Birth control pills cause weight loss

While most post-birth control weight gain is the result of temporary water retention, there are a few other reasons you might notice your weight and waistline gradually creeping upwards after you start taking oral birth control:. As illogical as it might sound, feeling stressed about your weight can cause you to eat more. Trust your body. It will deal with any fluid retention from birth control on its own over the next two to three months.

Do you feel hungrier after starting birth control?

Women on the pill had gained 40% less muscle than those who weren’t on it

While some women report feeling hungrier after starting birth control, others notice a lower, less intense appetite. This usually results in gradual, long-term weight gain that takes place over the course of several months or years. Worried about birth control affecting your appetite? If you feel hungrier after you start using birth control, let your doctor know. Many women start taking birth control in their teens, with around one in every five women aged 13 to 18 in the US on hormonal birth control.

Studies show that DMPA birth control injections can cause increased water retention and an increase in body fat. In one study , women who used Depo-Provera birth control injections for contraception gained 5. Of this, 4. On average, just one in four women will gain a noticeable amount of weight from the Depo-Provera shot. Like we explained above, weight gain from birth control is usually the result of fluid retention. Most of the time, your body will deal with it on its own over the course of a few months.

Safe, convenient and highly effective, birth control pills are used by tens of millions of women in the US and hundreds of millions of women worldwide. Our guides to birth control pills like Yaz, Estrostep and Ortho Tri-Cyclen explain how three of the most common birth control pills work. So while the pill may not be leading to long-term weight gain, some women could still find that their clothes fit differently.

Fluid retention may also help to explain why some women report that the pill increases their cup size.

Can birth control pills cause weight loss?

There have been very few studies into the effect — understandably, most research tends to focus on breast cancer rather than size — but back in the s a couple of Swedish scientists decided to take a look. To find out, the team tracked the monthly cycles of 65 healthy women who either were on the pill, used to take it, or had never taken it. They found that not only did pill users have significantly larger breasts overall, but they were especially large at certain times of the month. Women who had previously been on the pill had an average-sized bust.

Exactly how this happens remains a mystery.

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For example, the burst of growth that happens each month, and is necessary to maintain a constant size, could be lasting a bit longer. This would lead to more tissue overall — and explain the heightened cancer risk. As one Reddit user put it , no birth control at all is likely to lead to 25 to 35 pounds kg of weight gain over the course of nine months.

This story is part of the Health Gap , a special series about how men and women experience the medical system — and their own health — in starkly different ways.

Do you have an experience to share? Or are you just interested in sharing information about women's health and wellbeing?

Birth control and weight gain

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Bookmark this article. Below, Yale Medicine experts answer common questions women have about contraception. Stanwood says. An IUD is a small, soft, flexible piece of plastic shaped like a "T"—it is inserted into your uterus, via your cervix, by your doctor. There are several brands Liletta, Kyleena, Mirena, Skyla , all of which release the hormone progestin, which changes the cervix and uterus to prevent sperm from getting through to an egg.


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These hormonal IUDs protect against pregnancy for three to seven years, depending on which one a woman chooses. Another type of IUD Paragard is hormone-free and instead uses a copper coil, which also changes the cervix and uterus to prevent sperm from getting through to an egg, and it can be used for up to 12 years. The arm implant, sold under the brand Nexplanon, is a rod about the size of a matchstick that is inserted under the skin of your upper, inner arm.

Can birth control pills cause weight loss? | Birth Control Pill - Sharecare

It releases progestin and prevents pregnancy for up to five years by stopping ovulation and thickening cervical mucus. One study showed that, over one year, women who used Depo-Provera gained five pounds more than those using a copper IUD. The reason Depo-Provera can cause weight gain, Dr.

Stanwood explains, is that it can activate signals in the brain that control hunger. These devices only interfere with conception when they are in place.