Acne is considered a hormonal disease so yes, a lot of people are cured off of accutane.

Hi !

I'm pretty sure Accutane doesn't clear up hormonal acne unfortunately ;( Maybe it's different in some peoples cases, but I was on Accutane about 4 years ago and I still get terrible breakouts on my chin during that time of the month. Always on the sides of my chin !

I also remember still getting the monthly breakouts while I was on Accutane too.

I think a lot of us girls will just have to accept that there's not much we can do about them

I read a lot of reviews on various websites about how Zinc pills are great at clearing skin up, so that might be worth looking into.

You'll never know until you try. I would be very careful with that and I'd highly suggest spending a couple of months thinking it over before deciding to venture down this road.

Hi !

I'm pretty sure Accutane doesn't clear up hormonal acne unfortunately ;( Maybe it's different in some peoples cases, but I was on Accutane about 4 years ago and I still get terrible breakouts on my chin during that time of the month. Always on the sides of my chin !

I also remember still getting the monthly breakouts while I was on Accutane too.

I think a lot of us girls will just have to accept that there's not much we can do about them

I read a lot of reviews on various websites about how Zinc pills are great at clearing skin up, so that might be worth looking into.

Awww darn would you say that Accutane calmed down the monthly breakouts though? My acne is always there, but it gets realllllly bad around that time of the month.

You'll never know until you try. I would be very careful with that and I'd highly suggest spending a couple of months thinking it over before deciding to venture down this road.

Accutane was actually introduced as an option to me last April, before my skin started to clear up. I've been considering it for awhile, I just didn't know when to take it so it didn't distract me too much from school. I realize it's a rather large decision and that's why I'm still a bit on the fence about it.

I have hormonal acne, which cleared up beautifully from Accutane and Diane (BCP). HOWEVER, after nine years of clear I decided to try going off the pill and my acne came back, badly. I am now on my second round of Accutane and back on the BCP. I am hoping to get the awesome results I had last time, but I did learn that my remission was linked to my continual use of BCP, and not just the Accutane. Damn you, hormonal acne! My derm confirmed that this is not an unusual occurrence for women with hormonal acne.

So, based only on what worked for me (everyone is different!), if you really think your acne is hormonal, maybe try the Accutane to clear up what you have, and find a BCP that is anti-androgenic that you like (Diane, Yaz, Beyaz, etc) and stick with it. You will have to be on some sort of BCP during Accutane anyway.

Best of luck!

It really depends. Everybody is different. I am currently on my second course of accutane but that is because my currently dermatologist said my old dermatologist did not prescribe me the correct dosage. I still weight about the same during my first time on accutane. I was taking 40mg the first month, then 20 mg a month there after but my current derm said I should have been prescribed 60mg. I weigh 135lbs just to let you know. Just make sure you are being prescribed the correct dosage by speaking to your dermatologist.

Your acne will definitely clear up on accutane. But because of your young age, you have a higher chance of relapsing and having the acne come back but likely not as bad as it is now.

All acne is hormonal, meaning that for various reasons, people with acne have hormones (androgens and what they transform into) that are "all whacked out" and this causes excess sebum (aka oil) production which through a fantastic pore clogging process that also involves bacteria and skin cells eventually equals acne. Around your period your various hormones fluctuate (up or down or all around), and these fluctuations can promote more of the 'bad' hormones in some females which causes more sebum production and therefore more acne. Accutane shrinks your oils glands which lessens your oil production while on it, therefore leading to reduced or no more acne for certain lengths of time which is various among each individual person.

You could also consider Spironolactone (spiro). This prescription med reduces angrogens which leads to less oil production and acne in most females. It also can increase boob size in some girls (who needs a boob job when there's spiro!?!?) I'll probably end up on that after my current accutane course if my oily skin (and acne) come back.

I have hormonal acne, which cleared up beautifully from Accutane and Diane (BCP). HOWEVER, after nine years of clear I decided to try going off the pill and my acne came back, badly. I am now on my second round of Accutane and back on the BCP. I am hoping to get the awesome results I had last time, but I did learn that my remission was linked to my continual use of BCP, and not just the Accutane. Damn you, hormonal acne! My derm confirmed that this is not an unusual occurrence for women with hormonal acne.

