Gaining weight symptoms and conditions

I just started my first pack of Loestrin today, so we'll see what happens... But it can't be worse than my previous 2 BC's - Yaz and Desogen. The desogen gor worse and worse over a period of 8 years or so... I began having mood swings, depression issues, severe anxiety... it was starting to affect my relationship... Not ok. So i talked to my doc and she switched me to Yaz.... the first 2 months were ok.... the next 3.... NIGHTMARES. I was exhausted all the time, sad all the time, depressed 3 weeks out of the month, bloated, gaining weight, breaking out with acne on my chin and jaw... I never even had acne as a teenager. It was awful. I'd cry over nothing. I felt like I was losing my mind... So the Loestrin was the next option. Time will tell... but it can't be any worse than it was on Yaz!

Honestly... Don't be afraid to try a new pill because of reading one of these sites. If you read up on any of the major BC's: Yaz, Loestrin, Ortho Tri Cyclin Lo, Yasmin, etc. They all the say the same thing for the most part, and everyone is experiencing all the side effects from this site on those as well.. Everyone reacts differently to the pill, so don't let it deter you from making a decision to try something new.

Ive been on the nuvaring for like 6 months and about 2 months ago i realized that i had a lot of edema (swelling) in my arms and legs. I felt like my body was just filled with fluid and yet i felt very dehydrated. I was also gaining weight. I was horribly irritable and snapped on almost everyone but it was the same time every day. I also realized that i had become extremely constipated and developed hemorrhoids but then i would have occurrences of diarrhea in between which was weird for me. I've never had hemorrhoids of any sort ever. I never even thought of it being the nuvaring and i forgot to put it back in this month and i feel like i lost all this fluid ive dropped 5 lbs and i am not irritable like i was. I just figured id post this because these are some of the less common side effects adn just wanted to let people know.

i've stopped taking the 10 mg of methimazole because i started gaining weight i don't want to be hypothyroid. as sad as it may sound, i want a rapid metabolism. i don't want to gain weight should i let my physician know about my decision to stop.

I got my Mirena in about 20 months ago and almost immediately my life started going downhill. I got moody, depressed, started gaining weight, my skin broke out in TERRIBLE cystic acne. Then I started having trouble sleeping at night, and was waking up EXHAUSTED every morning. etc etc. At first I blamed job stress. Then poor eating habits. Then poor skincare products, my new apartment...everything but the IUD.

I have Type 1 Diabetes, so I see an endocrinologist regularly and when I went in yesterday to show him this new BALD SPOT on the top of my head, and talk about my random weight gain, despite joining weight watchers and exercising every single day, he started asking me questions and determined that that IUD needed to come OUT. He said if the hormones were affecting my body enough to cause acne, and increase my insulin dose (I went from 10 units a day to 20...a HUGE increase!) then it was most certainly affecting my hormones enough to cause weight gain, hair loss, etc. It even explained why I suddenly needed to get waxed every three weeks instead of every six.

Unfortunately all the literature indicates that removal comes with terrible bleeding, clots, and cramps. I'm going on vacation in less than one month and I'm super bummed that I have to keep it in until I get back from vacation but I'm not going to the most civilized region so I don't want to risk the kinds of horror stories I've been reading while abroad.

I was put on Depakote for my migraines after I had a bad experience with Topamax. It helped great with my migraines, but the weight I gained from being on it was not worth it. I have not taken it in probably 3 years, but I still cannot get my weight back to what it was before. I have always been one of those people who couldn't gain weight. Well, thanks to depakote, I am now one of those people who can't keep from gaining weight. I wish I was never introduced to the drug. I stopped taking it on my own, and my migraines are fine now. I have them sometimes but not every day.

I am so glad I am not crazy and all alone. I've had my Mirena since January for perimenopause and was still getting my period every month until this month. No I have such cramping, joint pain I can barely walk and my lower back is killing me. I am scheduled for a hysterectomy this Wednesday, I CAN'T WAIT, I'll be done forever.

