BC and competing

[tammyp]

i am helping a girl do a figure show, nattie. she cannot drop the butt. she is using the ring that secretes estrogen. i think this may be the problem. any input here would be awesome.

[Manavs]

Im prepping a girl currently who was on the pill.

put her on 25 mg of dhea (check with organization) to get her fat burning test up
50mg b-50 complex 2x's a day

3 hours of slow aerobics / day

and most importantly - BEAT THE F&^! OUT OF HER LEGS!
every night i have her do ankle weight work. about 10 exercises per leg 3 times round.

in one week her ass fold cut down in half, and now - 3 weeks later - she's ready

[GirlyMuscle]

I'd ask Dave or Colette.

I do believe it's a low dose in those things but still, I think it will have a bearing on her training/look.

[Suzanne]

birth control hormones are the root of all evil! :)

I believe being on them for an extended length of time age 14 (severe cramps) to age 25 contributed to messing with hormones and partially contributed to my weight gain

I think best to remove all homrmonal based bc during prep

[GirlyMuscle]

If I'm not getting too personal, Suzanne, what do you use for BC now?

[sassy69]

Nuvaring does have incredibly low levels of hormones, but its still dependent upon the person.

FWIW, has she been doing enough cardio and for long enough? For a first timer it can be very hard to train your body to do different than it normally does. I found it matter that I only did 4 days of 2 hrs /day and 3 additional w/ 1 hr / day. I.e. it wasn't enough & for me I NEED the consistent 2 hrs/day.

[figure_22]

I started using the Nuvaring as soon as it came out years ago. I loved it because you could actually control your periods, the timing anyway. I competed for the first time last year. After 3 weeks of dieting I decided I would stop using the Nuvaring and see if it made a difference. I should have taken pictures, I lost 8lbs in a week and a half. Tons of waterweight I'm sure. I haven't gone back since.
I notice more cramping, crabbyness and bloat during my period without it but I'd rather put up with those issues during my period than have the extra estrogen.

[tammyp]

MY HUBBY is fixed, but many friends use the iud that compete. thanks figure 22 i sent her the link to this thread. im sure shell go off after she reads your post!

[figure_22]

She may need to take the afternoon off of work when she gets her first and possibly second period without the ring. I felt nauseous, was super bloated, had a giant headache and was in pain from the cramps. It was not fun! But again, was more happy the weight was gone.

[Suzanne]

If I'm not getting too personal, Suzanne, what do you use for BC now?

for a long time used diapragm

but nothing now Chase is fixed

[Sunshine]

I've been using the Nuvaring for several years and never stopped using it for comps,no apparent issues with water retention. I've used Lyle McDonalds Stubborn Fat Protocol and have had good results as far as getting rid of lower body fat. His book also has a lot of great info on the physiology of stubborn fat as well.

[RealLilSwole]

Not that I am trying to get too personal here but how many of you still get periods. I hadn't had one in five years until November of last year.

[tammyp]

Not that I am trying to get too personal here but how many of you still get periods. I hadn't had one in five years until November of last year.

years ....i cant remember actually...maybe like 6 years...maybe more.

[Suzanne]

Not that I am trying to get too personal here but how many of you still get periods. I hadn't had one in five years until November of last year.

i do including all through prep sometimes it skips one at end i was do day of prejudge both jr nats and nats got all the symptoms but didn't actually come then next month was right on scedule

[Allifit]

Not that I am trying to get too personal here but how many of you still get periods. I hadn't had one in five years until November of last year.

I still get mine...but oh is it a mess. I lose my period for nearly the entirety of my prep and when it comes back it comes back with a vengenance. I get premenstrual sympytoms for like two weeks BEFORE my period and my period lasts anywhere from a week to two weeks. Then it tends to regulate itself after that.

[Allifit]

MY HUBBY is fixed, but many friends use the iud that compete. thanks figure 22 i sent her the link to this thread. im sure shell go off after she reads your post!

Whats the IUD? Doesn't that have horomonal effects as well?

[RealLilSwole]

An IUD works by slowly releasing a small amount of the hormone progesterone into your uterus. So it still has the same think at the ring or BC.

[RealLilSwole]

Glad I am not the only one with the messed MS. FLOW. LOL!

[Allifit]

An IUD works by slowly releasing a small amount of the hormone progesterone into your uterus. So it still has the same think at the ring or BC.

I saw there's two kinds- one that releases horomones and one that does not?

[GirlyMuscle]

True. There are IUD's (intrauterine devise) that have hormones and ones that do not.

[RealLilSwole]

Duh! Sorry. My head not working. I am a nurse on a gynocology/oncology floor. I should have had a better answer. True, there are two.

1. Paragard - a copper IUD. Good for about 10 years. It works by causing sterile inflammatory response which basically kills sperm before it reaches the fallopian tubes. No homones.

2. Nirena - good for 5 years, secretes pregestorone.

Hope thats better.

[AndroGrrL]

Duh! Sorry. My head not working. I am a nurse on a gynocology/oncology floor. I should have had a better answer. True, there are two.

1. Paragard - a copper IUD. Good for about 10 years. It works by causing sterile inflammatory response which basically kills sperm before it reaches the fallopian tubes. No homones.

2. Nirena - good for 5 years, secretes pregestorone.

Hope thats better.

