How much do birth control pills affect weight gain?
Asked by anonymous on Aug 01, 2008
in Family & Pregnancy
I'm 37, 5'7" and weigh 137 lb, up from 134 lb. I do high intensity workouts for an hour 5 days a week. I've been on birth control pills for 17 years and recently had weight gain and other negative symptoms very similar to pregnancy. After a negative pregnancy test, my doc insterted an IUD to minimize the side effects. How much improvement, regarding weight/body fat in particular, can I expect?
Answer
The low-dose, 20 microgram, estrogen birth control pills are not associated with weight gain, and so if you were taking Alesse®, Levlite®, Loestrin-Fe® or Mircette®, you should not expect to see any change at all. But the higher dose estrogen pills can produce weight gain from fluid retention. If you took one of those pills, you might see a solid weight drop within one to three months as your body adjusts to your new hormonal status. But you must be careful about your calorie intake too because even a slight increase can lead to significant weight gain over time.
So you can keep track of what you eat - which enables you to analyze your foods and receive the following:
- Health Score of your overall diet
- Warning when you approach your daily calorie limit
- Overview of the good and bad nutrients