Hi, any help or advice would be appreciated so much! I started getting hormonal acne when I started my peroid at 13 (I'm 20 now), it was VERY minor just a spot on my chin and in between my eyebrows every month. I wanted this to stop so I was prescribed Zarah birth control back in the fall. Within 2 weeks, acne covered my face in a U shape around my mouth, like HUGE pimples filled with puss or clear liquid that would turn into open wounds. I stuck with it for 5 packs and it just got worse, I was literally so depressed. I quit about 6 weeks ago and since I haven't had any new huge pimples but I'm still having problems.
My cheek and jawline (I'd never had acne in those areas before birth control) continues to slightly breakout, but it's much better this week. My chin has been a major problem, it's much worse than it was before the birth control still. Also, a week after I quit Zarah my forehead (which remained fairly clear on Zarah) started breaking out horribly. It's still breaking out every week since, but the breakouts get smaller everytime.
Additionally, my right side has remained almost clear since quitting, while my left side has been breaking out- while I was on the BC my right side was the worst, so it's strange. Before I never had one side that was worse than the other. And on the left side around my mouth is covered in tiny pimples, I've never had tiny pimples until BC.
It's a million times better than it was 6 weeks ago, but it hasn't improved much at all in the last 2 weeks. So I'm wondering, is this normal to still be having acne? Will my skin ever return to normal? I feel so helpless. Ive tried everything, BP, SA, GA, Retin A, Witch Hazel, honey, cinnamon. Tea Tree Oil seems to be the only thing not causing more problems. 4 months ago I got a strong topical from my doctor but it did NOTHING. She's on rest from pregnancy so I'm trying to get in to see a Derm but I need a referral and her office is taking forever.
Will my face ever go back to normal? What should I do? Thanks for any advice.
Hi honey,
i had terrible break outs from microgynon pill.
I did what you did and tried a million different remedies to try and clear my spots, but it seemed to make it worse!!
If you can, step away from those products and choose one product and stick to it.
Randomly, Bio oil and Coconut oil are the only two things that calm my skin down.
They soothe the soreness and take down a lot of redness.
The occassional asprin wash helps also.
But less is more, I find. Sticking to one product gives your skin time to get used to it and register the benefits.
Hope this helps 
I was on Zarah too, switched to Yasmin, same issue as you. My acne had gotten so much worse. I tried to deal with it for 8 months, drs kept saying it would get better. Nope! When I got off it my acne gradually went back to just one spot every few days where as before it was like 2-4 spots a day. It will get better! Look into your diet, get your hormones checked and thyroid if you havent already, or if you can handle birth control pills try another one. Theres also spironolactone, but I couldn't handle it
It sounds like hormonal acne for sure (since it was a hormone pill that triggered it and the areas affected)
I had hormonal acne for many years after stopping birth control pills, but Ive found a few things that work. As far as topicals go, they just don't work so well on hormonal acne. You'll have to tackle this one from the inside out.
DIM plus from nature's way is the only thing that keeps me clear around my mouth, otherwise I too get the U shaped line of acne. I take two pills a day, another option is Estrosmart from Lorna Vanderhaege, never tried it myself but has great ingredients and good reviews, its intended specifically to treat hormonal acne. This will help if you have too much estrogen (estrogen dominance is a common cause of acne) but if you find it makes acne worse (because just to be confusing-low estrogen also causes acne), then you may be estrogen deficient, in which case you should try supplementing with phytoestrogens like pueraria mirifica. I started out estrogen deficient due to bfing, and then went back to my original state of estrogen dominant after supplemts, after which time DIM helped me. It can take some trial and error if you don't want to get your hormones tested at the doc, but even those tests can be unreliable.
I had to clear up my diet as well--no more dairy. Dairy has a lot of hormones from the cows in it, if you are sensitive to hormones it could make acne worse. Refined sugar also messes with hormones (insulin fluctuations) so I cut that out too. Caffeine can negatively impact hormones (raises estrogen) so cut back on coffee and caffeinated tea.
