vaginapagina | Nurse giving medically incorrect info?

Nurse giving medically incorrect info?

(FWIW I'm on Yaz)

Ok, so I was talking to my gyn's nurse on the phone about my concerns that my BC was making me gain insane amounts of weight. (Jury is still out on this, but I don't have a thyroid problem, but that's not what I'm asking about here.) The nurse told me that "birth control makes your body think it's pregnant, so you feel hungrier."

I was feeling upset at the moment (dealing with this is very frustrating) and I wasn't getting the best reception on my phone, so I didn't question her, but WTF?

I have read many times here on VP that HBC makes your body think that it has already ovulated, right?? And that's is not the same thing as tricking your body into thinking you're pregnant, right?? Did that nurse give me medically incorrect information or is that lazy dumbing down of the science so that I can understand?

And has BC been proven to make you feel hungrier? This I am not sure of that either way, but given that she had just told me that my body was thinking I'm preggers I was suspicious. If that's true, then I would presume that I wouldn't be able to trust my body's feelings of full and hungry, but no one has ever warned me about that. Especially as someone who is considering how best to lose weight, I would need to know for sure if that was the case.

Also! If the nurse is telling me incorrect info, should I tell my doctor? Honestly, I'm not sure which nurse it was, but I feel like I ought to tell someone. I feel more inclined to do it because I can't point the finger at someone in particular, so hopefully no one will get in serious trouble, but it could be corrected.

Any quick reply would be appreciated as I have to call my doc about something else anyway and I'd like to do it this morning if possible. Thanks!

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ive never heard that said either. i dont think i feel hungrier on Yaz, if anything i think im less hungry. it may have been just a slip up. but i would mention it to your doctor anyway, just incase the nurse is giving other patients this same misinformation.

A lot of medical professionals (and, actually, Yaz' own website) explain the effect like "tricks your body into thinking it's pregnant." I don't think that's the most accurate way of putting it, but it's certainly the most common explanation.

I don't know of any research on HBC and appetite. I do know that I have an increased appetite on HBC, and gained weight accordingly (about 5 lbs).

However, there are studies showing that birth control pills are not linked (http://www.vaginapagina.com/index.php?title=Hormonal_Birth_Control#What_about_weight_gain_as_a_side_effect.3F) to a statistically significant weight gain, so if I had to make a non-educated guess I'd say that this effect doesn't happen to everyone, has a lot to do with what your appetite was like before (I'm an extremely small eater naturally), and thus produces some gain for some people because of that, but not widespread enough to be statistically relevant.

I also have an increased appetite on HBC, and if I switch pills, I get really bloated for a couple of months, so I feel like I've gained a lot of weight. And it's not really like my appetite has increased - it's more like I can eat more without feeling full. It's kind of weird.

Significant weight gain from the pill isn't actually very common, but lots of women blame the pill for weight gain. I've seen people blame the pill for gaining 10 lbs in five years. Lots of women also start the pill when they start college, and people often gain weight during their first year away at school, but again, they blame it on the pill.

As much as I hate suggesting counting calories, it might work if you feel that the pill is increasing your appetite. Then, you can tell how much you're eating and see if you've actually started eating more or if the pill is having some kind of effect on your metabolism.

Depo-provera is the only HBC that has been statistically proven and shown through studies that it DOES cause weight gain. But 2 stone is a lot for 3 months; I can't blame you for saying 'omg get me off this thing'.

Birth control does work by making your body think you are already pregnant. That's what suppresses ovulation, keeping you from being fertile. It raises your progesterone levels, essentially. In order to keep you from ovulating, the progesterone levels must stay up, otherwise, your system says "still not pregnant" and ovulates again. That is why most bc pills contain placebo pills because in order for you to get your cycle when you are supposed to, the meds have to allow the progesterone levels to fall back down to "not pregnant" ranges so your system will clean itself out.

How's that for a succinct explanation? :)

I was under the understanding that it does NOT make your body think it is pregnant, but that it has ovulated. The hormones trick the body into thinking the egg was released, and that alone is what surpresses ovulation.

(it was how it was described to me in a post just like this one a few months ago :P)

Well, that's not what I've read when I was researching bc options. Most hormonal birth control pills work by suppressing ovulation...and there is only one way to do that: raise the progesterone levels. And while yes, technically, it suppresses ovulation...that's because the body thinks "pregnant" and doesn't ovulate. The thing is, the system isn't very complicated. So even if the goal is to keep ovulation at bay by tricking the body into thinking it's already done so, the end result is still the body thinking it's pregnant. There really isn't any difference between the two.

ovulation does not equal pregnancy though. The body releases progesterone as a way to say "hey, no need to send out more eggs, we already did it". It has nothing to do with making the body think its pregnant, just that the egg was already released.

I have an implant, which essentailly does the same things that HBC pills does (releases progesterone to make my body think its ovulated) except i dont get a week off every month or three. It does not trick the body into thinking its pregnant at all, it doesnt even release the hormones that make a body think its pregnant (hgc?).

The body doesn't think it's "pregnant" because no HCG is present.

What HBC really does, as explained in our HBC Vulvapedia entry (sorry, I'm at work and can't link or drum up sources) is, as you said, tell the body it has already ovulated and does not need to ovulate again. It basically freezes your body in the hormonal stage after ovulation and before menstruation.

That is different than the body thinking it's pregnant -- the body "thinks" it's pregnant during pregnancy due to presence of HCG, which birth control pills do not produce.

That is why most bc pills contain placebo pills because in order for you to get your cycle when you are supposed to, the meds have to allow the progesterone levels to fall back down to "not pregnant" ranges so your system will clean itself out.

