Seasonique and Weight Gain: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Sea...
• April 10, 2010

"I have been taking Seasonique for 2 months now. The symptoms I noticed within the first month were increased appetite and weight gain (approx. 5 lbs) and mood swings, mainly crying excessively. During the middle of the second month, I felt severe abdominal discomfort that felt like period cramps with nausea, and the next morning I noticed spotting, which has continued for 2 weeks so far. I find this very inconvenient as it has lasted longer than a normal period. Also, my complexion has been getting progressively worse, and I have been feeling stressed and overwhelmed more easily. I am going to continue through the last month and switch if I don't notice any improvement."

• Bre...
• October 10, 2018

For Birth Control "Honestly, this pill is great for me. In the past, every BC I tried made me sick on the first week of taking pills after the end of my period every month. With Seasonique, I never got nausea the first weeks in the night. I have not gained any weight, my sex drive has not been affected (as I’ve seen other comments mention it was affecting theirs). The fact I only get my period four times a year makes me forget I even have a period half the time, although it is true if you skip a day, you do get your spotting/period. Other than that, the only thing I can say is I have noticed more darker hairs around my chin and jaw area, but not sure if it’s the pill itself."

• JBa...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 16, 2020

For Birth Control "I was on this birth control, Seasonique, for 5 years, and unfortunately didn’t recognize the bad side effects until a few months ago. I really enjoyed only having 4 periods a year, but it wasn’t worth the MAJOR hair loss, almost daily panic attacks, weight gain, and stints of depression. Since discontinuing taking the pill 3 months ago, I have lost 20 pounds without changing my diet or exercise, my mental health has improved, and I just feel better overall. This just wasn’t the right choice for me."

• Anonymous
• April 10, 2012

For Birth Control "About a week after starting this pill, I started getting extreme cramps, the worst I've ever had. They would last 2-8 hours a day, and no medicine would relieve the pain. I also experienced weight gain and acne."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 28, 2012

For Birth Control "I was so excited to try Seasonique and have only 4 periods a year. I've been on it for a year now, and during the first few months, I felt great and didn't notice any side effects. As of the last couple of months, I've noticed some unexplained weight gain, and my face is breaking out. I've never had acne before, and I exercise, so I can only guess it's the hormones. On the bright side, my horrible cramps have disappeared, and my period only lasts a couple of days, although they have been somewhat heavy. I haven't decided if I'm going to try another method and see if these side effects go away."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 22, 2016

For Birth Control "I had the worst experience with this BC. I started to take it after I had my daughter. I thought this is great, a period every 4 months! Negative, this was horrible. When I did get my period, I was in a lot of pain. I had mood swings, depression, gained about 40 pounds, and had constant discharge. I wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy."

• jas...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• March 18, 2018

For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding "I have been on Seasonique for almost 2 years. I started it because I had severe anemia due to extremely heavy periods. This medication has caused me to gain about 17 lb steadily since I started it. Even when I restrict how much I eat, I somehow have gained weight. My body looks no different from when I started the birth control, yet somehow I am 17 pounds heavier. I have become depressed and even more anxious than usual on Seasonique. However, I hardly get a period, only 1-2 days of mild bleeding, and probably a week or so of spotting. My iron levels are up, so I mean, despite the symptoms it's caused, it did what it was intended to do for me."

• Mil...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• December 5, 2018

For Birth Control "Not a perfect BC for me. Instead of having no period for 3 months, I'm bleeding for the last month and a half. Not heavily, but need a pad. No weight gain or anything like that, though. I prefer to have a 3-5 day period every month than a month and a half of light period. It's insane."

• Qui...
• October 15, 2015

For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding "I've been on this medicine for a little over two years. I started taking it to help with my acne. That's the one thing that's been consistent about it. When I started it in 2013, I bled for a month, which was normal, and then I stopped. It worked really well (only one period every three months) for about a year. Then my pharmacy gave me generic, which screwed everything up. I broke out, bled heavily, and my hormones went crazy. After two weeks on generic, I was forced to pay the fee to get the name brand back. Since then, it hasn't been the same. My ob-gyn says it is because my body is immune to it. I start bleeding two weeks into the pack, spot all the way until my period, and then the process starts all over again. I have gained 20 pounds..."

• Nan...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• June 22, 2018

For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding "Having endometriosis, Seasonique helps with the ovarian cysts and other pains while not bleeding. Periods have not gotten any shorter or less heavy, but it’s not bad now that it is only every 3 months. After being on the pill for about a year, this is when I started gaining weight. 20 pounds in just 6 months!"

