Birth Control; Estrogen; the Pill, IUD

[LilMisBuny]

I was wondering if anyone had any input on the negative effects of the Pill to serious body builders (body fat, etc). Obviously, the pill contains estrogen (even low dose), estrogen makes it more difficult for a "hard" look. I was recently reading a CA Professor's write-up on the negative effects of the Pill to bodybuilding for women and think it makes perfect sense. In addition to the negative effects of estrogen on women in their 40's, I have a goal of competing; therefore, I have started to research IUD's (Mirena and ParaGard). Does anyone out there have any input in this regard? Anyone w/ either one of these? Do many of you ladies who compete take the pill? Thanks for your input.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

If you are going to compete, I think it is a good idea to go non-hormonal. Copper IUD is good, but if you are young with no children, many doctors hesitate to insert an IUD.

IUD (some), Diaphram, Sponges and condoms are all non-hormonal. I would use those if I were you.

I had no problems with BCP and dieting. I never felt that BCP was holding me back. But I never competed.

 

[myremyran]

I can not say much about BCP and competing but I had a much harder time to get "normally" lean when taking the pill. I also had all other possible sides from it but that is another story :-(

Now I have a copper IUD and inserting it is the best choice I have made. No hormones interfering with my dieting or muscle building. OK, you might be told that it is not the best choice if you have not had children, but it works fine for me, and I do not have any children. You can always give it a try and take it out if you feel that you do not like it.

 

[superqt4u2nv]

LilMisBunny I also have the goal of competing and stear clear of putting extra female hormones in my system as well. I don't want children now but I do in the future and from what I have read there can be negative side effects of using an IUD before you have had children. I just use good old fashion condoms as my form of BC.

 

[FitFossil]

...Now I have a copper IUD and inserting it is the best choice I have made. No hormones interfering with my dieting or muscle building. OK, you might be told that it is not the best choice if you have not had children, but it works fine for me, and I do not have any children. You can always give it a try and take it out if you feel that you do not like it.

This is my story too. I don't have children and am not planning too. If I were, I probably wouldn't choose the IUD because there's a remote possibility of problems conceiving afterwards, but still I've also heard plenty of real-live stories of perfectly healthy pregnancies and babies after an IUD.

I've had my IUD for 7 years and don't even know it's there, except during my annual physical my doctor tells me it is. Having it inserted was the worst part, and the first few periods thereafter were heavy and crampy. Not having synthetic hormones in my body is the best part, because the Pill and I did not get along at all. It made me a bodyfat magnet and mental case.

 

[LilMisBuny]

Thank you all for you input. When you say you have a copper IUD, do you mean ParaGard (10 year)? The Mirena (5 year) does contain some copper but also contains a small amount of a slow releasing hormone levonorgestrel. This supposedly helps w/ lessening bleeding and cramping during your period. My preference would be NO hormones. Thanks ladies.

 

[FitFossil]

I have the Paraguard

 

[Pamela]

I had the IUD and it set up infection close to one of my ovaries.
I had to go into the hospital; the dr. thought I had a tumor on one of my ovaries.
To make a long story short, the IUD caused the infection.

I tried BCP's afterwards and it was hard for me to get very lean.

Later I had my tubes tied.

 

[Sassy69]

There are some ladies who compete while on B/C- I guess it depends a bit on the level you are looking to compete at and also your "supplementation". Also have you had an experience with B/C? I spoke with my OB/GYN about competition while using B/C - I had been on the same pill for several years when I took a stab at natural BB. He said the estrogen / progestone combination I was on was a very low dose and shouldn't have any impact on my ability to lean out. But then he doesn't have any experience with women's bodybuilding. Hormonally speaking, you would expect some degree of impact, possibly negligible I guess. Also depends on how you personally respond to it. I ended up stopping my pills for a few months during my training & competition and leaned out not too bad for a first pass at it. I also think that to get hard-core competition lean, you need to train your body to do it - meaning that you need to really understand how to dial in your body with the diet & training for you individually, and to do it at least a couple times.

If you are looking to compete with "supplementation", I would probably avoid hormonal approach - that just throws too much into your body chemistry.

I've never tried non-pill methods so I can't speak to it.

 

[RottenWillow]

I got an IUD May 3 of these year and it's been wonderful. Since getting off hormones I've definitely noticed my body is harder and muscles tighter. Also I have naturally big boobs and while on BC (for 10 months) I went up another half cup to a D, which I wasnt wild about and my nipples seemed to stay overly sensitive.

 

[LilMisBuny]

When you say "supplementation", I assume you mean prohormones (which were recently banned), steroids, etc.? Natural all the way.

 

[LilMisBuny]

It has only been a couple weeks and I can already notice a difference; stomach bloating is gone and muscles are harder (not alot of water weight I guess). No problems with the IUD, thank goodness, although my boyfriend did say he hit it last night, which hurt him; I am hoping it was just an isolated incident due to our position....have any of you had that complaint?

