I gained a ton with depo in the first few months. That was in high school. I've had the mirena IUD since my 3 year old was born and I don't think it does anything to my weight. I had it before I had her too and nothing changed then either.

BC affects all women diff.. DO NOT TAKE THE DEPO SHOT THOUGH!! this will surely have you gaining alot of weight in a short time. the pill never made me gain weight. i also had the mirena iud and that was wonderful!!! i am currently on the nuva ring and have been since summer and it works great too...

I have a Mirena and I love it (aka a hormone containing IUD... but it is an infinitesimal amount when compared to the pill)! I switched from my BC pill because I had bad depression and my doctor believed it might be related to the hormones. Sure enough, 1 month after the switch I started to feel better and it has only improved from there. As far as weight issues, I put a ton of weight on in highschool after going on the pill and then lost it when I went off of it. The next pill I went on didn't affect my weight at all and my current method of BC doesn't either.

I've heard many people have had trouble with it. But personally, I haven't noticed it effect me. I've been on the pill (ortho tri cylen lo since december of 2005), I recently switched to regular ortho tri cylen. I had weight issues long before the pill, so I know my problems are simply from my lack of control & bad habits, not from the pill. I honestly don't know how its effecting my weight loss, but so far I haven't had any problems (I've been semi-trying, but cheating alot, and still lost 2 pounds this last week).

You'll never know how it will react to you unless you try it.

There is no evidence that the BC pill makes women gain weight directly, although some say it makes them hungrier. If you gain 5lbs its probably water from the hormones adjusting etc.

The shot though..thats a different ball game from what I've read!

I'm on Yasmin and didn't gain anything. Been taking it for 2 + years.

Cake - I'm surprised you had such a bad reaction to Seasonale! I've been on it for 4 years and I love it!! I hardly PMS at all and my periods are really light.

The first time I went on depo I gained tons of weight but my eating was out of control. I went of for a couple of years and started the pill. I kept at the same weight but I wasn't trying to lose any. Last month I went to the doctor and asked about going back to depo. He had concerns about my weight gain before so said we should look at it for the first three months and see what happens. Well I've lost 10 lbs this month. I think you just need to make sure you are strong with your diet and exercise before doing it. You can control it.

Both my sister and I were on Depo for a couple years with no weight gain. I wish I could blame my weight on the shot, but I stayed the same weight. Shoot, she actually got skinnier, the jerk, but she was also in training for college soccer recruitment. ;>

It's like any other birth control: affects everyone differently. I've heard horror stories from all the different types, and it's true that Depo seems to affect weight gain more than others.

But it's by no mean set in stone that you'll gain.

I had cravings, but I was also really sick. Certain smells had me running for the nearest toilet. My friend was in her first trimester when I started on the pill and we were having the same symptoms. I think the weight gain comes from giving into the cravings.

Personally I think it depends on each person, and what type of BC pill you take.

I am on Microgynon 30... I have been on it for over 4 years now (since I was 18). I re-started my diet at the start of November and wanted to do an experiment. I decided to stop taking my BC pill just to see if it would help my weightloss... because I got it in my head that it was my BC causing me to gain weight lol. I was convinced (and hoping) that it would help me to lose weight, by not taking it anymore.
Well, I was dieting for over 5 weeks (while not taking my pill)... I lost 6lbs the first week, then the next 4 weigh ins I kept gaining. Even though I was sticking to my diet 100% (and I'd never experienced that sort of gaining when dieting before). I know I wasn't gaining fat, but still the scales kept going up.

I decided to look up on the net about coming off BC and gaining weight... I managed to find a site where a thread was made about it. Pretty much all the women on there experienced mysterious weight gain since stopping their pill! So my panic was over.

I decided to stop my experiment, I re-started my pill again a good few weeks ago and I am now losing weight again.

So although some people feel/think going on the pill can make you gain weight... it can also make you gain when coming back off it. Probably because of the big mess your hormones are left in. I'm sure it would only be temporary until your body adjusts... but really frustrating.

I wont be trying that again, unless I really have to!

My weight hasn't changed on the pill. The only downside now, which is pretty ironic, is the sex drive went down. What's the point of being on the pill if you don't wanna do anything when you're on it!

i've been on the pill since i was about 16, for hormonal regulation reasons, so i really don't even know about the weight gain and acne issues outside of what would normally have occurred at that age.
i would say, however, if i didn't have a condition that required my careful hormonal regulation, i would do the IUD, for several reasons:
1. IUDs have a lower failure rate than oral contraceptives
2. IUDs have a lower rate of user error (ie: think how easy it is to miss a pill)
3. IUDs are far more cost effective. they only need to be replaced once every few years vs. having to buy a new pack of pills every month.

i studied this a little bit in graduate school and basically concluded that the primary reasons that IUDs are not as common here are related to cultural bias. someone also suggested to me that pharma companies have a role in this as well as they make far more money off the pill than they would on an IUD, but i'll let you draw your own conclusions...

I agree, everyone does react differently to any BC. My first was Ortho-tricyclen Lo, I started eating whatever (craved everything!) and gained weight. I actually got pregnant while on this BC. After I had our first son, I went on the Depo Provera shot, could not lose the weight for my life! It took forever to lose when I actually started losing, which was about the time that he was 5 months old. Went off that, went on regular Ortho-tricyclen...that worked pretty well. Decided to go off BC all together, got under 200 lbs...about 198. Got pregnant again. Didn't go on any BC after having our second son, and lost almost all the weight from the last pregnancy. 3 weeks into my current BC, Ocella, just lost the last few lbs of the last pregnancy and just now getting a period again. *blech* Anyway, I think I like Ocella the best. I am not craving everything, I'm losing, my skin is clearing up, it makes me feel pretty good. I'm still on my first pack, but so far so good. Now I just have to tackle the 20+ lbs from the first pregnancy!

Ocella is the generic for Yasmin...have heard bad things about it, but I think it is great! No problems here, at least not yet!

Hormonal birth control and me just don't mix...

I've tried several, and even the "low" dose ones still cause too much weirdness in my system for my liking. I always gain weight... get moody... lose libido, etc... Not worth it.

For me, I stick to non-hormonal options..... but as others have said, everyone reacts differently.