Good luck! My doctor had no idea about any of the supplements I was taking, but she did say it's possible I have estrogen dominance (my DHEA was in the high "normal" range, but too high for my body type I think). She recommended myomin for me, which is a Chinese herb, but I chose to go with DIM to address the same symptoms and it worked. I was already seeing improvements with inositol, but not for the estrogen balance.

I hope your doctor is more knowledgeable than mine...

So sorry the sp didnt work for you! I think the best is to cut all suplements untill your appointment with the doctor, since it is close. Maybe your acne is an allergic reaction to the paracite after all.

P.s. The mask is enhancing your eye color!!

Update as of 4/24/2014:

Hmmm a lot has happened since my last post. I stopped taking any herbal remedies including the Chinese herbs. About a month ago, I had a blood test and my DHEA was super high and my Vitamin D levels were slightly low. I saw a doctor and we are doing a few things: scanning my adrenals to make sure everything is okay, she re-ran a CBC with diff and a few other panels (waiting on results), re-running a micronutrient test from Spectracell to see if I'm absorbing nutrients, and doing a salivary cortisol/DHEA test.

We went through all of my old labs and found that it's likely I have pernicious anemia so I have started b12 shots and also have been taking 10,000IU of D3 daily. My energy levels are starting to get a little bit better (after 8 b12 shots ... have to give myself 1 every day for 30 days then once/week then once/month most likely for life). While the B12 is taking care of my energy, I think the 10,000 IU of D3 is REALLY helping my skin. As I upped my D3 dosage, I noticed my skin getting better and better (will post pics soon). It's still not back to the pre-plan B level, but it's definitely looking so much better and I'm really grateful and happy!

I don't have any answers yet as I'm still waiting on a lot of results. What I'm learning is that the acne is trying to say something ... trying to alert me in a very aggressive way (Helloooo I'm right here IN YO FACE!) that something needs addressing internally. I'm not sure why the plan B triggered this reaction and the only thing I can think is that if my hormones were already out of balance and I took plan B twice in one year (once in March 2013 and once in Sept 2013) that I threw fuel on a fire. That, however, is all speculation! Sometimes we don't have the luxury of understanding exactly what is happening with our bodies ... we just listen to the symptoms and try to work together.

As frustrating as this year has been, I have to say that I'm super thankful that the plan B brought all of this to my attention. Hoping to resolve all of this (or at the very least have a better understanding of my body) in the near future. Will keep posting updates as I learn new things from tests. Keep working with and listening to your bodies!

Good luck! It seems like you were deficient in vitamin D if your body is improving on it. B12 injections can cause acne in some people, but maybe since you are deficient due to anemia your body is responding well to them.

I have a question: were the adrenal scans and tests expensive? I have been meaning to do them as well just to make sure everything is ok, but I'm worried about the cost since my insurance doesn't cover it.

Can you post the tests and panels you have been doing? It sounds like you found a doctor who is helpful...mine just waits for me to tell her which tests to order.

Good news, friend.

In the meantime i discovered two wonderful face masks working wonders on scars and red marks. Licorice and turmeric. I use the powder form mixed with yoghurt and honey. Optionally i add some drops of lemon or vinegar.

Latest i read on a post that if vitex is lessening the pms symptoms means it is working. So, for two cycles in a row my pms is going better. As the sp didnt work for you, have vitex in mind, just in case....

Those facemasks sound yummy! I wouldn't know whether to put them on my face or eat them hahaha!! I've heard such great things about the yogurt masks. Glad to hear they work on your scars! Most of my red marks are now scars instead of pimples.

@WishClean, she originally ran a blood hormone check which I suspect is what someone would run to check for PCOS and that's when my DHEA came back super high and my D was a little bit low from that blood work as well (covered by my insurance). 6 months prior, she ran a micronutrient test on me (see link) which checks your intracellular levels of your vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and amino acids. The micronutrient test is not covered by insurance and is a $190 co-pay plus the cost of an appointment for interpretation. The following vitamins & minerals were low for me: calcium, magnesium, D, glutathione, zinc, chromium, and I think there was one more; a few other levels were borderline like vitamin C, b12, and folate. Luckily, I work for the doctor so I got a discounted price and we just re-ran another micronutrient test to see if my levels have come back up and will know the results of that in a few weeks.

