Warning over new Gen Z TikTok trend urging women to quit the Pill because it ‘makes you ugly, fat and depressed’ – so what’s the truth about the claims?
- The hashtag #gettingoffbirthcontrol has over seven million views on TikTok
- Users are instead promoting mobile apps that calculate when a woman is fertile
- But experts raised concerns over the ‘worrying’ trend and effectiveness of apps
Young women are being urged ditch hormonal birth control under TikTok’s newest health trend that has spooked experts.
Videos highlighting the benefits of switching to ‘natural’ contraception have racked up hundreds of thousands of views.
Users claim the pill, as well as other popular forms of hormonal contraception, have left them feeling ‘ugly’. Others have complained about birth control causing weight gain, acne and depression.
But medics said the trend was ‘worrying’ and raised concerns over the effectiveness of the ‘back to nature’ movement, as it has been called.
Many women turning their back on the Pill are instead relying on apps which track menstrual cycles and rely on temperature data to determine when they are likely to be fertile — and therefore need to use protection.
User @breakupwithbirthcontrol also took to TikTok telling her followers: ‘I have used the fertility awareness method for the last five years of my life to successfully prevent unwanted pregnancy, to heal my PMS, to finally lose my stubborn belly fat and to stop having such intense mood swings and depression and anxiety’
In another video, TikTok user @angelinanicollle wrote ‘when you thought you were ugly, hated yourself, had zero sex drive and felt like a robot everyday but you realized it was just because you were on birth control’. Meanwhile one content creator @leeann5.oh shared photos of herself while using birth control and after stopping taking the pill. ‘On birth control, unable to control my weight. So unhappy/depressed’, she wrote
TikTok users also commented underneath videos about hormonal birth control pills adding they were ‘getting fat because of the pill’ and ‘gaining so much weight’
Yet these are not foolproof, with scores of women reporting unwanted pregnancies after such apps failed to correctly protect them.
The hashtag #gettingoffbirthcontrol has racked up over 7million views on TikTok.
One video, watched 1.1m times, claims natural family planning methods are 98 per cent effective at preventing pregnancy.
Another clip, posted from the account @pcos.teacher, states: ‘Hormonal contraception has never agreed with my body. I’ve been on five to six types of birth control and during this period, I developed cystic acne, I put on a lot of weight and it really affected my mood and libido negatively.’
She also provided a link to the fertility app Natural Cycles, writing: ‘Use code PCOS for 20 per cent off your subscription (link in bio). Natural Cycles is for 18+ and does not protect against STIs.’
Q+A: Everything you need to know about the pill
What is it?
There are two main types of birth control pills for women – combined oral contraceptives, also called ‘the Pill’, and a progestin-only pill.
Both are prescribed by a doctor and taken at the same time each day, with women advised to take a week’s break each month.
How does it work?
The combined pill contains artificial version of the female hormones oestrogen and progestin, which are produced naturally in the ovaries.
It works by preventing the ovaries from releasing an egg each month and thickening the mucus in the neck of the womb, so it is harder for sperm to penetrate the womb and reach an egg.
The progestin-only pill – sometimes called the mini-pill – only has one synthetic hormone, progestin, and works in a similar way.
Does it really make you ugly?
Some social media users have said they felt ugly while on the Pill.
This could be explained by one 2022 study, published in Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology, which found that women on the Pill report worse body image than those not taking hormonal contraception.
Women have also reported suffering from side effects, such as poor skin and increased hair growth, while using the Pill, which led them to stop taking it.
Does it make you fat?
Studies have shown that the Pill itself does not cause weight gain.
However, some people may experience temporary weight gain when they first start taking the Pill due to water retention during certain points in the menstrual cycle.
The contraceptive is also known to cause an increase in appetite among some users. If women taking the Pill consume more calories than they burn, then they can gain weight over time.
Does it make you depressed?
Studies show conflicting results on whether the Pill is linked with depression.
The NHS says there may be an association but notes that the evidence is mixed and further research is needed.
Experts suggest that the Pill’s effect on mood could be down to interfering with part of the brain that controls the body’s stress response.
What are the other side effects?
Side effects of the pill including nausea, breast tenderness or enlargement, headaches, missed periods, mood changes, decreased sex drive and vaginal discharge, have long been shared.
Rarer side effects however also include blood clots, high blood pressure, liver tumours and even a raised risk of breast cancer.
Women using the app need to measure their temperature most days and input the results into the app, which uses an algorithm to calculate their fertility.
It identifies ‘green days’, when a woman is unlikely to fall pregnant, and ‘red days’ when contraception would be needed.
Dr Janet Barter, chair and president of the Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Health, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that patients being ‘influenced’ by contraception information on social media is ‘something that’s been worrying us for a while’.
She added: ‘Every day I speak to women who are absolutely terrified of using hormonal contraception.
‘Terrified to start, worrying about whether they should come off it, because they’re hearing information that it’s risky or that it’s going to give them side effects.
‘We’re always also keen for there to be more research into hormonal contraception.
‘But what we do know is that it’s extremely safe. So, the pill for example has probably had more research on its safety than any other tablet that you might swallow.’
Side effects of the pill including nausea, breast tenderness or enlargement, headaches, weight gain, missed periods, mood changes, decreased sex drive and vaginal discharge, have long been shared.
Rarer side effects however also include blood clots, high blood pressure, liver tumours and even a raised risk of breast cancer.
But Dr Barter added: ‘We also know about its [the pill’s] effectiveness and we know that any method of hormonal contraception – so that’s the pill but also the patch, vaginal ring, the hormonal IUD, the implant – we know exactly their effectiveness, we know a lot about their side effects.
