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Well I'm taking the big plunge. I finally received my regimen kit the other day and I'm also hoping to stop Ortho Tri Cyclen birth control after 4 years. I thought I might as well make this one thread as I'm sure going off bcp is going to play some roll in my face.
I'm honestly super nervous about going off of bcp but I've never been completely clear on birth control either. When I think of the years before I went on birth control and even compare pictures my face looked clear-er before. I had very minor acne. Small pimples kind of scattered around the face. With make up on you couldn't really tell I had acne. After I went on birth control my total number of pimples did reduce BUT I think it gave me more regular cystic acne - something that I NEVER had before OTC. Maybe that's why some of these birth controls do well in tests and trials - it does reduce the number of acne but may cause other types of issues idk. Either way my acne has very slowly been more large, painful and scarring since being on OTC. I originally went on it for horrid cramps and PMS symptoms and if it cleared some of my minor acne that was a plus as well. It does keep my forehead and middle section of my face clear (even though I still have to use proactiv) but it seems like it's pushed all the acne down towards around my mouth and chin and I hate it! For the longest time I kept thinking my face just has to be really bad since I was on a birth control that supposedly helped acne and I used proactiv too. I honestly knew nothing about how different birth controls can affect your face and how it's unhealthy in the long run to keep suppressing your natural hormones for synthetic ones.
Over the last few weeks I've been doing so much research - I feel like I've read everything there is to read on birth control and acne and I've read so many of your guys threads and experiences on there. So I finally want to try and get off bcp. I was never clear on bcp and lately it's giving me headaches almost every day. I've been on it for four years and I think it'd be good to try and balance out my natural hormones. I do have a prescription to switch to Yaz but like I said I want to try and get off now instead of going on Yaz for a few years. It seems like people get the worst break outs post Yaz.
I'm hoping that by starting the regimen as well this will help balance out some post bcp break outs. At least I'm hoping. Today I started my period (or well break through bleeding as you technically don't get proper periods on birth control as the pills convince your body that you're constantly pregnant - yep scary! try googling it, i was shocked). I technically have like 3 more placebo pills until I'm done with my last pack so I'm actually off of bcp now as their are no hormones in the placebos. I'm super scared for the weeks and months ahead. Some women it's taken them over a year to get clear skin after birth control and just yikes! I guess I'm hoping that my face balances out since I only developed cystic chin acne on birth control. I mean that has to mean that my body didn't like Ortho right? I hope it goes back to how it was before bcp - mild acne and hopefully with the regimen NO acne.
So yeah I'd just like to keep this log to vent and jot down what I'm doing and what I'm feeling like. Any dietary changes I make I'll record here as well.
Last night I still used my proactiv face wash and then used Dan's bp around my chin and spot treated blemishes. I have to say this morning I was amazed because I had no flaking or dryness! I've been doing the same thing for weeks but using Proactiv's bp instead and every morning I've waken up with tons of dryness and flakes over my skin. I kept putting off Dan's regimen because I know he requires a LOT more bp and I kept thinking it would make my face unbearably dry. I know it's only been one time but so far I'm amazed at how much more gentle it is than Proactiv's! So that is giving me hope. I also HATE the smell of proactiv's crap, it's so nauseating. Dan's was loads better. I'm going to officially start the regimen this weekend and I'll try and take some pictures too. At the moment I have 4 active pimples (two cysts, one that is dying out tho and then two nodules I think).
Once again I'm amazed with Dan's BP I feel like it's 10 times more effective than proactiv's and feels way more refreshing (?!) on the face. I applied it again last night on my problem areas after gently washing my face with proactiv cleanser. I kind of over did the BP though because there was a slight burning and red feeling throughout the night and I woke up this morning with loads of dryness and flakes all over my chin. BUT all the pimples I had before are on their way out. The two cysts I had are like committing suicide and are barely there now - I'm so happy. I'm kind of slowly introducing the new products into my routine (why I'm still using proactiv cleanser) so that my face doesn't freak out. My face is very temperamental, it likes routine and if I switch things up it gets pissed off easily lol. So last night I also tried out Dan's moisturizer and at first I wasn't too sure of it, it felt a little sticky on my face compared to my Cerave products. But after it settled in and got absorbed it felt quite nice. I also enjoy the scent - it's kind of vanilla-y. Also lately I've been waking up and my face is beyond coated in oil! It's been so gross, I thought it was just because of the warmer/more humid weather we've been having but when I woke up this morning my face felt balanced and normal. I think it must be the new lotion and probably the jojoba oil in it! I've never used any oils on my face so I hope I continue to have success with it and it doesn't cause break outs. I did wake up with one small pimple on my upper forehead, I hope it's not from the jojoba oil - maybe just a coincidence. Overall I'm happy though because the four other pimples I have are on their way out.
