I want to share my success story since acne.org community really helped me through my tough times dealing with acne. Ive been on here for years and never wrote but i feel like now i owe to the community to share my experience and how I got rid of my hormonal acne.

Short background story: Was acne free all my life until 20 years old. Started breaking out first comedonic acne on my forehead then my chin and then finally cysts on my cheeks. No one in my family had acne like that before so it was not hereditary. (now that i think back on it I definitely link it to my poor diet and alcohol).

I tried everything: starting topical prescription ointments to minocylines, doxyxylines you name it. Went on birth control - Aviane and it failed to clear me up as well. And of course maintained clean-ish diet. It was going on for months and as my skin was getting worse and I was getting more depressed. Didn't want to leave the house, got social anxiety, couldn't look people in the eyes....it was terrible!

My dermatologist came to the conclusion that it was hormonal acne. After doing the research on acne.org forums i decided to give Diane 35 a try. And oh jeez did it ever work! I saw a difference within a week! Literally within 2 days I had no oil on my face and my hair didn't get greasy for like 5 days at a time. At first I broke out more, so beginners don't freak out. But I can say with confidence within a month I could tell I was breaking out less. Within 2 months I would have like 1 new pimple a week. Within 3 months I barely had any new ones and my marks began to heal. After 5 months on it I forgot what was acne and if ever had it. Diane was definite THE Miracle fix for me.

Here are my side effects:
- Mood swings were definitely there especially in the beginning. I was border line bipolar for at least 3 months
- I started to have craving and bigger appetite but if I was 110 pounds before i may be became 115 so not a big deal at all
- i guess lower libido?? I didnt notice it until I got off
- the biggest thing for me happened is that i live in a very dry climate and with my face being very dry I started getting eczema on my cheeks which I could not help no matter how much moisturizer or coconut oil i used. . Its gotten so bad that it even started to look like acne.
- I also have kiratosis pilaris eczema (some of you may know) and its gotten a lot worse on my forearms as well.

So after being on Diane 35 for 3 years I decided that I was ready to come off it. I became really aware of the amount of chemicals I was putting in my body daily and the eczema was bothering me.

Continuing:
 

After reading some of the forums here, weaning myself off sounded like a good idea. So I began cutting the pills. First I would take 3/4 of the pill for 3 months - didn't notice any difference in my skin.

This is the place i think i should mention that before starting to wean myself off I did a lot of reading on the holistic approach to balance out the hormones naturally and i started taking supplements: Maca, Evening primrose oil, drinking detox tea twice a day, vit C, vit A, cod liver, probiotics etc.

After 3 months of 3/4 i started cutting the pill in half. And i took a half i should say for at least 2 months as well. You see i started getting brave since my skin was doing so good. And my pill cutting skills were not that precise

I was eyeballing it. So after couple months i began taking only 1/4 of the pill...i noticed may be 2 pimples that month but they didn't bother me, so i stopped taking Diane at all shortly after.

And all hell broke lose! Well I guess I shouldn't be THAT dramatic lol but in a couple days i noticed greasy hair and greasy face....and then my forehead started to look all rough and ready to break out in comedonic acne.....and I would get a pimple every week....or like 3 at once around my period... on the chin and around my temples....but it does get better!

Continuing:

i guess this is the stage im in now. It's been 3 months since i came off and my skin is definitely not flawless like it used to be but I can handle a pimple once a week. My forehead hasn't broken out in comedonic as I thought it would, but i am using Aczone cream on it every night. Also mix tea tree oil with water and use it as a tone on my face in the morning. I also noticed that my acne marks clear up way faster then in the beginning of my acne journey. I am convinced evening primrose and Vit A has to do something with it. Oh and my eczema on my cheeks cleared up! So i was right after all, it was diane caused.

Also once i cam off diane i felt such a huge increase of energy! I don't get tired as easy and enjoy working out more. I have social anxiety and it's gotten much easier to talk to people. I feel SO MUCH happier and more confident it's like ive been drugged this whole time and now im finally back to being myself! Aaaand I started feeling all these feeling towards guys....

Its crazy how much birth control (especially such a strong one like diane) alters our feelings!

But the point of my story....half the time its not how bad your acne is but how bad YOU feel about it. Now i am in a way better place and I am positive that once my hormones get used to being without diane it will be all fine. Talking to someone about it helps! Because we make it worse in our head...and when we say it out loud we realize how ridiculous our insecurities sound. Even your friend or a boyfriend....get them to give you compliments. Few pimples in your complexion does not ruin your beautiful face!

Good luck to anyone who wants to try weaning yourself off and I'm here for support and your questions