So, based only on what worked for me (everyone is different!), if you really think your acne is hormonal, maybe try the Accutane to clear up what you have, and find a BCP that is anti-androgenic that you like (Diane, Yaz, Beyaz, etc) and stick with it. You will have to be on some sort of BCP during Accutane anyway.

Best of luck!

What I forgot to mention was that I'm unsure if I'm able to take any birth control, as I have migraines with auras, and that puts me at a higher risk for blood clots. However, I haven't had a migraine in over a year. They're normally just a month or two apart, so I'm wondering if I could have possibly outgrown them. I'll be sure to bring it up with my derm at my next appointment. Thank you for your advice

Your acne will definitely clear up on accutane. But because of your young age, you have a higher chance of relapsing and having the acne come back but likely not as bad as it is now.

All acne is hormonal, meaning that for various reasons, people with acne have hormones (androgens and what they transform into) that are "all whacked out" and this causes excess sebum (aka oil) production which through a fantastic pore clogging process that also involves bacteria and skin cells eventually equals acne. Around your period your various hormones fluctuate (up or down or all around), and these fluctuations can promote more of the 'bad' hormones in some females which causes more sebum production and therefore more acne. Accutane shrinks your oils glands which lessens your oil production while on it, therefore leading to reduced or no more acne for certain lengths of time which is various among each individual person.

You could also consider Spironolactone (spiro). This prescription med reduces angrogens which leads to less oil production and acne in most females. It also can increase boob size in some girls (who needs a boob job when there's spiro!?!?) I'll probably end up on that after my current accutane course if my oily skin (and acne) come back.

Ahh, that makes more sense.

As for spiro, I've looked into it before but never brought it up with my derm. I believe I posted on here before regarding it actually lol. A few people said it wasn't wise to mess with my hormones at my age, but I really didn't know what to think.

Vitamin D breaks me out. Just get some sun.

I have hormonal acne, which cleared up beautifully from Accutane and Diane (BCP). HOWEVER, after nine years of clear I decided to try going off the pill and my acne came back, badly. I am now on my second round of Accutane and back on the BCP. I am hoping to get the awesome results I had last time, but I did learn that my remission was linked to my continual use of BCP, and not just the Accutane. Damn you, hormonal acne! My derm confirmed that this is not an unusual occurrence for women with hormonal acne.

So, based only on what worked for me (everyone is different!), if you really think your acne is hormonal, maybe try the Accutane to clear up what you have, and find a BCP that is anti-androgenic that you like (Diane, Yaz, Beyaz, etc) and stick with it. You will have to be on some sort of BCP during Accutane anyway.

Best of luck!

What I forgot to mention was that I'm unsure if I'm able to take any birth control, as I have migraines with auras, and that puts me at a higher risk for blood clots. However, I haven't had a migraine in over a year. They're normally just a month or two apart, so I'm wondering if I could have possibly outgrown them. I'll be sure to bring it up with my derm at my next appointment. Thank you for your advice

>Your acne will definitely clear up on accutane. But because of your young age, you have a higher chance of relapsing and having the acne come back but likely not as bad as it is now.

All acne is hormonal, meaning that for various reasons, people with acne have hormones (androgens and what they transform into) that are "all whacked out" and this causes excess sebum (aka oil) production which through a fantastic pore clogging process that also involves bacteria and skin cells eventually equals acne. Around your period your various hormones fluctuate (up or down or all around), and these fluctuations can promote more of the 'bad' hormones in some females which causes more sebum production and therefore more acne. Accutane shrinks your oils glands which lessens your oil production while on it, therefore leading to reduced or no more acne for certain lengths of time which is various among each individual person.

You could also consider Spironolactone (spiro). This prescription med reduces angrogens which leads to less oil production and acne in most females. It also can increase boob size in some girls (who needs a boob job when there's spiro!?!?) I'll probably end up on that after my current accutane course if my oily skin (and acne) come back.

Ahh, that makes more sense.

As for spiro, I've looked into it before but never brought it up with my derm. I believe I posted on here before regarding it actually lol. A few people said it wasn't wise to mess with my hormones at my age, but I really didn't know what to think.