My blood tests from previous years indicated the anemia (and my symptoms) and it was interesting that my b12 was still borderline low in the micronutrient test even though I take a high dose of sublingual b12 so right now I'm doing b12 injections. Definitely noticing better energy and a lessening of some of my other symptoms (tingling, twitching, etc). I was nervous about the b12 injections causing acne but so far it's still going down, so I think it's more likely the high dose of D helping reducing the inflammation in my body. The doctor that I work for also thinks that my skin is bouncing back quicker from the high level of zinc I've been on for the past 6 months.

She re-ran a CBC/with differentials which measures your red blood cells and white blood cells and should be covered by insurance -- that can check for anemias and infections. We also did a salivary cortisol/DHEA test from Genova/Metametrix, I think that one was $95 or $99. I will get the adrenal scan on May 7th just to make sure everything is OK.

I got my salivary cortisol/DHEA test back and my DHEA was normal but my afternoon cortisol was slightly high. We're not sure why my DHEA was normal on this test when it was so high on the other test ... that might need further evaluation. Hopefully the salivary cortisol/DHEA test was right because those numbers were much better 😉 The adrenal scan is just a co-pay of $60 for me and I don't think it will cost anything further as insurance should cover it.

Update as of 5/19/14 ... Almost 8 months since taking plan B and having a breakout

I'm a month in to taking 10,000 IU of Vitamin D with K and a daily B12 subcutaneous injection. I've also been taking ubiquinol (CoQ10) and D-ribose to help with my energy levels along with my usual friends: magnesium glycinate, EPA/DHA fish oil, acnutrol multivitamin for acne, B complex, and occasional vitamin C. At some point in this journey, I stopped washing my face with the Neutrogena kit as I realized whatever was happening was not so much topical as a response to something internal. I switched back to a gentle non-soap organic cleanser and using a mixture of jojoba/vit E/witch hazel and more as a moisturizer. I keep putting a vitamin A/E serum under my eyes to undo the aging from the benzoyl peroxide. I do put BPO on my face at night still but might consider stopping soon.

OK now that that's out of the way! The ultrasound didn't reveal any growths on my adrenal glands (yay!!) and I have a doctor's appointment this Wednesday so I'm not sure what all of that means in terms of my DHEA levels. My skin has actually been getting better and better since being on 10,000IU vitamin D and daily injections of B12. Since I started both of them at the same time, I can't say for certain which one is clearing my skin but considering Vit D's anti-inflammatory properties and all of the warnings on the internet about B12 injections causing acne, I'm assuming the vit D is working it's magic! Part of me wonders if the high DHEA was my body's response to the plan B ... curious if this has happened to other women. Also, considering how much my acne is going away I'm wondering if my DHEA levels are returning to normal.

Check it out, my chin is completely cleared and my cheeks are *mostly* scars:

You are back!!!

Excellent improvement. Besides the scars you can look flawless in foundation. Now, if you have only scars stop the bp to help them heal faster. Put as many natural masks as possible. Honey is perfect eveywhere you add it. I have seen soooo good progress in my face with the eating masks lol!!! If you are not sensitive you can try a lactic peel also. Love!

wow, your skin is improving a lot! You are right about letting go of perfection. Acne forced me to do that too, and now I try to focus on other things rather than trying to be perfect in everything appearance-wise. I have some scarring still, but it's getting better with time. I do honey masks, yogurt masks, and sometimes I mix in some turmeric with yogurt....I stopped buying expensive face masks, I just make my own fresh ones.

What is acnutrol btw?

5beauty and wishclean you have both convinced me enough to try yogurt masks ... I've been scared because eating dairy makes my face breakout so I wasn't sure how it would be putting it on my skin. Thanks for your support along the way to both of you, it is really helpful and has made me feel less alone!

