264 replies to this topic

[Ky22]

I know how you all feel, its such a distressing situation that we are all facing. My story is that I am 34 years young and was on Trifeme from late 1997 - 2004 (Oct) for painful period pains. Then I had mild breakout around my chin and I went to the doctor and she prescribed Diane 35. I stopped that pill August 2008 and so now its been a year not using the pill and so glad, even though its tempting to go back on it to have nice clear face. I broke out pretty badly around late October/November 2008 with cystic acne and acne popping up everyday, every week. My hair was oily, and pimples pimples pimples. Errr frustrating.

Before I went on the pill, I probably had one or two pimples a month or so but no chest acne, no shoulder acne nor bacne nor pimples on scalp nor on neck either. The doctors should be ashamed of themselves to think its the solution. Now we have to go in on life and feel like s&^t.

I am seeing a naturopath very soon and I hope to get a hormonal test done. As I really want to return back to my home country soon but not face with this terrible acne. It has to get better surely. I think so far my acne has calm down slightly but it would be nice to be normal again.

Iam keeping hope and wish for you all to do the same keep hope

[flutterby27]

Hey... just wanted to share my story...

I'm 20 and I have been on Ortho Lo since I was 14 for skin issues and other reasons. I don't even think my acne back then was strictly hormonal, and it was also pretty mild considering I was right at the brink of puberty. The BC certainly did it's job, though because my skin was essentially flawless (for a normal human being) for years. I first went off the pill last summer, and after 2 or 3 months, I started breaking out moderately on my chin. I went back on the BC immediately and it cleared. I tried going off the BC again this past winter and have not taken it since. At first my skin was still decently clear (one or two zits every now and again) but now I have an absurdly irritating breakout all over my chin and near my ears and forehead hair line. I can only imagine that this is hormonal, but I'm so confused about why the break out takes so long to arrive, and why THIS time it's so much worse than last summer. I plan to start taking BC again this week and also, I'm looking into spironolactone... is that what you call it??

[flutterby27]

Also... did any of you notice an increase in the tiny hairs that grow on your chin and around your mouth during the times off of BC that you broke out? Mine have definitely increased in amount. They're still very fine, colorless baby hairs, and I probably would not have noticed them if they didn't exist in and around the areas I'm ALWAYS noticing, aka where I'm breaking out... but I find that they are even more visible under make up. I suppose this is just another indication that hormones are to blame? That I need more estrogen and to somehow curb some of my testosterone? Did any of you notice this going away after resuming BC?

...I wish I paid as much attention to my skin when it was clear as I'm paying to it now that it's not... I'd be able to answer these questions for myself and narrow down the problem a lot more easily.

[flutterby27]

Well my acne BARELY came back at all and then all of a sudden broke out like crazy... so maybe if yours came back a little right away, then that will be the extent of it? I hope so!

I've also been looking into holistic ways to help with hormones... I'm sure it's nowhere near as affective as oral medication, but I've learned that peppermint or spearmint tea increases estrogen (something women with hormonal acne usually need more of), and apparently there are hormonal supplements one can take?

Thanks for looking into that for me, my mom said she's pretty sure that's the case with the chin hair... I'm thinking going back to BC is my best bet. I can count my blessings, though, because I feel my best when on Ortho. I have never experienced any of the negative side effects, and I believe it actually lifts my mood and gives me more energy. It's frustrating to think I really only went off of it because I couldn't come home from school to see a gyno and renew my prescription. Later in life being on the pill may present more problems, but right now it's no problem for me at all. I'm just anxious to get it working again and hope it does.

[dragonfly0]

Also... did any of you notice an increase in the tiny hairs that grow on your chin and around your mouth during the times off of BC that you broke out?

Yes!

I also noticed an increase in peach fuzz around my chin and upper lip. I don't think it's genetic in my family, and I'm still only in my 20s so I don't think it's age either. Plus I've always had very light hair growth on my arms and legs, so it was really quite shocking to me. I even had a couple of stray dark hairs show up! I plucked them right away and shaved the peach fuzz - which only made me break out worse.

I think it's definitely a hormonal imbalance. I've been taking steps to get myself back in balance with vitamins, diet, etc. Recently the dark hairs have gone away completely and the peach fuzz is almost gone too. There's still a little bit left, but getting better every month. Hopefully my acne will start to clear was well.

