Hi everyone

I haven't been very active on this forum yet, although I have been reading a lot of old posts recently. But I haven't quite found the answers to my questions just yet.

I'll start with my question up front, and if you are interested, you can read my acne story below, and why I am asking you guys (erm, ladies ) this question.

What I want to know about, is the experiences of switching from hormonal birth control to non-hormonal, such as Paragard. How was it for you? Did you manage to fight acne off (naturally)?

And now my story

I have struggled with acne for most of my adolescent life, and have been taking Yaz to fix it since late 2012 (I was 19 at the time, now 22). In the beginning, it really did the trick. It cleared up most of my acne. Not all of it though, I still had some pimples from time to time, but it was way less than before. It also helped me shorten my periods, they were a lot longer before I took Yaz.

At one point, the summer of 2013, I got mono. I feel that because of this, my immune system suffered a lot. A few months later, I was also diagnosed with rosacea. I used to get red when I exercised, but it always disappeared quite fast. In the months after I got mono, the redness became more permanent. This really brought me down, because I thought I had finally beat my skin's imperfections.

In 2014, my skin became gradually worse. I believe this happened because I used a lot of different chemical stuff to get rid of both acne and rosacea. I also picked my skin a lot.

In late 2014, after the summer, I was diagnosed with dry eye syndrom. I couldn't wear my contacts anymore, and I had to use eyedrops all day, every day. The veins in my eyes became more noticeable every day, and unfortunately, they will never go back to the beautiful white they had been before.

My GP pointed out to me that Yaz could be the cause of the dry eyes. At this point, I had already done tons of research on Yaz itself, and had become convinced that it was pure evil (the things you read about blood clotting and stuff).

I decided to quit Yaz, because I still kept getting pimples, which meant to me that it wasn't the ultimate cure I had hoped for. Also, at that time, I became very interested in healing yourself naturally, and stuffing yourself with synthetic hormones is obviously the complete opposite of that.

So I had quit Yaz. I was terrified that my acne would return as full-blown as it was before. The first few weeks, nothing much changed. After week 3 or 4, things did get worse. I got zits on places I hadn't had them in years, like my forehead. I also didn't notice a difference in the dryness of my eyes.

So when I got my next period, I started taking Yaz again. I had been off it for one month, and it took me two packs to get back (sort of) to where my skin was before quitting. I still have some scars from that month, because I started picking again.

The funny thing is, my eyes got better in the month I started taking Yaz again, and they became better and better. Until two weeks ago. I believe that this happened because the Yaz hormones were sort of out of my system for a while, and therefore, my eyes got better. But now that the hormones have become active again, my eyes are getting worse, just like before.

I am now on the verge of starting with my fourth pack of Yaz. However, I really feel like I should try something else, that doesn't contain hormones. Something like Paragard, or Gynefix (a smaller version of Paragard, that causes less issues).

Obviously, if I switch, my acne will return. But I feel I will be much more able to handle it this time. For the last two months, I have been using natural products mostly. I wash my face with oatmeal, and use raw honey on whatever acne or clogged pores I have. I haven't use a chemical cleanser in almost a month, and it has been great! I take quite a few supplements, such as zinc and vitamin d3 as well.

So, what I want to know about, is the experiences of switching from hormonal birth control to non-hormonal, such as Paragard or Gynefix.

Looking forward to your replies!