Combined pill and weight loss
How our community feel the combined pill has affected their weight
Data is taken from self reported Lowdown user reviews
No change
48%
Don't know
17%
Out of the 2457 reviews for the combined pill, 99 people (4%) reported weight loss.
Reviewers that reported weight loss as a side effect
Data is taken from self reported Lowdown user reviews
Used for 3 - 6 mo
22 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 22nd Jun 24
Increased sex drive
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 18 mo - 3 yr
43 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 26th Apr 24
I generally felt great with this pill. No mood changes and lost weight but unfortunately I had vaginal dryness which lead to regular thrush infections. I took a break from Yaz and the thrush infections stopped. I've just swapped to Zoely to see if this suits me better.
Somewhat positive mood
1 more effect
0 helpful
0 comments
Used for 1 - 3 mo
18 years old
🇬🇧 UK
• 25th Mar 24
I started this birth control as my very first form of contraception. I was put off by the thought of breakthrough bleeding on the mini pill, so my doctor put me on microgynon without much thought. The first month was fine, although very quickly I started to get terrible headaches which continued until I stopped taking the pill altogether. After around the first month I vaguely noticed i’d be in a bad mood all the time - I was either very snappy and grumpy, or my emotions were very ‘muffled’ and I didn’t feel much of anything. It’s very hard to describe, but I wouldn’t feel happy or excited - i’d just feel low and ‘nothing’ all the time. I didn’t enjoy hobbies I liked before, and I wasn’t interested in anything. I think the craziest side effect I randomly realised was that I felt way less affectionate towards my boyfriend. I wasn’t interested in being cuddly with him, kissing him, ect. Honestly it’s the main reason I wanted to get off microgynon. Along with the headaches and mood, my sex drive disappeared completely (and I naturally have a very high sex drive), i’d experience brain fog all the time, and I felt immense fatigue. I’m diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so I assumed it was just that, but the tiredness I felt was nothing like i’d ever felt before, and I feel much better now that i’m off the pill. I’d be too exhausted to even get out of bed, and if I did manage to go outside i’d feel faint and dizzy. The positives were that I didn’t get pregnant (we didn’t use any other form of contraception and didn’t use the pull out method, although I did take a pregnancy test every few weeks to be safe), and I was able to control when i’d bleed. I’ve always had extremely painful periods where i’d throw up and almost pass out from the pain, but the bleeds were very light during my breaks and the cramps were tolerable. I would take the packs continuously for 3 months and then have a 4 day bleed, and didn’t have any cramping or breakthrough bleeding at all. Altogether I found microgynon to be a good form of contraception, the side effects were enough for me to come off it.
Very negative mood
2 more effects
0 helpful
0 comments
Combined pill common side effects
Data is taken from self reported Lowdown user reviews
53% of the combined pill reviewers reported tender breasts
48% of the combined pill reviewers reported vaginal discharge
47% of the combined pill reviewers reported breast enlargement
44% of the combined pill reviewers reported period like cramps
39% of the combined pill reviewers reported vaginal dryness