‘We do know that some women do suffer from mood changes or want another method of contraception.
‘But it’s so important that they have the chance to have a conversation with a healthcare professional, so they can work out what the problem is and what they could do instead.’
Yet recent TikTok videos include @breakupwithbirthcontrol who told her followers: ‘I have used the fertility awareness method for the last five years of my life to successfully prevent unwanted pregnancy, to heal my PMS, to finally lose my stubborn belly fat and to stop having such intense mood swings and depression and anxiety.’
In another video with over 17,000 views, TikTok user @angelinanicollle wrote ‘when you thought you were ugly, hated yourself, had zero sex drive and felt like a robot everyday but you realized it was just because you were on birth control’.
Meanwhile, another TikTok account @leeann5.oh shared photos of herself while using birth control and after stopping taking the pill.
‘On birth control, unable to control my weight. So unhappy/depressed’, she wrote.
Studies show that hormonal contraception itself doesn’t cause weight gain. However, it can increase appetite in some women, which may see them eat more.
The NHS notes that the natural fertility awareness method of contraception — which can also include measuring cycle length and changes to cervical secretions — can be up to 99 per cent effective if followed consistently and correctly.
‘Natural family planning can be very effective if it’s done perfectly,’ Dr Barter noted.
‘But doing it perfectly involves a huge amount of input. So, the temperature can be affected by all sorts of things, so travel, changes to your sleep pattern, if you’re not well that can affect your temperature change,’ she added.
‘Not everybody logs their periods every month and of course, it involves not having sex on the days when it’s not safe to have sex, which is around ovulation, which is the time that most women feel like having sex.
‘And if in fact you have sex, but you protect yourself with a condom, then the effectiveness of that is only as good as the effectiveness of the condom.’
‘Hormonal contraception has never agreed with my body. I’ve been on five to six types of birth control and during this period, I developed cystic acne, I put on a lot of weight and it really affected my mood and libido negatively,’ another TikTok user @pcos.teacher said. In the video she advertised the app ‘Natural Cycles’. ‘Use code PCOS for 20% off your subscription (link in bio). Natural Cycles is for 18+ and does not protect against STIs’, she wrote
Side effects of the pill including nausea, breast tenderness or enlargement, headaches, weight gain, missed periods, mood changes, decreased sex drive and vaginal discharge, have long been shared. Rarer side effects however also include blood clots, high blood pressure, liver tumours and even a raised risk of breast cancer. But Dr Barter added: ‘We also know about its [the pill’s] effectiveness and we know that any method of hormonal contraception – so that’s the pill but also the patch, vaginal ring, the hormonal IUD, the implant – we know exactly their effectiveness, we know a lot about their side effects
The growing interest in ‘natural’, ‘hormone-free’ and ‘non-invasive’ methods of preventing pregnancy comes after the UK began offering the Pill over-the-counter contraception in the UK. The move, which was announced in 2021, was hailed as a ‘landmark’ moment. Fertility apps including Natural Cycles, Flo and Clue, claim to have millions of users worldwide. But in 2018, a Facebook advert for Natural Cycles was banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, after it claimed that it was ‘highly accurate’ and ‘provided a clinically tested alternative to other birth control methods’ were found to be misleading
She said: ‘So, we would feel that these methods are good if you’re someone for whom pregnancy wouldn’t be a disaster.
‘But for each woman, you have to look at your priorities at this particular point in your life and think about what’s most important.
‘If not getting pregnant is the most important thing, then one of these apps probably isn’t for you.’
The growing interest in ‘natural’, ‘hormone-free’ and ‘non-invasive’ methods of preventing pregnancy comes after the UK began offering the Pill over-the-counter contraception in the UK. The move, which was announced in 2021, was hailed as a ‘landmark’ moment.
Fertility apps including Natural Cycles, Flo and Clue, claim to have millions of users worldwide.
Read more: Can birth control make you a LESBIAN? As a number of women say their homosexuality was ‘woken up’ after starting or coming off the Pill, studies suggest there might be some truth about the unlikely side effect
But in 2018, a Facebook advert for Natural Cycles was banned by the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority, after it claimed that it was ‘highly accurate’ and ‘provided a clinically tested alternative to other birth control methods’ were found to be misleading.
Today, the Swedish based app, which costs £69.99 a year, claims to be 93 per cent effective with typical use and 98 per cent effective with perfect use.
For comparison, with perfect use, condoms are 98 per cent effective, while the Pill, implant, IUS and IUD are 99 per cent effective, according to the NHS.
Natural Cycles allows its users to either plan a pregnancy or prevent it, with prevention the most popular use among young women.
While it was the first birth control app cleared by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US in 2018 and certified in the European Union in 2017, the NHS does not recommend the app as a birth control method.
In 2017, Swedish health officials also raised concerns after 37 women at one of the country’s biggest hospitals were said to have sought a termination after all allegedly fell pregnant while using the app.
The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) advises the contraceptive method with the lowest failure rate for typical used to be the implant, with a failure rate of just 0.1 per cent.
This is followed by male vasectomy, with a failure rate of 0.15 per cent and the hormonal implant which has a failure rate of 0.7 per cent.
According to the service, the pill has a failure rate of seven per cent, and condoms a failure rate of either 13 or 21 per cent, depending on if you are using male or female versions.
BPAS puts the fertility awareness method, which is similar to the idea behind Natural Cycles, at around a 15 per cent chance of failure.
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