Hi all,

It's been awhile since I've posted and I'd love some advice and to hear other people's experiences related to this.

I've had bad acne since the onset of puberty. I'm currently 30. I feel as though I've been on almost every topical and oral acne medication available. Retina, Accutane, Sprionolactone, Zinc, Fish Oil, Differin, and many other topicals made very little difference.

Then I finally went on a mid level estrogen birth control and it was an instant fix. I had perfect skin almost immediately. It seriously felt like a miracle after years of suffering!

Seriously, on birth control I can never wash my face, eat greasy food all day, and generally treat my skin terribly and I never get a single zit. Off birth control, I can wash 3 times a day, use medications, and eat vegan and my face is still covered it seeping pustules. It's clearly 100% hormonal acne.

So, I was on the same birth control for about a year and it started to wear off. By that I mean that I slowly felt my skin getting greasier and greasier and I started getting one or two zits again and it slowly got worse.

I went to my doctor and she suggested changing birth controls. I did, and again it was a miraculous correction. And again it only lasted about a year and my skin started to revert to it's greasier state.

So this has been a continual cycle, I've been on Yaz, Safyral, Necon, Brevicon, Apri, and possibly one or two others that I've forgotten. I've not been too good about keeping track of the strength of the various BC's I've been on and I've changed doctors/insurance/pharmacies over the years.

Has anyone ever experienced this?

What would you suggest?

Higher levels of estrogen?

Certain types of estrogen?

Mutli-phasic?

Something else?