30 replies to this topic

[Sheriko]

Hey all,
I am new to the BCP game. I went to my Gyn and complained about my skin suddenly becoming super oily, my hair thinning a bit, developing more hair on my face (luckily it is pretty blond with a few darker hairs that I pluck) and also getting thicker hair and more hair on other parts of my body. I also have developed cystic acne and these little spots that don't want to go away. So I asked my Gyn what's up. He took some blood and tested my LH and TSH and Total testosterone. The results came back normal. I couldn't believe. He said that if I wanted, I could try a BCP to see if that helps. Of course I said PLEASE. So he prescribed Marvelon 21.

Sorry to be long winded. Now my questions:

1) Has anyone else used Marvelon? What were the effects? Did it help with your oil and acne?

2) Has anyone else had normal blood tests and these strange symptoms of hirusitsm (sp?)?

3) I am worried about an IB on BC. Do people usually get one?

4) What are the side effects of Marvelon?

See I wanted Spiro but the doctor wouldn't give it to me because my tests were normal. Anyway, I go back to see him in a month and was wondering if I should push him for it instead of BCP.

What do you all think?

[Sheriko]

Okay so this is day 4 of Marvelon. I don't know if this is because of Marvelon or not, but I am breaking out. I have a huge zit on the side of my nose and 3 zits above my lip on the left side of my face. I also have 2 cysts forming on my jaw. I hope it isn't cause of the Marvelon.

A friend of mine said she took Marvelon for years and it helped her. I am worried though because my hair is thinning and I have such oily skin.

Does anyone think I can take saw palmetto with Marvelon? I mean, I don't use the Marvelon for birth control. I just want it to stabilize my hormones. So if I take saw palmetto too, would it interfere with the Marvelon's hormones?

[Mandy Ann]

Hello! I don't know much about Marvelon 21 at all.. but I do know that saw palmetto can effect/interfere with birth control.. so you should ask your doctor before taking any saw palmetto. Also, since you are only on Day 4.. you will need to give your body at least 3 months to get used to this pill... so if you are breaking out and everything... thats because your body is adjusting. Also, I just thought i'd mention that if your hormone levels came back normal... its most likely that your body is just extra sensative to DHT's.. and birth control should really be a big help. Good luck!

[Sheriko]

So now I am at Day 10 of Marvelon. So far all I have noticed is a bunch of smaller pimples. No big cystic acne which makes me happy. My oil production is still crazy and I need to blot every hour. The small pimples are on my cheeks which never use to get pimples before. My chin also has many as does my nose and forehead. I notice that if I leave them alone, they disappear after 2 days, but always a few new ones come in. BUT, my overall skin seems a little better. Anyway, I will keep updating this.

Oh, and unfortunately, I am getting a lot of breakthrough bleeding which sucks. As for nausea, I had a little but found that if I take the pill with food, it isn't so bad.

Anyway, I will update this again in about a week.

[Mandy Ann]

Good luck!! Hope things start improving.

[silverlake]

I'm in the middle of my 4th month with Marvelon 21. I got initial breakouts from the first month of starting it. The worst breakouts seem to appear to me in the first 10 days after starting a new strip. The problem is I still get them on the 4th month! Is this still considered an IB!? Or maybe the pill doesn't seem to be working? I'm thinking of switching pills next month and trying something else like Yasmin. I'm seeing my GP tomorrow for this. I hope she has a solution because, even though my acne is mild/moderate, I just can't take it anymore!!

re: side effects - I didn't experience any.

[Sheriko]

I'm in the middle of my 4th month with Marvelon 21. I got initial breakouts from the first month of starting it. The worst breakouts seem to appear to me in the first 10 days after starting a new strip. The problem is I still get them on the 4th month! Is this still considered an IB!? Or maybe the pill doesn't seem to be working? I'm thinking of switching pills next month and trying something else like Yasmin. I'm seeing my GP tomorrow for this. I hope she has a solution because, even though my acne is mild/moderate, I just can't take it anymore!!

re: side effects - I didn't experience any.

