it used to, even though i was on the lowest hormone dose possible. i had no problems when i was using the ring, but i seem to be retaining a ton of water since i got my interuterine contraceptive inserted. dang it!
I started taking the pill about 2 months ago, and haven't had any ill-effects. I'm still losing weight pretty steadily. If anything, I'd say they have actually helped me be more balanced as a person: no more crazy mood swings!
My doctor put me on a high dose estrogen pill, though. If I were on another type, maybe it would give me problems.
Years ago I was on Ortho Tri-Cylcen, and I hated it. I felt crummy, lost my "romantic" drive, and it just didn't seem to have any effect on lightening my flow.
These new pills are great, though. No complaints yet.
I took no offense Gale, just wanted to clarify, because drug changes made such a dramatic difference to my ability to lose weight. Though I agree, that any drug is rarely "solely" to blame for trouble losing weight (though prednisone and drugs like it sometimes come pretty close).
Any drug that affects hormones or neurotransmitters has serious potential for making weight loss difficult. Sometimes they affect hunger - and sometimes they affect metabolism. Prednisone is one of the worse because it does 0both and adds water retention to the mix as well. Prednisone (for an autoimmune disorder) made me RAVENOUSLY hungry it also cause water retention and causes hormonal changes that decrease metabolism (on the one positive note, it gave me the "energizer bunny" energy to be able to be active and exercise. I was able to maintain my weight, but not lose very predictably).
Antidepressants also can dramatically increase or decrease (hunger, sleep, sex drive, mood...). Which is why sometomes they can have the opposite effect as intended. The weight loss drug Meridia was originally designed as an antidepresant, and it did decrease my hunger, but it increased my sex drive (which was already fairly high) and my moodiness (when I was happy, I was WAY happy, and when I was sad, I was WAY sad). Hubby actually begged me to stop taking it, because he said it made me "scary."
While some people say that willpower can overcome even the effects of prednisone, I have a slightly more pragmatic view. There's no need "overcoming" what you don't have to. If you can change your drug to something that doesn't affect you adversely, you've made your job easier - a win all the way around. However, if you can't change your drug (for example when I was on prednisone, there was no alternative medication), then you have to find ways to overcome.
I believe in willpower, I just also believe in making the job easier whenever possible so that you don't have to use every scrap of your mental and physical fortitude to get the job done.
I have noticed that the week BEFORE my period, my weight goes up. But then it goes back down the following week during my period, even a couple days before I start. I take Low-orgestral.
I was on ortho evra for a long time, about a year and a half and in that time 18 lbs managed to sneak back on my bum...My SO recently got re stationed so he's out of town and we don't see much of eachother so I'm off the pill and losing weight again. I'm never going back on it again because I have my surgery date scheduled to have my tubes tied.
After I had my son, in 2001 I went on the depo provera shot...omg, I gained 60 lbs in a year and I was doing everthing to try and stop the weight gain. It also made me severly unbalanced emotionally. I was the fattest unhappiest I had ever been. As soon as I stopped taking that shot I dropped 30 lbs almost right off the bat without trying going from around 260 to 234 in the space of 3 months. I couldn't believe it. Now if only these last 50 lbs would come off that fast!
I believe in willpower, I just also believe in making the job easier whenever possible so that you don't have to use every scrap of your mental and physical fortitude to get the job done.
in 2001 I went on the depo provera shot...omg, I gained 60 lbs in a year and I was doing everthing to try and stop the weight gain. It also made me severly unbalanced emotionally. I was the fattest unhappiest I had ever been. As soon as I stopped taking that shot I dropped 30 lbs almost right off the bat without trying going from around 260 to 234 in the space of 3 months. I couldn't believe it. Now if only these last 50 lbs would come off that fast!
Ghost, I had similar problems when I was on the depo shot - I gained weight like crazy, my hair fell out, and I had "irregular spotting." Well, I spotted for 9 months straight - I'd call that "regular spotting" myself (lol), but I felt so much better after stopping the shots. I used ortho prior to that, but switched to the shot because I'm horrible with remembering the pills. Now I leave that department up to DB because my cramps aren't quite as bad as they were a few years ago.
Ugh...I HATE birth control pills. I'm using the Nuva Ring right now because of my experience with pills. I started on them when I got married. I quickly gained about 10 pounds, but that was ok I was still in an alright weight range. The thing I did NOT like was that my periods kept getting longer and longer. Went from 7 to 10 days to 14 days and then the next month when they were 23 days but my cycle was still only 30 days...I gave up. This is my first month with the Nuva Ring and I started it because my seizure meds were shortening and shortening my cycle so that it was down to about 25 days long with a 10 day period and I was fed up. So, hopefully it will work. I hope I don't gain weight on it, but I think your chances are much slimmer than they are with the pill.
He said (only half joking) that he would throw me a McDonald's bag (I hate burgers any other time of the month) and it was only safe to walk in the door once he heard me chewing.
I LOVE that...too funny. You actually had me lol. My husband knows that (t least before I went on the diet) he needs to keep a supply of dark chocolate in the house occasionally and if I call him and tell him we need some he'd better bring it with him on his way home or not bother coming home. Ok, so it isn't that bad actually, but still.
