Hello everyone,

So I never post reviews/stories/pictures on sites like these but in the past few days, I realized that I want to give back to this community - you guys have helped me out so much. Here it goes: 

When I was in high school, I never had acne. In fact, all my friends would compliment my skin and I remember a girl telling me that she was jealous (I had no idea about skin care or what good skin even meant). Early college I started to get breakouts around my period. There were a couple times in the summer when I was traveling that my skin would flare up really bad, but it was manageable. However, I looked forward to the winter months - the weather seemed to suit me and I would rarely breakout during my period. Last summer (2014) I interned outside of my city, and moved out into my own apartment. My skin was perfect. My bf at the time even noticed. Everyone noticed. I mean I did not wear make up, I just practiced good hygiene. When I say skin goals, that is where I want to be.  Then November of 2014, right before I graduated college, my skin went crazy. 

I mean first it was all over my forehead, and I thought that it was stress related. Then it spread to my cheeks, and it was painful, in combination with white heads. My skin felt dehydrated, was red and blotchy, and my pores were visible - something that I had never experienced before. Soon it was concentrated solely on my chin - deep, large, stubborn acne. And always around my period (sometimes when I was ovulating). Fast forward to this summer (2015) - I signed with that company, so moved again. And no surprise, I had the worst flare up ever - I mean a beard of whiteheads and cysts in places I had never had acne before - my upper lips, nose, chin, hair line. It was awful. I skipped work for a couple of days. (It was strange that I also got a hive-like reaction all over my body at the same time. But I think that may be because I tried full body waxing and had ingrown hairs, hence infection in my follicles.) Now my cystic acne flares-up before my period, and because of the stubborn nature of the pimples, it lasts all month. I also notice that in the past year, my body hair grows like animal fur, thick and fast. I have intense mood swings and anxiety - I cry for no reason. And the hair on my head is thinning and falling out. SO WEIRD. I could feel some sort of change was happening within my body. I started to take care of it - yoga, eating right, drinking more water and taking vitamins. Nothing helped. 

Anyways, I got tired of it. It became unpredictable and started to effect my self-esteem. I am 22 and should not feel this way. My job requires me to be professional, and to be frank, when I wear a suit, I feel a teenager playing dress-up because of my face. So I decided to go to the gyno (did not go to derm because a) too expensive and b) I did not want to try topicals). She prescribed Yaz. 

(2 weeks of) Yaz Experience: 

Day 1 - Its a Sunday. I can't sleep. Nauseous. Vomited twice. Slept sitting up.
Day 2 - Headache all day and night. Nauseous.
Week 1 - Nausea and headaches. Acne seems to be improving but that may be because I am done with my period.
Week 2 - Wow, it has started to improve already. My hair isn't falling out. I started using Apple Cider Vinegar as toner (I was afraid of the initial break out people experience on bc so I wanted to minimize bacteria growth on my skin). This morning I woke up with NO ACTIVE CYSTS, AND NO PAIN ON MY FACE. I am not going to get hopeful just yet. There is no way that it can work that fast. I am going to prepare for the worst -  a beard like cyst break out at the end of the month before my period. 

I know that this is long. But I've been meaning to write this out for a while. PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF ANYONE HAS ANY QUESTIONS. I WANT TO HELP. Acne sucks. But this forum is great for not feeling alone.  I will keep updating this for a few months.