Acnutrol is a multi-vitamin from a company called Designs for Health. Here's a writeup on the ingredients and why they are in there. I had a micronutrient test done in October that told me that I was deficient in zinc, chromium, D, magnesium, calcium, and glutathione (antioxidant). I liked the acnutrol vitamin because it had the zinc and chromium in it to help me replete my micronutrient levels. I really do think taking the acnutrol has helped lessen the scars & hyperpigmentation.

Wooo my face is getting better and better this summer! I'd even argue that, while my skin still has scars that are healing, my skin itself is looking healthier than it has EVER. Now that I'm not breaking out anymore, I've been able to use my clarisonic brush for exfoliating (a few times a week). Before, my acne was too inflamed to attempt any kind of exfoliation ... it only made it worse ... my skin needed gentleness. I've also been using honey/lemon masks and this Diva Stuff Acne Scar lotion from amazon. A few notes: I tried honey/yogurt masks but the yogurt makes me break out around my mouth for some reason (same reaction if I eat dairy). So I switched to just honey and lemon. I also tried honey/lemon/aloe and got a little bit of a rash around my eyes so again went back to just honey and lemon -- seems to be good enough for me, nothing fancy. The acne scar lotion works amazingly on my cheeks and I don't really put it elsewhere because I don't really need it.

Does anyone know if manuka honey really makes a difference??

This month is my clearest luteal phase since taking plan B. I will post pictures sometime later!!

I've been told if I add a zinc oxide lotion it will make a huge improvement and have heard good things about MyChelle's zinc oxide. I'm just waiting to finish my diva stuff cream before trying something new ... there's always that hesitancy to mess up a good regimen and also to waste money on products that won't work for me. I will also start steaming my face with sea salt water again soon, I've just been lazy with that but I had really good results with clearing scars in the past by steaming a few times a week.

Overall, I'm super happy and proud of my skin for making it through a difficult period!! We are resilient (meaning all of us here on our personal acne & health journeys). I've still got some health issues going on and have some more testing lined up but overall, I feel way better than I did in the Fall in terms of mood, health, and of course skin health!

Supplements I'm still taking: liquid liposomal methyl B12, magnesium glycinate, d-ribose, b complex, 10,000IU vitamin D ... moving down to 5,000IU soon, fish oil

Face wash routine: Nutribiotics non-soap cleanser, diva stuff acne scar cream for my scars -- not currently using a moisturizing since my skin is naturally moisturized these days, clarisonic brush for exfoliating, honey/lemon masks for continued care.

Wishing you all continued success!!

So glad you see significant difference. My face is also 99% clear AND spot free. I still use the masks and just a drop of bp at night.

I havent used manuka honey. I just use raw greek honey and it gives great smoothness to the skin. I think manuka is kind of the same. Since you are allergic to yoghurt, better avoid it. Try to mix the honey/lemon mask with turmeric or licorice. Great for scar healing. If you get a little yellow from turmeric dont worry, it leaves.

I am waiting for your pics. If i knew how to upload i would post mine too. All my love!

I'm so glad you are 99% clear 5beauty! That's great to hear. You're right about turmeric ... I was using it before but stopped because it was making my face so yellow. When you mix it with the yogurt it doesn't make your face as yellow but I can't use the yogurt. I will try mixing a little bit of turmeric though to see how it goes! then maybe I can steam my face after and that might help get rid of the yellow. Thanks as always for your support and helpful solutions!

Here are my pictures:

Amazing that only 2 months ago my face looked like this:

I really think the Vitamin D3 and the B12 helped the most and I think the Acnutrol vitamin helped to stop me from getting severe scars. All speculation though 😉

WOW! This is getting better!!!

For the yellow hue just wash your face with baking soda and it will go! Make a paste of the soda and some water drops, apply smoothly and rinse off!

Thank you very much for your detailed story! It has been very helpful.

Can you please share which liquid Zinc helped your chin acne go away?

I am suffering from bad acnes on just my chin area (hormones seem to cause them). I probably have much androgens.

Thanks!