Well I just completed the 21 days of my first strip. I felt a little nauseous, but overall not too bad. I did spot a lot though and I hope that starting my next strip, I won't spot. I haven't had any cystic acne breakouts, but I have had a few smaller breakouts.

Silverlake, do you mean that you break out, clear up and then break out again? Or are you constantly broken out? Did your doctor switch your birth control?

[silverlake]

I breakout badly in the first week after staring a new strip. Before, I used to breakout mostly in the middle of the month and just before my period, so I'm suspecting this change could be related to the pill. I've almost completed the 4th strip now and after that initial breakout I had only one new spot form in days, thank God! I don't know if it means I finally started to improve or if next month the same thing will happen again. I had no other side effects like spotting, however. People react differently to the same treatment. There's a scientific journal article saying women usually cleared after completing at least 6 months. So maybe I'll have to wait for a couple more months. I still haven't switched, one reason being I'm afraid that I will mess up my hormones again just when Marvelon started working!

[Sheriko]

I breakout badly in the first week after staring a new strip. Before, I used to breakout mostly in the middle of the month and just before my period, so I'm suspecting this change could be related to the pill. I've almost completed the 4th strip now and after that initial breakout I had only one new spot form in days, thank God! I don't know if it means I finally started to improve or if next month the same thing will happen again. I had no other side effects like spotting, however. People react differently to the same treatment. There's a scientific journal article saying women usually cleared after completing at least 6 months. So maybe I'll have to wait for a couple more months. I still haven't switched, one reason being I'm afraid that I will mess up my hormones again just when Marvelon started working!

So do you mean that you breakout every time you start a new strip? I hope not because I am going to start a new strip soon. I would be very upset if I started to break out.

[silverlake]

Yes, that's what happened to me until the 4th month. Of course this doesn't mean you will react as I do.
Anyway, I'm starting the 5th month soon but today I switched to another pill called Co-Cyprindiol (I think it's another name for Dianette), which I'll try for 3 months and hopefully will see faster results. But as I said you should try Marvelon for some period first and see if it's working, otherwise switch to a different pill.

[Sheriko]

Alright, so I have started my second pack. But while I was on the 7 day no pill thing, I noticed something amazing. The pores on my nose are smaller and on my chin. So far I still have gaping caverns on my cheeks and forehead, but overall I am very very pleased. I haven't noticed a big decrease in oil production though.

Unfortunately, I also have this horrible cyst developing beside my nose above my lip. I am trying to head it off by using hot green tea compresses, ibuprofen and some steroid medication called almeta (Japanese thing. How nice to live in Japan where I have no clue what medicine I am using).

I do have several smaller zits as well, but nothing too bad. I am hanging in there and hoping that this helps me.

I am also happy about gaining some weight. I have gained about 3 kg. I needed to gain weight. I haven't noticed any increase in bust size though. Too bad.

[Sheriko]

Well it is day 7 in the 2nd pack. The cyst never surfaced and eventually went away. I believe it went away because of my treatments. But now I have a monster cyst coming up on my NOSE of all places. I am using a hot green tea compress on it right now. I am so bummed out. The small pores grew big again and I have about 5 new zits and one cyst coming up. I can't have a Rudolph nose tomorrow. I have a big date.

[dutchcrush]

oh great that you guys keep updating your progress here, it really helps as I'm planning to go on Marvelon. I don't know if its because of the change of the climate or environment or whatever but since i moved from Holland to Finland some weeks ago, my skin becomes extremely oily and the painful cysts started to appear. I cannot believe it! My skin has been very oily but not THIS oily!!!
Anyway, i have a longterm problem about my menstruation: i cannot get it regularly. My periods are about every 1 month and a half, which is rather strange.

To Sheriko: why don't you try putting ice on the cyst instead of green tea? It may become less red with ice.

[Sheriko]

I am 10 pills into my second pack and the monster cyst on my nose has subsided a little. However, it is still the size of half a dime. Anyway, yesterday it was the size of a dime. I have a bunch of little under the skin raised marks on my left cheek. It is almost like a cluster of mini zits under the skin. I don't know what they are.

