Acne.org Products
Hello everyone!
I kind of decided on a whim to make a log to track my progress transitioning off oral antibiotics and onto hormonal birth control to help my skin. Here's a bit of background on my journey so far:
My skin was almost perfectly clear in childhood. The summer I turned 18, I had my first hormonal breakout. I went to a dermatologist and they prescribed me minocycline, which I took consistently until it cleared up my skin. I then stopped taking it competely.
Fast forward one year. During this one year period my acne was under control; one or two pimples while I was PMSing but that was about it. But suddenly, the hormonal acne decided to come back. I went to a different dermatologist who prescribed me doxycycline, which I again took until my skin cleared up.
One more year. At this point I was 20, and had just come back from a 4 month study abroad in Japan. The month I came back, my face exploded in hormonal acne worse than it had ever been. It took me until March to see another dermatologist, who prescribed me Bactrim and told me that in order for these periodic breakouts to stop, I needed a more permanent fix to get my acne under control rather than just jumping between antibiotics.
My skin did clear up after this breakout, but even a year later I still have hyper pigmentation, texture issues and even a couple ice-pick scars. I'm not complaining because my skin is loads better than it was last year, but it's far from what it looked like in high school.
I have been consistently taking the Bactrim, even though I haven't had a pimple in months. I was just prescribed Trinessa (I am taking the generic Tri Sprintec) for contraception as well as hormone therapy. I know this is not one of the brands of bcp commonly associated with treating acne, but have heard some good things and am optimistic that I can solve my acne with what I have at my disposal now.
I will start taking my birth control tomorrow evening. In addition, I am currently using the Acne.org Regimen WITHOUT BP right now. I will start incorporating the BP tomorrow as well, to try and combat any initial breakout from the birth control. My dermatologist also recommended I continue taking the Bactrim for the first three months of my birth control, to help with this as well.
I think a weekly update will be enough to document my progress, so here's hoping everything goes well!
Week 1
Okay, so it's been a little over a week since I introduced birth control and bp into my life, and I have a few things to say.
Overall: my skin looks good. I had no new pimples this week. And I don't know if it's the Regimen moisturizer or the amount of sleep I got this weekend, but my old scars are significantly less prominent / red.
I'm also having no adverse side effects to the pills (yet, fingers crossed).
However, my skin did NOT take to the bp like I thought it would.
The morning I woke up after applying the tiniest amount of it all over my face, my skin was bright red all over, puffy and warm. I know it is supposed to be irritating, but after the first night?
I know I shouldn't have, but I didn't apply bp again this week after that. It took 4 or 5 days for my skin to look "normal" after that; however, my skin is still peeling a bit in places. I decided it was worth it because I met my coworkers at my new job this week and didn't want their first impression of me to be a tomato with a body.
I'll probably get back on the horse once I muster up the courage again. But so far, I'm not discouraged since my skin is looking good! I'm still taking the Bactrim as well.
Week 2
At the beginning of this week, I saw ONE actual pimple pop up on my face, but it faded on its own in 2-3 days. I could feel a few other smaller ones in my problem areas (cheeks, chin) but thankfully they went away before they had a chance to grow into actual blemishes.
It's almost as if I could visibly see that the antibiotics were fighting the birth control caused acne, which is a bit comforting really.
So far, my skin still looks good. I'm not having any harmful side effects from going on the bcp yet besides a little moodiness.
Still have not restarted the bp, may try again soon.
I think the Regimen moisturizer is doing a good job of keeping away redness on my face, and my acne scars are looking lighter as well.
All in all a good week skin-wise!
Week 3
I've been continuing my routine as usual. Not much to report, other than one pimple that popped up yesterday near my chin. I usually get one or two around my period, so I'm thinking (and hoping) that's the case with this one. Thankfully, the few blemishes that I have gotten since starting bcp have been fairly small and clear up quickly! So I'm not too worried at the moment.