Hmmm a little off topic from Weight Watchers, but... ive been talking to you ladies for ever it seems and i wanted some advice. So, ive been wearing the Ortho Evra birth control patch for a little over a year, ive noticed that on the weeks that i wear it (3 weeks of a month) i dont really lose any weight at all. usually i maintain. It is such a pattern with me, that my leader even commented "wow is this ever a pattern for you!". The week i take the patch off and have my period, is the week i have lost my weight... adding up to my 65lb loss. usually, 2 lbs - 6lbs in that one week. I have also noticed that my hair is thinning MAJORLY. I seem to be losing loads of hair every day... brushing it, washing it... lots of hair come out, now my hair looks super thin and i am wondering if anyone else has any experience with birth control and has experienced anything similar.

I wonder if the birth control has any correlation between weight loss, or maintaining due to the excess hormones. Most of us are ladies so i figure someone may shed some light on this subject for me. I took my patch off 3 weeks ago. The last 3 weeks in a row that the patch has been off, i have lost anywhere from 1.5lb - 3.5lbs. Its got me wondering...

Birth controls are known for causing weight gain and creating issues when one wants to lose weight. Since you've been noticing a pattern, I would ask your doctor about a different type of birth control.

I've been on Ortho Tri Cyclin Lo for five or six years now and managed to lose weight on it multiple time (always, of course, gaining it back tho it was no fault of the pill). This time I've also lost 65 (go us!) and it's been over a year since starting WW and the pill hasn't hindered it in anyway.

It does sound like your method of BC might be having an effect on your weight loss, so I would talk to your doctor about other options.

I have been on beyaz for almost a year and have had absolutely no weight gain from it and haven't had any problems getting any off.
However, when I was on depo provera I gained 40 pounds within a few months. I stayed on it for years and didn't lose weight. It was great birth control and would love to do it again, but its not worth not being able to lose weight. You might try asking your doctor about switching and what she/he would recommend.

Well for all those weeks when i was dead frustrated and wanted to give up and didnt, i am glad to know atleast it could be the fault of the patch. I think what concerns me the most right now is the hair loss. Its crazy. I will make an appointment for the doctor right away and find out what she thinks about it.

Tudor, i will ask her about the type you are on. I didnt want to go with a pill form, it would be way too easy for me to mess up - hense the use of a patch (more worry free)... i forget to take my pills sometimes, so to mess that up would be a bigger issue than if i forgot my vitamins lol.

blue: people respond very differently to hormonal birth control. You could try something else. My daughter found that she couldn't take the pill or use a patch very well, (very sensitive to estrogen) but found the nuva ring didn't affect her system as much. She also liked depo provera shots, (she only used it for 2 years, on her docs advice, to prevent bone loss and possible infertility) and didn't have any problems with that. And of course, there are lots of options without hormones.
But given your pattern, it may be an issue. On the other hand, that one week, you seem to lose a months worth of weight. (Took me over a month to lose 6 pounds!)
GOod luck!

I had a copper IUD in after the birth of my second child and liked it except for one thing: My period would last 10-14 days every 30 or so. Holy cow! It felt like I was having a period more often than not.

I went back to birth control pills (generic Ovcon) as a short term solution while my husband has a vasectomy. I have noticed my cravings are intense and I'm always hungry! I have to be very conscious of this to ensure I lose weight. I can lose weight on the pill, but it is much more difficult for me. I'm hoping I see good results when I'm finally able to get off of it in a month or two.

ETA OT: Fatmad, I love the way you spell Madeleine! That's how we spelled it for my daughter.

Im jumping on the fact that people respond differently to hormones bandwagon. I also use the patch and don't notice any difference at all whether its my on or my off week.

(I use the patch for the same reason, I would slack and skip pills LOL)

I have been on the pill (a few different ones) for years, and it hasn't caused me to gain, but I'm thinking it may have impacted my losing.

When I was on Depo Provera, I also gained 40lbs. I ALWAYS felt hungry, and craved bread and peanut butter. And it took me months after before my body would let go of a single pound. I went off of it, and was following WW and going to the gym and losing only about a pound a month! Very frustrating.

I'm getting an IUD next week, so we'll see how that affects things!

I'm currently on the Nuva Ring and the only two complaints I would have is that I get super moody and depressed while I'm on my period and I feel like eating all the time and I never seem to get full. For the rest of the month I feel completely normal. If you want a bc method that isn't like the pill I would look into the Nuva ring. Leave it in for three weeks, take it out, and put in a new one a week later! You pretty much set it and forget it!

I have to say when I was younger (in my 30s) I lost weight in a similar fashion little to nothing for 3-4 weeks, big loss the week of my period. I wasn't taking BC at the time. And I did find it very frustrating until I figured out that that was my body's cycle and there was little I could do about except not gain those weeks where I didn't lose. A couple of years ago when I lost 45 lbs on ww I was on the patch (I forgot the pills too often) and I didn't have the same pattern. Now I'm just starting again and not on BC so we'll see what happens.

I personally would be more worried about the hair loss, like many have said everyone reacts differently to different hormone therapies. Glad to see you're going to talk to your doctor.

Good Luck.

You have to be careful with Nuva Ring if you're much over 150lbs (and I am!) as the extra weight can compromise the effectiveness.