Oh, and a craving for beef must be at least a semi-common thing tied with hormones. I was a vegetarian for 5 years before I got pregnant with my first. I became absolutely desperate for beef. Once, a couple years before I had a vegetable soup someone had said was vegetarian but come to find out...after I got sick...had beef broth. Well, stopping at Jack in the Box you'd think would make me feel just miserable. Nope, scarfed a whole hamburger down was eying my husband's leftovers and contemplating a second. Come to find out, baby boys can actually get a birth defect if the mother doesn't have enough protein, so I think it was my body slapping me around a bit.
CaffeineIV, I tried the NuvaRing and I LOVED it! I am also bad about remembering to take my pills, so that was awesome! Unfortunately my insurance doesn't cover it, and I couldn't justify paying for it out of pocket when I could get the pill for $4. :-( I would LOVE to try it again!
When I was prego, I craved beef too! How funny is that? I am not a huge red meat person, but I wanted steak and beef sandwiches. DH thought I was crazy... we would drive by a fast food place and I would tell him to stop I NEEDED a beef sandwich... he said you NEED it? YEP!
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I never thought of how hungry I am the week before TOM. I have decent will power every other week that month, except that week.. I have the horrible urge to snack and I feel so hungry!! Looking at this from a different angle helps. And the extra water weight too!!
Thanks!
Jenskihere - I'm sorry your insurance doesn't cover it! Ours covers most of it I think. It costs about $10.50 a month...that I can handle. Not sure yet what I think about it for TOM stuff...it was worse than it usually is and I got some severe cramps which I haven't had in years! We'll see, I'm very hopeful though that things will even out a bit.
I was on Yaz for about...three months and gained 40 pounds over a period of three months. During this time, I was on Weight Watchers and exercising like crazy. My doctor refused to switch me, telling me that I was obviously lying about my diet because birth control doesn't cause weight gain. Well, I took myself off of it because I was tired of buying new clothes. I lost 10 pounds the first week in water weight. I got a new doctor who told me, "Of course Yaz made you gain weight, it's got a sky high amount of progestin in it." I got switched to another pill with low estrogen and low progestin and I haven't had any problems on it.
After reading all this I want to stop taking my pill.
I don't believe they make me fat and I have been on the same pill FOR YEARS and lost 50 pounds in 2006. But I have been fighting to lose weight ever since. At this point I am willing to try anything! But I have been fine on it for years.... can it all of a sudden just happen?
There are many influences that affect obesity. But, I think one that "fat acceptance" could fix, is the strong social pressure for fat people to spare the public the sight of them. I've even seen it in comments here, the strong believe that fat people "owe" society the lack of our presence or appearance in certain situations.
By the time I was in first or second grade I knew that I wasn't supposed to be seen in certain clothing, or doing certain things.
Sports were out, because I "looked ridiculous."
Same with the monkey bars, for the same reason.
Shorts were out, even if the temperature was 100 degrees.
Sleeveless tops were out, also.
I wanted to take ballet classes, and not only my parents, but other children and adults, thought that was "funny."
I wasn't supposed to go swimming either (that one I was usually able to ignore, because I loved swimming too much to give up).
That I knew most of the "fat people aren't supposed to" rules by the time I was 7, is a pretty sad thing. What's even sadder is how much trouble I and other fat people have breaking those rules. We decide that we can't be seen exercising in public, so we don't. We decide we can't be seen in a bathing suit, so we don't swim. There are so many things we don't do (or feel very self-conscious doing) because we're "too fat."
All those don't and can't and shouldn'ts only contribute more to obesity. Without fat acceptance rhetoric that told me I had a right to all of those things, I would have avoided so many things that enriched my life, and actually helped me get healthier. Learning that the scale doesn't rule my life, and determine my worth, I was able to give up crash dieting (because the weight didn't matter, it didn't matter how slowly it came off). Getting active and eating healthy was my goal, not losing weight. And even at my size if I didn't lose the weight, the eating better and exercising would have had some real benefits of their own - the weight loss was a side benefit.
When I bought a bike two years ago, I tried to do my research. Tried to find what bike was best for a fat bicyclist, and what I basically learned is that fat bicycles do not exist. At least that's the impression I got from searching online for advice for fat bicyclists. I did finally get some information from a couple of young, fit bicycle shop owners (talk about intimidating asking for their help), and learned that fat bicyclists do exist. It's perhapes the best-kept secret on the planet, but they do exist.
Without fat acceptance, I wouldn't have had the guts to ask. I probably wouldn't have even entered the bike shop, let alone approached the hard-bodied, spandex-wearing bike shop owners.
That is what I see fat acceptance as trying to change, the stereotypes and cultural discrimination (you're not supposed to be here) mentality against fat folks. A fat person out walking or exercising should not receive negative attention. Fat people should be able to exercise and be active, confident that they will not receive harassment. That a few "fat acceptance" folks have ideals in an extreme direction, doesn't detract from the main, sensible argument of the movement, that fat folks shouldn't be harassed for being fat.
than they are with the pill.