Please, please don't take birth control...it made my acne worse and it's never gotten better. i was better off never taking it. it changes your hormones drastically. I haven't been able to get rid of the "birth control" acne. Just be aware that it can leave you with that type of hormonal acne that you can't do anything about. you'll notice a lot of threads on females who get horrible acne after going off. I was only on it a few weeks but it still left me with worse acne ( specifically it's known to cause hormonal blackhead things )

I was on accutane for the first time when I was 16 years old and from your description it seems as though your acne is very similar to what mine was (I'm now 23). It took me awhile to decide if I wanted to go on it because I had the same concerns as you but I'm really glad I did - I had tried everything possible and this is the only thing that worked. The only thing you'll have to do is go on birth control because if you did happen to get pregnant the birth defects are extremely bad - your doctor would not be allowed to put you on accutane if you were not on birth control (at least, that's the way it is in Canada). In my opinion, you don't have to worry about it interfering with school or anything, they do tell you about possible side effects that may affect your mood but I felt completely normal on it... if anything the birth control took more getting used to than the accutane but it still wasn't bad at all. I'm also very sensitive to medication so I usually always get some sort of side effect. The only side effect that I know everyone gets is extremely dry skin and chapped lips... so just make sure you invest in a good face wash that doesn't strip your skin and make sure you have lots of moisturizers and lip balm handy! Also drink a LOT of water because that will help with your dry skin as well.

I'm on accutane again currently because I just recently started getting a different type of acne that was brought on by severe stress with my last job. I quit the job but the acne needed some help disappearing. But once again I feel no side effects other than dry skin and I'm really thirsty!

I hope this helps!

I also thought I had hormonal acne, but I discovered after having a bloodtest that my hormones were REALLY out of whack, so bad in fact that I have an appointment to see an endocrinologist to figure out the cause. Not simply related to my period as I originally suspected.

My point is get it checked out - sure its great to use Accutane to clear up your acne but it might be related to something else.

I heard that accutane could not cure hormonal acne, that this type of acne should be cured though other type of treatment, like spironolactone, birth control pill, etc.

But i guess almost every type of acne is somewhat linked to hormonal issues, so it may worth a try. You'll never know unless you try it, right?

I'm 25 years old, and i have acne since 13. I'm now on my second week on accutane. My acne was always consistent, and it's mostly retentional all over my face (blackheads, comedones) and a few inflamed spots that i always get on my lower cheeks/jawline. I also always had very oily skin.

I've tried diane (the bcp) and ciproterone for what the doctors thought it was hormonal... none of them worked. I stopped taking the bcp for a few years and nothing happened, so i guess my acne is not purely hormonal... although it's concentrated on my lower cheeks/jaw line/chin. Also, i never saw a link to my month cycle... there's no much of a pattern, it's almost random :-/ i just notice that it gets worse and i get more inflamed spots if i abuse on sweets and fats the days before.. So my case seems different.

If you already tried some type of oral hormonal treatments for your acne (ciproterone, spironolactone, bcp) and they didn't work, i think you should consider trying accutane (if you're willing to try it). Good luck

I had really bad hormonal acne plus the typical acne before going on Accutane. Even up to the last month of treatment I was still getting hormonal acne. Now since finishing Accutane towards the end of November I may get a bump or two from hormonal acne but that's only happened a couple of times. I still can't believe how clear my skin is!

accutane shrinks the sebums gland semi permenantly after a course so itll get rid of hormonal acne but dont go overboard and go on accutane first try retin-a its topical accutane basically and worked great when i had mild acne. i finished accutane a month ago for moderate acne and i noticed while on it i got worse acne at times, types ive never even gotten before and i was also prone to icepick scars on it something i never got bfore accutane

Hey there! So I am a fellow migraine sufferer with Auras and was very scared to be on BC. However, balancing my hormones helped me to actually stop my migraines. I am lucky if I get one a year now, I started having them at 5 years old at a frequency of maybe monthly or biweekly by the time I was 7-13/14. Yasmin helped to clear up my hormonal acne in college, now I am on Yasmin again with Spironolactone, because even as you get older hormones like to rear their ugly heads and act up. Wishing you the best girl in finding something, now is the time you should be able to enjoy your youth and be carefree and I understand how acne can hold you back. I hate it and just know you are doing the right thing on here looking for answers :0)

 

I have hormonal acne, which cleared up beautifully from Accutane and Diane (BCP). HOWEVER, after nine years of clear I decided to try going off the pill and my acne came back, badly. I am now on my second round of Accutane and back on the BCP. I am hoping to get the awesome results I had last time, but I did learn that my remission was linked to my continual use of BCP, and not just the Accutane. Damn you, hormonal acne! My derm confirmed that this is not an unusual occurrence for women with hormonal acne.

