Nurse giving medically incorrect info?

[luolian.livejournal.com]

(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!

Comments

[k8estarr.livejournal.com]

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.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

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.

[photogirl.livejournal.com]

[season-changing.livejournal.com]

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? :)

[foureyeddarlin.livejournal.com]

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).

[my-neighborhood.livejournal.com]

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.

Update!

[luolian.livejournal.com]

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!