I know the subject of birth control pills has been a topic , but I really need some advice. I have done the atkins diet in the past and have lost weight. About a month ago I started again, however about 2 months ago I started taking the pill. I am not loosing any weight. Is low carb bad to do when on the pill. Does the pill mess with insulin or something? I have been sticking to it because I feal as though if I dont I will gain tons of weight. My doctor said that after the first few months side effects go away, so I am going to give it another month as well. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I never had a problem losing weight on the pill (I've been on it now for 10 years). I think it makes it easier for me to GAIN weight, but I was able to lose weight a couple of different times by eating LC while on the pill. Just give your body a little time to adjust.....

I have found that other medications (antidepressants) affect my ability to lose weight, so everyone is different! There may be other pills you can switch to if this one turns out to be a problem.

-animaldoc

Sorry! I meant to reply to wasting time!

-animaldoc

i honestly don't think they understand what all the BC pill does--manipulating sex hormones like that must have far-reaching implications for other parts of the endocrine system...seems inevitable. I get irritated with the doctor advice of ignoring drug side effects and they'll become tolerable...I guess even a car alarm going off on my street would become tolerable after three months, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing! If your choices are pregnancy or slowed weight loss, though, pregnancy will make you a lot fatter than the pill! Changing brands of pills (they all have proprietary synthetic hormones that vary from brand to brand and vary in their side-effects) might help symptoms without putting you at risk for pregnancy.

You may also be putting on muscle (because of higher protein intake) while losing fat. Pay more attention to how loose your clothes feel than the scale. And since you are already at a good weight for your height according to the charts, get your body fat tested. If it's 19-21%, you're slender and healthy, and your energy would be better spent doing some work on your expectations and understanding of how real women (not the women in Glamour or Cosmo) are supposed to look. HTH

Hi.

I know what you mean about the pill. If you are having side effects, you can definitely ask your doctor about different brands/strengths. Different levels of hormones can do some funky things to your body, not to mention your body shape. Growing up I needed the pill to help with my TOM. My mother was a pharmacist and she would tell me about all the different brands out there, and believe me they all have their side effects. Some are just worse than others. I wouldn't recommend the injection because I had really bad results with that.

Some made me retain water on my chest, others made me retain water on my stomach. Some gave me vicious mood swings, and even reduced my sex drive to zilch. Some made me nauseous, others gave me acne quite bad, and in new and wonderful places that I had never had it before...yikes! I was never a fan of drinking much water, so the effects hit me quite hard. If you hit the water bottle hard, you may not feel the effects quite as badly.

If you find that the pill you are on gives you bad side effects after you've tried it for a few months, just know that there are options. Your best bet is to ask your doctor about the strengths/levels of the hormones in the pills and see if you can't find one that would reduce possible water retention. Drinking lots of water should help to reduce the weight gain due to water weight.

The Atkins book has some good information on the effects of certain medications. It might be worth taking a look.

Good luck!!
KC

Hi Animaldoc,

I am currently on Celexa one pill 20mg a day.....I am on day 5 of the Atkins diet....I am in keotosis but wonder if this med will make it difficult for me to lose weight. Do you know anything about this drug?


Thanks!
LieslMac

I am currently on Celexa and I am blaming it on my inability to lose weight right now. I have done this WOE a few times before and it works great for me, but this time it's not. The only difference is that I'm on Celexa. I read on pub med that antidepressants can "alter your carbohydrate metabolism" and either cause you to gain weight, or in my case not lose. I'm supposed to go off the Celexa next month, so I'm going to restart this WOE again and see if there is a difference then....


Everyone is different though, so my experience may not be the same as yours....

-animaldoc