29 replies to this topic

[A Case of Nuts]

I agree the three months thing is not long enough. i've done quite a bit of my own research around the web and the general consensus is:

first 3-4 months - IB/skin same as before
4 month mark - noticeable improvement
6-8 months - clear skin/full effect

I'm on my 4th month, and first 3 months were horrible. 3-4 Cysts on my cheeks per day.
Now in my 4th month, only 1 cyst on my cheek every 2nd day, and the rest of my face and body cleaned up. And I've finally started to take Minocycline a week ago.

[A Case of Nuts]

As for the breaking out in weird places I can only guess that the gunk has been just sitting in your pores for ages 'innocently' until the birth control pill comes along. Even in those areas you think you are not breakout prone. Gross story - I'd had this big cyst about a year ago, and it had kinda left a small painless lump in my skin which I thought was a scar. I couldn't see or feel anthing unless I pressed really hard on my skin, and I'd actually forgotten about it. Anyhow, about 2 weeks after I'd started spiro/yaz I noticed a white lump on the surface in the exact same position. I squeezed it, and it was the 'core' of the cyst I'd had - a whole year ago I turned into an ugly scab for about a week but then the lump was gone. All my 'ex cysts' did this one by one - I looked like a leper! If that wasn't enough, I also got a whole bunch of new cysts on my forehead and chin, which are usually my least breakout prone areas! Today though all I have is a couple of tiny, un-noticable spots - yay!

I had the same problem. These bumps that stay for a long time...and then finally turn into whiteheads. And horrible horrible...scabs. I'm in my 4th month on Diane, but these new bumps I'm getting...decresed in size a little bit and i'm not getting them as often now. yay.
i hope by 5th month...i can wear less foundation and go out more

[PinkSushi]

Beginning of the fifth month is when it really started getting a lot better for me, as in, I still have to wear foundation (damn redmarks!), but I don't just want to stay in my house all day!

This week though, a couple of old redmarks flared up into zits again grrrr. Not nearly as badly as before though.

had to add this other tidbit. Today I woke up and my acne is probably the worst it has been all year. Im not too happy about it. I was just thinking about something said earlier that this acne has been there under the skin hiding...., I cannot possibly see how this "new acne in new places" was just sitting there all this time waiting to come out. There is no way. ive never looked this bad and I have never had acne here before I just dont get it. I mean if that was the case, wouldnt the "hiding" acne be gone after all the years of birth control Ive been taking? I cant possibly be purging still?!?!?! Im about to cry because this stuff never ends. I cant even look forward to anything because this incessant cycle of acne and trying a new pill goes on and on and never improves. Maybe Im just stuck like this

Yeah, when I spoke about acne hiding and the 'purge' stage, that was if those pills have been working. If you've been on the pill continuously for two years, that means they haven't been working. Acne forms over several months, but not years! Purge stage is maybe six months max. If those other pills didn't work I doubt destogen or Zovia will work either. Especially as you are still oily. That is why my suggestion to you was to try Diane. What's your topical regimen like?

[shadows]

my topical regimin is just retin a. Nothing else. My derm tried me on ben. peroxide and I got a rash. tried salacitic acid, same thing. Ziana, differin, and a couple of others were a rash too. My face is realy sensative to topicals I guess. My skin isnt so broken out today, but oily as hell. i hate this. i can never tell if anything is working and if I should keep trying something for a while.

[PinkSushi]

If you are still hell oily then it isn't working. Dryer skin really should be one of the first things you notice. Try another pill. I think you might be wasting your time with Desogen.

Also have you tried AHA's (glycolic, lactic, mandalic, azalic ect)? I'm allergic to Salycilic acid which is in most every OTC acne product, and BP murdered my skin, but I can use AHA's no problem.

Yet another suggestion is to have a good read of the Holistic acne board. I didn't have much luck with supplements (for acne anyway), but tons of people have. You might have a hormonal imbalance from some dietary deficiancy.

[shadows]

If you are still hell oily then it isn't working. Dryer skin really should be one of the first things you notice. Try another pill. I think you might be wasting your time with Desogen.

Also have you tried AHA's (glycolic, lactic, mandalic, azalic ect)? I'm allergic to Salycilic acid which is in most every OTC acne product, and BP murdered my skin, but I can use AHA's no problem.

Yet another suggestion is to have a good read of the Holistic acne board. I didn't have much luck with supplements (for acne anyway), but tons of people have. You might have a hormonal imbalance from some dietary deficiancy.

Im not sure what AHA is so Ill look into it. Im done with desogen so I can either try zovia or diane in a few days. My dr wrote me a prescription for both but suggests I try zovia first because its cheaper and easier to get. I did talk to another girl that took zovia finally and she said it did not get rid of her oily skin, but her acne was much better. I guess in my case its trial and error. Im scared to try both though... just becuase of my weird reaction to yas that almost killed me. I hate trying new horomones.

Today my skin looks rashy, but no new huge bumps. The redness and rashy looking acne is really annoying. I just dont get why Im so red all the time.... and its just red on my forehead. The other acne is the lumpy pussy crap all over the rest of my face. My skin is treated the same, but for some reason my forehead gets the worst of the acne. I dont wear any foundation or powder either. I dont pick at it. Ive tried going a few days without the retin a/lotion to see if that makes a difference, but it didnt.

