceptives.  (except I always use condoms)  But that works for me & my situation/relationship.  There are other options, but you have to do a lot of trial & error before you find what's right for you.  Keep trying though, it better than having nothing.  GL!

hey folks, thanks for your replies!!! 8)

I don't care whether it was water or fat, the fact was it was making me feel rubbish. Carrying aorund an extra 8llbs of water around is pretty awful you know.
Don't think I said that it was fat did I? I said it was weight gain. I am well aware - since joining this site about fat loss.

I shall congratulate myself.

Thanks for your comments on the IUD, Dr is changing me to Yasmin, will try that out and see what happens.

Off for a cuppa - Byeeeee