IUD birth control screwed me over. so here i am.

L

leydam

New member
Hey guys!
basically, I am an 18 year old female whos been healthy, athletic, and in shape for the most part of my life. I love working out, going to the gym, running, eating healthy, i love it all.

To make a long story short, i had my copper iud placed in my uterus as a method of birth control 2 years ago.

Lied to by my gyno, i was told i would gain no weight.

Wow was I naive to believe him.

Here I am, two years later and 40lbs heavier!

always a size zero/double zero, I am now a size 3, weighing in at 150.

there is a huge difference in my face, my arms, my abdominal area, and even mylegs have gotten much thicker.

ive always been pretty thick in the butt area, but always had a slim waist, nice abs, and lean legs.

now i rarely wear anything other than a plain shirt and jeans, because my confidence level has dropped so much from what it once was.

i often feel depressed, most likely due to my IUD, and my weight is really becoming an issue for me, more emotionally than anything.

i dont even like to go out anymore because it's like im constantly thinking about how i look. it isnt a good feeling. i hate it.


I am getting my iud removed this week, no matter how much my doctor suggests that I do otherwise.

From all I've read online on forums started by other women/girls, who like myself have suffered weight gain, mood swings, depression, and other side effects due to their IUD, i believe once the IUD is off, my weight will go back to normal.

As these other women have lost 20 lbs 2 weeks after removal. I hope the same will happen with me.

Also, my excersice regimen is pretty intense, and i have not eaten fast food in around 6 months. occassionally drink sprite, stopped with the coke and everything else 6 months ago as well.

my eating habits have only changed for the better and it is impossible for me to lose even a pound.

it is very discouraging and gives me a sense of helplessness.

i hope once i remove my IUD, my weight will continue to drop.

But i will keep up my work outs, and healthy eating.

I will post picture updates on here, and hopefully receive support and encouragement, because I truly need it.

Sorry for the long post.
Will post pictures as soon as I get home.
 
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I had the other IUD, the Meridia, which emits fake progesterone hormone. I started thinking that was the cause of my inability to lose weight, but alas, nothing changed after I had it removed. Right now my doctor is checking my hormones though (the test is done over a 30 day period) to make sure the levels aren't all screwed up from 2 years on that horrific IUD with its FAKE chemicals. I hear you about removing it and do keep us posted on whether it helps with your weight.

Just be careful about the form of birth control you replace it with. Any type of birth control pill uses fake hormones that are not identical to the hormones produced by our bodies. I dont like fake stuff in my body controlling my system so I use condoms and temperature to track my fertile period. Basically after we ovulate, we are ALL GOOD (cannot get pregnant) until our periods. We know we have ovulated because our temperature consistently increases after ovulation every single month by about .4 to .6 degrees. Once you get used to the pattern, it becomes very easy to detect. I only wish I had known how to track my ovulation when I was so much younger at your age.

But until you are married or into a very long term serious relationship, you really should be using condoms EVERY TIME.
 
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IUD problem too

Hi,
I've been overweight for many years and mostly due to emotional eating. I started my life change in Jan/09. I was steadily losing weight ... doing all the right things and I decided to have the IUD put in. Within the first 24hrs, I had gone up 5lbs on the scale...this was weird but I thought, no one could gain 5lbs overnight. Even if I ate the worst food ever...which I had not! I exercised harder and ate within my range but within 7 days I had gone up 8lbs! It was causing me many other side affects too but I called the Dr. and got it out right away. I did not need anything else making it harder to lose weight for me, I have so much to lose. Long story short...I had it out and the next two days I was down 9lbs!! It was crazy! It don't hurt most women but it really affected me. And I don't know if I would have kept gaining but I was really afraid it would make the losing much harder. So That's my story. I believe you 100% and I'm sure you'll see results with working hard to lose the pounds. Good Luck to you!
 