So, based only on what worked for me (everyone is different!), if you really think your acne is hormonal, maybe try the Accutane to clear up what you have, and find a BCP that is anti-androgenic that you like (Diane, Yaz, Beyaz, etc) and stick with it. You will have to be on some sort of BCP during Accutane anyway.

Best of luck!

What I forgot to mention was that I'm unsure if I'm able to take any birth control, as I have migraines with auras, and that puts me at a higher risk for blood clots. However, I haven't had a migraine in over a year. They're normally just a month or two apart, so I'm wondering if I could have possibly outgrown them. I'll be sure to bring it up with my derm at my next appointment. Thank you for your advice

>Your acne will definitely clear up on accutane. But because of your young age, you have a higher chance of relapsing and having the acne come back but likely not as bad as it is now.

 

All acne is hormonal, meaning that for various reasons, people with acne have hormones (androgens and what they transform into) that are "all whacked out" and this causes excess sebum (aka oil) production which through a fantastic pore clogging process that also involves bacteria and skin cells eventually equals acne. Around your period your various hormones fluctuate (up or down or all around), and these fluctuations can promote more of the 'bad' hormones in some females which causes more sebum production and therefore more acne. Accutane shrinks your oils glands which lessens your oil production while on it, therefore leading to reduced or no more acne for certain lengths of time which is various among each individual person.

 

You could also consider Spironolactone (spiro). This prescription med reduces angrogens which leads to less oil production and acne in most females. It also can increase boob size in some girls (who needs a boob job when there's spiro!?!?) I'll probably end up on that after my current accutane course if my oily skin (and acne) come back.

You have no idea how much I needed to hear that! Haha today was definitely not the best of days skin-wise.. my face massively broke out and it's a big red inflamed mess. (I'm approaching that time of the month) Well anyways, I have an appointment scheduled with my derm for the 15th and hope to walk out the door with a prescription for birth control.

Thank you for giving me a bit more hope!

Hey there! So I am a fellow migraine sufferer with Auras and was very scared to be on BC. However, balancing my hormones helped me to actually stop my migraines. I am lucky if I get one a year now, I started having them at 5 years old at a frequency of maybe monthly or biweekly by the time I was 7-13/14. Yasmin helped to clear up my hormonal acne in college, now I am on Yasmin again with Spironolactone, because even as you get older hormones like to rear their ugly heads and act up. Wishing you the best girl in finding something, now is the time you should be able to enjoy your youth and be carefree and I understand how acne can hold you back. I hate it and just know you are doing the right thing on here looking for answers :0)

 

 

 

I have hormonal acne, which cleared up beautifully from Accutane and Diane (BCP). HOWEVER, after nine years of clear I decided to try going off the pill and my acne came back, badly. I am now on my second round of Accutane and back on the BCP. I am hoping to get the awesome results I had last time, but I did learn that my remission was linked to my continual use of BCP, and not just the Accutane. Damn you, hormonal acne! My derm confirmed that this is not an unusual occurrence for women with hormonal acne.

So, based only on what worked for me (everyone is different!), if you really think your acne is hormonal, maybe try the Accutane to clear up what you have, and find a BCP that is anti-androgenic that you like (Diane, Yaz, Beyaz, etc) and stick with it. You will have to be on some sort of BCP during Accutane anyway.

Best of luck!

 

What I forgot to mention was that I'm unsure if I'm able to take any birth control, as I have migraines with auras, and that puts me at a higher risk for blood clots. However, I haven't had a migraine in over a year. They're normally just a month or two apart, so I'm wondering if I could have possibly outgrown them. I'll be sure to bring it up with my derm at my next appointment. Thank you for your advice

>

>Your acne will definitely clear up on accutane. But because of your young age, you have a higher chance of relapsing and having the acne come back but likely not as bad as it is now.