I am starting to think the bcp's make my acne worse. Which makes no sense because I never has acne until I quit bcp's years ago. My dr now thinks that maybe if I stop bcps that my skin will get better. But I dont see how that is physically possible because stopping bcps is what caused this to begin with and I am mortified of making it worse. My SBGH levels are high from the BCPs so that means my free testosterone and androgens should be low or nill and I still have acne and oil. It makes no damn sense. Ive tried diets, avoided certain foods. There were even a few days when i didnt really eat because the migraines were so bad. And none of that helped with the acne either.

[PinkSushi]

Yeah, I don't think now is a good time to come off the pill altogether. So did you try accutane and it didn't work?

This is very strange, since although acne is caused by other factors as well as androgens, acne needs a certain level of androgens to appear...according to theory reducing androgens should always improve acne, at least in the long term. What pills were you taking before Desogen? They may have been actually making your acne worse. Some like Alesse can have an androgenic effect. Seasonale is especially bad for causing acne.

[shadows]

Yeah, I don't think now is a good time to come off the pill altogether. So did you try accutane and it didn't work?

This is very strange, since although acne is caused by other factors as well as androgens, acne needs a certain level of androgens to appear...according to theory reducing androgens should always improve acne, at least in the long term. What pills were you taking before Desogen? They may have been actually making your acne worse. Some like Alesse can have an androgenic effect. Seasonale is especially bad for causing acne.

I cant take accutane, allergic I took spiro... rash and viral infection (took it for six months)

When I was 16 I took ortho cyclen for many years. I then went to ortho tri cyclen for several years. And then depo. No break outs ever on any of them. However, I had hideous migraines.

So one day I was getting a divorce and I couldnt take the migraines so I figured I didnt need the birth control anymore. Upon quiting, I broke out massively within 3 months. So naturally, I assumed I was lucky enough to never have acne and I assumed the BCP's was what prevented it for the last decade.

So I got right back on ortho tri cyclen. For an ENTIRE YEAR. It never helped.

So I tried ortho cyclen for 6 months. It didnt help.

I thought it was weird because I used to take those two BCP's and I never had acne with them so I thought it would help. I tried ortho lo 3 months, no help. Then yas, but I was allergic to it. There were a few others in there that didnt help and often made things worse.

I was kind of wondering how the hell I can be so oily if my SBGH is so high because my free testosterone and androgen level should be covered by the BCP, hence, I shouldnt have acne.

Ive charted it/documented , paid attention to if anything I eat or drink makes it worse, etc. Not eating or drinking (like when I was sick with a migraine) doesnt help either. I swear what did it was when I initially quit bcp's. I think it permanently screwed me up. Because they arent helping anymore and you would think it would.

I am curious if anyone else has ever had this happen. I read a lot of girls get better after finding the right bcp... but I think they initially had acne and then started bcp and got better finally.... not like me who didnt have acne ever, quit bcp's ... and now has acne that wont go away ever.

[PinkSushi]

I actually read about someone saying exactly the same thing about ortho-tri-cyclen somewhere on acne.org. She'd taken this pill for years, then quit. A few months later she started breaking out even though she'd never had a problem with acne before. Then she started taking Yaz and cleared up nicely. She then thought she'd swap back to good ol' OTC. Everything looked good for a couple of months then she started breaking out horribly. So it seems like OTC can be acne-inducing for some.

Personally I found Ortho-tri-Cyclen did nothing for my acne - actually, it WAS after I'd been off this pill for around a year, age about 20 that I first started getting very depressed over my acne (I've always had some acne since age 14). It stayed about the same the entire 2 years I took b/c - my first pill was actually Marvelon/Desogen, which also didn't help my acne. I changed to OTC when I did a year as an exchange student in Canada. I'm not sure if it got worse when I came off or I just got more self conscious about it, I'd never thought that it could be connected to OTC before. Yaz, Diane and spiro did really help me though, so there's still hope since you haven't tried Diane yet (Or Zovia, but this isn't a pill especially for acne so if you try it it's a bit of a gamble). Yaz seemed to have actually improved my skin permanantly - until I started taking Adderall, that is.

How long ago did you get your hormones tested? I'm sure they'd have to be lowered for at least a few months to have any effect on acne.

[shadows]

I had my horomones tested when this started a few years ago, last year in october, this year in January, and again this year in june. Always the same so I have no clue what the problem is. And I have facial hair that seems worse... its all blonde, but my family is italian so maybe its hereditary? I asked my dr about seeing an endocrinologist and he doesnt think its necessary because I took a bazillion tests (thyroids as well) and they were all fine?????

I kind of wondered why zovia isnt high rated for acne... and desogen for that matter. This website that i looked at that had charts for androgency of all BCP's..... it listed the progestin in zovia to be very low.... less than ortho tri cyclen in fact????? And desogen had a high and strong progestin, but the chart said it was less androgenic than ortho cyclen for some strange reason. i honestly dont get it at all.