I'm am really ticked off! Today at the doctors office, the scale revealed that I've gained 17 pounds in a year. And it's all thanks to the Abilify! I was previously on Seroquel and I never gained an ounce. I'm just so mad right now. I mean, when I was on Seroquel, I was tired all the time, but at least I was happy and I was able to lose weight just fine. But with the Abilify, I can't stop gaining weight. I haven't been cheating at all and I exercise like mad at the gym. I use to weigh 165 pounds and was a size 8. Now I'm 182 pounds and wear a size 12. I hate being overweight. I'm huge and if I don't get off the Abilify, I'm just going to get more huge and I'll be back at 242 pounds if not more. I want to wear a bikini one day and have kids, but now I can't do that stuff! I'm physically too FAT!!!

I am 32 years old and began taking Yasmin in 2002. I get SEVERE migraines every month and have gained 50 pounds. I want to get off Yasmin but am scared of getting pregnant. I'm married, but we just cannot afford a child right now. Any advice? Has anyone recently quit Yasmin and had any bad side effects from it?

I have been on Advair 100/50 for 3 years. I have dry mouth, dry eyes, dizziness, and night tremors. But all of this I can deal with since I can breath much better on the medication compared to off. I have COPD. I have not had any hair loss but did start gaining weight almost immediately after starting Advair. If I miss a dose, I know it within an hour or so. I wish it wasn't so expensive.

I am 29 and had the Mirena put in 6 weeks after having baby #2. I thought it was a great idea and my OB said "NO SIDE EFFECTS". I have been bleeding heavily since it was inserted, cramps, sharp pains in my uterus area, bloating and headaches at night. I don't know if this is their form of birth control, but if your bleeding everyday you can't have sex! I run 3 miles five times a week and was losing weight steadily, until I had the Mirena put in. I watch what I eat obsessively and I am gaining weight! I am emotional all the time and find myself losing my patience with my kids and my husband all the time. I am getting it taken out today! I'll update how it went and the side effects going away. I would rather deal with another pregnancy than go through this. Follow your gut feelings - the Mirena won't work for everyone and obviously there are quite a few of us!

I just want say that this site has helped me out a lot. I am frustrated with the people that post things such as, "gaining weight? it's called we need to watch what we eat as we get older" (not when you work out and are age 20!) and "Mirena listed all of these side effects on their site" (actually they did NOT list several of the effects over a year ago on their site that are on there currently) or "I have had no such problems with hair loss." (as if those ladies that are suffering from it were making it up). This site is to share with those that DO have side effects from this form of BC. That is super if you don't suffer from any of them. I don't know why some women who are successful with it are getting so defensive. We are just trying to let each other know that we are going through the same effects and helping each other and giving each other tips on what we did/are doing. If you don't have any negative effects, then WHY are you even posting on this site????? Sorry just tired of seeing posts like that. If those women were suffering from the same effects, you'd better believe they would be right on here with their story.

I am 30 years old and have never had any children. I had the Mirena for 4 months. During that time, I had no energy and I gained 10 pounds (probably a combination of both the hormones and my lack of energy). I was also very moody. I took two pregnancy tests while on the Mirena because my belly was so bloated and I was not having a period. I convinced myself the only reason I was gaining weight so fast was that I was pregnant (of course, both tests were negative).

After reading these posts, I realized my issues were probably due to the Mirena and I decided to have it removed. I had it removed 4 weeks ago. Removal was painless and my doctor was able to find the string easily. I only had light spotting for two days after removal and no pain. Within two weeks, the bloating had decreased significantly and I'm losing the weight I gained pretty easily (low cal diet and running). I had my first period within 3 weeks. The only bad side effect of having it removed is excessive acne on my face.

Previously, I used the Nuvaring, and I think I will go back on it. Even if I had read these posts prior to having the Mirena inserted, I still probably would have tried it because I rarely have medication side effects. I think everyone's body reacts differently, but I definitely could not handle the Mirena. I would absolutely recommend the Nuvaring, I only switched to the Mirena for ease of use and costs. Nuvaring does not come in a generic and therefore costs me about $40/month.