[flutterby27]

Wow, I'm really glad you said that! It is so slight that I was truly not sure if they HAD increased or if I was just paying way more attention to that part of my face than normal. I have literally one single coarse dark hair on the very bottom of my chin, too. I've DEFINITELY never had that before! However... I'm now wondering if they're actually exacerbating the acne problem as well... maybe the increase in hair follicles is giving my skin just too much to deal with at once? I have a pretty serious break out on my forehead, too, though (That conveniently showed up after about a week of the breakout on my chin, great!) and no peach fuzz there... Hmm...

Anyway, I started back on Ortho Lo today and hopefully I'll see SOME improvement in the next week. At least then I'll know I'm on the right track with this hormone business even if it takes way more time than that to clear me up. At this point in my life, being on birth control is no problem for me. I dread the day I decide to have children, though, based on everything I've been reading.

[kimberly_ann]

Good grief! These posts are scary..

I started Yaz a little over a year ago because I was going on Accutane.. My skin got so bad in that month before I started Accutane.. But of course it cleared up when I started Accutane.. After I finished my 5 month course of Accutane in January '09.. I stayed on Yaz, thinking maybe it could help keep my skin clear.. About 6 months after ending Accutane (and still being on Yaz) I started to break out around my mouth and chin area.. It was horrible!

I am going on another course of Accutane.. But I feel like after 6 months the Accutane's effect wore off.. But my forehead stayed clear.. But the area around my mouth and chin were horrible.. I think that the birth control is causing it.

If I go off of birth control will this go away? That is, if the birth control is causing it? I know I will have to stay on BC during Accutane but I'm Just curious though.. Or will the acne just progress?

[dragonfly0]

Wow, I'm really glad you said that! It is so slight that I was truly not sure if they HAD increased or if I was just paying way more attention to that part of my face than normal. I have literally one single coarse dark hair on the very bottom of my chin, too. I've DEFINITELY never had that before!

Yup, it's definitely not your imagination! I thought the same thing at first, until one day I discovered there was one single dark hair on the very bottom of my chin. I plucked it thinking it was just a fluke, but it grew back (in the same exact place). 2 others eventually showed up in the same area, so I knew something was wrong. It's a reaction to testosterone due to a hormonal imbalance. Thank god it seems to be going away though. I was terrified my hair follicles were now going to stay "activated" permanently! In the meantime, try to avoid shaving it if you can. Leave the peach fuzz alone and just pluck the dark hair out.

[flutterby27]

Thanks, veganwithacne... So far I am seeing subtle improvement, but at this point it's still hard to tell, since my face is still reacting to all the topical prescriptions I basically assaulted it with as per the directions of my derm (who has never even brought up hormonal influences and how to mitigate them, by the way. That seems ridiculous to me. I'm a 20 year old who never had acne before stopping the pill, you'd think he might bring it up!) and I think it'll be a while before I restore balance and can narrow down what the real problem areas are.

dragonfly0, what vitamins are you taking to help you with this? I've been considering b12 and b6, but Im so hesitant to throw anything else into the mix, I'd love to hear someone else's experiences before I make a decision. I've read b12 can also sometimes CAUSE breakouts?

[dragonfly0]

flutterby27,

I was on a regular multi vitamin, but I read the same thing. Now I'm just trying to eat more nutritious foods- more veggies, fruits, nuts, etc. Less sugars, corn syrup, and caffeine. Birth control is out of the question since I want to get pregnant. In fact, I haven't had much luck in that department, so that was just another symptom pointing to hormonal imbalance.

Have you tried lavender oil at all? I've started doing oil cleansing with grapeseed/lavender. I've read that lavender oil has anti androgenic properties, and is a natural source of plant based estrogen. It might help to restore hormonal balance in your skin? I've been using it daily for about 2 weeks, and the peach fuzz is all but gone now. My acne is clearing as well.