oh my god, my chin area is quickly turning into flake city!! i've never seen so much flakiness like i noticed how bad it was this morning in the car after i had my foundation on. i literally looked like mystique's scaly skin from x-men. totally bummed. i even tried VERY gently to take some flakes off with a wash cloth this morning and just wow. i feel like acne is one thing but scaly, peeling skin raises a lot more eyebrows in the office. i'm mortified! i've only used the tiniest amount of dan's bp too. how on earth am i ever going to make it to the recommended dosage of bp? i'm so nervous!
most of my zits are drying up however a new one cropped up on the side of my chin eurhg i have no idea if it's gonna be a cyst or a nodule. i have another tiny one in the same exact spot where i had a cyst the other week too. sometimes i think these cysts try to resurrect themselves if they were never popped. super gross. i hate how long cysts take to leave too. they can feel like they're drying up and no longer painful or as red but then when you put make up on you see there's still a bump there and it still looks like a zit.
Do you have any of Dan's AHA (glycolic acid) ? If you mix that with your moisturizer it does a good job of getting rid of the flakes.
I am quite interested in your post as my daughter wants to come off Ortho try cylcen after being on it for a year but is nervous to do so incase her face goes crazy.
So good luck to you!
hi! no i don't yet. technically i haven't started the regimen proper as i wanted to test some of the products on my chin a bit before i fully switched over to using all 3 of Dan's products. these insane flakes have me super worried tho. it seems like a lot of people can't stick with the regimen because of all the flakes and dryness.
i could never tolerate tretinoin cream either - my face just never adjusted to it. i hate my skin type really. it wants to have these huge cysts sometimes but then be super sensitive and not allow me to use any products on it that may actually help the acne.
i don't want to introduce AHA yet because tbh AHA's have only made my skin more dry through experience. also i'm only using 3 products at the moment and it's easier to narrow down what may be causing issues if you're using less things.
and if your daughter has only been on OTC a year it may not be bad at all! sooner or later she'll probably have to get off it and better now than later right?
Skin still super dry. I layered on two pumps of Dan's lotion last night and only spot treated my pimples with the BP. Still woke up this morning with LOADS of flakes. Ugh. So this morning I continued washing with my proactiv face wash (always very gently, I never want those grains they put in it to aggravate my face) and then used Dan's lotion. I eventually had to layer on more of my Cerave moisturizing cream because after that soaks in my skin is just parched 
It's so crazy because my face was so oily because using Dan's moisturizer and I think my skin is naturally oily. I still really like his lotion the smell is nice and it's refreshing on my face. It does cut down on my shine through the day but man it can't touch the dryness from the BP.
So far I only have 3 minor active pimples on my face and it's not too bad (but still lots of red areas from past cysts). The BP really does kill acne like none other. I just need to see how I can use it without giving my face a chemical burn and flaking all over the place. This is still the best my face has looked in months. I'm afraid to speak too soon though I know some girls coming off bcp get bad acne like months later... fingers crossed that's not my issue! My face does always look the best the week I'm on the placebo pills.
Woke up today with two under the skin pimples forming grrr. One is on the very edge of my chin, almost on my neck and the other one is kind of below and to the side of the nose (a weird place for me to break out). I spot treated them with a bunch of Dan's bp, that stuff dries stuff out like crazy. Have been off the hormonal birth control pills for about a week and a half now. Good thing is... less moody and no more headaches so far! In total I have about 4 active pimples on my face right now. Still holding out that this is the right decision for me. As far as vitamins, I'm taking a women's multivitamin, zinc, vitamin c and lysine because I've had some cankor sores in my mouth lately and that helps so much for those.
