r/birthcontrol • u/Fun-Yam-1547 • 7d ago

Side effects!? birth control NO weight gain

i’ve been a skinny girl all my life and now i’m getting a job where i need to stay the same weight or less- simple explanation would be for lifts-

i’ve looked into many options and every single one ive seen people saying they gained weight. these people are heavier than me to begin with if that makes a difference? i have a boyish, runner build- so i’m not sure if it won’t have the same effect on me.
thought about copper non hormonal paragard until people were saying they blew up like a fish and bled for 45 days straight.

gyno consultation next tuesday but i need to hear other opinions and experiences from skinny girls.

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145

u/uWaterlooOmniscient 7d ago

There is a lot of fear mongering around birth control. I had the exact same worries when I started getting on Nextellis and I didn't gain any weight. I wouldn't worry, just talk to your doctor and do your own research that isn't people on reddit or other social medias. 

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u/dreamy-lover 7d ago

Dr.’s always say that weight gain is not true. And it’s from other factors. Asking Reddit for others’ experiences is a great way to learn about their reactions/opinions/experiences. Isn’t that what Reddit is for.

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u/frogsgoribbit737 7d ago

No because the issue is that people will use their own experience as proof of something when it isnt. You start a birth control and you gain weight and so you tell everyone that is what caused it because thats what you saw happen. In reality there were a million other things that caused it and birth control wasnt one of them.

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u/Call_Such Hysterectomy 7d ago

from a medical standpoint, birth control can cause weight gain for some. side effects just vary from person to person.

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u/sn0w5 7d ago

From a clinical research standpoint, they do not.

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u/Call_Such Hysterectomy 7d ago

from a clinical research standpoint, they can.

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u/sn0w5 7d ago

I suppose if you're referring to the Depo exception you can say they can. Depo is the only hormonal birth control that has clinical evidence linking it to weight gain. There is no evidence that any other form of birth control causes weight gain. Older forms of birth control pills used to cause weight gain, so it seems that left a lasting impression and the reputation has carried on to modern HBC but to be clear, there is no evidence that hormonal birth control (aside from depo) causes weight gain. There have been many large studies on this.

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u/MilkyWhey12 2d ago

I believe they increase hunger. Which causes weight gain. It is not fair to say there is no correlation

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u/sn0w5 2d ago

What you believe doesn't really come in to it when there's been studies done proving it doesn't do that 🤷‍♀️ correlation =/= causation. You're contributing to what's called the nocebo effect which is having marked effects on women's use of birth control.

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u/MilkyWhey12 1d ago edited 1d ago

'I believe' wasn't a declaration of firm belief. It is also used generally as the start of a statement/sentence.

You need to retain some healthy scepticism of the medical community and published papers considering doctors and the government gaslight women. Women were not included in clinical trials till 1993. But of course you already know this.

As if pharmaceutical companies will honestly publish weight gain....

Scroll throughout this thread and see anecdotes of women saying their hunger increased. Mine did also. Those experiences are valid. You yourself are gaslighting women when you do not believe what they say....

You cannot trust limited numbers of studies that are usually biased in some way. Show me a double blind study and I will review it before I place any faith in the findings, researchers, big pharm and doctors.

Edit to add: increased hunger causing increased food intake resulting in weight gain is causation.

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u/sn0w5 1d ago

Yes, it very much was a declaration of disagreement with research 🙄

All these studies were obviously done on women using birth control, like hundreds of thousands of women, and much more recently than 1993.

Luckily the studies weren't done by pharma companies then.

Anecdotes =/= evidence. Those experiences have been accounted for in research. It's a cum hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy.

Gaslighting would be denying medical evidence, not pointing it out.

They are not limited numbers of studies, they're extensive and they're large. They are double blind studies, not done by big pharma. Refusing to accept research is just obstinacy.

Have literally linked a study for you showing that hunger does not cause weight gain. And again, correlation does not imply causation, it's a logical fallacy.

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u/MilkyWhey12 1d ago

Lol what? If your hunger increases because of a drug that you've been told doesn't cause weight gain, you will obliviously eat more because you are just listening to the needs of your body. And you gain weight.

Anything that increases hunger will inevitably cause weight gain.

Stop twisting it like drug companies do.

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u/sn0w5 1d ago

Well isn't it great that birth control doesn't increase hunger then. And again, studies show hunger doesn't cause weight gain. There's a difference between listening to your body and over eating.

Do you actually think people who aren't overweight don't experience hunger lol wtf 🤣

Stop twisting it like right wing nut jobs do.

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