the pill or not?

[Gladiola]

However, if you insist on using hormonal contraceptives, a progestin-only one is your best bet.

Personally, I'm not a competitive BB, so I'm happy to just make the most of my physique within the limitation of my choice to use BC - but I have never really heard anything about Progestin-only pills. Anyone on them? Doesn't lack of estrogen lead to loss of bone density?

 

[MS]

Also known as the "mini pill" or "Depo-Provera". They can also make you gain weight like combo BC pills, but are less antiandrogenic than estrogen containing pills. Ideally a serious BB (not Gladiola!) could use progestins up until dieting time, then come off of the hormones for dieting. It's only for 12-16 weeks, it shouldn't be impossible to plan ahead and use alternative BC methods?

I think you'll find that dieting down to competition bodyfat levels is worse for your bone density than the mini pill combined with a healthy diet and plenty of weight bearing exercise!

 

[Cheetarah]

Found some info....

Hi all! So this thread got me thinking, as I'm on a birth control pill containing 35 mcg of ethinyl estradiol and I'm wondering if it isn't what's making it extremely difficult for me to get leaner as I've been stuck at 17% body fat for the past month despite a VERY strict (competition type) and reduced calorie diet. So anyway, I've been doing some research and I found several sites that answer the questions that many of you have asked. So I thought I'd lend a hand and post the links.

http://www.thepillonline.com/bcpeqiv.html

http://www.gynob.com/rad.htm

http://familydoctor.org/handouts/326.html

Unfortunately I've been unable to find any info linking birth control pills to getting leaner, like under 17% in my case. If anyone finds anything or has any info, please return the favor, thanks!

 

[PlateheadJim]

Blood Tests

In my saga to help my girlfriend break 16/17% by going off birth control pills I talked her into getting a before & after horomonal snapshot.

Remember, while on Bcontrol (especially high dose) your Estrogen levels will be artifically elevated usually along with lower T levels. By going to a gynacologist (or endo doctor) she can get an intelligent reading before, than after about 30 days off another reading to see how estrogen/Tesosterone has been affected. This way she can determine if there was a tangible benefit and that her hormones are within the normal range.

The goal is to see if after stopping Birth Control pills there's a beneficial drop in Estrogen levels but not so low they drop below the "low-normal" range.

 

[Gladiola]

Also known as the "mini pill" or "Depo-Provera". They can also make you gain weight like combo BC pills, but are less antiandrogenic than estrogen containing pills. Ideally a serious BB (not Gladiola!) could use progestins up until dieting time, then come off of the hormones for dieting. It's only for 12-16 weeks, it shouldn't be impossible to plan ahead and use alternative BC methods?

I think you'll find that dieting down to competition bodyfat levels is worse for your bone density than the mini pill combined with a healthy diet and plenty of weight bearing exercise!

I think I worded my last response wrong. I basically was thinking out loud & failed to include some of the thoughts pertinent to the entire post!

If estrogen aids the storage of fat - and it's possible to have effective hormonal birth control WITHOUT it- why would *any* woman want the estrogen??? Even non-competitive BBs want as little body fat as possible.

Then I thought there must be some reason it is GOOD to have that estrogen in our systems.. it must do things for us that are not purely negative (i.e. something besides make us fatter!) Bone density is one of the things that came to my mind... as a general reason an average lady wants estrogen.

Thinkin' out loud...

 

[MS]

Estrogen....what's it good for? That's a very good question. As far as I can tell, the only thing that estrogen is good for at the levels seen in premenopausal women is establishing pregnancy (via ovulation) and assisting in amassing enough fat stores to maintain long term breast feeding post partum. Other than that, even males with their relatively low levels of circulating estrogen have more than enough estrogen for good bone growth and prevention of osteoporosis. Progesterone only pills are not without side effects though, and they are slightly less effective than combo pills. Ultimately estrogen is what makes females, uhhh, look like females (along with low test levels). If you don't want to look like a female then you should have your ovaries removed and take extra test, though the extra test alone will suffice if you take it for long enough at a high enough dose. This will also work as a form of BC! Now, what I I have just described is not unlike some female pro BBs........

 

[DOU12]

Can some more women that compete just answer the question. Should you get off the pill for the competition or not?

 

[VeggieLifterChick]

Depo-Provera supposedly causes a weight gain of 8-10 #s per year, whereas the pill tends to be more like 3-5#s. Atleast thats what the literature says...so why would anyone want to take progesterone only?

 

[Ceebs]

My two cents...

I have never had a good experience with the pill and cutting. I've tried Alesse, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, and Mircette, and found it very difficult to get lean in my lower body while on. I could lose weight reliably while on, but whatever I lost came off my arms or torso. After six weeks of this, I gave up and went off the pill. (I was taking it at my doctor's recommendation to help normalize my menstrual cycle, not for contraceptive reasons.)

So to answer the original poster's question, if you know that it's difficult for you to lose weight on the pill, or the pill makes you hold water that a diuretic won't get rid of, and you can simply use a different method of contraception, yes, it won't kill you to stop taking it while you're dieting for your competition.