hate to say it but though it may slightly slow your metabolism, and make you feel a little more hungry. It doesnt actually make you gain weight that much. More than likely you just hit that age that your metabolism slows down naturally somewhat and you tend to retain a bit more weight than usual, combined with overeating and less exercise than usual.
So a good combination of things which often hits us women. Its easy to lay blame anywhere but on ourselves, but in the end its all science (energy in vs energy out). Try some good heart racing exercise, even if its only a couple of 10 minute exercises every morning and night to help rev up the metabolism, and log what you eat and when on something like
 
wishes said:
hate to say it but though it may slightly slow your metabolism, and make you feel a little more hungry. It doesnt actually make you gain weight that much. More than likely you just hit that age that your metabolism slows down naturally somewhat and you tend to retain a bit more weight than usual, combined with overeating and less exercise than usual.
So a good combination of things which often hits us women. Its easy to lay blame anywhere but on ourselves, but in the end its all science (energy in vs energy out). Try some good heart racing exercise, even if its only a couple of 10 minute exercises every morning and night to help rev up the metabolism, and log what you eat and when on something like
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like i said, i exercise ALOT. that includes miles ran everyday, some weight training, ab workouts, leg workouts, and aside from running, other methods of cardio.

I do not eat fast food.

only vegetables, grilled chicken, rarely grilled meat, salads, tuna, fish, things of that nature.

i do not drink soda, only water, fruit juices, and smoothies.

I have been this way for months.

and still have not lost A SINGLE pound.

if you look on forums, thousands of women suffer from weight gain from the iud's.

my doctor confirmed to me that he's had cases where a patient gains even more weight than i have on the iud, and a month after it's removal the weight starts falling off on it's own.

thats just too much coincidence, i think.

anyways, my appointment is for 2 weeks from today, I CANT WAIT!!!!!!

no more IUD!

will keep you guys updated
 
Best of luck, I hope this works for you. Do be careful about juice and smoothies, they are generally very high in calories. But it sounds like overall you are low in cals and exercise enough. Have you counted how many calories you tend to have just to be sure? Healthy foods can often be high in cals too. But it would be great if this is the answer to your problems.
 
Paragard weight gain

I agree with the OP. I have had the Paragard IUD for nine months and gained 12 pounds. I kill myself at the gym, my arms have always been cut, too, and now they are just not. Bloated a lot. I have been really, really paying attention to what I eat. I always lift, never leave the gym without being drenched in sweat from the cardio machines, after I've weight-trained (no, it's not muscle weight, either). Just know you're not the only one who believes this. Everyone reacts differently to different things. I think my body thinks it's pregnant. This is how I looked when I was pregnant and when I took bith control pills. As soon as I quit birth control pills, I lost 15 pounds. I am not getting ready to start, dieting, working out and woke up two pounds more this morning. Super, super frustrated. I'll let everyone know if I lose the weight when I have it removed, which I am definitely doing.
 
I too have had the copper IUD,, it has no hormones so I dont understand how you gained weight. There is nothing that I have found with the copper IUD that makes you gain weight.....??? The IUD witht he hormones DO sometimes make weight gain happen.. but allthe copper does is make the environment unstable for a pregnancy and pretty much disables spermt o fertalize the egg.. or the egg to attach to the uterus.. Ive had to do the copper IUD because I cant handle the extra hormones.. are you sure it wasnt soemthing else.. maybe get a second opinion from a differnt doctor before getting it removed.. because getting it back in is more trouble than its worth.. just mop. :)
 
actually, i had mine removed once for a week because it had fallen out of place and when i had it put back in it was as easy as it was the first time.


what I had another doctor tell me is that the IUD, paraguard or mirena, makes your body believe it is pregnant.

This is why it retains water weight and stores fat, making it nearly impossible to lose any weight at all.


i look like a different person.

Im so sick of it. My appt was made for 2 weeks from now. and thats fine. just knowing Im definitely having it removed makes me feel better.
 
