Can Birth Control Pills Make U Lose Weight

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Hormonal birth control can sometimes cause weight gain. Nonhormonal options like a barrier method or a copper IUD may prevent weight gain associated with hormonal options.

What Should I Expect After Stopping Birth Control?

If you’ve ever checked out the side effects of some birth control, you may have noticed both weight loss and weight gain listed.

But is there a type of birth control that’s best for weight loss or maintaining your current weight? Read on for a deep, deep dive into the topic.

But it could mean that your body looks different in certain areas and your clothes fit differently. Some people are more prone to water retention than others, which would explain the individual differences.

Does The Pill Make You Gain Weight?

No form of birth control has been designed for weight loss. But some forms are believed to have less of a chance of creating weight gain.

Barrier methods, like condoms and diaphragms, act as a physical sperm-blocking barrier. This means they don’t contain any hormones, and there’s no way they could affect your weight.

But they don’t work as well as other contraceptives — out of 100 people, 18 to 28 will become pregnant each year when relying solely on a barrier method to prevent pregnancy.

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Also known as the copper IUD, ParaGard doesn’t contain hormones either. Instead, it uses copper to stop sperm from reaching and fertilizing an egg.

It’s also more than 99 percent effective at preventing pregnancy, can be kept in for up to 10 years, and can even be used as emergency contraception if needed.

As higher estrogen levels are believed to be linked to weight gain, a pill containing a lower dose of estrogen may help.

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One brand, Yasmin, uses a progesterone alternative called drospirenone, which acts like a diuretic. This means you’re unlikely to have water retention.

Although weight loss is listed as a potential side effect of some hormonal contraceptives, no birth control has been designed to promote it.

The only way you may feel like you’ve lost weight is if you’re prone to water retention and use a contraceptive that has a diuretic effect.

The Best Birth Control Options For Avoiding Weight Gain

For example, you could eat a more balanced diet, engage in more physical activity, and limit the amount of salty, sugary, or fatty foods in your diet. Staying hydrated is also important.

Even if you do this, it’s possible you might still feel like you’ve gained weight. This is often a temporary side effect caused by water retention.

If you’re not happy with the way your contraception is making you look or feel, consider making an appointment with a doctor or other healthcare professional.

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Similarly, if you experience significant weight gain or loss, reach out to a healthcare professional. There could be something else going on in your body that needs examining.

But one of the hormones in Yasmin, drospirenone, can act as a diuretic. That means it may lead to less or no water retention, giving the illusion that you’ve lost weight.

But a 2016 review found that, on average, people who took a progestin-only pill gained less than 4.4 pounds after 6 or 12 months.

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The jury’s still out on if birth control causes weight gain or weight loss. But lots of people have stories of weight-related side effects, so it’s possible.

That doesn’t mean you should use birth control as a weight loss method, as it’s unlikely to have a significant effect, if any at all.

Finally, if you need a more accessible and affordable way to get hold of birth control, consider online platforms, like Nurx or Hers.

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Lauren Sharkey is a U.K.-based journalist and author specializing in women’s issues. When she isn’t trying to discover a way to banish migraines, she can be found uncovering the answers to your lurking health questions. She has also written a book profiling young female activists across the globe and is currently building a community of such resisters. Catch her on Twitter.

Has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations. We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.This article was co-authored by Claudia Carberry, RD, MS. Claudia Carberry is a Registered Dietitian specializing in kidney transplants and counseling patients for weight loss at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She is a member of the Arkansas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Claudia received her MS in Nutrition from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2010.

Gaining weight is a fairly common (and annoying) side effect of some methods of birth control. If you find yourself packing on the pounds after starting a new birth control routine, you might need to take some action. You can try exercising regularly and eating a balanced diet to help minimize the water weight your body may be retaining. You can also try talking to your doctor about your symptoms, or even switching to another form of birth control with fewer hormonal side effects.

Weight Loss And The Birth Control Pill

This article was co-authored by Claudia Carberry, RD, MS. Claudia Carberry is a Registered Dietitian specializing in kidney transplants and counseling patients for weight loss at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. She is a member of the Arkansas Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Claudia received her MS in Nutrition from the University of Tennessee Knoxville in 2010. This article has been viewed 117, 678 times.

Gaining weight from taking birth control can be frustrating, but by making a few changes to your diet and lifestlye, you can lose those extra pounds. Since birth control causes you to retain water, eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy to help you lose the water weight. You’ll also want to increase your water intake since staying hydrated can help with fluid retention. However, sodium can increase water weight, so avoid salted nuts, canned foods, cold cuts, and fast foods. In addition to your diet, make sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night since rest leads to more calories burned, more fat lost, and less late-night snacking. Also, aim to exercise at least 30 minutes on most days to sweat out excess water and spark your metabolism. For more tips from our Medical co-author, including how to use a weight journal, keep reading!Hormonal birth control can lead to weight gain in some people. Dietary choices and getting enough regular exercise or physical activity can often help a person lose weight while on birth control.

A doctor may test for underlying conditions or suggest an alternative method of weight loss if a person is unable to lose weight while on birth control.

Birth Control & Weight Gain

In this article, we evaluate the data that is available about birth control and weight gain, as well as provide tips for losing or preventing weight gain.

Despite the lack of scientific evidence, some women taking combined contraceptives believe that they increase their appetite and cause them to feel hungrier. Again, this is not easy to establish, as those who do not take contraceptive pills can gain weight as they age.

To do this, researchers would have to take two groups of women and give some birth control pills with hormones, while giving placebos, or birth control pills without hormones, to others.

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However, this would be difficult because people could not be sure they were in control of preventing pregnancies. Launching a very conclusive study is, therefore, difficult.

The Cochrane Library, which conducts reviews of scientific research and evaluates available references, has published some information on birth control pills and weight gain.

In the studies, participants gained fewer than 4.4 pounds, on average, after 6 or 12 months of starting progestin-only birth control pills.

How Does Birth Control Cause Weight Gain?

Review looked at the effects of combined hormone birth control pills on weight gain. These pills contain progestin and estrogen. The researchers found there was insufficient evidence to conclude that these birth control pills caused weight gain.

, it is “unlikely” that birth control pills cause significant weight gain. The organization did, however, acknowledge that individual women might respond differently to medications taken.

If a woman is concerned that her birth control pills are causing her to gain weight, she should talk to her doctor.

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A doctor may recommend another contraceptive type or a lower hormone dose to see if this could help a person lose weight.

Other birth control methods besides the pill are available. Most, however, utilize the same hormones that are present in birth control pills.

Examples of these methods include the birth control implant, an intrauterine device (IUD), or a birth control vaginal ring. There are hormonal and nonhormonal IUDs, the trade names of which include Mirena, Sklya, Kyleena, Liletta.

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For a full listing of birth control types and their average pregnancy rates with typical uses, people can check out the information provided by the United States government at

Hormonal birth control forms, for example, can increase the risks that a woman may experience blood clots and high blood