Hi all, long time reader, first time poster. I'll try to keep this brief but it'll probably be too long : I had pretty bad skin as a teenager which kept me from dating or really doing much of anything where I'd stand out socially. During college, I ended up on a regimen which included a massive dose of B5 plus 8 skin care products. This worked for me 90% of the time. If drank too much alcohol, or didn't get much sleep, then I might get a minor breakout, but that was it. Huge relief!

I didn't start on birth control pills until I was 25. In some odd fluke compared to everyone I know, I was prescribed Ortho Cyclen to start. To this day, I've never encountered anyone else who takes it. Almost immediately my skin got even better, I cut my B-5 in half, went down to 3 skin care products, and was clear 99% of the time.

BUT I was sluggish and bloated all the time. I was working out regularly, counting my calories, and still felt like I had chronic fatigue. I was so happy with my skin, I managed these side effects for about 2.5 years, but then decided to ask about switching to something else. By that time I started taking for granted that my skin was okay, boy do I ever sympathize now. Next I was prescribed Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo. The next 12 months were skin hell--cystic acne just like being a teenager again, except I was 28. I tried eliminating all the usual dietary culprits--gluten, soy, dairy, processed sugars, carbs, along with more B5 again, topical treatments, the regimen here, but nothing made much of a difference. I worked on the trial and error all those months because I really wanted the low dose to work for me, I had loads more energy, but eventually I couldn't take it any longer. In desperation I went back and was given Yasmin, which I had a horrible reaction to, and then Ortho Tri Cyclen (not Lo). After 6 months on that, it was pretty clear that tri-phasic pills do not work for me. My skin wasn't quite as bad as on Lo (less cystic), but I still couldn't get it to clear up.

I then went off BCP altogether, thinking I'd just go back to my old college routine. Nope, didn't work. I did some reading, and to my disappointment found a couple studies which found that hormone levels often don't go back to "pre-BC" levels even after discontinuing use (specifically it seems that SHBG is a problem if you want to Google). I thought about getting an IUD, but the stories here kind of scared me off on that one, since my body is fairly sensitive as a general rule.

So after about 9 months of not taking anything, still battling the skin, I went and asked for Ortho Cyclen again. It's been two months since then; my skin is again 100% clear, and I again have no energy. Unbelievable. I'm 30 and want to have kids in the next 3 years, so this isn't a real solution for me. I don't want to be on antibiotics or accutane long term either. Has anyone who responded well to Ortho Cyclen found anything else that works for them? It appears to be my miracle skin cure, but is a double edged sword otherwise and I'd prefer something else. Thanks so much for reading!