296 replies to this topic

[Perrine]

I don't know if DOXY is like roaccutane...I guess it's not the same composition. It is an antibiotic.
Hope you stay clear even off the pill

if i use a tea that detox, it will probably make me break out,,
i remember trying to clean my liver out before with a tea and my face started to get so bad i stopped LOL
i will mention the droxy to my doctor when i get off..
so its kinda lik an accutane only it doesnt have as many side effects?

right now i take zinc,b-complex, b5.b6 for hormones and then other stuff like omega 3,primerose,vitA+D,
im sure those helped as well as that blue light device tanda.

i dunno if those will help prevent breakingout,,,
i went to my doctor saying how i was scared of this and if i can see a gyno or someone to talk about my hormones and he wouldnt refer me to anyone

he said all u can do is try.
im really nervous..ive never had such clear skin before and i scar easy..i dont want to scar again.

thanks for the help, the talk really helps me

[Dannie]

thanks me too
im made an appt with a gyno to see what they say to me..
i dunno if thats the right doc to talk to, but i figure its better then just a family doc.

[miracle23]

I had the same problem too!! I was on Mircette for 4 and a half years (18-23) I got off the BCP July08. I didn't have too many skin issues before getting on BC, so I figured it wouldn't be too bad after either. Boy was I wrong. I was zit-free for about 2 months after getting off the pill. I guess the effects of the pill are still present in the body keeping you zit free. But I haven't had a spot free face since September. What's worse is, every zit leaves a nasty red mark.

I didn't do much about it initially, but it's really starting to affect my life and self confidence. I've done a bunch of research on it. Basically getting off BCP causes hormonal imbalance, which could be long-term or short-term (depending on your body, the pill you were on and how long you were on it) When you get off BC your body releases excess testosterone (a male hormone/ androgen which women need to have in small quantities for hair, natural oil etc) The testosterone causes your brain to tell your skin to release more sebum (oils) which, along with dry skin clogs your pores, allowing the bacteria on your skin to live in an oxygen free environment to grow and prosper in.

Clearing your skin (without getting back on BC) is a two fold process:
1) Tackling the breakouts from the outside (this is where BP + an anti-bacterial work)
The BP breaks down to release oxygen to the skin, doesn't let the bacteria multiply. The anti-bacterial kills the bacteria already present.

2) Tackling the excess testosterone released
A lot of people get off BC and don't have skin issues. How is that possible? Does that mean they don't go through hormonal imbalance? May be-- but that's unlikely. All that means is that they have an excellent lymphatic system (that carries excess hormones to the liver) and a liver that is in great condition (the liver breaks down excess hormones and eliminates them from your system)

So how do you treat acne from the inside?
- Excercise (improves your lymphatic system)
- Drink plenty of water
- Avoid: alcohol, coffee, tea, cigarettes, sugars, antibiotics ( the list goes on -- but these tend to be bigger damage-doers)
- A mulitvitamin (make sure it has B6)

Good luck! Wish you all a zit-free 2009!

[Dannie]

all those things u listed..i do that...
i even take more suppliments for the skin
my skin is nice though, before it was ok but still brekaouts on the pill..now its undercontrol so i know those things i changed in my life make a diff
BUT i still dont know if that means ill break out after i get off the pill

maybe i should stay on until ill have kids

[Kristabel]

My story is a bit more scary than others on here, i started taking bcp (alternating dianette and yasmin) about 10 years ago and had already had bad acne up until then and the bcp cleared it up. After about 5 years i decided to stop taking the pill and of course after exactly 3 months i got the worst cystic acne you can imagine, much worse than it had been before i ever took the pill. I had no choice but to go back on the pill. I gradually developed severe depression which is an occasional side effect of both dianette and yasmin.

So i tried to come off it again only for the acne to return worse than ever. So now i am trapped again on yasmin which i believe is totally aggravating my severe depression (i have had to give up work). Antibiotics are not an option for me as i think the acne i have is for life and hereditary and taking antibiotics for years and years screws with your body a lot. Accutane is not an option for me because of my history of depression. So now i am trapped on the yasmin and stuck with the depression. I would give anything for a way out of this

[Dannie]

oh gosh ..im so sorry to hear about this
so this means your stuck on the pill???

what about hormone creams?

[NellyS]

Same thing happened to me after changing my birth control pills....going back to my old ones on the 15th of January, I can't wait, been so depressed for the last 2 months...

I have also been on the pill for 10 years....

I might have kids in 5 years, can't even imagine the nightmare that I will have to go through with my face but I can't worry about that right now...I just want to fix it now and we will see what happens later....I am 28.

[Dannie]

your really brave
im sure it will fix up...
thats why i think ill stay on the pill till im ready for kids..
they say to give yourself a year off the pill..but i dunno

[Kristabel]

Dannie - yeh i guess i am stuck on the pill. It sucks as my depression is really bad and i want to see if it will change if i come off the pill. What are hormone creams?

