Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol and Weight Gain: What Users Say

• Inf...
• June 13, 2013

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Endometriosis "I have been on Demulen for two years now and take it daily, without monthly breaks, for the management of severe endometriosis symptoms. I tried many different birth control pills before Demulen, but it has been the most effective in preventing the debilitating pain I suffer. If I am a few hours late with a pill, I will begin to experience some cramping, but I am fine so long as I take it properly. I have experienced no major side effects; no weight gain, no increased sensitivity to the sun, nothing. I would recommend it for the management of endometriosis."

• Anonymous
• October 12, 2011

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I started taking Zovia about 5 months ago, and I could immediately tell the difference after the 1st month. I started gaining weight, my breasts got even bigger than they already were, and they were constantly tender. My periods went from 3-4 days to 7-9 days with horrible cramps. My face became very oily, and I started breaking out. I have never had a lot of acne or breakouts, but after starting this birth control, it got bad. I have been an emotional wreck and cry all of the time, and I'm normally not like that. I think I had every bad side effect a birth control can have, so needless to say, my OB has called in a different birth control! Hopefully, if you decide to use this birth control, you don't have any of the side effects like I have."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 16, 2012

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I have been on Zovia for 4 months. I quickly gained 10 pounds, even though I work out 4 to 5 times a week and watch what I eat. I have gone from a B cup to a C cup, and I have developed horrible mood swings. I also experience bad acne about 4 days before and after my period."

• sar...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• October 20, 2012

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I have been on this pill for 3.5 years, and it is my favorite thing ever. My periods are extremely light, I almost never have cramps or mood swings, and the only weight gain I experienced was welcome and came in the form of a cup size. I haven't had any problems during that time of the month or otherwise, and overall, I think this is just a very nice, happy pill. I always use condoms because I'm paranoid, but I'm scare-free also!"

• Anonymous
• September 27, 2011

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "The good aspects of this pill for me were no weight gain, no loss of sex drive, and my breasts got a bit bigger. However, I could not continue into my 4th month on Zovia because I had such intense mood swings that I drove everyone around me crazy. I had to switch to a different pill because I was on a constant emotional roller coaster: crying, being angry, feeling depressed, hopeless, and paranoid that my boyfriend was cheating on me. I felt like I was losing my mind, and my boyfriend and I almost broke up over it. I became a completely different person, and it only became worse as I was on the pill for longer. Hoping another pill will work better!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 22, 2012

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I have been on Zovia for 11 months. The first 3 months I had a lot of mood swings from crying to anger, anger to crying, and happy to sad. It was the most difficult 3 months of my life. I still have mood swings but not as much as in the beginning. It did make me gain weight but prevented me from getting pregnant."

• Anonymous
• December 5, 2012

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I recently switched to Zovia from Ortho Tricyclen. It's definitely doing what it's supposed to. The side effects that I've experienced since switching are slight weight gain (even though I'm active), B to C cup size and some tenderness, nausea, and mood swings (and my boyfriend agrees with me -- this is the WORST side effect). What I do like about Zovia is that it cleared my face up and made my periods EXTREMELY light and short. I think I like Ortho Tricyclen better, but only because I didn't have any side effects with it."

• Anonymous
• November 1, 2011

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "So after reading the reviews, I feel a little bit better because after two weeks of taking this pill, I have gained 5 lbs, and my breasts went from a normal B cup to a large C cup. Usually that would be a great thing, but it's very uncomfortable, and the weight gain is upsetting because I work out 4-5 times a week and eat healthily. I used to be on the NuvaRing, but it is too expensive, so I tried a low dose birth control, but on this, I was spotting all the time and became very depressed."

• Gir...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• January 7, 2017

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I have a love-hate relationship with the Zovia 1/35 birth control pill. Back when I was younger, in my teen years, even early 20s, it worked amazingly. No weight gain at all. I stopped taking it for a few years when I started my family, and now, 10 years later, I decided to get back on it. Let me just say, weight gain! I don't blame the pill 100%, but I feel like you have got to be prepared for how hungry this pill makes you! So you will be hungrier than usual and eat more, and hence, gain weight on it. It's getting out of control, I have decided to stop this month."

• Ste...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 11, 2018

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "Everyone please keep in mind that no one will have the exact same experience with birth control. The most important thing you can do is talk to your doctor and perhaps get a hormone panel done to see which pill might be the best option for you. I was on Kelnor for a year, and I’m just about to switch to Yasmin. I have pretty much no complaints, except that my acne has gone back to the way it was before starting birth control. I also gained a bit of weight, but that is most likely from excess eating. Switching to Yasmin to see if it clears up my skin. Other than that, Kelnor made my periods almost nonexistent (I used to have horribly painful cramps that would make me throw up, and would have my period for 8 days). I have depression, but it didn’t seem to make it worse. If you’re about to go on this, stick it out for 3 months, and if it’s not working for you, talk to your doctor about switching."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 22, 2014

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I was on Beyaz before switching to Zovia. I switched because my periods were so light that tampons were painful, and pads were too much protection. On Zovia, my periods are even lighter, lasting a max of 2-3 days with an extremely light, almost nonexistent flow, larger breasts, oily skin on my face, weight gain in my abdomen and thighs, and constant bloating. However, my acne has not reappeared since being on Zovia. Thinking about switching birth control. These light periods make me fear I'm pregnant."

