Birth Control Observation

[jennescence]

I noticed ever since i started taking birth control my nails have become extremely thick and grow really fast. I hate long nails on myself so this is annoying to me. Before i started taking birth control my nails split and bent and now its hard to even cut them with nail clippers. I have also n oticed my hair has become quite a bit thicker as well. Have any of you noticed anything like this while taking birth control. Oh and i take Loestrin 24 Fe

[Amber_Maiden]

hmm... That's interesting. Usually diet and vitamins have to do more with nails getting stronger and hair growing faster...

[jennescence]

i really have not changed anything with vitamins or what im eating. So i know its not that. Maybe it has to do with hormones?

[Pinkster8]

You're lucky! When I first started taking birth control I lost probably half of my hair. Nails didn't really change, though. Glad to hear you are having positive side effects! :D

[fridgee]

Well hormonal birth control kinda tricks your body into thinking its pregnant, so maybe it's the same effects some pregnant people get where their hair changes. I'm only guessing. The doses in birth control are much lower than during pregnancy tho :shrug:

[Anje]

My guess is that it's the hormones. Birth control pills (especially the monophasic ones) basically work by telling your body it's already ovulated for the month, if I understand it correctly. In some ways, it simulates pregnancy due to the progesterone. Given that pregnant women often get incredible hair growth until they give birth, it makes sense to me that some people would experience similar effects on hormonal birth control.

Do be aware that when/if you go off the stuff, you might have a hair shed analogous to a post-partum shed. I've seen a lot of people report that around here, though I didn't experience it for myself.

[darkrose]

I have noticed this, my skin has got better too which is a plus and my nails never break it takes 10 mins to file one nail down! And I file them every weekend.

[DaniVerde]

Oh and i take Loestrin 24 Fe

Well, Fe stands for ferrum which is Latin for iron, so maybe that has something to do with it? :)

[Silverbrumby]

Loestrin Fe side effects from Drug.com

...Less serious side effects may include:

mild nausea, vomiting, bloating, stomach cramps;

breast pain, tenderness, or swelling;

freckles or darkening of facial skin;

increased hair growth, loss of scalp hair;

changes in weight or appetite;

problems with contact lenses;

vaginal itching or discharge;

changes in your menstrual periods, decreased sex drive; or

headache, nervousness, dizziness.

[Silverbrumby]

Maybe having lighter periods is helping with iron levels in the body? I found that the pill causes hair loss for me.

[Amber_Maiden]

My guess is that it's the hormones. Birth control pills (especially the monophasic ones) basically work by telling your body it's already ovulated for the month, if I understand it correctly. In some ways, it simulates pregnancy due to the progesterone. Given that pregnant women often get incredible hair growth until they give birth, it makes sense to me that some people would experience similar effects on hormonal birth control.

Do be aware that when/if you go off the stuff, you might have a hair shed analogous to a post-partum shed. I've seen a lot of people report that around here, though I didn't experience it for myself.

Yep. It's probably hormones.

And yes, many people seem to experience hair loss when going off Birth Control.

[Chetanlaiho]

I'm taking a different one but haven't noticed any positive side effects so far, only bloating, constant nausea and dizzyness :/

My over-shedding seems to have stopped but I've been trying to combat it for months so maybe something finally worked?

[AnqeIicDemise]

nope. no such luck here.

[jennescence]

Something curious is that it has made my acne worse specifically around my mouth, which is hormonal acne.

[Rose Petal]

I miss the pill,
lighter periods, less pain, less to almost no acne, and a sure fire guide to how I will feel (emotionally) each week. Sigh.

I do think long term use increased my breast size slightly, although that could just be a result of getting older.

