76 replies to this topic

[Pianina]

Sorry to hear youre skins driving you crazy i know exactly how you feel having it imporve then bam one morning youre back to square one. Youre a very attractive girl and youre acnes not bad at all. I say sod u acne! Hope that goes well for you.

Thanks for kind words!

You're probably breaking out around ovulation. I break out around ovulation like clockwork every month! I would try the BCP, but we are trying to conceive, so for now I'm stuck with the zits. You can take Midol for the few days around ovulation - it's supposed to reduce acne by reducing inflammation. I tried it last month and it did work!

Good luck on the pill!

Oh yes, it is very likely... 2-3 weeks past having my period, very punctually inflammed acne appears to ruin my skin for the rest of the month.
I don't think they sell Midol here in Sweden, but maybe there are similar alternatives, do you know what is the active component in Midol?

Sorry to hear that you are not seeing results. Based on your photos, your skin seems to be improving. Have you tried saw palmetto? I'm taking it as a last resort and to avoid BCP, and I'm gradually seeing results. To me, it's not worth the risks of taking BCP. You can't be on birth control for the rest of your life, and at some point the acne will return when you get off it, and maybe it will be even worse. So, if you are already hesitant to take BCP, I would recommend you look into some herbal remedies that will not mess with your overall health.

In the last pictures it really started to look much better, but now it went to shit again. I read about saw palmetto some time ago, it seems to have very good reviews. I actually ordered it from an online vitamin shop just to try. We'll see how it go
I don't want to take bcp either... It didn't do me well the last time I was on Belara. I will talk to the gynecologist and see what she'll say (though I hate how quick and reckless they are to put you on some harmfull treatment! Just wanting to get you off their back). I highly suspect that I have PCOS too, due to all the weird symptoms. If this gynecologist will not show engagement into my problems, I think I will go to some private centrum...
 

[armadillo]

Can I ask how much vitamin B6 you're taking? My doctor was recently talking about a new study that showed that supplementing with 10mg for a week before your period can greatly reduce monthly, PMS related breakouts. This is because B6 plays a role in regulating your hormones. I haven't had a look at this study, but if I can find it, I will link it to this post

 

I started taking it because it was recommended to me by my doctor, because I seem to be generally B vitamin deficient, and since I've started taking it, I've seen a big improvement in my mood and all those nasty PMS symptoms I'm getting because my Implanon implant is about to expire. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not. I've been taking it for 2 weeks.

Edited by armadillo, 01 March 2013 - 11:41 AM.

[hopeful26]

You're probably breaking out around ovulation. I break out around ovulation like clockwork every month! I would try the BCP, but we are trying to conceive, so for now I'm stuck with the zits. You can take Midol for the few days around ovulation - it's supposed to reduce acne by reducing inflammation. I tried it last month and it did work!

Good luck on the pill!

Oh yes, it is very likely... 2-3 weeks past having my period, very punctually inflammed acne appears to ruin my skin for the rest of the month.
I don't think they sell Midol here in Sweden, but maybe there are similar alternatives, do you know what is the active component in Midol?

 

 

Apparently there are a few formulas of Midol. The one I tried had Naproxen Sodium in it. I have no idea which is best, though. Might be some trial and error involved...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midol

 

Where in Sweden do you live? I was there in 2011 - loved it! Reminded me so much of the part of Canada where I live. Spent some time in Stockholm and then up to Sundsvall and Ostersund (for a conference)

 

 

Can I ask how much vitamin B6 you're taking? My doctor was recently talking about a new study that showed that supplementing with 10mg for a week before your period can greatly reduce monthly, PMS related breakouts. This is because B6 plays a role in regulating your hormones. I haven't had a look at this study, but if I can find it, I will link it to this post

 

I started taking it because it was recommended to me by my doctor, because I seem to be generally B vitamin deficient, and since I've started taking it, I've seen a big improvement in my mood and all those nasty PMS symptoms I'm getting because my Implanon implant is about to expire. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not. I've been taking it for 2 weeks.

