Hi Indiana Mom! I'm currently on hormonal treatment for my imbalance and to treat my hormonal acne. Look up Spironolactone on here. You will see many many reviews, blogs, etc on the treatment. Yaz may not have been strong enough for you or perhaps things have been altered since pregnancy. Happy to answer any questions you might have or point you in the right direction! Many of us had to take research to our derms in order for them to prescibe it. I am on Yasmin and 50 mg spiro which is a very low dose. Many women on here are between 50-200mg daily and have seen great success. Also search GreenGables for her posts.

I am a 38 year old female with 3 children. I had mild acne as a teen which was cured when i began birth control at 16. I had goregous skin until I stopped taking it at 21 to become pregnant. Acne has been progressively getting worse over the years. After 3 children, my youngest is 8 so it's been awhile, my acne is worse than ever! I have been to a dermatologist many, many times over the past few years with NO solution. I have EXTREMELY oily skin, and break out severely 2 weeks out of the month in HUGE red inflammed cysts over my entire face. The other 2 weeks are mild breakouts, but still embarrasing. I wash my face 2 times a day with Noxema face wash, and take Amoxicillin 3x daily,but it doesn't help. Once, when I was very ill the doctor prescribed me Levaquin and my face cleared up perfectly(the one and only time in 17 years). The day after I stopped the Levaquin my acne returned full force. I currently take no vitamains or birth control. I have taken Ortho Tricyclen and Yaz over the past couple years, but had NO results. I'm positive this is hormonal, but labs come back that they are normal. I am at my wits end. I feel like the dermatologists keep giving me stuff just to keep me coming back. Has anyone else experienced this? And does anyone have any ideas how I can FINALLY get rid of this problem? Please help!!

I am a 38 year old female with 3 children. I had mild acne as a teen which was cured when i began birth control at 16. I had goregous skin until I stopped taking it at 21 to become pregnant. Acne has been progressively getting worse over the years. After 3 children, my youngest is 8 so it's been awhile, my acne is worse than ever! I have been to a dermatologist many, many times over the past few years with NO solution. I have EXTREMELY oily skin, and break out severely 2 weeks out of the month in HUGE red inflammed cysts over my entire face. The other 2 weeks are mild breakouts, but still embarrasing. I wash my face 2 times a day with Noxema face wash, and take Amoxicillin 3x daily,but it doesn't help. Once, when I was very ill the doctor prescribed me Levaquin and my face cleared up perfectly(the one and only time in 17 years). The day after I stopped the Levaquin my acne returned full force. I currently take no vitamains or birth control. I have taken Ortho Tricyclen and Yaz over the past couple years, but had NO results. I'm positive this is hormonal, but labs come back that they are normal. I am at my wits end. I feel like the dermatologists keep giving me stuff just to keep me coming back. Has anyone else experienced this? And does anyone have any ideas how I can FINALLY get rid of this problem? Please help!!

Have you considered photodynamic therapy or Accutane yet?

I am a 38 year old female with 3 children. I had mild acne as a teen which was cured when i began birth control at 16. I had goregous skin until I stopped taking it at 21 to become pregnant. Acne has been progressively getting worse over the years. After 3 children, my youngest is 8 so it's been awhile, my acne is worse than ever! I have been to a dermatologist many, many times over the past few years with NO solution. I have EXTREMELY oily skin, and break out severely 2 weeks out of the month in HUGE red inflammed cysts over my entire face. The other 2 weeks are mild breakouts, but still embarrasing. I wash my face 2 times a day with Noxema face wash, and take Amoxicillin 3x daily,but it doesn't help. Once, when I was very ill the doctor prescribed me Levaquin and my face cleared up perfectly(the one and only time in 17 years). The day after I stopped the Levaquin my acne returned full force. I currently take no vitamains or birth control. I have taken Ortho Tricyclen and Yaz over the past couple years, but had NO results. I'm positive this is hormonal, but labs come back that they are normal. I am at my wits end. I feel like the dermatologists keep giving me stuff just to keep me coming back. Has anyone else experienced this? And does anyone have any ideas how I can FINALLY get rid of this problem? Please help!!

Hi, Indiana Mom.

I am in my 40s with both adult onset acne and also rosacea. Before starting the regimen, I saw 3 different dermatologists in 6 months. I tried everything: retin a, antibiotics, rosac wash, hydrocortisone, topical betamethasone, finacea, aczone, and.....you name it! I also spent thousands of dollars trying to clear up my face.

I started the regimen in June 2013, and my skin got worse for the first 2-3 weeks. I literally did not want to leave the house. But, after following the regimen religiously and exactly as instructed, using purpose cleanser, neutrogena on the spot and cetaphil lotion, I noticed that my skin slowly started really clearing up. Even the rosacea! About week 6 I bought Dan's products, which are fantastic, but not necessary. I also started on prescription nicomide (supplement containing zinc, folic acid, copper and niacin), Culturelle probiotic, fish oil and vitamin C. I also cut out all gluten and dairy. I also (eek) stopped wearing makeup daily (but I still do on special occasions). Now, my skin is nearly perfect. I still get some mild flushing, and limited, intermittent mild redness. I get a zit occasionally now, but it is nothing like it was. I can't believe it. Give it a try. It took about 3 months to be nearly completely clear, but it is the ONLY, thing that worked.