[Dannie]

my god...the depression must be acne related...ive noticed that when my face got bad i was in such a depression...i do admit im more emotional on the pill

people told me about progesterone cream
i think its suppose to regulate your hormones..i asked my doc about it once but she brushed me off

i dunno much about it

[smileygirl]

Hi all,
this post is very depressing. I too am afraid to go off birth control. But after reading this and doing a little of my own research, I am going to do it. I am 27 and have been on birth control almost non-stop for over 9 years! Currently I am on Yasmin and have been on it for a year. Before that I used the patch, Ortho Evra (very high levels of hormones so I hear now) for about 5 years; I've tried mircette too.
I went off birth control and spiranolactone just over two years ago breifly and my skin really hasn't been right since. However, I had skin problems while I was on and before bc too. I've run a course of accutane, used spiranolactone for 2 years, tried every antibiotic in the book and have only learned to manage it. every time I go off something it comes back worse than before. I freaked out the other night after reading this post and doing some of my own research on bc-- I think it is sick how the medical industry makes us beleive there are no long term effects of using bc long term and that is an anacceptable/ good thing for us to do. Birth control makes us artificially infertile, leads to depression, lowers our sex drive, and possibly makes having a baby harder! Are you kidding? I want kids in the next few years and I have no intention of being pregnant and also dealing with aweful skin. I'm figuring this out another way now.
I am not going to depend on a constant stream of drugs and chemicals that is probably out of whack from them anyway.
Thank you for this post. Good luck to you all.

[Dannie]

i know your right smiley girl
i just dont know if i can handle getting off it...it took so long to get this clear

i do agree with u
i wish u the best of luck as well...

[smileygirl]

I'll keep you posted on what I'm going to do. At this point I've figured out that my skin troubles are hormone related. I've just ordered some books on balancing hormones and plan to do a liver detox as well as follow a gluten free/casein free diet. Exercise and lots of water to help flush...
Once I've done my research and depending on how it is going I will look into natural hormone balance remedies to help my body find its way. My boyfriend of 8 years supports me... right now my skin has scars from times when it was bad, but I think this time I'm going to figure it out. I'm feeling very optimistic.

[jlcote]

Smileygirl - Def let us know how that goes. I've come to the conclusion my acne is hormonal as well so if you come across any natural ways of balancing them let us know!! Oh and i like ur office quote lol

[v3nus]

i was on bcp for 10 years or so and have also gone off it since we plan to have kids within the next 1-2 years. For the first year my skin was okay but now suddenly I have had 2 months of non stop painful cystic acne breakouts on my chin. I am sure this is hormone related also but cant find any solution since bcps are out for me.

I've tried changing my diet and taking supplements but like what you've all experienced its not helping!

I never used to break out this bad and this continuous untl now.

I'm considering starting saw palmetto and vitex agnus caste which are sposed to be good natural supplements for hormones but still tossing as i have sooo many supplements already!

If you find anything that helps pls let us know!

[Dannie]

ive never herd of those suppliments....what r they exactly?

gosh im so sorry after so long of being clear its come back for u...mabye its stress?
u think your hormones r out of wack all of a sudden?

[forserce]

This happened to me too!! I was on Alesse for about 7 years and stopped taking it in July. In December I started breaking out on my chin...now I have it all over my chin, jawline, and a bit on my forhead. I have never in my life had acne this bad before. It's awful. So in January I started taking Daine 35 (birth control pill). It's supposed to be good for clearing up acne. My face got even worse after I started taking that. I then started on antibiotics and am waiting for an appointment with a dermatologist. I went to an esthetician (sp?) and recently started using DerMed cleaner and toner (expensive!). I had tried all kinds of cleansers, creams, etc. nothing worked. So as it is now my face has improved a bit since it was at it's worst, but it's still quite bad (in my opinion). I don't understand why this would have happened, but the only thing I can link it to is stopping the pill. Oh and by the way, I'm 25.

I'm 21 and this is EXACTLY what happened to me down to a T. I took alesse for 7 years and stopped it in JUNE and in DECEMBER I've started to get so much chin acne! I've never had a problem with acne before in my life. I used to go to bed with makeup on every night and still have a clear face. Now I cancel plans because of the embarassment. I'm going back on the pill next period because I can't handle this! I didn't realize it was due to the BC though, but hopefully it returns to normal!

Has anyone gone back on the pill and been fine after this??? Please respond!

[nods]

I am 30 now and have been on the bcp since 17 or 18. The reason I went on it in the first place was to clear my skin, I started on Diane 35 and a few years back switched to Estelle.
Anyway I've come off it a few times due to going overseas and my GP was concerned about long flights and blood clots but my skin gets bad again after a few months off the pill so I have to keep taking it.

I'm just recovering from some really bad nodules that occurred from this last break.

It's funny because I think my skin looks best when I am off the pill and start to get very slightly oily (because the pill makes my skin dry out) but then it just gets crazy oily eventually and I can't put up with the breakouts so I will have to wear the risk of being on the pill for a while yet.

It's the only thing that keeps my skin clear unfortunately and I've tried numerous other things..it does seem to clear it up again once I've been back on it for a while.

[Dannie]

omg that is awful....how do celebs do it..i mean some r on the pill and u see them now like angelina jolie with babies...she went off the pill..NO ACNE..
i mean what do they have a miracle cure?

there must be a way to balance hormones with something else besides the pill...like something to help with the transition phase of getting off the pill

my family doctor said thier isnt but i dunno

[nods]

Some people find natural remedies helpful for hormonal balancing but I don't know much about them.

I've noticed a lot of people commented that they felt depressed when taking the pill, not sure if it's specific types but I got really depressed when I wasn't taking the Estelle..pretty sure it was related because soon after I went back on it my mood picked right up.

So for me it really has been a saviour, even though there are risks, but it would suck to have bad skin caused by the pill.