[ellaanne]

Wow, hearing all these stories really helps. This is exactly what has happened to me. I've had bad acne since I was 13, but it had really cleared up by the time I graduated from college at which point I went on birth control thinking it could help with that last little bit. I went on Ortho first but it made my legs tingle so my doctor put me on a generic form of Alesse called Avian. I was on it for over a year and it NEVER synced up with my period; I got my period regularly, but not when I was taking the sugar pills, when I was taking active pills. My doctors response to this was to a) pretend I was lying/this wasn't happening, and intermittently to tell me I needed to give it time. Towards the end of a full year on it I figured she was totally wrong and since my skin was getting worse and worse I stopped it. My skin cleared up decently for about three months and then month four my face looked like it did when I was 13, I had horrible headaches, constipation and indigestion which I'd never experience in my life, and I was incredibly weepy. Things seem to have been improving slightly since then, but in the meantime I saw a derm who put me on doxycline which hurt my stomach too much, and differin which was expensive and did absolutely nothing. When I didn't want to try accutane because I'd heard it didn't help as much with hormonal acne (which I'm sure is what I have b/c it's concentrated around my mouth and b/c of all my other symptoms) he didn't want to work with me anymore. I went back to my regular doctor and asked for topical spirolactone (I can't take the oral b/c I have low blood pressure), she said she'd never heard of it and it wasn't covered by my insurance. I told her I'd happily pay out of pocket, b/c it had to be cheaper than the laser treatments I've also been trying with some minimal success, but she was not open to it at all. She wants to put me on Yaz b/c it's "so different" and wrote me an Rx. I haven't picked it up, and I don't think I am going to because I just think it will make it worse. Has anyone else found doctors very frustrating?

My next period will be my sixth without the pill, I've heard it can take 6-12 months for your body to work itself out of the post-pill hormonal mess so I'm hoping things will get better with time. Anyone have this work itself out eventually? How long did it take?

In the meantime, I have one more laser appointment and am going to ask that derm about topical spiro. I'm also two weeks into trying fish oil and green tea, and also take calcium, D, and K, and have just started using topical niacinamide, and am trying to drink lots of water. I've also noticed that a trial size Biore Night serum that came with a face wash I have has been surprisingly helpful, it's vitamins A and C and also has some nettle in it, so I'm not sure what the really helpful part is. I've got a list of other things to try if none of this can get it under control, so at least I'll be busy waiting for the 12 months to pass haha.

[paulineskinnypig]

Hi ladies I've also decided to come off the birth control ortho tri cyclen lo eventually to have a baby but i was wondering if tapering off their birth control would help to prevent the sudden rush of hormonal acne? I've experienced this also coming off of ortho tri cyclen, and it was definitely depressing to see a jawline full of acne and i couldnt do anything about it... any suggestions or comments would help.

[bc&acne]

My emotions are all over the place with finding this site, or what I mean an answer to why I was breaking out. I kinda narrowed it down to the fact that I'd stopped taking my BC pills-Yazmin.

My story:

I started taking BC pills when I was 26 years old. Never had acne or any skin problems-not even during the weird teenage years (not being conceited)! I always got compliments on my face. The first BC pills I used was Ortho-cyclen I don't remember any problems while I took that pill. Matter of fact, there were times I'd go off the pill for a few months to give myself a break and get back on. No outbreaks! There was another pill I used also but nothing happened with it also. Then I switched insurance companies and they did not cover Ortho-cyclen only Yasmin, so I started taking Yasmin thinking what's the difference its a BC. Who Knew!
I noticed during the time I was taking Yasmin, I started to get a what I call a period pimple right before my period(not a big deal since it'd go away at the end of my cycle), I also got bad headaches, intense ones right before my period because of the drop in hormones, huge cyst in weird areas that would leave scars, and the worst I had no LiBDO (guess the pill was doing it's job).

So after being on Yazmin for 5 years I decided to do something about my libdo and my doctor switched my BC pill to a lower dosage pill. So she told me to finish up my pack of Yasmin and switch to this new BC pill( dont remember the name starts with an L). After about 2-3 months on the pill I started to have breakouts but my libdo was back on track. So i thought the hormones in this new BC pill was causing the breakout and I went back on Yasmin-then my face cleared up and was back to normal. Then a year later after being on BC pills for 8 years, plus my husband and I will have a baby in the next year, I decided to go off yasmin. I went off slowly but a month later, I started to get these breakouts around my jaw-line and chin. At first I thought maybe it was a breakout from a different water system I'd been using because I'd been out of town for a little while. But my face is getting worse and its like one area jaw-line and chin and leaves these bad blemishes. I'm devastated..I've never had acne or skin problems, never needed makeup, and always complimented.