• Anonymous
• February 2, 2012

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "My experience has been great so far. I have been taking this pill for over 8 years now. I did experience weight gain, which was a good thing. I do experience bloating before and during my period, my period tends to last for 3-4 days. I have missed a couple here and there and have not gotten pregnant, thank God. I recommend this pill to anyone who is searching for a pill to try."

• Bet...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 25, 2015

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I've been on Zovia for at least a year now. I had tried two other types of pills before this point, but they basically made me have a period for at least two weeks out of the month. Zovia has worked really well. I have typical periods now, and they last maybe 4 days? My acne has cleared up a lot, and I did end up going up a cup size and gaining some weight (this might be related to other things in my life though, so I'm not 100% going to blame the birth control for this). My PMS is better than it used to be (I used to have the worst mood swings before I went on any pill at all). However, my sex drive is super low. I'd say that's probably the only bad part?"

• hai...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 19, 2017

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I've been on Zovia for about 3 years now and I've about had enough. Yes, it has been so far amazing in preventing pregnancy or whatever. But the side effects are no joke. The weight gain is horrible, for example, if I eat regularly without the birth control, I weigh 130 pounds, but if I'm on the birth control eating the same, I weigh almost 150 pounds. IT IS RIDICULOUS. My mood swings are so bad. I'm so sensitive and emotional, and I wish I would've read reviews on the birth control first because, before your period, if you think PMS is bad, try being on Zovia while you're on your period. NOBODY will want to be around you. Anyways, not everyone is the same, but that's just my experience."

• Jen...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 5, 2017

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I only took this a month and had to stop. This made my skin so dry. At first, I couldn’t figure out why. I spent a lot of money on creams and moisturizers, and nothing could help it. My face was so tight to the point where it was extremely uncomfortable all day long. I finally googled it and found out that combination birth controls (those with estrogen and testosterone) stop sebum production, which is why it clears up acne. This is great for oily girls, but not great for girls with already dry skin. I also stopped this pill because it made me eat like a pregnant girl. Nothing would satisfy my appetite, and I was constantly hungry. I gained weight just the short time I was on it."

• Tay...
• January 13, 2014

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I have been on Zovia 1/50 for 5 1/2 months now, it is great! I have no acne, no unplanned pregnancies, and my periods are very light. I have gained weight from being on this pill, though, but I would definitely recommend this birth control!"

• Anonymous
• June 10, 2011

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I was on Zovia for 3 months and had side effects from the start. In the first month, I had a weight gain of 8 pounds. It caused a lot of nausea. It made me severely depressed. I'm switching to Nordette. On the positive side, it did regulate my extremely irregular periods."

• lea...
• October 26, 2018

For Birth Control "I got on this pill for hormonal acne, and it did a decent job at clearing my skin. It didn't really ever take it away. The reason I had to get off this pill was because I gained 10 pounds of fat on it. At first, I thought it was water retention, so I just trusted that it would go away, but as soon as I got off it, the weight didn't go away, so now I have to diet and exercise, and it sucks. All I could think about was food because of the high estrogen content in the pill. If you're trying to get rid of acne and are concerned about weight gain, don't get on this birth control. Get on a birth control like Yaz. Yaz won't cause weight gain and cravings because it has low estrogen. The only downside to Yaz is that you'll experience PMS more."

• Cam...
• March 12, 2018

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "Had been on this medicine for a couple of years but then realized it was making my skin worse, major cravings, and weight gain with a lot of bloating. I would always feel super nauseous when starting the pill at the beginning of the month and would sometimes vomit. I do not recommend this brand. Basically had all of the side effects."

• lol...
• January 10, 2018

For Birth Control "This is the 6th pill I've tried. I just finished my 3rd pack and plan on continuing this. So far-no weight gain I'm aware of, no spotting in between periods, periods are about 4 days long and pretty mild. I'll get one small pimple on my chin during the period week, but that's about it. I do get pretty moody during the beginning of the period week as well. Throughout the month, my moods are pretty stable. And I do feel a bit hungrier on this compared to past pills. But I work out and try to eat healthy, so I don't gain weight or give in to cravings. This is a HUGE improvement from past pills. I used to be moody, spotted in between, had awful cramps, and broke out insanely on the majority of the other pills I was on. Let's hope this keeps working!"

• Ale...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• April 20, 2021

Ethinyl estradiol / ethynodiol for Birth Control "I was on Kelnor 1/50 for several years. At first, it was the only birth control that kept my skin clear 100% of the time, and I loved it. After a while, I just got sick of being on birth control in general and thought going off might improve my mental health. After 6 months off it, I never got my period back and have an ovarian cyst. I gained weight, and I have so much acne. I’m definitely going back to birth control, but this time I’m getting on the patch so I don’t have to take a pill every day. If the patch doesn’t work for me, I will be going back on my beloved Kelnor 50. Honestly, I didn’t have too many symptoms on it, and it worked well for years."