Update as of August 2015:

Here's my final update to the acne + Plan B story. It turns out that I have had undiagnosed Lyme disease for about 15+ years now and it got to the point where I had significant neurological involvement in the last year and a half. I wanted to update this in case anyone was googling "acne + plan B". I don't think having a major hormonal acne explosion is a typical response to the Plan B oral contraceptive pill, I think it's a good indicator of an underlying imbalance. In my case, I think the Lyme disease was already messing up my hormones and causing a lot of inflammation and when I threw plan B on top of that it was like adding fuel to a raging fire.

Repleting my supplements (especially Vitamin D & B12), taking good care of my skin, taking supplements for scar healing, eating really clean, using quality skincare products definitely all helped my acne get back under control. I still get occasional hormonal breakouts but it's nothing compared to where it was in 2014. However, i know that my skin won't be fully clear until I really address the Lyme disease and that is a work in progress. I've also been taking a good amount of antioxidants due to the Lyme disease (Liposomal C, Liposomal Alpha Lipoic Acid, and Liposomal Gluathione from LivOn labs) and those have been working wonders on my skin! When I am regular with the Glutathione and good with my diet & lifestyle my skin almost becomes acne free (!!!!!)

Not saying that everyone who has a major acne breakout in response to plan B has Lyme disease, but I think it definitely is an indicator that there is a pre-existing imbalance that was exacerbated by the pill (or just a bad reaciton/allergic reaction to that particular type of birth control). Our bodies give us so many clues when things are out of balance but we're often taught to just suppress/silence the symptom (like acne) instead of investigating the root causes (although that seems to be changing in certain medical circles).

Keep listening to your bodies and work with them and try to figure out what your acne is trying to tell you! Mine has been trying to tell me that I had a raging undiagnosed infection for years that was messing with my hormones and also backing up my body's detoxifcation pathways. Here's a picture from February of this year when my skin was looking pretty fantastic .... the less Lyme symptoms I have in a given month, the better/more vibrant my skin looks. It's a long road to go for treatment since I went undiagnosed for so long but I am hopefuly and looking forward to working WITH my body every step of the way! It needs me now more than ever.

March 2014 No makeup constrasted with Feb 2015 no makeup:

WOW!!! Your photos made me really happy for you....I hope the lyme disease is as under control as your skin. I'm glad you finally got diagnosed...acne is a sign that something is wrong with our body, and when we address the cause, the acne subsides. I found out I had a demoid cyst that had to be removed, plus other issues, on the way to healing my skin. Good luck to you with your recovery!

Are you seeing a homeopath/ naturopath/ doctor for the supplements you are taking?

WOW!!! Your photos made me really happy for you....I hope the lyme disease is as under control as your skin. I'm glad you finally got diagnosed...acne is a sign that something is wrong with our body, and when we address the cause, the acne subsides. I found out I had a demoid cyst that had to be removed, plus other issues, on the way to healing my skin. Good luck to you with your recovery!

 

Are you seeing a homeopath/ naturopath/ doctor for the supplements you are taking?

Thanks so much!!!! Thank you for following me and helping me out in the journey ) I'm definitely getting there with the Lyme disease ... I seem to have more and more good days as opposed to bad days which is amazing!

I'm working closely with an acupuncturist/Chinese medicine practitioner for the herbs and I have my Masters in Nutrition & Integrative Health so I've been using my own knowledge to pick and choose supplements. If I find anything useful for acne, I'll start a new topic. YES the skin speaks loud and clear about what isn't right! Glad to hear removing your cyst helped clear up your acne (in addition to the other issues).

 

Thanks so much!!!! Thank you for following me and helping me out in the journey ) I'm definitely getting there with the Lyme disease ... I seem to have more and more good days as opposed to bad days which is amazing!

 

I'm working closely with an acupuncturist/Chinese medicine practitioner for the herbs and I have my Masters in Nutrition & Integrative Health so I've been using my own knowledge to pick and choose supplements. If I find anything useful for acne, I'll start a new topic. YES the skin speaks loud and clear about what isn't right! Glad to hear removing your cyst helped clear up your acne (in addition to the other issues).

Thank you for sharing your journey, and I'm glad you are aware of the Lyme disease and how to approach it. Keep us updated here with your progress and best of luck to you! You look awesome!