I went to the dermatologist and she prescribed topical climaydamcin (oops mispelled). Its not getting better. At the time I did not think it was the BC pills and did not tell my Derm about this. I used to be able to get away with not washing my face everyday but now no luck with that. My face used to be dry and sometimes combination..now its is oily and just nasty! I am trying really hard not to start the Yasmin again but I want to give the Topical stuff at least 12 weeks...its tough though! I am overweight too, so Im sure my hormones are way off balance in addition to being on a BC pill for so long. I read that the ending the pills can leave women who never experienced acne with acne! If I knew what I knew 8 years ago-i would have never started taking BC pills!

I'll keep you posted on the treatment.

I've always only used Cetaphil cleanser so I switched to the Cetaphil antibacterial bar with the topical acne medication-my dermatalogist told me not to moisturize my skin. Has anyone ever been told this..it seemed strange?

UPDATE: I seem to be seeing some signs of relief to my skin. Its 98% back to normal! What I have done is no different than most of you on here! I would advise that I kept using the same cleanser that I had used before the acne started. Cetaphil, the only difference was that I changed to the antibaterial soap (used a buffing pad) instead of the gentle liquid cleanser. O I used the clindamycin as needed, that was the only new product, and did not moisturize as my dr. suggested, she stated that my skin looked overmoisturized, which was to me since I've always had dry skin. Man Hormones!! Also the other issue could be that I started using BC in my late twenties as opposed to starting them earlier during the horrid teen and early twenties additionally I am loosing weight as well. Was watching Dr. Oz, and had searched the internet that weight can cause hormonal changes.

Well-Ill keep you posted! My fingers are crossed that my face will continue to rebound.

Edited by bc&acne, 19 October 2009 - 11:24 AM.

[ancar]

Hi Everyone,

I have been lurking around these message boards for a while now getting loads of good tips, so i thought i would share my story in relation to birth control and acne, particularly in relation to coming off BC to get pregnant.

I had beautiful skin till I was 18, then my skin went totally crazy, really big sore pimples, particularly on my chin and cheeks. I tried a couple of things and eventually went on Diane for BC and this cleared up my skin beautifully. But as most people say you have no sex drive and i was mildly depressed whilst taking it. I took it for 5 years and never had any pimples. When i was 26, I came off it as i wanted to have a baby and all hell broke loose on my face. I had the worse acne, worse than previously. It made me very depressed and i tried heaps of things. After i came of BC i also didn't get my period. After tests i was found out i had PCOS. I went and saw a dr who works with natural hormones near where i live, she put me on Natural progesterone cream. When i started using it i noticed my skin began to clear up and after a year of trying i got my period and fell pregnant after 3 months of being on the cream. There are lots of great articles about Natural progesterone cream on the net.

Anyway, I have had 2 children since then and my skin has been up and down during all that, it cleared up with the first pregnancy and then was terrible with the 2nd. It is horrible riding the hormonal rollercoaster and your skin looking terrible. My skin has been fairly good since my last child, who is now 16 months, but in the last 2 months i have had the worst breakout. I have been thinking about going back on birth control, but after reading what everyone has been saying I have decided to try alternative methods, after all BC isn't really a long term solution to acne and I don't want to deal with the aftermath when i come off it again.

I am a kind of 'all in' person, so when my skin started to get worse I decided to do loads of things at the same time. Probably not the best idea in hindsight, it probably contributed to my skin totally detoxing. anyway, here is what i am doing and i seem to be having some success, my skin has cleared up alot in the last 2 weeks, i am just waiting to see what happens when i get my period. I am hoping that i have the initial purge behind me now.

- i am back on the natural progesterone cream
- i am using clindamycin, just to clear the remaining spots and then i will just use it as a spot treatment. This has benzoyl peroxide in it, so i use this at night and then the 2.5% in the morning
- no dairy, except organic eggs and organic natural yoghurt
- cut out most sugar ( hard to cut out all as it is hidden in loads of things)
- drink apple cidar vinegar morning and night and also loads of green tea & water
- supplements: omega 3, evening primrose, A, C, B, E, zinc and a probiotic & niacin
- I also use Paula's choice BHA 2% and jojoba oil & vit E oil at night to help with the scaring

The more i think about it the more i am determined NOT to go back on BC, I think it totally stuff's your body around and as I have a family history of breast cancer, I don't want to do anything to increase the risk.

I am also thinking of trying 'aleave', we call it naprogesic in australia, the week before my period to prevent any major eruptions. It is no fun having pimples in your 30s, but i am determined to get myself clear, I don't mind the ocassional pimple, just not ones that hang around for 3-4 weeks!