[malwes]

I noticed ever since i started taking birth control my nails have become extremely thick and grow really fast. I hate long nails on myself so this is annoying to me. Before i started taking birth control my nails split and bent and now its hard to even cut them with nail clippers. I have also n oticed my hair has become quite a bit thicker as well. Have any of you noticed anything like this while taking birth control. Oh and i take Loestrin 24 Fe

I suppose it is very typical situation if you are taking contraceptive pills. By adding synthetic gestagen, your nails and hair started to behave as if you were pregnant :D
It means that they growth (anagen phase) normally (i.e. 2-8 years) but katagen phase (temporary phase - normally 2-4 weeks) and telogen phase (end of life - normally 2 months) will extend. The hair do not fall as they would do normally. Therefore often while pregnant, women have beautiful, strong, thick hair. After pregnancy, everything comes to normality and all the hair that should have had fall (but they did not), are falling. The same with the pills - they extend katagen and telogen phase. And very often speed up growing (depends on what kind of progestagen it is: levenorgesrel, desogestrel, gestoden, dienogest, etc?).
Very often, after stopping taking pills, women find their hair fall heavily (like after delivery).

I had another situation - I took Janine and Qlaira - in which the ratio of progestagen (dienogest) is so high versus estrogene) that my hair started to behave like male's one: started to fall as while androgenic baldness or the same as fall after delivery (also progesterone rises in blood)

Sorry if I mixed up the names or something - but this is what I understood from my GP.

[redsoles]

Hormones. That's the culprit, imo

[novemberfoxtrot]

I'm on a loestrin fe generic and now that you mention it...my nails are stronger. My thumb nails have always been strong but the others have caught up a bit.

The one thing I did notice straight away was that my leg hair was thinner. Praise Oprah!

I cycle through so the iron pills can't be the culprit for me. I'll happily accept hormones as the culprit.

[christine1989]

Weak nails and hair can be a symptom of inadequate iron intake and since the "Fe" in Loestrin Fe is iron perhaps it's the extra dose of iron that is causing the boost in nail and hair thickness and growth. If you really hate the new nail growth you could try switching to a pill that is not fortified with iron.

[RedBlue]

I have never noticed anything when I was on birth control, except lighter (and more pleasant) periods...

[Ligeia_13]

Lucky you. I think, looking back to when I was a pill free youngster, my hair now grows a lot slower than it did then. And my nails are harder to grow without peeling.

At least I got the clear skin ;)

[iSuperHeroic]

Something curious is that it has made my acne worse specifically around my mouth, which is hormonal acne.

I'm get the Depo-Provera shot every 3 months and my acne has worsened as well. Not too bad, but I don't ever want to go out of my house without foundation on.
BUT, I have a next-to-none period and I actually lost some weight.
For me, the acne is something I can live with since my period isn't ridiculously heavy.

[RedBlue]

I had gotten the 3 month shot, but I was taking pills at that time, as well. Originally, I was put on birth control to help my acne (which was terrible) and to lighten my period, even though it wasn't half bad. Birth controll became neccessary when I had an ovarian cyst. My gyno told me that birth control can help diminish the cyst. I was on b.c. for about seven months before I told my gyno that I wanted to go ahead with surgery to have the cyst removed.

[jennescence]

I had gotten the 3 month shot, but I was taking pills at that time, as well. Originally, I was put on birth control to help my acne (which was terrible) and to lighten my period, even though it wasn't half bad. Birth controll became neccessary when I had an ovarian cyst. My gyno told me that birth control can help diminish the cyst. I was on b.c. for about seven months before I told my gyno that I wanted to go ahead with surgery to have the cyst removed.

Oh wow that really scares me lol:( I have cysts too. I never knew i could have them removed?

[prosperina]

I took the pill continuously (meaning no periods, constant pill use) for a year and I had almost no shedding. It was bizarre. My hair got super, almost unmanageably thick, about 6 inch thickness. When I stopped taking it I had a huge shed (which was a bit scary at first). Now I'm back to my (still thick) normal hair.

[RedBlue]

If the cysts are causing you pain, then you could have them surgecially removed. I've had two cysts. The first one I didn't even know it was there until the day of my surgery. The first one was the size of a softball, and had a tail that twisted around my ovary and the cyst itself. The doctors had to remove my ovary that time. The second time, we had time to think about it. It was way smaller than the first. My first cyst was life-threatening, whereas my second one wasn't.

[cheetahfast]

Oh gosh I'm on the same one as you jennescene. I hope my hair won't thin and shed whenever I end up going off it.