I got the dryness under control too, I ended up having to go back to my Cerave moisturizing cream though :/
This is the first time my chin has been clear in months!! I'm happy at the moment about that. Also weird but it seems like two acne scars I had on my chin are filling in? Maybe it just looks better because I'm clearing up there, either way I'm happy. I was scared they were permanent dents. Right now I still have that pimple under and to the side of my nose but it's drying up now. Also a little pimple near my ear. Other than that everything is clear.
Everything still good today as far as my face is concerned. Had some spotting last night and this morning though. Guess my body is trying to work itself out... Also my scars were noticeable tonight. I mean wtf? I seriously could not find any trace of them yesterday :S I'm still holding out that my skin can fill itself back in somewhat once break outs stop. They're not really deep scars at all, pretty shallow but still indented enough for me to notice.
So a day after my last post I did get an under the skin cyst on my chin/jawline BUT I slapped a ton of Dan's bp on it and it stopped it in it's tracks. I've never found any spot treatment to do that. It was fully gone in two days and with make up you could barely tell it was there since it didn't get that swollen. Right now I have only 1 active pimple on my face kind of near my ear (never break out there but whatever). My skin hasn't looked this good in 6 months! So far I think going off bcp has helped my skin but more time is needed to tell.
I don't have intense dryness anymore. I went back to my Cerave moisturizing cream and that helps a lot. I use a lot of it on the places I use Dan's bp. Right now I use about two pea size amounts on my lower face area at night only. Still washing gently with my proactiv cleanser day and night. That's all I'm doing at the moment. I'm sad Dan's lotion didn't work out because I actually really liked it. Maybe I'll use it up as body lotion.
Also been noticing my hair shedding some. Nothing scary but enough for me to notice. My hair is SUPER thick too so I don't really care. And I haven't had a headache in well over a week. More than ever convinced bcp was causing those.
Well great news, not a single pimple on my face yesterday or today! Progress definitely. I've been super slowly upping the BP and my face isn't flaky as long as I use my Cerave cream. All the peeling from BP was annoying but I guess it did help to lighten some of my red marks. I still have a lot left but not nearly as bad as before.
Went to Sephora yesterday too to try out some different foundations. I always like cream foundations best, I've been using Covergirl's Aquasmooth for years and it's absolutely fabulous (especially for $9). Not too heavy and super easy and even to apply, I just know the company tests on animals and I don't like that :/. Sometimes the reps at Sephora just piss me off though. They act like their opinions on make up and what they want to try on you is fact. Uh no. The rep kept saying Nars didn't have any cream foundations which I know is a lie 'cus I've seen them on their website. She just dismissed me after I asked to try one of those and just kept being more and more annoying. She tried a Two Faced foundation on me and was really pulling on my skin and being rough with it And by doing so she was stirring up a couple flakes. She then was like "oh I see you have a lot of flakes going on, cream foundation isn't going to work for you." Umm maybe because you're pulling at my face?! When I apply my cream foundation at home I use a wet beauty blender and dab it on somewhat gently and never get flakes from my application. She layered a ton of it on too. Another thing I hate there, they put SOOO much make up on you. Normal women don't wear that much foundation everyday. Just because they do, they think that's the norm. Anyway sorry for the rant, I was just so annoyed and didn't even end up buying anything.
Ok so I did get another under the skin bump after my last post. Again in a weird area, between my nose and mouth but off to the side. I slapped a ton of Dan's BP on it and it was dried within two days. For the last week that's the only spot I've had heh success! Slowly but surely everything is getting better. I've been off birth control for over 3 weeks now. Technically my period should be next week but it may take some time to come back after birth control.
I've started using Dan's cleanser now too. Only at night so far so my face gets use to it. I still use my proactive wash in the morning 'cus I want to use it up. I really love Dan's cleanser though, no scent (thank god because Cetaphil's makes me a bit nauseous its just horrible) and really takes off all my make up. My face feels super clean afterwards. So right now my regimen is something like this:
Morning: Proactive Cleanser, spot treat any active pimples with Dan's BP, Cerave AM lotion with 30 SPF (if my skin is feeling dry I'll use my Cerave cream let it dry and then do my makeup)
Night: Wash with Dan's cleanser (longer than 10 sec. to get all my make up off), apply one 1/3 fingers length of Dan's BP all over face, Cerave moisturizing cream.