I have had my Mirena since May of 2007, at first it was wonderful then about 1 year in I started gaining weight, particularly in my mid section. My mood swings were out of control, anxiety, restlessness, joint pain, acne. I spoke to my doctor and told my stomach issues were probably IBS and acne was probably stress or hormones. I was put on lexapro for the mood swings and anxiety. I have been watching what I eat and working out and nothing has helped.Finally last week I decided to do some research on my own and googled "midsection weight" and articles linking this to mirena flooded my screen. I spent the rest of the day reading and called my doctor the next day. I have an appointment tomorrow to have it removed, I will keep you posted. Part of my is angry that these side effects were not listed in the pamphlet I received from the doctor but another part is so relieved to have found an answer to the madness.

I came on here to see if anyone else was gaining weight as quickly as i did. i see way more side effects that i wasn't associating with loestrin 24.
ive been on the pill for 3 weeks and have gained 17lbs !!!!! This def makes anyone suicide lol ! Been working out twice a day and trying to fight the hunger with healthy foods... it just doesn't go away !! I have to get off this pill. My feet are swollen my face and body are huge, i thought i was pregnant. Back Aches, def attitude and mood swings. Wow is there a bc with Good, weight losss side effects !!!

I am so glad I got off Yasmin before anything bad happened. I started Yasmin about 2 1/2 months ago. I heard great things about it and wanted to try it. I gained weight with a lot of the other BC pills and this one I heard was great for not making you gain weight. Well, it was great on not gaining weight but I have never been so scared of myself and my kids. THE ANGER! I have never felt this way in my entire life. I am not an angry person, I am a piece maker. This drug made me to the point were I didn't know if I was going to be able to control myself. I would get so angry at my kids and throw toys across the room and then turn around and hold them and cry because I didn't know what was going on with me............ This is such a terrible drug!! They need to take this off the market before someone hurts themselves or there children from the anger the rage that this medication gives.
I am so mad at myself for even wanting to be on this. I wish I would have researched it more before I went on it.
There were several other side effect from this that I experienced. ANGER being the biggest one of them all and the worst one of them all. I had excessive bleeding with my period, migraines like you wouldn't believe, and no sex drive. DO NOT GO ON YASMIN!!!

I had my Mirena put in August of 2008. To start with I thought it was great. Now insertion was worse than giving birth to my two year old but I figured that was normal. The first few months were great. I have not had a period since having it. I LOVE this fact but I would rather have a monthly than have all my other symptoms. I am ALWAYS tired no matter how much I sleep; I have terrible headaches verging on migraine level. I have horrible mood swings. One minute I am fine and the next I feel like a mad woman. I feel horrible because my two year old see’s this and I know she does not understand. I have terrible bouts with depression. Sometimes they last for days. I have gained 25 lbs, now I have always been heavy but when I work out 5 days a week and eat VERY healthy and am still gaining weight there has got to be a problem. I am almost 30 and I now have acne like a teenager. And I think the WORST side affect of them all is NO SEX DRIVE. This has seriously hurt my marriage. For a long time I have just put much of this off as being the mother of a toddler but now I am not so sure. I cannot take it anymore and have an appointment scheduled for October 1st to have it removed. I will update as soon as it is out.

To be perfectly honest, the big thing that I'm noticing is breast tenderness. I'm a really chesty girl as it is, but even going up and down stairs hurts...

Also, I'm noticing that my sex drive is a lot lower, and that I do have a little more acne than normal.

On the bright side, I'm not gaining weight, which was not the case when I was on Ortho-Tricyclen. I've actually lost a little... It's kind of odd, too, because I've had more of an appetite.

Either way, it takes your body three months to adjust. I'm not that concerned yet. I'd advise you to just try and deal with it for a little while. A lot of it is in your head, especially when you go reading all these horror stories!

I have had Mirena in for about a year. I got it because after trying birth control pills, I was getting severe migraines all the time. My doctor told me I was at risk for stroke and should never take birth control pills again. Not wanting to have to use condoms the rest of my life, I asked for options other than the pill. My doctor strongly recommended Mirena. Well, I had it put in in September of 2008. At first I had the normal symptoms of heavy bleeding, severe cramps, etc. But after about 2 months that calmed down. However, I felt bloated all the time and started gaining weight. I was only 21 at the time, and had never had a problem with weight gain in my entire life. I wasn't over-eating, and I was still exercising. In the last year I have gained about 20 pounds. Anyways, around January I got a large cyst on one of my ovaries which eventually burst, but I still feel like I have sharp stabbing pains in my abdomen quite a lot. The real problem started a few months ago. I have been getting severe migraines again, and they are coming more and more frequently. I get optical auras with the migraines and often feel tingling in my face and hands. I am concerned that something more severe could be wrong or that Mirena is putting me at risk for stroke. I was told this would not happen with Mirena, but I have had no other significant changes that could account for the migraines. I have had migraines since I was a little girl, but never this often or with the strange tingling. The only other time I had migraines like this was on the pill. I really like Mirena because it is easy and I don't have to think about it, but I hate the migraines, weight gain, bloating, cysts, etc. I don't know what else I would use, though, since I can't be on estrogen-based birth controls. Does anybody have any advice? I am only 22 years old and don't want children for a while. I really don't know what to do.