Question...why won't my dr let me get the paragard inserted? I know it always says that you have to have had children previously to get it...but umm...I want it! :D

[sassy69]

Question...why won't my dr let me get the paragard inserted? I know it always says that you have to have had children previously to get it...but umm...I want it! :D


The general recommendation is that if you're going to have kids, you should have had them before you start w/ the IUD. Its not like a hormonal requirement or something. I'm 43, I've never had kids, but at this point I suppose I'm not expecting to have them either. So I just went for the IUD. I was using a very low dose estro /progest BC, then went off while competing and then just stopped takign it for a while (wasn't dating anyone). When I started up again, I kept forgetting to take the stupid things, so I opted for the Nuvaring. But after a few months of my bf at the time, playing "reverse ring toss" when we had sex, I decided to just keep it simple and get the IUD. The assumption is that you're going to go 5 yrs w/o wanting to stop & have kids again.

I was recommended to get the Mirena vs the Paragard because of the very low dose, time release progesterone which helps reduce bleeding that can happen w/ the Paragard. I've had absolutely no bleeding or issues w/ it. Cost-wise it runs about $600. So if you consider that cost, spread over 5 yrs, it seems to come out pretty cheap compared to bc.

I didn't go look for measures, but I feel like saying that the amount of progesterone in the Mirena is much smaller than in the Nuvaring, and its time release for over an expected 5 yr period vs a 1 month life expectancy of the Nuvaring. If anyone actually knows, please post up.

[Sistersteel]

Any woman looking to monitor hormonal changes induced by AAS should consider the Paragard as the most unintrusive form of BC.

[partsRheavy]

The exact topic of birth control and its effect on muscle response to resistance exercise is being discussed as the subject of a
poster topic (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30266121/) at the American Physiological Society meetings this week.

I don't have a PubMed yet since this looks like a poster presentation at the meeting, but some of SE Riechman's other articles are listed in PubMed and may be of interest (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=pubmed&cmd=DetailsSearch&term=Riechman&log$=activity).

Steven Riechman's CV suggests that he's interested in dietary cholesterol, statins, and muscle building as well as the birth control issue (http://hlkn.webunlimited.com/uploads/files/faculty/Riechman_WCV_Fall07.pdf).

Enjoy the CV linx! :D :D

Since I'm 45 years old I think it's cool this young guy is doing research with aging, too!!!! :wavey: :wavey:

P.S. What happens to a researcher's mind when his co-author's name is RF Gearhart (http://www.cehd.tamu.edu/directory/view.epl?nid=sriechman)?!? I couldn't make this stuff up even if I tried! :cool: :D

[partsRheavy]

Extract from an article about the study of birth control and muscle gains (http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AdditionalMeetings/13797):

Lee and Riechman say that birth control notably inhibits muscle gains (http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AdditionalMeetings/13797):


Ten weeks of resistance exercise training resulted in 40% less gain in lean mass among users of oral contraceptive pills than in nonusers, according to Chang Woock Lee of Texas A&M University, and colleagues.

They reported their findings at a meeting of the American Physiological Society, a member of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

Researchers said that the results are particularly important because many high-performance athletes take birth control pills to control their menstrual cycles.

The reduced muscle development in OC users was associated with significantly lower levels of androgenic hormones and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), as well as elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol. Action Points
Explain to patients that this study suggested that active women who use oral contraceptives may have less muscle development compared with nonusers.


Mention that the type of birth control pill was important: gain in lean mass was inversely related to the androgenicity of the progestin contained in an OC.
Moreover, gain in lean muscle mass differed according to the androgenicity of the progestin in an oral contraceptive (OC).
"I think the implications are that so many women are taking BCP, and if they are active or competing, and want to achieve the highest level of performance, they need to consider whether birth control is a negative influence on that," said senior investigator Steven Riechman, Ph.D., also of Texas A&M.

Several studies have demonstrated lower levels of the anabolic hormones dihydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate ester (DHEA/DHEAS) in women taking OCs.

Bt the implications for active women and trained female athletes had not been studied extensively, said Dr. Riechman, noting that female athletes often use OCs to control their menstrual cycle.

[Allifit]

Any woman looking to monitor hormonal changes induced by AAS should consider the Paragard as the most unintrusive form of BC.
I'm unfamiliar with the paraguard...

[sassy69]

I'm unfamiliar with the paraguard...

There are two types of IUDs - Paragard is basically the copper IUD, no hormones at all. The other is Mirena which uses a small amount of slow-release progesterone to help reduce bleeding which can occur w/ the copper IUD.

[Tatyana]

Question...why won't my dr let me get the paragard inserted? I know it always says that you have to have had children previously to get it...but umm...I want it! :D

No you don't.

Seriously, unless you have had children, it is more like a medieval torture device than a birth control method.

I had one and I have never experienced such consistent pain in my life, and you will haemorrhage when you get your period.

One of my friends at work had a similar experience, and her IUD embedded in her uterus, she had to have it surgically removed.

[SallyAnne]

No you don't.

Seriously, unless you have had children, it is more like a medieval torture device than a birth control method.

I had one and I have never experienced such consistent pain in my life, and you will haemorrhage when you get your period.

One of my friends at work had a similar experience, and her IUD embedded in her uterus, she had to have it surgically removed.

Doodles. :)