Vitamins I'm taking: Women's Centrum multi vitamin, vitamin C, zinc, vitamin B complex
Makeup: some days when I'm bumming around the house I don't wear any, other day it's Cover Girl's Aquasmooth cream foundation with Boot's 7 loose setting powder. Recently bought two BB Creams too. I've never tried them but I'm looking for something lightweight and easy in the summer. I got Maybelline's Pure Dream BB Cream and the Garnier one too. I'll see if I like them.
Oh welllll I woke up today with about 4 tiny whiteheads and blemishes. Probably from the Maybelline BB Cream :// I guess that's going back to the store. Shame. Does anyone know what is in BB creams to cause these breakouts? I've tried a lot of foundations through the yeas and nothing has ever broken me out like this. I do hear from a lot of ppl that BB creams break them out.
Reading this forum and loving it. I started the Regimen 5 days ago to get rid of my minor teenage acne, yuck. So far, honestly my face looks worse, but people keep saying that it is just purging itself and that that is a good thing. I hope it clears up soon!
As for BB cream, I'm a makeup fanatic and these flakes are just killing me, ha ha. I'd get rid of those zits first, then try the Garnier BB cream. It works really well for me. If not, all organic BB creams are so great cause they have nothing bad in it to break out your skin! And about Sephora, they do the same thing to me! I buy the Makeup Forever HD Foundation from there, and they always say that I need a powder foundation, which is a great match for my dry combination skin, if you got my sarcasm.
Hope your face clears up soon!
Hi Jen. Thanks! I hope your initial break up clears soon. Dan's BP does wonders I must say. My biggest advice is to start out slow as I'm sure you've heard, I hope it works great for you. Eugh Sephora is seriously so annoying sometimes. I do love them for their return policy but the employees are so not helpful. They either bug you the whole time if you're finding everything ok, and then when you do indulge them they only show me stuff I hate and act like their opinion is gold.
I'm still only at 1/3 a fingers length of BP right now and that's keeping me mostly clear. I probably won't need nearly as much BP as Dan suggests so I guess that's good. In other news I started my period today and I'm thrilled! I've heard too many horror stories of women's periods taking 6 months or even a year to come back after being on birth control. My system still seems to be on clockwork so that's great. I did have a headache today but that's probably because of starting my period I guess? The headaches all times of the month have at least stopped. Only annoying symptom of coming off bc pills so far is my hair coming out. It's not like I have bald spots but still a bit 'whoa' when numerous hairs keep falling out throughout the day. My face is actually loads better since getting off bcp. I was having large cystic pimples way deep under the skin all times of the month. As soon as one stopped another would form. Since going off bcp I've had maybe two true cysts try to form but have quickly been zapped by Dan's bp.
Period is surprisingly not that bad. I actually think it was lighter and quicker than when I was on birth control pills. A little cramping but nothing severe. So far I'm still completely clear, god I love you Dan!!! I'm gonna take some pictures for you guys, just my chin area as that's where I was having problems.
Here are my pictures. Sorry if some of these are really graphic
1.) My skin on Retin A. My skin never adjusted to it, it was unbelievably dry and irritating and I started developing a rash from irritation on my forehead so I went off it, did not see that it helped acne at all. I did notice my skin seemed smoother while on it but the cons did not outweigh the pros for me
2.) When I was off Retin A and using Dermadoctor's face wash, literally the worst my face has ever been. I was ashamed to even face my mom. The cysts were SOOO deep and large and painful. I even had to leave my work one day 'cus I had a breakdown in the bathroom. An all time low. It hurts now to even look at these.
3.) And this is my skin today! Perfectly clear This picture makes me so happy. I can't thank Dan enough for his regimen and products! I also know going off bcp so far has really helped my skin. The combination of the two is really helping. I still have red marks and indented scars but the physical and emotional pain of acne is not there (and I hope it stays that way)!
