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.