• Del...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• March 22, 2018

For Birth Control "I've been on this for 2.5 years so far. I started this about 8 months after I stopped smoking cigarettes, so regardless, I gained a bunch of weight back, and I think Seasonique and my other medicine (for sleep) are what is keeping me from not getting back to my skinnier self. The effects of this are worth it to me, though: not getting my period for 2.5 months, then the last 3 weeks I begin to spot (only needing a liner), and then get my period the last week. I used to deal with extreme cramps to the point of sweating hunched over in pain, I began this and have felt 1000x better during my period. I still get cramps, of course, but they are nothing compared to what I used to go through every month. I also have a much lower libido than when I was 3 years younger, but this medication has worked well for me enough that the pros outweigh the cons."

• Jes...
• September 11, 2016

For Birth Control "I have been taking this birth control for nearly 6 months. My new obgyn told me to stop taking it because of my blood pressure, as it rose since I started this pill. I also gained 18 lbs on this pill. I even changed my eating to eating healthier, which didn't affect my weight. I also got a shorter temper on these pills. I also have almost constant breakthrough bleeding with mucus, probably 3-5 days a week."

• Anonymous
• July 30, 2010

For Birth Control "I've been on Seasonique for 12 months (switched over from Yaz), and at first, it was okay, but I was always getting my period before I should have gotten it. Now I have gained 10 lbs (that I can't get off), acne (I've never had acne! and I'm 21), and if I forget to take one pill and take it in the morning, I'll get my period instantly! Also, I've been very tired and moodier than normal!"

• Pre...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 4, 2017

For Birth Control "I started taking this because a lot of other birth control was not working for me. I liked it for the first couple of months, but I noticed some not normal spotting for two weeks that basically was my period. I would take it, have the heavy spotting, and then period, and after the period, it would be back to heavy spotting. I will say the every 3 months was great while taking this, but I did gain a lot of weight while taking it. I would say that this is good, but make sure you talk to your doctor. I can't say you'll experience the same thing as me, but talk to your doctor or NP."

• Sol...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 20, 2016

For Birth Control "This pill was prescribed to me because I get menstrual migraines. While it has worked for that and kept my skin clear from the cystic pimples I would occasionally get, it has raised my blood pressure and made me gain at least 15 pounds now over 3 years. And still gaining. When will it stop? Obviously, not until I stop taking it. I don't eat any more than I ever have, appetite feels the same, yet this weight is somewhere on me. I am very unhappy with it. I feel bloated constantly, and no matter how much I work out or how much water I drink, I cannot lose any weight. Seriously considering ditching this medication and just dealing with the migraines another way. If you have started this med and are gaining weight, caution-if will not stop."

• Anonymous
• January 8, 2010

For Birth Control "I was on Seasonique for a 3-month cycle. During that period of time, I gained about 15 pounds, experienced horrible irritability, and I bled so much I was practically on my period for 3 months. Everyone has different experiences with birth control, but mine was really terrible with this particular medication."

• Anonymous
• July 11, 2010

For Birth Control "I took Seasonique for one month, and the side effects have been so debilitating I had to stop. My side effects: weight gain of 6+ lbs in one month, breast tenderness, constipation accompanied by gas and bloating, lethargy spanning from feeling 'run-down' to complete exhaustion where I slept for 19 hours, extremely painful cramping with diarrhea. When I started bleeding, the cramps were worse than ever before (part of the reason I began taking Seasonique was to lessen the pain and cramping associated with my cycle). The cramping has been debilitating for 4 days now and is only mildly relieved with Pamprin. My intention was to ride out the adjustment period, but I couldn't and stopped taking the medication 2 days ago."

• JMa...
• February 26, 2018

For Birth Control "The first 1.5 packs of this pill I had a little bit of breakthrough bleeding at the end of each month, but as time has gone by, this has stopped. I do get moody around the 4th week mark of each month, but that's normal for me. I've also been getting migraines and have gained around 25 lbs, which is very abnormal for me. Although, with time, these side effects have been improving, and I've found ways to reverse them. When I first started taking this pill, I was really tempted to give up as I was extremely moody all of the time, had literally zero libido, and terrible migraines every single day. These things subsided within the first month, and I found ways to improve the negative effects (personal lubricant, taking 5-HTP). Ultimately, I'm glad I stuck with it because it's totally worth it to only have my period 4 times per year (and it also only lasts about 3 days now, albeit with bad cramping). PS: CBD oil helped me a lot with the migraines!"