Can you produce a source for that?

To my knowledge, the hormone-free week is not necessary for healthy reproductive functioning. Its primary purpose seems to be allowing women to keep on schedule, verifying that a pregnancy has not occured, and maintaining the "familiarity" of a period.

Additionally, since some women experience breakthrough bleeding when there is a long period of time without a withdrawal bleed, putting one in circumvents that possibility (irregular bleeding is one of the top reasons women have for quitting HBC).

After all, there's no evidence that it's unhealthy to skip the placebo week, and more and more brands are now being approved and packaged with a very short placebo week (4 days) or none at all (Lybrel, Seasonale, Seasonique). If the hormone free week were "necessary" for the body's healthy functioning, it would seem that these formulations would not have been approved.

Additionally, progestin-only methods are generally long-term with no hormone-free week (Depo, Implanon), and progestin-only pills do not have a placebo week either, though women often bleed regularly or semi-regularly on POPs.

If birth control made the body think it was pregnant, the body would make hCG, and a lot of us would be freaking out over not being able to tell whether or not we're ACTUALLY pregnant.

Do you have links to where you researched your options?

I thought hcg was produced by placenta or the baby, not the mother?

Depot made me feel pregnant and when I complained about it, my doctor told me it was supposed to because that's how it worked. I was told the same thing by a different doctor when I was on the pill. *shrug* If that isn't right, cool. I really don't think everyone in here needs to come by and say the *same* thing, though.

Not being snarky, I was just curious as to where you'd researched your options. Everywhere I've ever read or seen said that HBC works by;
1. tricking the body into thinking it has already ovulated.
2. cervical mucous thickens, making it nearly impossible for sperm to get through
3. inhibits the egg's ability to flow through the fallopian tubes
4. alter the uterine lining so thst if somehow an egg were to be released, have a little fun time with the sperm, AND make it all the way down the fallopian tube, it still would not have a habitable environment in which to grow.

that being said, the reason your doctor told you that was: A) this really is the dumbing down version of it, and B) well, most of the side-effects of birth control are akin to the symptoms of pregnancy! Nausea, breasts aching, stomach pains, cramps, etc.etc. are all signs of pregnancy, signs of PMS, AND side-effects of most HBC methods.

But from what I can tell about hCG, you are right, according to hcglab.com (http://www.hcglab.com/hCG%20levels.htm):

"hCG is produced by the trophoblast cells of the placenta. hCG production starts at an early stage of development, just a few days after conception, before implantation in the uterus."

By the way, to be a TAD snarky, we didn't all say the same thing at all. I said something completely different from both of the users above.

Lol, yeah, you are all saying the same thing, though you've made a few different points (but with the same overall point). I appreciate the information, though. Either way, I'm not ever putting that crap in my body again so it doesn't really affect me. It's good to know that it doesn't actually make your body think it's pregnant. Instead, it completely retards the entire reproductive process. Faaabulous.

3. inhibits the egg's ability to flow through the fallopian tubes
Oh goody! So, on the off chance that the egg DID get fertilized, you're more likely to get an ectopic pregnancy, which can possibly screw up your fertility forever. Yay!

2. cervical mucous thickens, making it nearly impossible for sperm to get through

Um...what? That doesn't make any sense, unless they are claiming it creates a mucous plug? But the body doesn't do that unless it thinks it's pregnant so that can't be it...I'm afraid I don't understand this claim.

there's no need to belittle other people's contraceptive choices, just because you were corrected about something...

? I'm sorry if that came across belittling. I was corrected, true, and that's ok, I honestly didn't know how it worked (though I thought I did). However, now that I do know, I'm upset and yes, I have concerns. I'm not sure how that's belittling someone else's choice.

i'm sorry, i might be reading too much into it, but while hormonal BC does have risks, that wasn't quite the topic of the post. there's a way to impart such information, and i felt that maybe the way you did wasn't the most helpful way? again, i'm sorry if that wasn't your intention, that was just my knee-jerk reaction to what you had written.

It isn't the same thing as making your body think that it is already pregnant: your body does not start acting like it would during pregnancy. It is, however a handy explanation for most people, and much easier than explaining how estrogen, progesterone, LSH, and FSH work during the menstrual cycle and how adding in some estrogen and progesterone inhibit ovulation.

Statistically, you are no more likely to gain weight on hormonal contraception as you are to lose weight or experience no change in weight. Doesn't mean that your weight as an individual will change while taking HBC. For many women, the initiation of HBC happens to take place at the same time, roughly, as expected changes which mean weight gain (late adolescence, for example).

Yes, it's the lazy dumbing down way of saying it. It's not technically correct and they know that, but some feel it's easier than fully explaining (which I don't quite agree with).

As for weight gain, it has actually never been proven that HBC directly causes weight gain. It is due to increased appetite, retaining more water, those kinds of factors.

Ok, so it looks like my understanding of things was right, but the what the nurse said about how BC works is within the normal standard of care. I mean, *I'm* bothered that it's not actually correct, but I guess it's not something that people have a problem with.

As for the hungry thing, well, whatever, I'm not thinking about it anymore. I'm going to switch to Nuvaring, I'm going to watch what I eat more, I'm going to get more exercise and I'm back on Wellbutrin. I am confident that I will lose weight from some/all of those things and at this point I'm not going to try to sort it out.

ALSO, I didn't end up talking to my doctor directly anyway, so no reporting could have been done. Looks like I got all worked up over nothing, but that's ok.

Thanks for your responses!

I don't think you got worked up at all.

I'm saddened by the fact that most nurses and doctors would rather dumb things down than actually sit there and explain the mechanics of things.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Nurse giving medically incorrect info?

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