Thanks everyone for all your posts and tips, it really helped me to know i wasn't alone struggling with these issues.

[kestrelk8]

although i'm glad i found this forum to confirm my suspicions, i am saddened that so many of you are suffering the same way i am.

i'm 26 and i have been on the pill for 10 years (orthotricyclin then switched to yaz). in march 09 i switched to mirena IUD (even though i do not have children.) my skin was fine for several months but come july, i started breaking out here and there...more than usual so i thought proactiv had stopped working for me because my derm kept telling me that eventually it would. a friend recommended to me the burt's bees acne line which worked really well for her so i tried it for 8 weeks. it did nothing and things actually got a little worse so i made a derm appointment. she prescribed me differin which i used for 6 weeks. by the end of the 6 weeks things were going from worse to HORRIBLE with no sign of reprieve -- i have never regretted using an acne product more than that.

now my skin is absolutely terrible. i've never had acne on the back's of my shoulders or cheeks before but now i do. i had never experienced a moment where i was actually ashamed to look someone in the eye while talking to them because of my acne but now i feel that way almost every day. i don't even want to leave the house most days. i keep getting these big red bumps that take forever to go away completely and my skin is extremely bumpy to the touch although all the bumps are not very visable. covering them up with makeup just makes me breakout more. in late september i started proactiv again in hopes that it will calm things back down again. i feel like already it has slightly slowed down the progression of my acne but i'm still getting new blemishes somewhat frequently.

do i have any hope of waiting this thing out? will my hormones ever be even somewhat balanced again? i'm not hoping for perfection but i just can't handle it being THIS bad. the use of accutane has crossed my mind but the side effects freak me out. i just bought neutrogena's home microderm kit so hopefully that will help. one thing is clear: I WILL NEVER GO BACK ON BC PILLS....EVER.

good luck to you all...i hope everyone finds a way out of this.

[Skytenshi]

I read through all the posts in this thread and I'm hoping that the only reason we are being toppled with all these posts about post-BCP breakouts is that those who went off the pill and stayed clear would not be goolging about acne and visiting these boards in the first place.

Unfortunately, I myself went through similar experiences to all of you. I've been on the pill for 10 years and have tried getting off it a few times in the past, but my back acne (which I had in high school but which had cleared up with the help of the pill) always returned with a vengeance.

I agree that doctors who prescribed us with these pills should have warned us of this risk in the first place. If you check out the Diane-35 website, it actually says that you can stop the pill once you're clear without mentioning the horrible side effect of the acne coming back worse than before.

I've seen dermatologists about this issue before. One of them tried to put me on antibiotics and another one recommended accutane. The dermatologist who tried to put me on antibiotics didn't really pay attention to my story and waved me off as a regular case of acne that antibiotics could solve. But surely, there must be a way out of this without going on all these acne medications?

I think I will go see a gynaecologist next time I go off the pill (for good) and I hope that a gynaecologist will know more about regulation of hormones etc and won't just recommend antibiotics and accutane to me.

[susan78]

I am new to this forum and just found it surfing the internet. I am saddened yet relieved to be hearing all your stories. My story is very similar:

I was put on BCP for severe cramps during my periods. I was 16 at the time. I was mostly on OrthoCyclen and switched to OrthoTriCyclen. When I met my husband, at the age of 28, he wanted me off of BCP b/c long story short, he doesn't believe in medication. So, I stopped taking BCP's at 28. Right after, my face, my chest and my back started breaking out like mad! I had beautiful skin up until the time I stopped BCP! I was so shocked and taken aback by the way I looked! True, I had a couple pimples break out during my periods, but they were very tiny. One or two here and there, but now I was having cyst-like pimples, little tiny pimples all over my forehead, my cheecks and my chin. I have tried everything from Clinique, DDR, Arbonne, Shiseido, and much more, just can't think of them right now. I have spent so much money on acne products, its unbelievable! I just to not wear any makeup, but now I can't leave without any makeup on! It's so embarassing and I've been so depressed! Nothing seems to be working! I even went to Sephora today and bought Murad, but reading the reviews, I think I'm going to take it back. I'm just so frusterated...I don't know what to do anymore. I don't think that if I tried Murad, it would even work seeing that this breakout is hormonal! I've been off BCP for almost 3 years now and I still have horrible skin!

I saw on here that some of you use the "blue light." I looked it up and Sephora seems to sell it, but it is $250... does it really help you?