For the first time since starting to lose weight, I've arrived at a bit of a plateau. I've remained on plan, and for the past two weeks, I haven't lost (or gained) a single pound. I know two weeks of nothing may not seem a long time for some people, but it's never happened to me before. I've been monitoring my salt intake and drinking plenty, as I thought water retention might be a problem, but that doesn't seem to have had an effect. However, something just occurred to me about what could be stopping me from losing.

I don't have proper periods because I'm on the combined pill (oestrogen and progesterone), where I take it for three weeks and then have a one week break where I have a "period" before starting the new packet. According to my GP and the manufacturer, it is safe to run up to four packets together of this pill (Microgynon 30) if you want to skip a period or two. I don't do this frequently, but I sometimes run together a couple of packets if I want to avoid a period occurring at a particular time. Today, I came to the end of the second pack of pills that I've run together, and I'm going to give myself a week's break before beginning the next pack. I am wondering whether running pill packets together is somehow stalling my weight loss, because I seem to be doing everything else as I should.

I was wondering if there are any other women on these forums who can talk about experiences running contraceptive pill packs together, and whether this has affected your weight loss. I know that women who have normal periods sometimes experience weight gain, or maintenance, around the time of their period. The combined pill hasn't given me any undesirable symptoms (like general weight gain), but I'd be interested to hear experiences about running pill packets together.

i'm on continuous BCPs for endometriosis... don't think it matters... i lost about 40lbs while on that

everyone's different though and since your body isn't used to it, it could be

I'm on Necon 1/50 (norethindrone and mestranol), a monophasic pill with a high dose of estrogen (generic for Ortho-Novum 1/50)

I run my packs together (skipping the placebo week) most months. I choose to have a period about every 3 or 4 months. For me, making this change actually helps me lose weight - tremendously. Without bc, I have very severe PMDD (outrageous mood swings, severe cramping - the wish you could just die kind, and insane hunger especially for carbs and red meat - hubby called me "werewolf" it was so bad).

Birth control helped the cramping and other symptoms quite a bit, but not completely. During the placebo/period week I would still be ravenous. By missing the period, I can miss the cramps, moodswings, and hunger completely. Without stacking my bc (running packs together), I'm not sure that I'd be successful with weight loss. Low carb dieting is also key for me. I'm still struggling with finding my perfect level of carbs, but the combination of stacking the bc and eating fewer carbs is really key for me.

The thing with bc though is that it can affect two different women in opposite ways. Someone could find themselves more hungry than usual and another, less. Also bc's come in a wide variety of hormone strengths and combos, and some are more likely to result in weight gain (or loss) than others.

I'm in med school and there's no physiological way that running pills packs together stall weight loss. You might be in a plateau. Try increasing your cals by 200, add more protein, lift weights.... sounds easier than done and I know it's frustrating... I'm in one now but I am thinking that I am beating it this week by adding 200 cals. Just some thoughts

I'm on the exact same pills and they dont seem to affect my weight at all. I've never run the packs together, but I have experienced a plateau (like now, been the same since december grrr) but i dont think the BCPs are doing it. I'm trying to beat it by being stricter with my diet and getting in a bit more intense exercise.

I wouldn't rule it out, but I also wouldn't blame it. Your body isn't always on the same schedule as you... a two week plateau isn't something to worry a ton about. Change something. More protein. Less carbs. More exercise. More calories. Different intensity of exercise. Just do something.

My body hates BC. I messed around with a few and finally went hormone free. Depending on the pill I'd gain weight, become a moody mess, lose weight, migranes, and just feeling weird. Maybe it's a mental thing. I don't know. I tried the nuvaring as a last resort and ended up feeling like I had a UTI for three months. Horrible.

Seriously, you can get through it. Just keep working!

Thank you all so much for your responses.

I weighed in this morning and two pounds have gone, yay! Over the past few days, I really stepped up the amount of exercise I was doing, and the amount of protein I was eating, so maybe this has helped! I guess the running pill packets together must have just been coincidental and not the cause. I'm glad this is so, because I didn't want to have to stop doing it!

kaplods, I like to run my pills together too. I've actually been on the pill for coming up to 10 years now - when I was a teenager my periods were absolutely hellish, waking me up in the night in pain, and I was missing a lot of school. I was tried on various types of treatments before my GP decided to put me on the contraceptive pill, and I've never looked back! I've occasionally stopped taking the pill to see what my periods are like and thankfully they are so much less bad now - but the convenience and comfort of being able to avoid periods is brilliant.

Thanks again for all of your advice, everyone here is so supportive!