I have had Mirena in for about a year. I got it because after trying birth control pills, I was getting severe migraines all the time. My doctor told me I was at risk for stroke and should never take birth control pills again. Not wanting to have to use condoms the rest of my life, I asked for options other than the pill. My doctor strongly recommended Mirena. He said I would not get migraines with this. At first there were the normal symptoms of bleeding, severe cramps, etc. But after a couple of months I was pretty happy with it. The only thing that was really bothering me was that I was gaining a lot of weight. I was only 21 at the time and had never had a problem with gaining weight in my life. It was so weird. Over the last year I have gained about 20 pounds and am really upset. About 4 months after getting Mirena I got a large cyst on one of my ovaries, but it eventually burst and went away. All of those things I suppose I could have dealt with, though. However, after about 9 or 10 months with the thing I started getting severe migraines again. I got married in June and over the past few months I have had more and more frequent migraines. I have optical auras and often feel like I have tingling in my face and hands, which is similar to what I had when on the pill. I am concerned that this could be a serious problem. I like having Mirena because it is easy and I don't have to think about it, but I am not sure what to do. I can't be having migraines all the time, and I also would rather not have the weight gain and cysts. I'm not sure what else I would use, though. If anyone has any suggestions for me, please let me know. I am only 22 and don't want kids for a while.

I just started taking birth control after not being on any for 3 years. I have had 2 children and breast feed them. So at first I was put on a low dose pill, but I experienced break through bleeding. So the doctor recommended trying a higher estrogen level pill, Apri. The first month seemed fine, then the second month I bleed in the middle of the pack. Just like a period. I was so annoyed. I then bleed a little during the non active pill week. I cannot have 2 periods a month. I finally got my prebaby body back and then starting gaining weight with this stupid pill. My sex drive is really gone. I'm glad I know that I do have a sex drive when I'm not on the pill. I never realized how much it affects that until I was finally off it during and after pregnancy. I have dealt with bad headaches for years but did not realize it could be linked to the pill. These last two months I have had so many headaches. Some have lasted for days. After doing research I see it can affect migraines/headaches. After all this I was more than ready to stop Apri. I don't know what I will take now. I just want to see what my body really is like without the pill. It was stupid to take the pill to prevent pregnancy, because we didn't have much sex due to the lack of drive. Overall, this pill is bad news!

I have been on Metformin for 6-7 months 500mg 2 x daily, and have puffed up like a balloon with significant weight gain of at least 45lbs., no desire to do anything physical as I have no energy,stomach upset and increased bowel movements, flatulence and absolutely no sex drive. I am going to discuss this with my doctor but before I do in their any other medications other then Glipizide for type 2 diabetes? I keep putting on weight like I am my blood sugar will be way out of control.

I'm 37 and have been taking Yaz for 3 weeks now and all I want to do is sleep and eat. This is the first time I have changed my birth control in 5 years. My doctor put me on Yaz because my PMS is so bad and my boyfriend is over the monthly break up. I feel just like you do....I always worked out at lest 5 days a week and I haven't gained weight since high school. Now I have been eating cookies every night and I'm not working out at all. I was telling my boyfriend that I just don't feel right. I don't even want to finish the pack of Yaz pills I have.... but I'm scared if I start taking my old pills for the rest of the month it's going to mess me up. I'm so happy that I'm not the only girl that feels this way. My boyfriend wants me to give it a chance because my PMS is sooooo bad. All I know is that Weight gain is one of the side effect and I'm not going to put weight on for any reason. If he think I'm a bitch for one week out of the month he doesn't want to see me gaining weight and miserable...TOTAL BITCH !!!
Thanks for your feed back it helped.
J.