 

 

 

Thanks for the information - I'm really intrigued by this! It seems that B6 is super for all hormone related issues. From what I've read, it's also great for fertility (this is of interest to me, haha!). Might have to try this next month! Would love to see the study if you have it.

Edited by hopeful26, 01 March 2013 - 12:02 PM.

[WishClean]

Yes, please try herbal remedies first...BCP should be your last resort if you exhausted all other options, at least in my opinion. I still regret the damage years of BCP did to my body, both my metabolism and my psychological state (depression, low self-esteem, etc). Saw palmetto has been working for me, and I was in a desperate state when I started taking it in January. I also started washing my face with spring water (bottled) because our tap water is so harsh on my skin and is loaded with chemicals. Anyway, I will be posting new pics on my log this weekend as the improvement continues. I always get some pimples during ovulation and PMS too, but I try not to let that affect the overall progress I'm seeing, and at least now they take less time to heal. You just have to be patient, especially with herbal remedies because they are not a quick fix. Oh, and I also wanted to ask you how much B6 you are taking. I was taking a supplement that contained B6 but then I read that B6 can cause more breakouts so I stopped it.

 

Good luck, and don't give up the healthy eating!

Edited by WishClean, 01 March 2013 - 10:37 PM.

[Pianina]

I was diagnosed with PCOS today... The gynecologist prescribed me Diane-35 and then I'm supposed to switch to Yasmin. I don't even know what to do :/

[tracy521]

i feel for you there thats for sure! ugh birth control always made my acne like 10 times worse. have you thought about spiro at all? i personally think its a lot better than bcp and in my mind a lot safer. i havent had any side effects from it and if you take yasmin you will already be getting 25mg of spiro in that which will help your skin but there have been so many issues with yaz and yasmin. i was on ontro-tri-cyclen and its generic forms for almost 11 years with no issues and within 2 weeks of switching to yaz i got a phlebitis in my arm and was taken off birth control immediately. i was 30 at the time and am very healthy and i dont smoke so i know that there is something with the yaz/yasmin that a lot of people get blood clots from. anyway good luck with your skin!!

[Pianina]

i feel for you there thats for sure! ugh birth control always made my acne like 10 times worse. have you thought about spiro at all? i personally think its a lot better than bcp and in my mind a lot safer. i havent had any side effects from it and if you take yasmin you will already be getting 25mg of spiro in that which will help your skin but there have been so many issues with yaz and yasmin. i was on ontro-tri-cyclen and its generic forms for almost 11 years with no issues and within 2 weeks of switching to yaz i got a phlebitis in my arm and was taken off birth control immediately. i was 30 at the time and am very healthy and i dont smoke so i know that there is something with the yaz/yasmin that a lot of people get blood clots from. anyway good luck with your skin!!

 

 

Oh no... In my family there's a tendency for vein thrombose - my grandfather died from it, and my mom currently has problems with veins on her legs. BCP doubles the chance to get thrombosis and it scares me. I don't think though that they practice the use of spiro for acne. Once I asked my doctor (not gynecologist though) and he was quite suprised, but I convinced him to give it a try. I took it for 2 months, but I'm not quite sure about the effect cause I wasn't persistent enough for it to start working.
What about being on BCP for some time to clear my current acne and then switching to spiro? Would that be a good solution? I'm really afraid to take Diane-35 since there were some recent cases of death closely related to Diane (it cause thrombosis for some women).   

[tracy521]

oh no if that runs in your family i personally wouldnt even risk it. nobody in my family ever has any issues or anything so when i got a phlebitis it was a real surprise for me. i was just thankful that it didnt turn into anything too serious and that i was able to catch it right away and go to my doctor. it sucked though but in the end i think it was for the best because getting off the pill cleared up for about 2 years before i started breaking out again. if i were you, i would just see if you can get the spiro and the give it a full 3-6 months at least if you can manage it. when i started spiro i was breaking out really bad in cystic acne and i started at 25mg then worked my way up to 100mg to see if i could handle the side effects and i am also on keflex too. i have just about 12 weeks in and my face is just about clear. i take 50mg in the morning and 50mg at night and have no side effects at all. now at first i had trouble sleeping and had some strange leg cramps but that all went away pretty fast.

what i always say to everybody i know when deciding on meds is to go with your gut feeling. if something doesnt feel right then dont take it. you know what is good for you so go with what you think you should do. you should message green gables about this issue as well because she knows way more than i do on this stuff.

