[Margeritte]

Hi all,

I have been on the pill for 10 years, I am 29 years old. Four months ago I decided to stop taking the pill as I experienced decreased libido, accompanied by low mood. I have always been quite slim (I am 1.77 cm/5'10 and used to weigh 57 kg/125 lb) - this was until I stopped the pill. In four months I have gained 10 kg/22 lb, and steadily increasing, while eating less and exercising more.

I know that I am not overweight but find this weight gain very frustrating as I cannot fit into any of my clothes and feel very bloated (at times my stomach looks as if I was pregnant, which I am not). I feel very heavy and uncomfortable.

Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, how long did it take until you got back to normal, if you ever did?

Very grateful for advice!

[Ashlee T.]

I went off for the same reason as you. I believe I have gained a couple lbs, but nothing unhealthy. And generally I felt awesome after going off. I'd say it took a couple months (2 or so) for me to get back to "normal". Are your cycles back to normal yet? It may be a good idea to start charting your bbt. I do it, just so I can keep track of what's going on with my body. Like this morning, my bbt was .2 lower than the day before so I knew I was going to start my period today. If your cycles aren't back to normal, you could just be experiencing heavy bloating. Please be sure you are drinking ALOT of water and getting lots of cardio.

[Tim]

As the other poster suggested, do be patient with yourself and give it a little time.

Meanwhile you can look into these ideas which I'll mention based on what you wrote:

The abdominal distention, depending on where in the mid-section it's occurring, is a common symptom of food allergies or yeast overgrowth (the latter happens more below the belt line).

The pill is notorious for causing yeast overgrowth in the body as one example, and it may be helpful to focus on an anti-yeast protocol of any sort (such as no alcohol, fruit juices, or sugars as a gentle, lesser-aggressive way of managing it) and drinking lots of spring or other clean water (tap water tends to have too many contaminants that don't assist with detoxing from a yeast issue). I could go much deeper into yeast/fungal management, but it would take up the whole page.

On the allergy side, I'd experiment with dairy and gluten elimination, two huge possible contributors to abdominal distention.

Believe me, I understand how difficult avoiding those foods can be, they're in almost everything in the western diet.

But based on the symptoms you're experiencing, and how upset they make you, these areas are worth exploring to determine if one or all are a cause of what's happening.

The reward will be that you'll likely look and feel a lot better once you give them a try. THEN they can be slowly incorporated back into the diet.

Hope that helps as a starting point.

[irini]

Hi all,

I have been on the pill for 10 years, I am 29 years old. Four months ago I decided to stop taking the pill as I experienced decreased libido, accompanied by low mood. I have always been quite slim (I am 1.77 cm/5'10 and used to weigh 57 kg/125 lb) - this was until I stopped the pill. In four months I have gained 10 kg/22 lb, and steadily increasing, while eating less and exercising more.

I know that I am not overweight but find this weight gain very frustrating as I cannot fit into any of my clothes and feel very bloated (at times my stomach looks as if I was pregnant, which I am not). I feel very heavy and uncomfortable.

Has anyone else experienced this? And if so, how long did it take until you got back to normal, if you ever did?

Very grateful for advice!

Hi Margeritte, ive been having same issue for the past 8 months, you wrote this about a year ago, was just wondering did you manage to find a solution or did your body get back to normal on its own?