To dutchcrush: The reason I use the hot green tea compresses is that the ice only reduces inflammation a little. I found that ice really doesn't help my cysts. I either want them to come to a head, or disappear. The heat from the compress brings the blood to the surface and I think it encourages the white blood cells to attack the cyst more, thereby either bringing it to a head much quicker, or reducing the size of the cyst after 24 hours or so. To reduce the redness and inflammation, I apply a topical corticosteroid (only for a couple of days). Green tea also has an anti-androgen effect. It works much better for me than the ice. Next time you have a cyst, I recommend you try it.

[silverlake]

Well, I'm still taking Marvelon and I'm noticing big improvements this month (but I also get Reiki healing as well). One reason I decided to stick with it despite having been prescribed Dianette and Minocyclin last month, is because I've read that Dianette can take up to 6 months to show results and it's a much stronger pill than Marvelon - but once you get off it your hormones will go out of control again and as you can't take it forever you will have to go on another pill like Marvelon. So, it's a waste of time really I think. At least with Marvelon you will have slower but more consistent results. And once you see the improvements you can stay on it for a long time unlike Dianette.
Regarding the antibiotics I think there is a very high possibility my acne will come back as soon as I stop, so that's another waste of time for me I think. It can also mess up your stomach and gut health.
So, I'm sticking with Marvelon for the time being!

[Sheriko]

Well, I'm still taking Marvelon and I'm noticing big improvements this month (but I also get Reiki healing as well). One reason I decided to stick with it despite having been prescribed Dianette and Minocyclin last month, is because I've read that Dianette can take up to 6 months to show results and it's a much stronger pill than Marvelon - but once you get off it your hormones will go out of control again and as you can't take it forever you will have to go on another pill like Marvelon. So, it's a waste of time really I think. At least with Marvelon you will have slower but more consistent results. And once you see the improvements you can stay on it for a long time unlike Dianette.
Regarding the antibiotics I think there is a very high possibility my acne will come back as soon as I stop, so that's another waste of time for me I think. It can also mess up your stomach and gut health.
So, I'm sticking with Marvelon for the time being!

That is great that you are seeing improvement silverlake. I am so happy. It gives me hope that this BC will also work for me. I have 7 more pills in my second pack and I am curious about what will happen during the 7 day break. See the last 7 day break without BC was when I noticed my skin was not oily and my pores were smaller. BUT then I began my new 2nd pack and my skin went back to being oily and I started to break out - just like you said you did, however it was mostly cystic and a lot of under the skin bumps. This makes me wonder a lot. See if my skin clears when not on the BC, should I even bother trying my third pack. Like if I notice that my skin's oil reduces greatly when not on the BC, perhaps I should quit the BC because maybe I have somehow managed to self-balance my hormones???? I don't know. What do you all think?

[Sheriko]

So something new to report. I have 4 pills remaining on my left pack and this morning, I noticed I am spotting blood again. I wonder if this is normal. Strange.

My skin is still very oily. I am getting lots of under the skin bumps. I wish they would go away. I guess it is called non-inflamed acne.

[dutchcrush]

hei, thanks for your updating. I haven't started it yet as i have read all the side effects, i dont want to die out of depression! So my question to you guys is that: do you have any side effects with Marvelon? mood swings, depression, etc.?

[silverlake]

I didn't have any side-effects with Marvelon. I took it for 5 months. However, I'm switching to Yasmin soon because I think it would give me faster results. Besides, being depressed because of acne is much worse in my opinion. You can always switch to a different pill if it doesn't suit you, but you have to try it first.

[Sheriko]

hei, thanks for your updating. I haven't started it yet as i have read all the side effects, i dont want to die out of depression! So my question to you guys is that: do you have any side effects with Marvelon? mood swings, depression, etc.?

Well, I didn't think that I had any really horrendous side effects, but to be sure about mood changes, I asked my girlfriend. She told me that she thinks I have been angrier lately and a little bit sad. That came as a bit of a shock cause honestly I haven't noticed anything.

Anyway, I am now finished the 2nd pack and am on my 7 day break. Haven't noticed a decrease in oil... I have noticed many under the skin bumps developing on my left cheek. It is a bit depressing actually.

Silverlake... good luck on the new birth control. I hope it works faster for you.