Green Gables,

I always had clear skin (none of the knocking on wood has helped me apparently). Even as a teenager I only had mild breakouts. I've been taking birth control for about 8 years and now trying to stop. I know, I know, has anyone heard that one before? Anyways, tried last year, succeeded for 6 months, had an emotional breakdown about my acne (" I am the ONLY person in the world with acne at this age" heard that one?) and went back on the pill. Now I am trying again, but this time I decided to do it right. Treat my skin before I went off get it completely clear (on retinoids) and then stop. Now I stopped and acne is starting its little feast. I spoke to my derm and she prescribed spiro. But I went online and found lots of anecdotal evidence of severe problem when withdrawing from it, in fact, much worse than coming of birth control. People reported having problems not only with acne coming back with a vengeance but also severe hair loss.

Now I have read your other posts and know you are really smart and informed. So I am sincerely wanting to know about your take on it.

Also, I am deciding to stick to more natural methods for as long as I can hang in there (I'm on month three of post BC and last time I made it to month 6). What are your experiences? I had never heard of Saw Palmetto before. I saw you posted that it's for men. Are you familiar with anything of the sort that would be beneficial for women?

If you don't mind me asking, are you a man or a women? In all other respects it would not matter, but as we are speaking hormones, I would obviously base myself more closely on your experience if you are woman. makes sense no?

Thanks for the informative post. As you know if you check your msgs I am you huge fan!

Retinoids

I actually don't recommend retinoids unless you are already completely clear and are using them for anti-aging effects.

Why? Retinoids increase cell turnover and also increase collagen.

EXACTLY two of the things that androgens do!

When you increase cell turnover and increase collagen at the same time, you basically put thicker skin near follicles. This makes it easier for sebum plugs to form.

Retinoids also are an irritant to the skin, a fact that has been documented over and over again, but is glossed over by well-meaning dermatologists.

I have experimented with retinoids when I was clear of acne, but still had some tiny little clogged pores. Guess what happened? Those tiny little clogged pores, barely visible, would become a full-blown zit after a few days on retinoids. I could reproduce this effect over and over again. So if you have ANY clogged pores or tendencies to clogged pores, all you are going to do with retinoids is give yourself worse acne.

Spiro

Okay, let's just talk about side effects for a minute. There are no guarantees with any treatment, natural or prescription, that you won't get side effects. A treatment that works wonderfully for you may give horrible side effects to your neighbor. There just are no guarantees here.

Compared to other medications (like Accutane), spironolactone is relatively mild. You may experience some side effects initially. For MOST people, these side effects completely disappear.

These side effects are:

- Spotting during periods

- Shift in your menstrual

- Temporary light hair shedding

- Some lightheadedness (make sure you stay hydrated)

- Increased urination

Yes, as with any hormonal treatment that clears your skin, once you stop the treatment the acne will come back. Some people swear the acne is worse when they stop spiro, or stop birth control pills, or whatnot. Sometimes it's true. Sometimes though, we just forget how bad it really was.

For someone who never had acne, yeah, sometimes the big change in hormones after BCP is a shock, and you will get worse acne than you did before. Dramatic hormonal fluctuations are generally a bad idea.

Whether or not you want to take spiro is a personal choice. It has worked wonderfully for me and many other women. Really all you can do is weigh your options and make a decision for yourself.

Saw Palmetto

Saw Palmetto can be used for women as well. For women, I would start out at 620mg a day. Use capsules of extract standardized to 85%+ fatty acids.

I recommend it for men, simply because men can't get a prescription for spiro. But many women have used it to clear acne.