ive been on Diane 5 for over 18 months,,, and left it three months ago... i cant even stand to look at my face now... so many pimples....

anyways..i want to have kids now... so..i left the pill...
now... if i get preggy..can i still take the pill??

im confused

I'm 20, and I've been on Diane since I was 15. I tried to go off it once, and about three months later I developed the worst acne of my life and horrible mood swings (and this was a month into my first year of university) so I freaked out and went back on it and three months later I was back to 'normal'. My skin has been far from perfect on Diane, but it is manageable. Until now, I always assumed that I'd go off of it once I was old enough to have passed my teen years, but reading the posts on this site is making me worry that I'm going to break out like crazy no matter when I go off of it! Did anyone's doctor warn them about the side effects of going off it? I'm now worried I'm going to be paying much laster for a decision I made when I was 15.

HI,
I was on and off Diane 35 for 4 years. The first time my skin was flawless and I felt gorgeous but I put on a few extra pounds. I didn't care, I looked like an adult! I stopped for a while and my skin went bad, so I started up again before my friend's wedding (can't be an ugly bridesmaid). I immediately put on 10 pounds and broke out. It took afew months but my skin got better. I stayed on it for a 2 more years. During this time I had occasional breakouts and usually a few pimples- NOT perfect skin. I was petrified of what would happen if I ever went off the pill. I was an emotional mess and I constantly had breakthrough bleeding. My period was irregular even after two years of pill popping. While my hair and skin were less greasy, I gained another 20 pounds. No matter what I did I couldn't shed the weight. I decided that it wasn't worth it (easy to say when your face feels smooth) and I stopped in January of this year. I didn't get a period until April. My skin went nuts, i lost my ravenous apetite, my hair was greasy. After a few months things cleared up and I thought I was doing well.... Right now I am having a horrible cystic outbreak and am back on harsh topicals until it clears up. It's horrible. I'm so tempted to go back on Diane 35 but I think that maybe feeling happy (not crazy and crying all the time) and fitting back into my clothes is more important. Maybe I'm just lucky because my fiance doesn't complain. If I were still single, I wouldn't think twice about subjecting myself to this drug. I wonder if Diane actually screwed up my system enough to make things worse. It really only treat symptoms and now my cycle is all off. I'll tough it out for now (even though I am in my late late 20s and look like a pizza faced 15 year old) and see what happens. Fingers crossed.

Diane 35 has been a miracle for me! I've been on it for 9 months now and after trying almost everything else my doctor recommended this for me. I started noticing improvements after a couple of months and now my skin is totally clear and beautiful! I couldn't be happier. I didn't experience any weight gain, but my moods have been crazy! I have found that I am way more irritable but I don't know what else to do for my skin!

I'm 32 years old and was on the birth control pill for 9 years, the last 2 years of which I spent on Diane. The first 4 months on Diane were horrible - I broke out like crazy and almost gave up but I continued on and finally started seeing results in the 5th month. Diane was the only birth control pill that helped my skin. I had beautiful, glowing skin for almost a year and a half and I wouldn't have stopped except for the fact that I'm now trying to get pregnant. I have now been off Diane for 4 months and my skin has been horrible. Not only do I have acne on my face, but also on my neck and back which I've never experienced before. I never experienced weight gain, headaches, depression or loss of libido on Diane but I did notice that I had alot of UTIs. My skin is starting to get slightly better now but the last 4 months have been really difficult. I had no idea that my skin could get this bad - my skin was never this bad even during puberty! In hindsight, I'm not quite sure if I would recommend Diane since the consequences of going off of it are so difficult.

I've been on Diane-35 probably three different times in my life including one 2 or 3 year stretch. It was awesome for my skin. Within days of taking it, skin and hair were less greasy and acne started clearing. In fact, I had no acne and I have cystic acne (I forgot about my acne problem it got so good!) However, my breasts were always really sore for the first couple months... really sore -- taking off a bra hurt. I also noticed less vaginal discharge and a reduction in body hair and sex drive somewhat..This seemed obvious given it is an anti-androgen and in effect lowers the male hormones in your system. And these side effects seemed okay given that I was finally living with clear skin. However, I also had chronic yeast infection problems being on Diane-35 that I never had on other pills or when not being on the pill. I got yeast infections from sex like clockwork-- every single time. (My partners were checked... they weren't passing it back to me... it was all me). I tried everything to get rid of them, but nothing worked. So I went off Diane a couple times in frustration but I found I would get a nasty flare of acne and instant greasiness again upon stopping. A no-win! I would probably have stayed on it if not for the yeast thing. I'm now taking Yasmin, which has a milder effect on clearing acne, but no yeast problems thus far. Only 4 months of taking it so far, but no serious side effects. Yasmin is a diuretic and the bit of dehydration it causes makes you lose a bit of water weight (good) but it sometimes causes headaches and cramping (bad) so if you switch to Yasmin at any point, drink lots of water. Hope this helps.

horrible.....made me break out after 4 monthes....

It works great my acne is completly gone after just 2 and a half months My breasts grow alot! my moods are fine, my libido if anything has increased! i guess it's just different for everyone!

I was on Diane for 6 months for moderate acne and hirsutism. My skin cleared significantly and I also noticed less unwanted hair so I got off the pill. 3 months later I had a severe outbreak of acne, worse than ever before. I panicked and got back on the pill. Stayed on it pimple-free for about 11 months then I got an allergic reaction to hair-dye for the first time in my life. My skin became extra sensitive leading to yet another moderate-severe acne outbreak. This time I used antibiotics as well as still being on Diane. I had been using topicals from day 1. My skin took 3 months to clear. I continued on Diane for 9 more months. My skin at this point was clear but with small breakouts that were easily ignored. I decided to take a break from the pill. Sure enough 3 months later - another severe acne outbreak. Now my doctor has put me on Alesse. I might need to stay on birth control pills indefinitely to control acne till I 'grow' out of it. It's been 3 weeks on Alesse so far and no significant difference except for a slight reduction in inflammation. I don't think Diane-35 was worth it because it cleared my skin till a certain point (80%) but then made it SO much worse when I stopped. Unfortunately it's not cut out to be a long-term drug due to concerns about deep vein thrombosis. I hope Alesse will work for me otherwise I'll probably try Yasmin. As far as side-effects go I didn't experience major difficulties except for slight increase in cellulite, water retention and a 'puffy' face.

I'd been on Alesse for about 4 years, and last summer had a break-out on my face. I never had severe acne before, so this was a shocker. (I'm 24 y.o) My dr put me on Minocin, and a couple months later I started Diane in addition. I am now on my 4th month. It took a while to see results, and I'm not sure whether to attribute the improvement I have seen to the Diane or the Minocin. But it's still not perfect. The first month my breasts got REALLY sore, but that went away, and they grew as well, but have since gone back to their original size. I'd been trying to lose a bit of weight before I started the pill, with lots of exercise and diet -- i think it was working, but since I've been on Diane, I havent lost anything. I slowed down my crazy exercise regimen a bit, and I've gained 7 pounds in 2 weeks!! I'd rather have a little troubled skin than gain at this rate. ALso, after reading these posts, I've finally found the reason for my inexplicable crying fits! (thanks) So I've decided to stop Diane and go back to Alesse (which I never had any problems with), while keeping on Minocin.
Has anybody ever tried changing to a BCP when coming off Diane?? does it mitigate the reaction at all?? ALso, those who did gain weight, was it easy to lose it once you went off?? THis is important to many ppl I'm sure, so if you've had a similar experience, please post it!!!