All acne is hormonal, meaning that for various reasons, people with acne have hormones (androgens and what they transform into) that are "all whacked out" and this causes excess sebum (aka oil) production which through a fantastic pore clogging process that also involves bacteria and skin cells eventually equals acne. Around your period your various hormones fluctuate (up or down or all around), and these fluctuations can promote more of the 'bad' hormones in some females which causes more sebum production and therefore more acne. Accutane shrinks your oils glands which lessens your oil production while on it, therefore leading to reduced or no more acne for certain lengths of time which is various among each individual person.

You could also consider Spironolactone (spiro). This prescription med reduces angrogens which leads to less oil production and acne in most females. It also can increase boob size in some girls (who needs a boob job when there's spiro!?!?) I'll probably end up on that after my current accutane course if my oily skin (and acne) come back.

>

Ahh, that makes more sense.

As for spiro, I've looked into it before but never brought it up with my derm. I believe I posted on here before regarding it actually lol. A few people said it wasn't wise to mess with my hormones at my age, but I really didn't know what to think.

I recommend Diane or Dianette (not available in the states) or Yasmin or Beyaz (pretty widely available). I just read a study the other day, and the result was that acne was reduced, on average, by 60% with either of these choices. They just have different androgen-blocking thing-a-ma-jiggers, but equally effective. Add a good topical to that (little BP or AHA/BHA) and you're good to go. That's my theory anyway. So far it's working for me. Regulating your hormones can take a while, though. You have to be patient.

Good luck!

Hmm.. I just mentioned Yasmin/Beyaz to my mom, and she said it's been linked to some dangerous side effects. Would you happen to know anything about that?

I recommend Diane or Dianette (not available in the states) or Yasmin or Beyaz (pretty widely available). I just read a study the other day, and the result was that acne was reduced, on average, by 60% with either of these choices. They just have different androgen-blocking thing-a-ma-jiggers, but equally effective. Add a good topical to that (little BP or AHA/BHA) and you're good to go. That's my theory anyway. So far it's working for me. Regulating your hormones can take a while, though. You have to be patient.

Good luck!

Hmm.. I just mentioned Yasmin/Beyaz to my mom, and she said it's been linked to some dangerous side effects. Would you happen to know anything about that?

I recommend Diane or Dianette (not available in the states) or Yasmin or Beyaz (pretty widely available). I just read a study the other day, and the result was that acne was reduced, on average, by 60% with either of these choices. They just have different androgen-blocking thing-a-ma-jiggers, but equally effective. Add a good topical to that (little BP or AHA/BHA) and you're good to go. That's my theory anyway. So far it's working for me. Regulating your hormones can take a while, though. You have to be patient.

Good luck!

Yasmin is drospirenone/ethinyl estradiol.

Beyaz is drospirenone/ethinyl estradiol/levomefolate calcium.

They're about the same in effectiveness.

From here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0053061/

"Desogestrel, gestodene, drospirenone and cyproterone acetate seem to increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis more than other drugs do. Depending on the pill, it is estimated that 2 to 4 out of 10,000 women who take the pill are affected by deep vein thrombosis within one year, compared to 1 out of 10,000 women who do not take the pill."

Here are some risk factors, in case you wanted to know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_vein_thrombosis#Risk_factors

Michelle, I love how you can say things in such a straightforward way!

There has recently been quite a lot of hype about this, and you certainly should look into it, read what has been written yourself, talk to your doctor, and try to make a choice that is right for you. No drug is without risk, and you will always have less risk taking nothing at all. Personally, I am not convinced that there is a significantly greater risk with these pills than other, similar pills with different sorts of hormones, but I am not a doctor or a scientist. According to what Michelle has written (also what I have found in my own reading), many pills besides Yaz, Diane, and Beyaz come with the exact same risks - it's just that these ones have been in the news more.

One reason to be particularly wary is if you have a history of blood clots in your family. It also is certainly wise to be aware of warning signs for these conditions, particularly within the first year, as most people who experience these reactions do so in the first year of treatment.