I'm thinking of starting a thread for recommendations for good acupuncturists, Chinese medicine practitioners and other "alternative"practitioners (I will have to check acne.org's rules for listing services first). Would you recommend anyone? (I'm personally looking for someone in the New York city area as I'm moving there and have no idea). Do you treat patients as well? Your degree is so useful

 

 

Thanks so much!!!! Thank you for following me and helping me out in the journey ) I'm definitely getting there with the Lyme disease ... I seem to have more and more good days as opposed to bad days which is amazing!

 

I'm working closely with an acupuncturist/Chinese medicine practitioner for the herbs and I have my Masters in Nutrition & Integrative Health so I've been using my own knowledge to pick and choose supplements. If I find anything useful for acne, I'll start a new topic. YES the skin speaks loud and clear about what isn't right! Glad to hear removing your cyst helped clear up your acne (in addition to the other issues).

 

Thank you for sharing your journey, and I'm glad you are aware of the Lyme disease and how to approach it. Keep us updated here with your progress and best of luck to you! You look awesome!

 

I'm thinking of starting a thread for recommendations for good acupuncturists, Chinese medicine practitioners and other "alternative"practitioners (I will have to check acne.org's rules for listing services first). Would you recommend anyone? (I'm personally looking for someone in the New York city area as I'm moving there and have no idea). Do you treat patients as well? Your degree is so useful

I just found a practice Tao Integrative Medicine and I've heard great things about their practitioners. They do have some who practice in the NYC area:

http://www.taointegrativemedicine.com/team/

I might see one of their practitioners in Marlton, NJ or in the Philly area. Best of luck with your move!!!

I'm not currently treating anyone since working on myself is such a full time job!! But hopefully someday when I'm feeling better, I can help other people as well. It has been a really useful degree to help myself and to navgiate some of the information that I read.

Let me know how it goes if you end up seeing an acupuncturist in NY!

-Erin

Hi ,

I am so glad that I found your journal! I am having exactly same syptom as what you had gone through now. And I am very depressed about it.
I took plan B on July and I got a lot of tiny whiteheads on my chin area and now I have some painful cystic pimple in my ears and side of my face.
I have been eating really bad because I was going through a lot in my life. I agree what you said that Plan B prob trigger what I have had in my body.
Now I am ovulating, and breaking out is just terrible.
So which doctor should I go see and get blood test done? Did you just go to primary doctor?
So basically you said Vitamin B12 and D helped you calm your breaking out down, right?
I am so happy that your skin got back to normal.
I am very very sad about my breaking out now. Do you think eating less carb and working out helps as well?
I found that Reishi mushroom will help you lower your testosterone which I will give it a try.

Hi BearBear0220,

Sorry to hear your face is breaking out after plan B! At least in my case, I think part of the hormonal imbalances are/were due to me having undiagnosed Lyme disease and coinfections and the plan B seemed to trigger some kind of ongoing hormonal/inflammatory reaction.

I was working for an Integrative Medicine doctor at the time and she is the one who tested my hormones and we found that my DHEA was incredibly high. It eventually went back down. Yes at the time, B12 injections and high dose vitamin D seemed to help the inflammation come back down. However, to this day my skin still breaks out from time to time during my luteal phase. Some months it looks relatively good and then the next week it can look pretty bad. At least in my case, I have a feeling that my acne won't really be under control until I treat the Lyme disease. And if it's still not under control after that, I will go to a dermatologist to help. Liposomal Vitamin C with phosphatidylcholine from LivOn labs makes the biggest difference for me right now. When I take a few packets per day my skin starts to clear and if I forget to take it, I start breaking out again. I'm also using an at-home blue/red light therapy system and getting monthly facials to help.

I think it's a great idea to get to your doctor to have your hormone levels checked! Primary doctors are great because they're usually covered by insurance but if you want someone who is going to spend more time with you, you can check out integrative doctors -- they're just not always covered by insurance so can get pretty expensive. As for diet, yes I tried to do everything possible to reduce anything that is going to cause inflammation or increase androgen production (which requires reducing processed carbohydrates and sugars to reduce the insulin spikes and increasing vegetables and other anti-inflammatory foods). Something similar to the Paleo diet works well to reduce insulin spikes. Remember changing diet can be really challenging at first and it's okay if you slip up from time to time. Small changes really add up over time so just try to be patient and kind with yourself as you're making any changes.