I hope this helps. Good Luck!

Try the acne.org regimen it is amazing. It worked for me in 1 month.

I definitely agree with CarpeMomentum...talk with your derm or general physician about spironolactone. I would LOVE to have a full hormone panel done (but don't think I can afford it right now, especially without insurance) but I'm pretty much convinced my adult acne is hormone-related. I just turned 34 years old and am on 100 mg of spiro a day and I'm convinced I'll be on it the rest of my life. Unfortunately I still have break outs now and then, but not at the rate I was, and not the super severe cysts. Spiro binds to androgens and allows them to be excreted and lowers sebum production.

I was on Ortho-Lo for years and never saw a real improvement, so I got off of it a few years after my husband had a vasectomy. Don't know if it's all in my head or not, but I don't feel as mentally foggy as I did while on birth control. I have considered getting back on it though to better regulate my cycles.

A few more things to consider...

What's your diet like? It finally dawned on me that milk and most other dairy products make me break out. I'm talking about within a matter of DAYS. I experimented with organic milk, but it didn't matter. Still makes me break out. Milk, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, ranch dressing, cream cheese, half and half...all of that makes me break out. What's weird is that when a dairy product is THOROUGHLY heated -- think sour cream mixed in biscuit dough and baked -- I don't have any problems. :/ Weird, I know. So far as I can tell I don't seem to have issues with cheese or butter, but when I eat these products they have been heated. Heck, I bought some hot and sour soup base the other day and tasted it cold and broke out within a few days. Guess what was listed in the ingredients? Yep. Milk. I've got to start paying closer attention to stuff like that. I also notice when I drink a lot of ginger ale and/or Sprite -- three or more a day, which is very rare that I drink that many anyway -- I'll pay for it afterward.

How high are your stress levels? Are you a naturally anxious or high strung person? Do you get angry easily? I'm all that I mentioned, and I believe that affects my acne.

Hey Jabberwocky! Wanted to talk to you about your Spiro experience. How long have you been on it?

I've been on Spiro 50 mg and Yasmin about 11 weeks now and I'm not clear. Well I went and got all of my hormones tested last week (unfortunately I don't have a pre Spiro test to compare, but of course Testosterone was a bit high cut off was 45 and I am 52 so still higher, but you could see the Spiro was working as my DHT and Free Testosterone were in a good place. And SHBG is super high so that cuts off turning it into androgens.

However, what I was not aware of is I am extremely low in Progesterone and Pregnenolone, and even though my estrogen is lower than normal I am still estrogen dominant, whichhhh has many effects you might also experience:

low progesterone/pregnenolone can cause:

irritability

anxiousness

cold hands/feet

sleeping issues

insomnia

depression

Add estrogen dominance which definitely includes acne and excessive hair. So a double whammy. Moral of the story, I'm on Spiro and Yasmin, but now adding in hormonal treatment for Pregnenolone, which is a precusor for Progesterone. If Progesterone is low it can increase that. The other option is Natural Progsterone Cream which I will try after Pregnelone. I'm keeping a blog if you are interested in following Interested to hear about your experience.

Spiro has made my current skin WAY worse than before, still purging, guess I had a bad exfoliation plan and refused Retin A to salvage my fair skin so it's drawing it out.

I definitely agree with CarpeMomentum...talk with your derm or general physician about spironolactone. I would LOVE to have a full hormone panel done (but don't think I can afford it right now, especially without insurance) but I'm pretty much convinced my adult acne is hormone-related. I just turned 34 years old and am on 100 mg of spiro a day and I'm convinced I'll be on it the rest of my life. Unfortunately I still have break outs now and then, but not at the rate I was, and not the super severe cysts. Spiro binds to androgens and allows them to be excreted and lowers sebum production.

I was on Ortho-Lo for years and never saw a real improvement, so I got off of it a few years after my husband had a vasectomy. Don't know if it's all in my head or not, but I don't feel as mentally foggy as I did while on birth control. I have considered getting back on it though to better regulate my cycles.

A few more things to consider...

What's your diet like? It finally dawned on me that milk and most other dairy products make me break out. I'm talking about within a matter of DAYS. I experimented with organic milk, but it didn't matter. Still makes me break out. Milk, yogurt, sour cream, ice cream, ranch dressing, cream cheese, half and half...all of that makes me break out. What's weird is that when a dairy product is THOROUGHLY heated -- think sour cream mixed in biscuit dough and baked -- I don't have any problems. :/ Weird, I know. So far as I can tell I don't seem to have issues with cheese or butter, but when I eat these products they have been heated. Heck, I bought some hot and sour soup base the other day and tasted it cold and broke out within a few days. Guess what was listed in the ingredients? Yep. Milk. I've got to start paying closer attention to stuff like that. I also notice when I drink a lot of ginger ale and/or Sprite -- three or more a day, which is very rare that I drink that many anyway -- I'll pay for it afterward.

How high are your stress levels? Are you a naturally anxious or high strung person? Do you get angry easily? I'm all that I mentioned, and I believe that affects my acne.

Spironolactone, 50 mg a day

Retinol a at night.

DMSO mixed with a couple of drops of tea tree oil in the morning.

Mild cleanser morning and night.

15 years of adult acne, completely gone. No bad side effects. So happy!

Also I take Dim and progesterone cream for pre menopause.