 

[hotmilf26]

I was wondering if anyone had any input on the negative effects of the Pill to serious body builders (body fat, etc). Obviously, the pill contains estrogen (even low dose), estrogen makes it more difficult for a "hard" look. I was recently reading a CA Professor's write-up on the negative effects of the Pill to bodybuilding for women and think it makes perfect sense. In addition to the negative effects of estrogen on women in their 40's, I have a goal of competing; therefore, I have started to research IUD's (Mirena and ParaGard). Does anyone out there have any input in this regard? Anyone w/ either one of these? Do many of you ladies who compete take the pill? Thanks for your input.

Ok I used an IUD two sepreate times (Im a glutton for punishment I suppose) THe first time I bled heavily for three solid months and cramped (sex ws out of the question because it was so excrutiating). The second time I only bled for two months before I took it out. I tried both the copper and the plastic IUD and they were BOTH terrible for me. Did I mention I was nauseated and had migranes the entire time? Ok so I have tried the patch the pill the shot and the IUD all of witch made me sick and gave me migranes or made me gain weight. Norplant isnt an option because removal is so painful. So I finally have a solution that works and has little side effects: Its called the NUVA ring. Its a little plastic ring that is inserted vaginally and worn for three weeks, during which it emits a low dose hormone . I was only nauseated the first week and have had no weight gain or migranes. I cant feel it and my husband says he cant feel it (trust me he would complain if he could feel it). I highly reccomend that you do a google search on it and ask you DR about it. I think its great! Good luck! Feel free to email me if you have any other questions!

 

[Gymgurl]

I have read that most women who compete do not use the pill since they can get as lean as they would like to be.

 

[LilMisBuny]

Okay, well it's been over 2 weeks now and I haven't stopped bleeding since insertion. Called the dr. today cause this is getting VERY old. Did you others who have an IUD experience bleeding for this long (or at all) after insertion? Getting depressed about it.

 

[mili4ei]

Okay, well it's been over 2 weeks now and I haven't stopped bleeding since insertion. Called the dr. today cause this is getting VERY old. Did you others who have an IUD experience bleeding for this long (or at all) after insertion? Getting depressed about it.

When I had the IUD (Paraguard) inserted in April this year, I was bleeding foe 3 weeks. On the third week I went to The Gyn's ofiice. He told me it is normal to bleed this long. He checked (sonogram)to see if the IUD was in place. Few days after that I stopped bleeding.
Now mt periods como in the following form: 1 month spotting for about 5-6 days. The next month heavy period for 5-6 days. then the cycle continues....
I have no complaints, so far so good.

 

[LilMisBuny]

Thank you. I have been wishing I would have gone with the Paragard (10 year) so as not to have to deal with it again in 5 years. Plus, now I find out that Paragard (copper) has a higher fail rate....sigh.

 

[Synpax]

The doctor who developed the pill has said that advancements in natural family planning has made it obsolete.

 

[Anna Kubit]

Question... For those of you with IUD,

Did you have to insert it while you have your period? My gyn. wants me to insert it when i have my period, but that's not for another month.

Just want to know if anyone had it inserted while not having your period...

I'm getting paraguard.

Anna

 

[myremyran]

Question... For those of you with IUD,

Did you have to insert it while you have your period? My gyn. wants me to insert it when i have my period, but that's not for another month.

Just want to know if anyone had it inserted while not having your period...

I'm getting paraguard.

Anna

I did not have mine inserted when I had my period but I was under anesthetic when it was inserted so I cant really say how much it hurt. I have heard that it might hurt less if you have it inserted during your period.

 

[Raina]

I've always heard of it being inserted during your period which makes sense since the cervix is a bit less tight at that time of your natural cycle.

 

[CanadianLady]

I was told by a trainer that if you don't have bloating problems or retaining water problems it is fine to take birth control pills, I just recently switched to Alesse from Ortho TriCylen and I think it will work out well. It has less hormone. I don't think it's a big deal. I looked into IUD's but I have heard the stories of people getting poked and what not and decided that I like my boyfriend and sex too much to have it get in the way of our freakiness on occasion !!!

 

[ASU]

I just started the ortho evra birth control patch, because I havent been getting my monthly friend for over 2 years now.. I noticed that Im alot of weight with this patch.. I was wondering if this weight gain is just temporarly and would I lose all the weight fast as soon as I get off the patch?

 

[velvett]

The doctor who developed the pill has said that advancements in natural family planning has made it obsolete.

Really, Dr. Pincus said that?
Did he state that back in the mid 60's just before he died?
Do you have such statement documented somewhere, I'd love to read it.

I'm a but of a Margaret Sanger history buff and certainly you know the connection between them.

Right?

 

[annielovesBB]

I had my Mirena inserted when i had my period( Dr. said it had to be done @ this time) but i couldn't handle the sides: headaches, nausea and started weight gain, also it made me feel depressed. Had it removed and felt so much better; didn't like a foreign object in my body in the first place. I couldn't handle the bcp, the patch, IUD, or the Nuva Ring. I can't find anything for my painful periods. I've had a horrible 14 yrs. of searching and have found no relief and probably never will. I'm sick of taking painkillers; need to take something on a regular basis