Edited by tracy521, 04 March 2013 - 09:34 AM.

[WishClean]

i feel for you there thats for sure! ugh birth control always made my acne like 10 times worse. have you thought about spiro at all? i personally think its a lot better than bcp and in my mind a lot safer. i havent had any side effects from it and if you take yasmin you will already be getting 25mg of spiro in that which will help your skin but there have been so many issues with yaz and yasmin. i was on ontro-tri-cyclen and its generic forms for almost 11 years with no issues and within 2 weeks of switching to yaz i got a phlebitis in my arm and was taken off birth control immediately. i was 30 at the time and am very healthy and i dont smoke so i know that there is something with the yaz/yasmin that a lot of people get blood clots from. anyway good luck with your skin!!

 

 

Oh no... In my family there's a tendency for vein thrombose - my grandfather died from it, and my mom currently has problems with veins on her legs. BCP doubles the chance to get thrombosis and it scares me. I don't think though that they practice the use of spiro for acne. Once I asked my doctor (not gynecologist though) and he was quite suprised, but I convinced him to give it a try. I took it for 2 months, but I'm not quite sure about the effect cause I wasn't persistent enough for it to start working.
What about being on BCP for some time to clear my current acne and then switching to spiro? Would that be a good solution? I'm really afraid to take Diane-35 since there were some recent cases of death closely related to Diane (it cause thrombosis for some women).   

 

I took Diane 35 when I was in high school...it is the standard "solution" doctors in Europe prescribe for PCOS because they don't know how to get to the root of the problem. It messed up my metabolism and gave me bad mood swings and dizziness. You should read this thread (and just search online for the latest news articles on Diane) before deciding to go on any form of BCP http://www.acne.org/...estra35caution/

Maybe try to switch your supplements around...less probiotics, and no glutamine....add saw palmetto and maybe keep the vitamin D and add zinc before you do anything extreme. Just my opinion. Last year, I had to do a detox from multivitamins because I was taking them for so long that my body didn't need them anymore, and I was actually taking too many supplements.  Solgar's earth source vitamins cleared me for about a year, but then my body didn't need them anymore so I took a break

Edited by WishClean, 04 March 2013 - 10:16 AM.

[LillyRose7]

i dont like diane 35,  took it when i was 16. it cleared up my skin but wasn't worth the trade off of hair loss (yes can you believe it?), weight gain, migraines that had me in bed for 1 hour after school and worse of all - deep vein thrombosis. I didn't even know this could have happened to me, i mean, i didn't even read the packet or know what i was taking. I was too busy with school and they just told me it would level out the hormone levels. So for years i was scared to take any more pills. My moms side of the family, all have veins on the legs, it doesn't bother me or anything, i have a few too. But my mom went on yasmin and said she had constant chest pain on it... so when my skin got bad a few months ago, i was told to take YAZ but keep hearing a bunch of negative stuff about it which puts me off but now i take belara. its supposedly better than yaz at clearing up skin.

 

btw Diane is only supposed to be taken short term (read up on this) and is not meant for long term use because of the side effects and it can actually cause mood problems. It was banned in a few countries last month.

 

i think with any medication you have to outweigh the positive with negative, if a pill clears up your skin then you have to consider whether you are willing to put up with a few minor side effects. With pcos, you need long term treatment, its not something that goes away overnight. You can manage your symptoms very well.

Edited by LillyRose7, 05 March 2013 - 02:31 PM.

