I feel your pain!! I also have PCOS and getting acne all over my face and back. I am 34 years old and it is so embarrassing. Anyway to answer your questions I have been on metformin for months now. It helps alittle but not that much. Even my doctor said metformin really doesnt help with acne just will help to regulate your period when you have pcos and trying to get pregnant. However it did help alittle. I ran out of pills and have been off of it for about 2 weeks and I am breaking out alot more than when I was on it. So basically in my opinion it will make acne alittle better but not get rid of it. For example I would break out every 3-4 days but on metformin my back would get about 2 big pimples now that I am off of it I get 6 big pimples, basically same with my face.

I am so depressed that I cannot control this acne. PCOS is no joke it effects ur hormones so bad that regular treatments dont seem to work. What kind of side effects were you experiencing on spiro??? I was gonna go on it but I read articles how it caused tumors in lab rats and cancer runs in my family so dont want to chance going on it.

But the only thing besides accutane which is pointless to take because of side effects and does not cure acne when u have pcos is birth control pills. was on yasmin for years and my skin was perfectly clear. In everything I have tried that is the only thing that has ever worked for me. I was on yasmin but I really want to get pregnant so cant go on them =(. If you are not trying to get pregnant I def recommend the birth control pills. I did so much research on pcos and appartenly for our acne caused by pcos, teh only thing that helps is birth control pills and spiro.

But please respond would love to hear about your experiences with pcos things that u tried and didnt work. Maybe we can compare experiences that can help with making our skin better. Do you get cystic acne, is it only on ur face or have on back also?

Good luck and let me know if u have any additional questions. I know how hard battling pcos can be =(

Aww you are so sweet! I have alot of info I can share with you. Would you like me to message you on here? I can tell you everything I know about spiro! I've been on it for a year and my sister is on it too.

Ok great can you message me. I never used the messenger before but if u message me I will figure it out how to respond. Yes please tell me all about it. I will let u knwo about my experiences also. Thanks =)

Ok I messaged you! Its really easy there's a little icon on the top of the page in the shape of a piece of mail. Just click on that and you'll be able to see my message and then reply to it (:

have you considered accutane?

even though i dont entirely endorse accutane, i would rather endorse dietary changes, or in a worse case scenario, both.

Unfortunately I've tried accutane...4 times. Gave me severe depression and anxiety/psychosis. Ended up in the hospital. Accutane only helps for people with non hormone related issues. Appreciate the suggestion though!

Hi I have pcos too. Yasmin was the best treatment for me. Stopped it due to developing melasma last year. Acne is back among other symptoms. Derm wants me to try accutane. I haven't been convinced that it's the right thing to try. I am wondering if I should try metformin?

I just started Metformin for acne yesterday. I've tried a ton of things too. I've had acne for 13 years, and it's always been moderately severe. I know it isn't usually used for acne. Hope it works out...let me know how it goes for you.

metformin made me have the worse acne ever, i am convinced it was what caused the worse acne of my life. so glad to be off it.

never, ever have anything remotely sugary with metformin, you will wake up and regret it.

I just started metformin. I dont know if i like the sound of it. I asked my endocrinologist if I could lead a normal life on it and he said yes I could but I like to go out drinking with my friends and stuff and everyone is telling me to avoid sugar on it. I have PCOS but im only 54kg and acne and irregular periods seems to be the only thing i get with it? did it work for you?? i really want feedback on it

For me metformin was the only thing that did anything for my skin.

Ive tried the pill and accutane both didnt work. I started taking metformin and after about a month and a bit my skin got less oily and new pimples stopped coming up.

I have pcos but am lean (44kgs), i dont neccesarily diet but i try to eat healthy and low GI along with metfomin. I just have no idea why it worked for me. but since it does im really happy cause i can actually put make up on and not worry that i will break out just from a little foundation.

Everyone is different but to test things out for sure you have to wait at least a month or so for results.

For me metformin was the only thing that did anything for my skin.

Ive tried the pill and accutane both didnt work. I started taking metformin and after about a month and a bit my skin got less oily and new pimples stopped coming up.

I have pcos but am lean (44kgs), i dont neccesarily diet but i try to eat healthy and low GI along with metfomin. I just have no idea why it worked for me. but since it does im really happy cause i can actually put make up on and not worry that i will break out just from a little foundation.

Everyone is different but to test things out for sure you have to wait at least a month or so for results.

Banban, do you still take metformin? I would be interested to know the dose you are on.