Congrats @anotherstar! I've enjoyed reading your log. I just ordered The Regimen today and I'm excited and nervous to start. My problem area is also my chin. It's so embarrassing, so frustrating. Thank you for the posts, please keep them coming!
Good luck Milly, I wish you the best with it. I'm still amazed with my face, it makes me happy every morning to be perfectly clear. I can't believe how far I've come. Tomorrow I'm canceling my appointment with the derm because I honestly don't need it. I think I will keep updating for a few more months though because I just want to make a proper "study" or whatever about coming off birth control. I went to Florida last week and that was interesting. We have soft water at my house and when traveling all the hard water in these hotels felt just horrible on my face and REALLY dried it out. I had never really even thought about how soft water impacts the skin but I'm so happy to get back to it. Also I got sunburnt a day and I had like two little whiteheads pop up. This week I'm ovulating and I've sensed a couple things trying to pop up but I've attacked them with BP and they've never turned into pimples. My hair is still shedding like insane tho!! I'm gonna get some rogain or something, it's just so annoying. I hope it stops soon.
Hi @anotherstar, how's your skin doing now after a couple months on The Regimen? Are your scars starting to lighten or go away? Are you using the AHA? I'm struggling a bit, I just broke out pretty bad with large deep acne. So embarrassing.
Hi @anotherstar, how's your skin doing now after a couple months on The Regimen? Are your scars starting to lighten or go away? Are you using the AHA? I'm struggling a bit, I just broke out pretty bad with large deep acne. So embarrassing.
My skin is great!! Most days the regimen keeps me quite clear. I'm past the 4 months mark of being off birth control and that's when I lot of women experience some of their worst break outs coming off the pill. I have noticed an increase in clogged pores and smaller blemishes this month but I just have to tell myself this is the worst of it and I'll come out of it soon. The Regimen keeps things so under control. I don't want to imagine how my face would look right now without it!
That being said my hair is still shedding an insane amount due to hormone levels still being out of whack. My periods are regular though. I kept reading people online saying that Maca supplements help get your thyroid and hormones balanced after birth control so I went this past sunday and bought some capsules. OH MY GOD! Stay farrrrr away from that stuff. After taking only one pill (500mg which isn't a lot, some people seem to take 4 pills a day and are fine) I woke up with MONSTER cystic acne. At first I thought it might just be a fluke so I took two more pills and a cluster of about 5 large cysts appeared all together on the tip of my chin. As soon as I stopped taking the pills no more cysts showed up so now I'm just trying to take care of the ones still there. They were massive like one was the size of a quarter under my chin, so there's only so much a topical can do when they are THAT large. Wow so attractive right now. I'm super pissed, my boyfriend is visiting tomorrow and I've got these things that look like boils all over my chin. I think I definitely had an allergic reaction or something to the Maca. It's a food so I guess it's possible. Of course after I googled cystic acne and maca I saw it breaks a lot of people out with severe cystic acne. Such a waste, I'm returning these capsules. What a nasty supplement..
Hi @anotherstar, how's your skin doing now after a couple months on The Regimen? Are your scars starting to lighten or go away? Are you using the AHA? I'm struggling a bit, I just broke out pretty bad with large deep acne. So embarrassing.
Hi! Yeah I lot of my purple-ish marks are faded thanks to Lac-Hydrin 5 that I use, it's super gentle I put it on every night before my face cream. I'm so sorry you're still have deep acne. I know what that's like the cystic acne sucks!!! I'm convinced that if you have more than 5 cysts at a time probably the only thing that will work is Accutane, especially if the regimen isn't cutting it. When things are that deep and under the skin, I feel like the BP can only do so much. I know it's stopped a lot of my cysts but if they're massively huge it can only do so much. Best of luck.
Next week I will have been off Ortho-Tri Cyclen for 5 months!!! WOOHOOO!!
So far nothing too scary. I'm still recovering a week and a half later from those stupid Maca capsules though. They REALLY did a number on my skin. Still the cysts are lingering and attempting to dry up. I have about 3 active pimples on my face rn. Not the best especially as I was super clear a couple weeks ago. I have one whitehead in the corner of my mouth OW!! Those always sucks cus they get irritated every time you open your mouth. I seriously hate break outs and how long it takes to recover from them. This last week took me back to dark days when I use to have cysts. It's so crazy how breakouts can lead to more breakouts. I just had to come back on this site and encourage myself. I did a lot of touching and picking at my face last week and that probably spread the infection and caused these zits that I currently have.