• kay...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 7, 2018

For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding "I thought this birth control option was the holy grail for my long and excruciatingly painful periods. I had tried it a few years ago, and it made me sick to my stomach for about four weeks, so I stopped. But I tried it again and LOVED it. Four periods a year that were totally manageable... sign me up! My incessant mood swings were better, my skin was clear, it was great. All was well until I realized that I had gained 40 lbs, my health started rapidly deteriorating, and I learned my liver was near failing. If this medicine didn't have these horrible side effects, I would have stayed on it forever and given them all of my money. Obviously, I had to be taken off of it though for the sake of my liver and to get back to a healthy weight. I'll probably give the NuvaRing another try and possibly use it to skip periods like my Seasonique naturally did since my periods are back to being painful now without it. If you want to try this, I say go for it, but it's NOT a long-term solution."

• cas...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• September 25, 2018

For Birth Control "READ IF YOU'RE CONSIDERING GOING ON SEASONIQUE! I started BC to help with the cramping from my ovarian cyst, heavy period flow, and cystic acne. After getting used to Seasonique, I was in love! My skin cleared up! And a period 4 times a year! I was so happy until now, a year later. Acne is coming back, periods are coming a week early, AND I'VE GAINED 30 POUNDS! I've always been a skinny girl, good appetite, and fast metabolism. I am 5'5, was 110 lbs, and now I am 141 lbs. Gaining this much weight in a year has ruined me mentally but also physically. I have big purple stretch marks on my armpits, back, hips, butt, thighs, inner thighs, and some coming on my calves. I've tried working out, counting calories, changing my diet, and continue to gain weight. I'm devastated. To top things off, I was getting it for free but can no longer get free samples, so I pay $85 CA when others pay nothing for birth control. I am so impatient to be going on a new BC."

• Bri...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 13, 2022

For Abnormal Uterine Bleeding "I take the generic of this med, and I tell you! I got on this medicine to have less periods due to heavy bleeding and ovarian cysts, and oh my gosh, it’s the worst experience I’ve ever experienced. I started my period a month into this pill. Let’s just say I started my period July 8th… it’s August 13th, and I am STILL BLEEDING!!!! My cramps are excruciating, I’m gaining weight!!! My energy levels are ZERO. It’s been an absolute nightmare! I also have passed what looks like the whole lining of my uterus, and it is the worst pain I have ever experienced, worse than any of the ovarian cysts I have experienced. I feel like the definition of insanity every day I take another pill."

• mrs...
• October 24, 2011

For Birth Control "I decided to switch from Tri-Sprintec to Seasonique right before I got married because having four periods a year sounded great to both me and my new husband! As far as fewer periods, it was great. I never had any problems with spotting or heavy periods at all. As far as preventing pregnancy, still no baby here, so I guess that part worked pretty well too. On the negative side... I have gained close to 20 pounds in the last four months since I started taking Seasonique and have not been able to drop the weight with diet and exercise. I actually continued to gain weight while trying hard to lose it. Also, my libido dropped like crazy, I was not interested in sex at all, but I wanted to be. And I experienced extreme vaginal dryness, which was no fun."

• OhN...
• April 2, 2010

For Birth Control "I've been on this birth control for almost 3 months now. My face is now starting to get acne, and I have NEVER in my life had acne. I've gained 15 pounds in about 3 months, and I feel disgusting. Some days, I feel good, other days, people don't want to be around me. Everyone's body is different, but I'm going off of it."

• Anonymous
• September 7, 2010

"I first started taking this when I was 18. After taking it for over a year and still not having my periods regulated, I decided to get off of it. I got on it again a year and a half ago (I'm 21 now), and I'm still not pleased with it. If I forget to take a pill one day, I'll spot for up to a week. My periods are really light every 3 months, but they can last up to 2 weeks. I've gained 10 lbs while being on it. I'm just finishing up my last pack and am getting back on Yaz."

• Rac...
• November 29, 2016

For Birth Control "Gained a lot of weight on this pill. I'm always hungry. Absolutely no sex drive, which puts strain on the relationship. I'm on my last row of pills of the third month and still no period. I'm fixed, so I know I'm not pregnant. I will be stopping this pill once I'm done with this last pack."