Other supplements to consider with regulating hormones are Vitamin C (1000mg-helps progesterone), Magnesium bisglycinate (trophic brand-4 pills per day), Zinc (get one with copper included) and Vitamin D (2000-4000 UI per day) will all help regulate hormones.
Try drinking peppermint tea (2-3x per day) if you find acne gets worse around ovulation, you only need to drink it during ovulation.
Do you find you get acne more during the first phase of your cycle (period and pre-ovulation) or the second (ovulation and pre-period) ? Because that could help you figure out if its more of a progesterone thing or an estrogen thing.
Hi Exning, if you find you get more acne during the first phase of your menstrual cycle (the follicular phase) then it is most likely estrogen/testosterone related. Theres a lot of confusing info out there about hormones and the role they play in acne, you could be estrogen deficient or testosterone dominant. Sine you don't get acne (or not as much) during the second phase its likely your progesterone is good.
The pill depletes the body of several different nutrients; specifically B vitamins (especially B6) and vitamin C. You should consider supplementing with these two things, or the C and a B complex (just be sure to get a good quality one, specifically with B12 in the form of methylcobalamin instead of cyanocobalamin)
To a lesser extent it also depletes Zinc, folate (folic acid supplements would help), magnesium AND they can hugely disrupt the gut flora. You should consider a high quality probiotic as well as a yeast cleanse (preferably done with diet, not pills)
Theres another supplemt, called Biotics Cytozyme PT/HTP:
"Hormonalbirth control wreaks havoc on this system and actually shut off our bodys hormonal negative-feedback loop.Its like adding a space heater and the furnace shuts off because it isnt needed.Supporting the negative-feedback loop through supplementation provides support during a period of hormonal catastrophe. Going back to the heating example, the right supplement can help wake the furnace up again so things function as normal.
Biotics Cytozyme PT/HPTis a unique supplement containing lamb pituitary and hypothalamus tissue. Glandular treatment the ingestion of small amounts of animal glands is a traditional treatment practiced by ancient healers from across the globe.The pituitary and hypothalamus tissue (from lamb) in this supplementdirectly affects the performance of your own pituitary and hypothalamus, the key players in the negative feedback loop.Most women benefit by taking 2-5 tablets per day, taken in divided doses with breakfast and lunch, for the duration of 1 2 bottles."
[Edited link out]
I've personally never tried this, but it might be worth checking out.
If you are indeed estrogen deficient, supplementing with a phytoestrogenic herb would help. I can really only recommend pueraria mirifica because its all I have tried, but it can be hard to find (anywhere besides breast enhancement siteslol) Try taking it, or another estrogenic plant starting on day 1 (first day of your period) until day 15(approx. when you ovulate)and then stop untilday 1 again. Other estrogenic herbs include red clover, hops, and black cohosh. Theres some evidence to suggest estrogen deficiency can cause acne.It might be worth while for you to quit the DIM while doing this, at least WHILE you take the estrogenic herbs, as it may influence their efficacy, just see how it goes. If your acne gets worse then consider you are more likely estrogen dominant and resume the DIM as well as supplement with the other vitamins I listed.
It may also be that you have too much testosterone, or more specifically, too much DHT. spearmint or peppermint tea would help, as would the estrogenic herbs. You could consider taking an inositol supplement as well. herbsthat block the conversion of testosterone to the acne-causing DHT might be worth it to look into. Examples; saw palmetto, pumpkin seeds, fenugreek, and drinking qualitygreen tea.
Because DIM helped you though, I wonder if it might not be related to progesterone as well. You could try EstroSmart, which contains DIM as well as other proven ingredients that help raise progesterone. You could try taking it only during the second phase of your cycle, as it may exacerbate estrogen deficiency during the follicular phase if that is indeed what you have.
So unfortunately I dont have a simple answer for you. At the least I would REALLY recommend you take those vitamins that the pill causes deficiencies in, in the end that may be all you need as they are all related to acne in some study or other.