I've battled with acne since I hit puberty around age 13. I've always had terrible periods that would make me miss school, as well as a slew of other health problems. My acne was never too severe until about my sophomore year of college. Although my acne was never severe, I am very fair skinned so even when I wasn't dealing with active breakouts, I still had red and pink acne marks. My acne has always been hormonal, it occurs on my cheeks and around my mouth, but my forehead and t-zone are fairly clear except for the occasional pimple.I can't pinpoint the exact date my acne got bad, but it was after I tried switching from the regular birth control pills I was on to the shot every three months. My lymph nodes in my breast and under my armpits got extremely swollen and painful, so I stopped taking birth control all together and my periods stopped coming for ten months. By this time, my acne was still rampant, but I just covered it up with makeup and couldn't tell what was marks and what was a pimple. When my periods returned my acne started getting terrible. I couldn't look at myself in the mirror. I wanted to figure out what was wrong with my ovaries and my acne. I went to a dermatologist who prescribed me epiduo and and antibiotic. For the first two months, my acne was the worst it had ever been. I would have big painful cyst and a plethora of pimples on my cheeks everyday. It was terrible and I was definitely feeling discouraged. It sucks having to put makeup on every time you leave the house and then being self-consious about the way your face looks. I went to see my eye doctor during this time who was worried because my vision got a lot better (i've always had bad eyesight, and vision getting better very quickly can be a sign of diabetes) so she wrote me a referral to see an endocrinologists. I took a bunch of blood tests and found out what no doctor could seemed to have pin point over the years, I have PCOS. The doctor put me on 150 mg of metformin to take everyday. I don't know if it was because I've been taking metformin for about two weeks or that I was hitting the three month mark with my epiduo, but one day I woke up and the right side of my face (which has always been my worst side for breakouts) was dramatically cleared over night. I don't mean that I woke up to porcelain skin, but there were no new breakouts and some of the marks had faded tremendously. My right side decided to break out a little bit, but for the most part has cleared up. I'm about four weeks in on metformin and fourteen weeks on epode and eight weeks on the antibiotic. I have four tiny pimples around my mouth, which is probably due to my period, but the rest of my skin is slowly healing. I still have some slightly red and pink marks, as well as two very tiny pock marks, and a little uneven skin - but its better than dealing with acne and I know it takes time for my skin to completely reheal and resurface itself. On top of the medications I use a BHA exfoliant everyday (to help with resurfacing and the marks) and an acne face wash with chamomile and aloe for redness. If I need to clean off my makeup I use dove sensitive skin. I know hormonal acne is the worst and it's easy to get discouraged, but it takes time and a lot of patience. Metformin alone probably won't fix it completely, but seeing a derm will help. I think it takes more than one thing to keep hormonal acne under control. Good luck to everyone! xx

Hi all just thought I would share my story.
I would say to all you young ladies out the avoid the pill especially Yasmin I was put on that in 2007 after previously bring on another pill and was told to come off the pill for medical reasons.
then my skin got bad so doctor put me on Yasmin as said would help my skin but no other checks done so didn't find out I had pcos until 2014/15 when came off Yasmin only to find this time around the acne was even worse!
this time last year I couldn't work or even leave my house due to having the worst cystic acne all over my face it disfigured my face and caused so much pain and upset. Anyone that suffers acne will know how hard it is to deal with it on its own let alone with any other condition!

anyway the NHS never helped apart from 5 different antibiotics that did nothing, many different lotions /lethal. Potions nothing worked. They said Roaactune but I refused to try it and said it must be my hormones as not having periods every time I missed one skin got worse.

Then periods stopped for 5-6 months they said I was pregnant that's why bad skin!
Waited for 3 month scan to be told not pregnant it's PCOS with many cysts on both ovaries.
they then just gave me a leaflet and said watch what I eat and excercise. There's unfortunately. No cure!!
anyway. Went private to see endocrinologist as was not referred to be told why have they not given me Metformin? They wrote to my GP and since July last year I take 1 x 500mg tablet per day the slow release ones as other ones made me sick.
Ever since my periods have returned!!
my hair loss has calmed down ! My light hair growth has stopped (but still left with hair in places I didn't have before!)
the most important thing out of it all is my cystic acne has eased massively so obvious it was hormone related and I am now just dealing with all the scars all over my face and break out a little more towards time of the month but I can handle that.

since having pcos I am more conscious oF what I eat .
any I have a daily routine of products and make up I use to get by!

also now worried if I do get pregnant will the acne return?

acne scars you for life and it's just a shame it is not taking so seriously by your GP!
i have set up Twitter page advice4pcos and any tips stories or products used please share let's all help each other!

if you have rea this thank you and I can only hope I gave someone else hope take care