I've got the Merina IUD, with hormones, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. For the one without the hormones there is absolutely nothing that would make you gain weight, so I don't quite understand that.

The one with the hormones can make you gain weight in some cases, but not to the degree described by the OP. I never heard that the IUD would make your body think it's pregnant either, that's not how it works. The coil causes the release of substances in your body which destroys sperm and eggs, making a pregnancy next to impossible, and that's all it does. It doesn't make you store fat or retain water at all, I have no clue why a doctor would tell you something like that.

I would check into a few other directions to make sure that there isn't a different reason for the weight gain and/or inability to lose it.

I actually started losing weight after my coil was inserted.
 
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I am so glad I stumbled on this. Over the past five years (after getting an IUD) I have steadily gained and am now 60 pounds overweight. It has been an astonishing experience because I am so careful about eating healthfully and working out. I also experienced deep sadness (depression?). I wonder if it is the IUD. I am now desperate and looking for solutions. Whether it is the IUD or not, I think I am going to have mine taken out ... just in case. Thanks for your post. I will also let you know if I lose weight after having mine removed.
 
there's the link to a forum where theres over 600 posts of women complaining about the same thing.

all of which say that once their iud was removed, they lost all their weight and had no more problems with depression or anxiety .

and half of them gained more weight than I did.

I've already had this for over 2 years.

one year down the road i thought it was the best thing in this universe and would recommend it to everyone.

not anymore.

excuse my french, but its a piece of shit.

weight gain is actuallz a side effect that the paraguard pamphlet does provide as possible.

so obviously it is if even the manufacturer of the product is saying it can occur.
 
Weight gain can occur with the hormone IUD. Without that, unless you're allergic to copper or any of the other materials used in an IUD, there is no mechanic that could cause you to gain weight, or get depressive, so I'm gonna go out on a limb and wager a guess that if 75% of those women had been taking the pill, that would have had the same effect, and if they had been using any other method of contraception, that would have been blamed.

Not saying all of them are imagining things, but to blame weight gain (not just being stuck at a certain weight, but actually gaining huge amounts) or depressions on an IUD seems rather far fetched for me. 40 lbs plus while eating healthily and exercising on a regular basis? Hmmm....not so sure about that. If all of that was water, you'd be in hospital by now, and for your body to 'retain' fat, it needs to be put into the body into the first place.

To each their own though, if having the IUD removed makes you feel better and helps with the weight loss, it doesn't really make a difference if it was actually the cause for the weight gain in the first place or not. Whatever works for you.....
 
Studies and research in Brazil actually show a high increase in weight in women who have inserted a Copper IUD as their form of birth control.

Coppper mimics Estrogen when in the body,
Copper toxicity increases , so does Estrogen .

Estrogen Exsessiveness causes women to get "thicker", gain weight.

I cannot wait to get this removed.

It was delayed because of a trip I am taking this weekend to Orlando, I didnt want to risk having any spotting while there, so I am putting up with it unil Thursday.
 
Funny how people on here are scientists now and know everything about the effects of something foreign being inserted into our bodies.
 
Funny how some people just get informed and use common sense, and others don't.

And as said, it doesn't really matter if the IUD or something else is the reason for weight gain, if people believe it's the IUD and get it taken out, that will do the trick for them, so everybody's happy.
 
I think it's worth mentioning that your body can change a lot in 2 years, as well. Between 18-20 my body completely changed, no IUD, no different diet, exercise, or medication - it just changed. My body fat composition shifted, I gained a little weight, and even my facial skin changed totally. You're turning into a woman, woman, IUD side-effects, aside ;)
 
Blancita said:
With that attitude I can see why you've had issues..
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I wish I knew what you are on about, but I don't have the foggiest clue to be honest. I don't want to go into this again, since there is absolutely no point whatsoever (different worlds and all of that), so how about you keep your oppinion out of my 'issues' and we'll just agree to disagree once and for all?
 
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