I got Mirena inserted in Oct 2007. A few months after getting the IUD put in, I started experiencing a lot of different things, such as, depression, weight gain, sinus infections, fatigue, back pain, headaches, severe bloating, changes in bowel movements, cramping, high blood pressure, lower back pain, decreased sex drive and so on... I went to the doctor because I had never had all of these things happen to me before. I never thought or realized it could be Mirena. My primary doctor told me my Thyroid was out of whack, and I've been on thyroid medicine for over a year now, and my levels are fine, but I keep gaining weight for no reason, and I am tired all of the time. I recently started having severe cramping and pelvic pain and went to by OBGYN.. I saw the NP and she didn't seem too concerned, and I insisted that they give me a pelvic ultrasound because I thought maybe I some ovarian cysts, as I have had in the past since I got this stupid IUD! They did the ultrasound and discovered that the IUD was quite a bit lower in the Uterus than it should be, and it was puncturing the muscle... not sure if it is a muscle or the actual uterus or what... I just had the ultrasound 3 days ago, on a Friday, and my doctor's office is suppose to be calling me today or tomorrow to let me know what's going on. I know that this IUD is coming out of my body for sure!!! I have been online now and read all the stories about other people's side effects with Mirena, and it is exactly the same for me! It is ruining my life basically! I have had it in for almost 2 years now, and I can't tell you how many times I've went to the doctor for multiple things, not realizing that it was the IUD causes all these problems!!! I would NEVER in a million years recommend Mirena IUD to anyone!!!

I’m 25 and I’m from the UK
I have been suffering from the Gynae condition Endometriosis for the past 14 years. I have tried virtually every contraceptive Pill / Injections/ Coil / Hormone tablets/ Patches / Implants going, I’ve had various surgeries and none of these have made the slightest improvement in my condition. I can experience anything from 2 – 6 periods in a 4week period and the pain is there on a daily basis, interfering in my everyday life
On recommendation from my Gynae consultant he suggested that I give the Mirena Coil another go, I had one first fitted when I was 17years old for the same condition and to be honest after the initial first few weeks of bleeding and slight pain I found it made a huge improvement, It completely stopped my periods and I was no longer in any pain and for once was seeing some normality in my life...that is until 2years into having it the Mirena decided to dislodge itself and imbed itself into the surrounding tissue and I had to have it surgically removed. So this time around when my consultant suggested that I give it another go I was a little skeptical after what happened last time but the fact that I have tried virtually everything going to try to help and nothing has worked I decided to give it another go, after all it did improve my condition last time, even though it did make me very ill at the end when it moved.
So I had the Mirena fitted just under a month ago now and I seriously wish I had not bothered, I am in more pain that I was with just the endometriosis pain, I’ve been bleeding really heavily ever since it was inserted, I am extremely moody and temperamental, My appetite has virtually disappeared yet I seem to be gaining weight around the mid drift area, I keep suffering from headaches which I rarely usually get and sickness and I’ve been experiencing these fluttering like sensations which remind me very much like the feelings I had when I was pregnant with my son but a pregnancy test showed negative so I don’t have a clue what that is. My skin and hair are also suffering as they seem to become increasingly greasy much quicker than usual and I’ve started to get patches of acne which I never even suffered from when I was growing up as a teenager.
Reading through all of your posts and the similarities in side effects I’m very much convinced that its the coil causing all of them and I am seriously considering getting it removed

i just started taking LoE 24 Fe about 2 weeks ago. The first week was ok- i noticed i was pretty moody at times which is weird for me, but i'm also under a lot of stress planning my wedding at all. My boobs hurt really bad this week- they seemed swollen too so that wasn't fun... but that's gone away now for the most part. And i haven't had any breakthrough bleeding at all (yet). I'm pretty active, try to fit in about 4-5 hours of cardio/weight training a week, i might up it a little bit because i am so TERRIFIED of gaining weight- especially since my wedding is this November! Anyways, i feel pretty confident that i'm on the right pill. but after reading all these reviews and others on different sites, it's pretty obvious that everyone reacts differently to different pills. the end :)