I did just put in another order for more of Dan's BP, jojoba oil and the AHA.
I'm interested in trying the oil as I still have some issues with dryness and winter is coming and I want to make sure it's not flake city again. I still only use a glob of BP on my chin area, I guess I could take it up a notch and be completely zit free but it's hard when I still deal with flakes and dryness. Also I'm curious about using the AHA as a spot treatment. I still think the 10% AHA might be too powerful for all over my face but for spot treating it might be really nice.
I've been posting elsewhere on the boards but I want to make sure I keep up my log here too.
SO basically the last two weeks I was harsh with my skin. I used way too much BP on my chin area (thinking I could handle it since I've been on the regimen a while now) and boy oh boy did it mess me up. I gave my self a skin peel, flakes were insaneee! Even holding my cat and giving him a kiss on top of his head I noticed flakes from my face were in his furr (so gross I'm sorry!). And what followed was a HORRIBLE break out. Like cystic acne again and I've been so bummed. I think I absolutely dehydrated my chin area and it was peeling, red, irritated, cracked in places and that just set me up for a monster break out. I think even though I was using lots of BP bacteria or irritation got deep down in the pores and just made things 10x worse. So moral of the story is don't atomic bomb your face if you see two pimples coming through. Keep the course and keep your skin balanced.
I did end up going to the derm yesterday because I promised myself I would if I ever had a cystic outbreak again. I knew I didn't want to change my topical regimen as it's worked for me throughout the summer and fall but I did get an oral antibiotic, minocyclen. I've never been on antibiotics for acne so I hope it works.
The derm agreed that my current face regimen sounded great and she did like to see the acne only in one part of my face. She said I probably do have hormonal acne as it's along the jawline even if I don't notice a pattern to the acne during certain weeks of the month. She said I could still grow out of it any time, a lot depends on your genetics. She also agreed that it was good I went off birth control if it was giving me headaches and really not doing much for my acne anyway. She said since I was clear on my regimen during the summer, there's no need to lose hope, that this antibiotic will just help me clear up and that most people break out after they stop the antibiotics because they get lazy with their skin care and just let the antibiotic do all the work. She seemed like a really good derm so I'm hopeful.
So far the only massive changes I've had since coming off birth control is: hair coming out but it's kind of leveling off now so that's good, maybe a couple run of the mill pimples popping up in the middle of my chin every now and then (I haven't had a cyst in 4-5 months wooo! well not counting the two i had last week and this week but i'm almost 100% sure those are from irritation and extreme dehydration rather than hormones), some back acne, shorter periods, more energy, 0 headaches!
Just to update this thread.. I've had the worst acne of my life since November. I had no idea my body could pump out so much oil and cysts. There hasn't been a day that goes by now where I don't get new zits. That's right... multiple zits a day and new cysts every week. I will say however that nothing has been as bad as the first explosion of cysts in Nov. My back acne started before it got to my face and the back acne has gotten a LOT better the last month or so. At least that gives me hope my face will improve with time. I absolutely HATE the cysts.. they like to come in clusters too. Right now I have two on my chin that have literally merged together to create some horrible huge form. I wish I could afford steroid shots.
Things that have helped somewhat.. take advil's to help the pain of the cysts. I don't know if they do anything to make them smaller but at least then you don't have the pain of it stretching your skin and scaring as bad. Also to pop the zits I use a needle now and just prick the white head instead of squeezing. HELPS SO MUCH!
The only thing giving me hope right now is that the back acne has gotten a lot better and my cysts do seem to come to a head, pop and die within like 2-3 days.
I also tried a course of Minocyclen twice but 3 days into each one I got all itchy and all my zits that were healing got HUGE like big bug bites and they hurt so bad. I couldn't take another round of 'it will get worse before it gets better.' Doesn't even make sense for an antibiotic to work that way.
If I ever find a solution to this problem I'll update this thread. I feel like the only thing that might help is letting time pass and allowing the hormones to settle.