I have found that things which alter your body chemistry (like BCP, Accutane) are far more effective in combating acne than topicals. However, they are more risky. In life, you are always having to weigh the risks against the rewards, and that is a choice you have to make. Do you feel your acne is affecting your life enough to take this risk? Only you can know.

The only thing I would say is not to make a rash decision that Yaz is bad based on some news stories. Keep in mind that a lot of this hype is generated by people who are interested in suing the drug company. Talk to your doctor and get your own info from peer reviewed studies before you decide.

Michelle, I love how you can say things in such a straightforward way!

There has recently been quite a lot of hype about this, and you certainly should look into it, read what has been written yourself, talk to your doctor, and try to make a choice that is right for you. No drug is without risk, and you will always have less risk taking nothing at all. Personally, I am not convinced that there is a significantly greater risk with these pills than other, similar pills with different sorts of hormones, but I am not a doctor or a scientist. According to what Michelle has written (also what I have found in my own reading), many pills besides Yaz, Diane, and Beyaz come with the exact same risks - it's just that these ones have been in the news more.

One reason to be particularly wary is if you have a history of blood clots in your family. It also is certainly wise to be aware of warning signs for these conditions, particularly within the first year, as most people who experience these reactions do so in the first year of treatment.

I have found that things which alter your body chemistry (like BCP, Accutane) are far more effective in combating acne than topicals. However, they are more risky. In life, you are always having to weigh the risks against the rewards, and that is a choice you have to make. Do you feel your acne is affecting your life enough to take this risk? Only you can know.

The only thing I would say is not to make a rash decision that Yaz is bad based on some news stories. Keep in mind that a lot of this hype is generated by people who are interested in suing the drug company. Talk to your doctor and get your own info from peer reviewed studies before you decide.

It takes a lot of time and practice to write concisely. It just looks easy, but a lot of the times it isn't. I have to edit what I type several times before I post anything, and even then I have to go back and clarify. Ah, writing.

One thing I must add is that some comparative trials conclude one treatment is slightly better than the other often write the difference was "significant". Significance in studies has a different meaning than what the normal, dictionary definition says. Also, just because it's "significant" doesn't mean it's "clinically relevant"--or in other words, whether the patient will notice the difference. Let's say Topical A reduces wrinkles by 20% more than Topical B, but the patient probably won't notice the (20%) difference.

I'm going to quote you for truth again and emphasize what you wrote if you don't mind.

There has recently been quite a lot of hype about this, and you certainly should look into it, read what has been written yourself, talk to your doctor, and try to make a choice that is right for you. No drug is without risk, and you will always have less risk taking nothing at all. [...] many pills besides Yaz, Diane, and Beyaz come with the exact same risks - it's just that these ones have been in the news more.

One reason to be particularly wary is if you have a history of blood clots in your family. It also is certainly wise to be aware of warning signs for these conditions, particularly within the first year, as most people who experience these reactions do so in the first year of treatment.

I have found that things which alter your body chemistry (like BCP, Accutane) are far more effective in combating acne than topicals. However, they are more risky. In life, you are always having to weigh the risks against the rewards, and that is a choice you have to make. Do you feel your acne is affecting your life enough to take this risk? Only you can know.

The only thing I would say is not to make a rash decision that Yaz is bad based on some news stories. Keep in mind that a lot of this hype is generated by people who are interested in suing the drug company. Talk to your doctor and get your own info from peer reviewed studies before you decide.

First of all, thank you both for the information.

I'm feeling rather disappointed today.. I had a dermatologist appointment early this morning and brought up the possibility of prescribing birth control to me again. My derm told me he doesn't feel right prescribing it with my history of having migraines since he doesn't know very much about it, but that we could talk to an OB-GYN for more information. Then we started talking about Accutane, and the possible side effects, yadda yadda yadda. He sent us home with the consent forms and we're coming back next week with our decision.

Soooo basically, my mom will not budge at all and is set on me never being on birth control because she thinks I'm going to have blood clots/stroke or something lol. It really bummed me out after hearing all the things you posted on here. and I really am still unsure if I want to go on Accutane. I dunno, I guess it's either that or I suffer with my acne until I'm 18 and could make my own decision about birth control.