When I've talked to my doctor in the past about spotting he's given me the impression it can be remedied by raising estrogen. So possibly low estrogen?

Thanks for the reply. Do you know then what hormone causes spotting (low estrogen-high testosterone, or something else)?

Thanks for the reply. Do you know then what hormone causes spotting (low estrogen-high testosterone, or something else)?

I am not entirely sure, but I do think it is because of low estrogen. Do you take bcp? My obyn says high estrogen pills like zovia or ortho cyclen are supposed to help with this.

Thanks. Im avoiding bc pills due to the long-term effects of synthetic hormones and the rebound effect Ive experienced when coming off of bc (ie, explosion of acne).

I don't recommend bcp to anyone unless it's absolutely necessary. They gave me really scary side effects. But that's just my personal opinion

Hormones are really complicated and I'm not sure if it is just one hormone that causes the spotting or whatever issues you're having. Where's the easy button, right?

Have you tried vitex? It has regulating effect upon the pituitary gland and it tells your body how much hormones to produce. Basically it should help balancing the ratio between estrogen and progesterone. It has helped me a lot with irregular periods and bad cramps. Haven't cleared my skin though but maybe it would help with your situation.

Thanks. I also want to avoid bc because of past bad experiences and long term effects. I have never tried vitex but I have recently started inositol again. My main concern is acne so I'm not sure I would want to try vitex if it's not likely to help with acne specifically.

It has helped a lot of people with their acne based on the reviews. It depends what's causing it for you. I have high DHEA and that's probably responsible for my acne so that explains why vitex didn't clear my skin (it has helped a little but not completely clear..) If your problem is progesterone-estrogen then maybe it would help. But that's hard to know without having your hormones tested 8/

I've done a lot of research and it tells me that if your spotting occurs in the few days before your period, it's caused by low progesterone or by a too-sudden drop in progesterone. Both my estrogen and progesterone are quite low and I'm still looking for a fix to my hormonal acne. Tried pretty much everything except for spiro and accutane.

Thanks Aingealag, Im on spiro and it worked well to control the breakouts and spotting until last year when it no longer controlled these issues, however, I also have PCOS symptoms, so the spotting and breakouts could be related to insulin. Ive read the progesterone increases during the period and that can result in increased inflammation. And when I took progesterone cream it did not help with the spotting or breakouts.