In my twenties I took many different types of birth control for exactly that (controlling an unwanted pregnancy) I took Diane 35 with no problems at all. I think I stayed on it for about six months and then the Doctor switched me to something else. There was a point in my life that I had clear skin almost all the time and looking back at the pictures I have to prove that I did, is a very hard pill to swallow. I always got the usual zit around that time of the month or on occasion (but was very rare) I would get a cluster of deep cysts but again it was rare for me and usually happened when I was extremely stressed out. For the most part though, my skin cooperated with me.
Now, I am 33 years old and starting at about the age of 31 my skin took a turn for the worse. I have no idea what is going on?!! It is very upsetting to go through life with almost perfect skin and then to get to an age where this shouldn't be happening and NOW it is. I am constantly broken out, huge cystic type things all over my cheeks (especially the right side) and all over my forehead and between my eye brows, on my chest and even on my back!! My skin is like an oil slick, it's disgusting! I have woken up swollen on several different occasions and have missed out of certain family functions because my face was in such a bad state , that I felt so embarrassed to leave my house. Actually, I have turned into a hermit these days and have isolated myself away from people.
I have tried almost everything! The regimen, cutting out dairy and meat (because of the hormones) eating fresh green veggies and fruit, cutting out sugar, detoxing, fasting, drinking clean water and light herbal teas, exercise, bikram yoga, taking vitamins (such as vitex) ice packs, rubbing advil onto the bumps, not popping them, to popping them, not touching my face at all, wearing my hair tied up in a tight bun, jojoba oil, BP, topical things that don't work, lavendar wash, tea tree oil, changing my pillow case everyday, I have stopped wearing makeup altogether and if I do need to put it on to go out (which is never) I wear physicians formula , no brushes, no sponges, just clean hands.....What to do??
I went to the Doctor and he prescribed me Diane 35 only for a short time (just until my skin clears up). But, I am scared of all medication, especially this medication and I often prefer to do healthy things for my body. But, I'm so desperate now , so depressed I cant even leave the house! So, I went and got the prescription filled and have been on this pill for about one week. I have used this medication in the past and didn't have any issues with it, but, I am really worried about all these contraindications I am reading about I have a small child and I worry that this medication is going to kill me in my sleep and he is going to find me dead in the morning. My doctor has also ordered blood work to be done (I guess to check my hormone levels) I'm hoping they can get to the bottom of this.
Does anyone out there have any other suggestions for a not so scary birth control? Or is there something else a person with these issues can try that I might not have heard about ? How do women out there deal with adult acne? This is horrible, embarrassing and it's taking a toll on my well being. Is adult acne usually caused by a hormone imbalance? Are there any positive stories about taking DIane 35? If so, please share.....I'm so scared!
Hey
I am kinda on the same boat, I'm 27 and been on and off birth control for about ten years. Been off it for about a year and a half and my skin was great, not really had any problems with my skin during most of my twenties. But at the end of last year it just went crazy. I tried all those things too, cutting out certain food, vitamins, green tea, trying to regulate my hormones, anyway....the dermatologist told me to go back on dianette, which is diane 35 in the uk. I didn't want to go back on it, mainly because I wanted to control things naturally, but do you know...sometimes all the natural things in the world wont work like prescription drugs, so I took control on things and started dianette. I read the scare stories too, they honestly don't bother me, although I can understand that having a child would make me thing differently. My doctor took my blood pressure and said it was actually quite low, which is good, they worry when it is high. And said that I am slim, don't smoke and have no other risks, I have read forms where woman have taken it for ten years or more. Just look out for any symptoms, the main danger is a deep vein thrombosis, which usually starts in the legs and travels to the lungs, there are usually warning signs before this like swollen leg, or pain in your leg. Or get a blood pressure monitor and check yours every day if you like, strokes and blood clots are caused or worsened by high blood pressure so keeping and eye on should make sure you are ok, and if it does go up, you can get to your doctor quickly. I hope this helps, I too have stopped going out and doing anything normal, if this pill can help my skin, I'll take the risks if it gives me my quality of life back, I think you just need to be extra careful and pay attention to your body if you notice anything out of the ordinary. Plus you can always switch to something else if your skin gets better there are other good pills out there for acne with less risk. I wish I had taken it six months ago and wasn't so stubborn. Keep your chin up, you're not alone, I know how awful it can make you feel.