Another great option is to see a dermatologist to see if there's anything you can do in the meantime. At the time when my face broke out, I was hesitant to see a dermatologist because my body was acting so strangely to all kinds of medications. And again, I kind of want to treat my Lyme disease and infections before adding any other kinds of medications from dermatologists, but they can do a lot more than medications these days and might be able to treat with things like laser therapy to help prevent and reduce scars.

So please don't feel alone or like you don't have too many options! Here's a summary of what we just talked about:

• See your primary, get a full check up and make sure you don't have any underlying issues or hormonal imbalances that have been exacerbated by plan B
• Try to incorporate more healthy eating, similar to a Paleo diet, to reduce your insulin spikes and to eat more anti-inflammatory foods
• There are plenty of vitamins and supplements that people have had success with on this website (check out the reviews). I've had success with B12, vitamin D, and Liposomal Vitamin C with Phosphatidylcholine from LivonLabs
• See a dermatologist to see what they recommend. If you are not interested in prescription medication or acne creams, ask them about alternatives like laser therapy.
• Be kind to yourself! I know how it feels to feel like you caused your acne by taking plan B ... but you chose to take plan B for very good reasons so forgive yourself for the after effects. It's also challenging to try to love yourself through the acne and to make diet changes, but I promise loving yourself and getting on board with your own healing (as if you were supporting a sick friend) can make a world of difference and makes it easier to try and stick to the different treatments.
• Treat yourself to facials from time to time ... they can be very relaxing and healing. Occasionally, aestheticians will try to "extract" your pimples which can be painful -- if you just want to have an enjoyable experience ask them to skip this part.

Wishing you the best of luck! I hope all of the inflammation comes down quickly.

Thank you for kind response!
And I amsorrythat you break out again. I did not know lime disease ccancause acne as well!!
Hope your skin get calm down soon!

I'm just adding this as an addendum here to this story. It's 2016 now and my skin is more clear than it has been in years! I found out that histamine in the diet was playing a significant role in maintaining my acne ... so I've been following a low histamine diet with great success (woo hoo!!!).

In other news, I've been thinking back to what triggered such a bad bout of acne to begin with. It's hard because there are many confounding variables: I had pre-existing untreated Lyme disease, I had pre-existing food intolerances and digestive issues. Then in September 2013, I did two things: I took Plan B emergency contraceptive and I took a round of Ciprofloxacin for a U.T.I. I was so sure it was the Plan B that caused the reaction because I had taken it before and it definitely aggravated my acne (but not THAT bad). I also had taken Cipro before and I never noticed whether it aggravated my acne or not; if so, the effects were not immediate. THEN! I recently came across information about how devastating the effects of fluoroquinolone antibiotics (like Cipro) can be. So I wonder if this breakout was so bad because it was fueled by both an increase in androgens from plan B and an adverse reaction to Cipro.

After that month in 2013, my health hasn't been the same and 2.5 years later I'm finally starting to feel more normal again woo hoo!! After reading about fluoroquinolone toxicity, my symptoms fit the bill and some other people experienced acne too.  The Cipro also seemed to trigger or aggravate some kind of histamine intolerance in me which was making the acne worse and making me react to even seemingly healthy things like fermented foods and nuts. Just wanted to update this though to point out that it may not have been plan B alone but the combination of taking plan B and Cipro so close together. I've attached a picture -- I have makeup on and a filter but I swear my skin is clear underneath everything. 
 

Find out if your insulin resistant if you are you will need to treat that with some supplements 
and quit sugar for good no dim or chinease herb or liver support will help if the problem is the conversion of insulin into testosterone
supplements that can help you if your are insulin resistant (that a simple blood test can tell you that) are: inositol, berberine, magnesium glycinate, Alpha-lipoic acid and vitamin d3 and this book called period repaire manual that you can get in amazon for 8 dollars
goood luck