Hi I'm new here. I came off Microgestin (Loestrin) three months ago, and my skin has been pretty bad. Prior to birth control, my skin was usually clear with occasional pimples. Now I have cystic acne all around my jawline and chin. I experimented with bc for a week and started to see improvements. However, my body does not tolerate birth control well and I had to stop mid-pack. Now my gp started me on spiro, which I am also weary about. I see a lot of negative side effects that come with this medication. I have been taking zinc, saw palmetto, evening primrose oil, and burdock root to hopefully help with my skin. I am really losing hope as nothing seems to work for my skin. Any suggestions would be great. Thank you
I have also tried everything, also have trouble tolerating BC, also frustrated with my skin. A have a couple thoughts based on my own experiences, but as you will find, everyone on these boards has different experiences, so take out of this what you would like.
1) antibiotics- you will read a ton of negative consequences from antibiotics on these boards. Although they can work, the consequences are usually once you come off of them. Acne usually resurfaces worse than before. Therefore, my personal opinion is that if you have never been on antibiotics before, then it was probably a good idea to not stay on them. However, most of us have been on an antibiotic before and will be again (I'm referring to those prescribed for things other than acne), so our bodies will go through this anyways from time to time. In this case if a breakout is really bad, I don't think it's a bad idea to use an antibiotic short term. If you do this though, you probably need to stay on it for 12 weeks to see if it works or 30 days the absolute absolute minimum. After you come off of them, you will need to prepare for a breakout.
2) natural remedies- you are trying some natural things, like zinc and saw palmetto. These may help but again they take time to work. You may also want to consider cleaning out your diet a little to help. There's tons of info posted on these boards about that, so I don't need to go into a ton of detail here. One word of caution, there's a ton of options naturally. Although its tempting to do everything at once, I highly advise against it. Some things help. Some things cause an IB or worsening of our skin overall. Therefore try to only introduce one change or new thing into your regimen or diet at a time with at least a few weeks in between.
3) the regimen- if you haven't tried the regimen I recommend it. Although ive been on these boards for years, I am new to the regimen. I wasn't interested in trying it for a variety of reasons, but started about two weeks ago. I've seen some improvements immediately to my surprise. I can't comment on longerm though. From what you see on the boards, some people have amazing results and some don't. But I think it's worth considering.
I've tried almost everything you can think of, so if you have any questions about any treatment, feel free to ask. Just remember, they are just that. My experiences which will be different from others'.