Hormonal Contraception: The Pill [General Discussion]

Hey everyone! Does anyone actually know how you find out if there are blood clots present? Like, can you spot any signs through a standard CBC (complete blood count) or something else?

neonridge91 said:Hey everyone! Does anyone actually know how you find out if there are blood clots present? Like, can you spot any signs through a standard CBC (complete blood count) or something else?

You’d need to request a coagulation panel.

How much time usually passes after you start taking birth control pills before you might notice some weight gain? For those of you who’ve been through this, when did you actually start seeing the scale creep up once you began your prescription?

Richard Cox3 said:How much time usually passes after you start taking birth control pills before you might notice some weight gain? For those of you who’ve been through this, when did you actually start seeing the scale creep up once you began your prescription?

I started noticing it after about a year, but by then I was already up 13 pounds... it felt like no matter what I ate, my body just soaked it all up.
Now I have a hormonal IUD, and I've gained about 22 pounds over two years... is it possible it's the hormones acting up again? I mean, how similar are the hormones in the pill compared to an IUD?

Should I be worried about breakthrough bleeding during the last week of my pill cycle before the break?

Elizabeth Fowler46 said:Should I be worried about breakthrough bleeding during the last week of my pill cycle before the break?

Same situation here. Been on Logest for three months, down to my last ten pills, and now the bleeding started. At first, it was just spotting, but now it’s turned into actual blood.🤷

David Fowler3 said:Same situation here. Been on Logest for three months, down to my last ten pills, and now the bleeding started. At first, it was just spotting, but now it’s turned into actual blood.🤷

Now my stomach is cramping up too. 😲😲 Someone please help—I can't reach my OBGYN because I'm traveling right now.

I’ve only experienced breakthrough bleeding once in nearly ten years of being on the pill. It happened during that final week before my scheduled break—nothing unusual, really; it just lingered and eventually merged with my actual period, then everything settled back to normal.

Is there anyone else here in their thirties who is still on the pill? I can't shake the impression that it's mostly younger women who tend to use them.

One more thing, since breakthrough bleeding could mean the pills aren't strong enough, does that mean the contraceptive effectiveness is also lower?
Of course, provided you aren't skipping any doses.

Elizabeth Fowler46 said:One more thing, since breakthrough bleeding could mean the pills aren't strong enough, does that mean the contraceptive effectiveness is also lower?
Of course, provided you aren't skipping any doses.

No, the effectiveness should remain the same—your protection shouldn't be compromised.

quietfox384 said:No, the effectiveness should remain the same—your protection shouldn't be compromised.

Thanks, I can finally breathe again.😍

David Fowler3 said:Now my stomach is cramping up too. 😲😲 Someone please help—I can't reach my OBGYN because I'm traveling right now.

That's perfectly normal.
I experienced the same thing about ten days before my period.
My doctor told me there was nothing to worry about.

On Saturday, I switched to a different brand of birth control pills—something a bit stronger—and ever since, I’ve been dealing with breast tenderness, muscle aches, headaches, and even bouts of dizziness. These are all side effects. Does this mean these specific pills just aren't right for my body, or is my system simply going through a period of adjustment? 🙂

Took my first pill today. My only real worry about side effects is potential weight gain. That’s the one thing I really want to avoid. 🙂
If we're talking two or three pounds—fine, I can live with that—but anything more than that is a dealbreaker. I'm pretty sensitive about it, too; I dropped from about 135 down to 125 over the winter, and I really don't want to see that number climb back above 130. Maybe I sound silly or just paranoid, but you know how it is.

I’m thinking about starting birth control just to deal with my acne. My skin goes into total chaos about a week before my period hits, and frankly, I'm over it. One thing bothering me, though—is mid-cycle spotting a regular thing on the pill? I see so many people online complaining about random bleeding.
Has anyone here actually cleared up their skin using the pill? How long did it take to see a real difference? And does it get worse before it gets better?

I've been on the pill for about a year now—and honestly, I haven't experienced any breakthrough bleeding at all—so it seems like cycle bleeding isn't even a necessity for everyone.

The idea that pills trigger hunger is purely subjective.
It’s mostly a matter of self-control.
I personally have a massive appetite, yet I maintain discipline.

I discussed this with my OB-GYN a couple of weeks ago. He noted that women frequently complain about weight gain.
Most of it is water retention—maybe two pounds. Anything beyond that is just overeating, followed by blaming the medication.

Help, please! I’ve just finished my fourth pack of birth control. Over the last five or six years, I’ve started experiencing this really strange bleeding—sort of these odd brown or black colored discharges. I took the entire pack as directed, and I was supposed to start my period this past Thursday. But absolutely NOTHING happened. I'm still just getting these little drops of black discharge. I am honestly starting to panic... I take my pills strictly on schedule, so I have no idea why this is happening all of a sudden. Toward the end of my first three packs, I did have some bleeding, but it was never like this. Now I’m just freaking out...

urbanhound36 said:On Saturday, I switched to a different brand of birth control pills—something a bit stronger—and ever since, I’ve been dealing with breast tenderness, muscle aches, headaches, and even bouts of dizziness. These are all side effects. Does this mean these specific pills just aren't right for my body, or is my system simply going through a period of adjustment? 🙂

When I first switched over to birth control patches—essentially the same hormones as pills, just delivered via a patch—the side effects hit me pretty hard. I checked in with my doctor, and she advised me to hang in there for at least three months. Her take was that these initial reactions are standard during the adjustment period. If things haven't leveled out by then, she suggested it would be time to look into alternative options. 🙂

Patrick Brown3 said:The idea that pills trigger hunger is purely subjective.
It’s mostly a matter of self-control.
I personally have a massive appetite, yet I maintain discipline.

I discussed this with my OB-GYN a couple of weeks ago. He noted that women frequently complain about weight gain.
Most of it is water retention—maybe two pounds. Anything beyond that is just overeating, followed by blaming the medication.

"I'm eating" just as much as I was two years ago—if anything, probably less, though let's be honest—but the difference is that for the last two years, I've been riding my bike and walking regularly. Basically, I'm training.
My metabolism has always been slow (and excuse my language, but I feel sluggish every five days), which is why I have to drink massive amounts of water just to keep up.
These hormones don't make me hungry; if anything, they slow my metabolism even further, leading to weight gain... so even that initial water retention really messes with me, not to mention how much more backed up I get 🙂.
Bottom line: for me, these hormones (specifically from my birth control, but hey, they're hormones regardless) are a problem... it varies from person to person, but that's my experience.