[Pianina]

i dont like diane 35,  took it when i was 16. it cleared up my skin but wasn't worth the trade off of hair loss (yes can you believe it?), weight gain, migraines that had me in bed for 1 hour after school and worse of all - deep vein thrombosis. I didn't even know this could have happened to me, i mean, i didn't even read the packet or know what i was taking. I was too busy with school and they just told me it would level out the hormone levels. So for years i was scared to take any more pills. My moms side of the family, all have veins on the legs, it doesn't bother me or anything, i have a few too. But my mom went on yasmin and said she had constant chest pain on it... so when my skin got bad a few months ago, i was told to take YAZ but keep hearing a bunch of negative stuff about it which puts me off but now i take belara. its supposedly better than yaz at clearing up skin.

 

btw Diane is only supposed to be taken short term (read up on this) and is not meant for long term use because of the side effects and it can actually cause mood problems. It was banned in a few countries last month.

 

i think with any medication you have to outweigh the positive with negative, if a pill clears up your skin then you have to consider whether you are willing to put up with a few minor side effects. With pcos, you need long term treatment, its not something that goes away overnight. You can manage your symptoms very well.

Hey LillyRose, sorry to hear that you had such a bad experience with Diane-35 I will start taking it from tomorrow and I feel a bit worried too. How weird that you had such side effects, symptoms like that are usually very common for pcos and bcp is supposed to target them in a first place...
I'm supposed to be on Diane-35 for 3 months only and then switch to Yasmin. When I think about the last time I was on bcp, it wasn't that bad after all, I didn't gain weigth nor had some severe side effects besides mood changes, so maybe I shouldn't have such negative expectations from it. 
However, I really need to give my skin a break (not break out, lol) to heal itself, cause now there's no time for old spots to fade when new ones kick in. Always at the same time of my cycle... So bcp is my last resort kinda.

How is it going with Belara? That's the first and only bcp I've tried, and it didn't do much for my skin.

[Pianina]

Advice needed!

My saw palmetto supplements arrived today. It says on the package that it "promotes prostate health" I wonder if it suits me as well? Maybe there are different variations of saw palmetto? I'm confused, should I use it?
Another question - I have also ordered vitamin A (it was before I found out that I have PCOS and need to be on Diane35). Is it ok if I use the vitamin A together with all the other stuff? It's 10,000 IU of it.

[Pianina]

Skin update. Depressing shit. More than acne itself, I hate these huge, clogged pores. So disgusting......

Attached Files

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[tracy521]

a good toner and an exfoliating cleanser should help those clogged pores. what are you using now? i am currently using proactiv toner(it has glycolic acid in it) and its really good but you can use just witch hazel as well. the toner is really good for getting rid of all that dead skin. i would only use the exfoliating cleanser like twice a week though if your skin is already irritated.

Edited by tracy521, 19 March 2013 - 07:53 AM.

[Pianina]

a good toner and an exfoliating cleanser should help those clogged pores. what are you using now? i am currently using proactiv toner(it has glycolic acid in it) and its really good but you can use just witch hazel as well. the toner is really good for getting rid of all that dead skin. i would only use the exfoliating cleanser like twice a week though if your skin is already irritated.

I use Phenomé exfoliator, it's supposed to have natural organic ingredients. Pretty good, but doesn't do much for the pores. Any toner is too drying out for my skin, it's something I could never use. I tried Proactive products at my friend's place for 2 days and my skin got so dry I couldn't open my mouth or smile.
I have no excess oil thing going on and still the pores get clogged and are large like I'm 40 years old or smth....

[tracy521]

you know what i do with the proactiv toner so it doesnt dry me out? i use it once a day in the evening after washing (because i wear makeup all day) and right after i use it all over my face i rinse it with cold water. it does the job but yet doesnt dry out my face. witch hazel is good too and shouldnt dry you out at all but you could also cut it with water too. i dont have a lot of oil either but after having a good facial my aesthetician told me i need to use a toner to get off all that dead skin on a daily basis. also it really cleans the skin so even though i thought my cleanser was doing a good job i still find the cotton ball to be dirty after i use the toner all over my face. i had really bad cystic acne a little bit ago and this really helps my skin a lot. the rinsing with the water is key to not drying out the skin.

Edited by tracy521, 19 March 2013 - 09:31 AM.

[AlexanderJ86]

No, don't be depressed. You are a very pretty girl. Can you smile on new photos, please?