Oh yes, I understand that sometimes natural remedies pale in comparison to prescription medicine. It's just that often, these things we are putting into our bodies we know nothing about and often come at high prices to our health. I hope the Diane 35 will help me quickly so I can switch to something else (whether that works or not, I still don't know?) My Doc wrote up a prescription for six months and he was pretty adamant that I only stay on Diane 35 for just six months and then he'll switch me. He also mentioned that it's no worse taking this pill then say, being pregnant. But, I still worry because this pill has got a lot of people talking and a lot of it's no good. I swear I think I'm just a bit crazy or have an over-active imagination or maybe just paranoia but, I have worried myself so sick that I am feeling pains in my body!! I had no issues with this pill when I took it in my twenties, so I'm going to assume that everything will be fine this time around too. Thank you for letting me know what I should look out for. I was not quite sure if there were signs or if it could happen very quickly like an aneurysm (something I've always been so freaked out about for no reason at all) I'm assuming either or is the case, but I guess this is the time to try and listen to the body. If I continue freaking out like this though, I think I may just have to make a trip to the Doc again and get him to switch me to something else . I am also in good health, no smoking, slim and normal blood pressure, so I'm hoping I've got that on my side. How long have you been taking Dianette for? And are you seeing an improvement?
It sucks being older and having to hide away from the world like this. I wish I could have just had these issues when I was younger (it probably would have made me stay home more often and I probably would have studied more too... who knows I could have been a doctor or something) But, no of course not! Everything happend backwards for me! I'm glad you answered back, even though you are half way around the world, I feel much better knowing there is someone out there sharing my boat 
When I do get the guts to venture out, I never see women my own age suffering with this horrid skin condition....all I ever see are women my own age with flawless skin.... I am assuming now though, that we just don't leave our homes Thank you once again for offering advice and giving me an idea of warning signs I need to look out for. Btw, my great grand father and great grand mother were from Edinburgh Scotland. I've always wanted to go check out where my roots are from.....say hello to the home land for me, k?
Hey
I understand your fear I'm a bit of a hypochondriac when it comes to my health to and believe it on not, aneurysms were once of my fears too years ago when I had persistent headaches (not related to the pill though) so I completely understand. I convinced myself I had something terrible wrong when infact it was just headache probably due to stress and worrying. I do have a problem with anxiety and ocd, and maybe you have a little bit too? Everyone says oh your skin isn't that bad it's just because you have anxiety that you focus in on things and make them seem much worse, which is probably true, I have obsessed over things in the past..I don't know if you have done the same? I've finally accepted that I need a bit of help my mind as well so I have been on mild anti depressants for about a month and been speak to someone as well, as I know that I can't stop my life because of my skin, even though that is what I have been doing, I'm hoping these things help. Anyway enough about me being a bit mental lol.
I've only been back on dianette for a couple of weeks, so really too early to tell, although it's made my appetite go up, but I wouldn't mind a few extra pounds as stressing over my skin had make stop eating as well as I should. I honestly was so against going back on the pill as last year I was all natural and thought I had cracked it, but I couldn't go on any longer, it was just getting worse and I knew that it had helped me before, maybe just see it as a crutch just now to get you through the worst and then when thing settle you will be in a better place to look at alternatives. All birth control increase your risk of clots, and dianette is only slightly more than the others and most women are on some form of birth control. There was a story about a girl who had a clot, thought to be related to dianette, but she was unwell for a week before and her leg had swollen up to the point where she was having trouble moving for a few days before she died (morbid I know, but I just wanted to stress that there are usually major warning signs to get help before anything happens). Also some people have underlying conditions as well. Honestly try and not worry too much, you sound like you have no risk factors and I do think that these are important.
I'm from the other side of Scotland been through to Edinburgh lots, it's a brilliant city, loads to do and really old as well, cobbled streets, the castle and most of the old original buildings are still there it's got a great atmosphere, I keep meaning to plan a trip back through this summer...maybe if my skin perks up.
I hope some of this helps and puts it into perspective, stressing about the pill wont help your skin either...I'm learning that the heard way, my stress levels are through the roof with all this worrying, but if it helps, tons of women suffer adult acne, and most of it is hormonal by the time we get to our age, so the dianette should help and like I said once your on the road to getting better you can think about other options.
Gill
Oh yes, I have some kind of underlining problem I'm sure (with depression, anxiety and probably OCD too) and yes, I have been known to obsess over things too (especially my skin and my health) I've been thinking of maybe going to talk to my Doc about these issues too, as you mentioned before, stress CAN cause break outs and I am always stressed over things that I cant control anyway! I'm not a fan of anti depressants. I had to be on three different types at one point in my life and I became very ill. It was a very bad time in my life and most of what I was feeling was circumstantial, I guess the meds did help in the long run though, I just wouldn't want to be in that predicament again where I couldn't look after myself because the meds make me sick, that's not a good situation to be in!
You'll have to keep me posted on how the Dianette is working for you. Yes, I agree maybe there have been a lot of people that should have never be prescribed this particular pill because they had underlining health issues. Very scary stuff and it's a tragedy really. I have decided to incorporate yoga into a daily thing here, as it gets the blood flowing and when the blood sits and does nothing, well that is when people need to start worrying about the risks of blood clots.
