Hi all!

I'm new to acne.org so I apologize if this post is in the wrong forum.

I've struggled with really persistent moderate acne since I was 12 or 13. Nothing, absolutely nothing has ever worked 100% for me. I've seen about 3 different derms and they've all prescribed me cream after cream that never made my acne budge. The only thing that came close to working was antibiotics (doxycycline, minocycline, all the freaking cyclines) but I was still never clear on them. After being on minocycline for a year I started having dental issues. Turned out the antibiotics were causing my gums to turn white and my teeth were coming loose. I came off of the antibiotics and started the endless search for an OTC product that would work for me. I've tried everything. E-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g. I know most of us here feel the same way, so it's not like I'm some special kind of freak with acne. It's just killing my self esteem now. I mean COME ON, I'm a mom now! This should be a distant memory along with all my high school days.

By the time I was 22 and still struggling with the acne, I went on the Mirena for birth control. I had tried every other oral birth control on the market and was "allergic" to all of them. They all caused my bp to spike and eventually I got a blood clot. About 6 months after I got the Mirena my acne BLEW UP. It went from moderate/persistent to severe, nodular/cystic persistent acne. Along with the almost disfiguring acne, I was blessed with 20 extra pounds around my midsection, arms and legs. Lovely. I'm a clean eater except for my morning coffee. Everything else comes from farmer's markets or the outside perimeter of the grocery store. There's no way I gained weight because of too many spinach leaves in my vegan veggie wraps....

I only left my house for grocery shopping since I worked from home. I avoided all public interaction. Dark times. I went to my OB who gave me the Mirena to show her what was going on and all she had to say was, "It's impossible that you would break out or gain weight because of the Mirena. The hormone is only released locally in your uterus. It's absolutely impossible for it to get into your blood stream." Another 6 months goes by after the failed attempt to alert my OB about my issues and I finally broke down and scheduled an appointment with my dermatologist to try accutane. He put me on spironolactone first to try and control the obvious hormone-craze my body was going through. The spiro didn't even touch the acne. It only caused me to have some major facial hair issues and I was constantly feeling like I had to urinate << gross I know. Absolutely no progress after 4 months of use. So, he said my only other option was Accutane.

My first few months on accutane were rough. Initial outbreak around 2. Cleared up almost completely during month 3. Acne came back with a vengeance in month 4. I came off of the Mirena while I was in my 4th month of Accutane because I couldn't handle the side effects anymore. I wasn't sexually active as my husband and I split so I wasn't worried about an unexpected pregnancy.

I have been on accutane for a full 6 months now. Today is my last day and I still have three active spots on my face (1 cystic, 2 normal) and tonnnnnnnns of red marks. This is insane. Please tell me that some of you other girls have eventually gotten over the Mirena-induced acne and weight gain. This can't be permanent. I'm hoping that the accutane did its job getting rid of the acne I'd normally have without the Mirena and the leftover effects of the Mirena are just still trying to work their way out of my system.