To think this weight gain can't be a coincidence

[Jenala]

So I've been eating lchf for almost a year now and it's working well for me. Steady loss with the odd stall if I let carb creep happen.

I also two weeks ago needed the morning after pill after a night out with DH so the next day I booked in to get a coil fitted. We had to wait to make sure the MAP hadn't failed therefore can't get it fitted until the end of the month. In the meantime they gave me Cerelle, a progesterone only pill. I've taken it before but not for about 4 or 5 years. Since starting to take it two weeks ago I have gained 5.2lbs!

I googled and found basically lots of women say they gained weight on it but most doctors say it doesn't cause weight gain, it just increases your appetite so you eat more (basically stop moaning women and stop being a pig) however I know I haven't eaten more because I track what I eat and can compare. Nothing has changed average calories and macros all much the same.

Anyone else experienced this? I'm stopping it today and will see what happens.

I think the evidence does show that it's an increase in appetite, but basically there are only two things that can have happened - 1) you've eaten slightly more/exercised slightly less, 2) the pill has made you retain water at this point in your cycle and it's mostly bloating. I'd expect to get through at least one cycle to see.

I think the morning after pill and starting the pill is a lot of hormonal disruption so I wouldn't be surprised if your body needed a bit of time to settle. Also, if I remember the way the progesterone only pill works is by tricking your body you're already pregnant so you don't ovulate; it's possible the significant increase in hormones is making your body try to cling onto fat/water etc because it thinks you need it.

I've put on weight on the pill before but always lost it easy, I think it was just being careless about what I ate. I don't think there's any way the pill on its own causes you to put on weight: either you've been eating marginally more and not quite tracking everything, or it's just water weight and you'll notice a fluctuation.

Agree that the most likely cause is water retention due to all the hormonal changes. I would let it settle and see what your weight looks like over the next few weeks.

This happened to me. I was on Cerazette for years with no problems, switched to Cerelle by my GP (it’s cheaper so NHS prescribe that instead of Cerazette). I piled weight on. After a year I started buying Cerazette through Lloyd’s online but the damage had been done and I had to change my eating habits completely, like you I did LCHF as well as gym sessions. I chucked my pills out last year and haven’t put weight on again, but now suffer heavy, painful periods (the reason I was put on the pill in the first place). Cerelle has hundreds (if not thousands) of people saying the same, I would rather have paid for Cerazette (which I ended up doing anyway) which had worked so well for me.

If progesterone made your body use calories more efficiently, then wouldn't it help in food-deprivation situations to try everyone the same hormones? I have a feeling we'd know if that was a standard strategy right now in Yemen or Venezuela.

If it worked, Monsanto would be Genetic engineering foods to naturally produce lots of progesterone to market the seeds for new crops in food-insecure places. People with immune weight-gain disorders would temporarily be placed on such useful drugs. Body Builders... well, they already take all sorts of rubbish so maybe it is their standard practice.