There are also natural blood thinners like Japanese nattokinase, which may be good to take if a person is worried (such as myself) but, I'll have to check with Doc first to make sure there are no contraindications.....wouldn't want to end up in the hospital for something stupid.
I have seen lots of pictures of Edinburgh and it looks absolutely stunning. I hope to really get over there some day....all those castles and history, I would have a field day!!
Here's to keeping my fingers crossed for you. I hope your skin will perk up soon so you can venture down to Edinburgh this summer
Yoga would help with the stress as well, it's great, I used to do it from time to time. I'll keep you posted, I'm having some results with differin just now, although it is early days, only two weeks, but I feel like it is calming things down a lot, but you never know with topicals, sometimes things start off great then you just get used to them, but keeping my fingers crossed as well. You'll need the let me know how you are finding the dianette as well, I'm sure things will work out soon, it sounds like we both need to manage our stress better and maybe then good skin will follow
Gill
I'm on Diane 35 and have been for just over a year. It's been pretty good for my skin. I'd say I had mild-moderate cystic acne before going on it.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you go on it, you'll eventually have to come off it. I've recently been freaking myself out reading the million or so horror stories about how after going off Diane 35 (Dianette), people often have absolutely horrendous breakouts that last months/years. I'm actually going to start weaning myself off it next month (slowly reducing my intake over the next 6 months or so) to try to avoid that happening because I really don't want to be tempted to go right back on it if my skin gets out of control. I probably wouldn't have started taking it if I'd researched the drug more beforehand (but of course, I was desperate at the time).
Yes Gill, I will keep you posted on how everything is going over here. Totally agree with you by the way....it really does sound like we both need to calm down.... just breathe!! Maybe my added stress is from trying to get my own business up and running? It's been an adventure to say the least. Yoga should help with everything. Again, fingers crossed that everything will work out for the better for both of us And, I just wanted to mention to you, that I actually left the house today (mind you I stayed clear of busy places and people) but I left the house today and it was awesome!! Take care and keep in touch, k?
Apple Blossom,
I've heard of the stories about taking yourself off of Diane and it doesn't sound pleasant at all. I was on this pill when I was younger and after six months being on it, my Doc switched me to something else. I didn't notice anything different with my skin at that time, but again I just switched from one thing to another thing (from one crutch to another) I wish you the best of luck weaning yourself off. Maybe what you could do is liver cleanse at that time? Liver cleanses are apparently not that fun to go through, but you have to think, the liver is something that filters out the garbage (excess hormones, medications, poisons) might be worth a try to help your body rid Diane 35 for good! Good luck to you!
That's great, I know it sounds like such a small thing, but I know how hard it is, especially when you're having a bad day just remember you can have good moments too, that's what I'm trying to do, and just now build up the confidence to go to the supermarket, something I used to do without even thinking about it!
Starting your own business would definitely cause added stress even if you don't feel it, sometimes I think my stress is sub conscious like I don't feel it building up and I think it manifests in different ways, like our skin or our health and only when I start freaking out about these things do I look at everything else and think..well maybe I was under some stress?? If that makes sense lol. What is your business in? (if you don't mind me asking) I work in the family business (builders) it's good doing something for yourself. Will defo keep in touch it's good to have some motivation and encouragement.
Gill
I know what you are talking about when it comes to stress. Yes, we often ignore the signs until we are right in the thick of it. It's funny because I hardly ever feel stressed, but I know that I am or at least my head says that I am but my body says something different and then eventually all hell breaks loose!!
I am actually starting a business in animal care. Dog training and pet sitting. I love animals so much. But, website building, and insurance brokers and making up waivers and everything else is starting to get to me. I need to take a break I think! After being laid off twice in a row, I think being in business for myself is ideal. I just cant handle working for other people.
Go out for a walk and if you can just go where there is no one. Sometimes we need to go to the supermarket! I went today (with no makeup on) what's a girl to do?! I need to eat! I thought to myself....who cares what these people think?! Yes, I was a bit self conscious and it was a bit over whelming but I did and so can you!!
hello, hope you are all well . I took diane when i was 16, it cleared up my skin nicely but i had bad side effects so had to stop after 3 months. I take belara now which cleared up my skin and its very popular where i live and its supposed to be good for clearing up acne, i just had to wait 6 months to see completely clear skin. I stopped taking it for 2 weeks and i started getting spots/under the skin cysts and couldnt handle it so went back on.
I think belara is a good pill to take if you are worried about the side effects of diane. my cousin takes diane now, it was either that or accutane and her acne was getting bad, was all over the face and painful and she cleared beautifully in 6 months, not even a pimple so know it works. but it can be scary and she has side effects 
, some blotches on her legs/extra new veins.