I was on yasmin for about 4 years and decided to get off of it about 5 months ago because I was curious to see if it was affecting my mood. After getting off of it I felt way better emotionally, I felt a lot more balanced because there were no longer hormones going into my body and less prone to depression... but then, the acne started. Almost immediately, my whole face broke out in little tiny zit bumps. Everywhere. Eventually, those went away and now I have more cystic acne, and its still everywhere, especially my jaw line and around my lips. But my entire face is bumpy. Forehead, cheeks, nose, everywhere. It has caused my self confidence to plummet. Its making me so sad and I'm so embarrassed by it, don't have the confidence to talk to any one new. Right now I'm using cetphyl and moisturizer but nothing else. Since it is completely hormone related I'm not sure if any topical treatments will work. I really don't know what to do. I'm at my wits end. I feel too old for this, I thought my middle school days of bad acne would never come back to haunt me but I was wrong.
Any advice ladies who have gotten off BC? Is there any cure? Or will I just have to face it? And how long will it last?! Should I go back on??
I am sorry to hear that you are struggling with your skin.
My daughter went off birth control about 8 months ago and did a lot of reading up on how to get rid of her acne afterwards so your problem is very common. From what I gather it can take a while for your hormones to balance out (up to a year for some people). It is totally your personal decision as to whether or not you go back on birth control or not.
My daughter's skin stayed clear for a couple of months after going off bc and then exploded for a few months. Now her skin is almost clear again.
Some things that she did which she thinks helped her were:
- cut down on dairy products and avoids all soy products
- drink peppermint and spearmint tea rather than coffee
- she started taking a herbal supplement called Estrosmart which contains DIM (we are in Canada, in the US there is something called Estroblock which is similar)
- her dermatologist prescribed Benzaclin which has worked remarkably well (she previously used Epiduo and Aczone which did not help at all).
Other people on this forum have success taking saw palmetto or vitex (chasteberry) to balance their hormones. Naturopaths can often be very helpful with remedies for hormone imbalances (more so than your gp in my opinion).
If you google "How to go off the pill without breaking out" there is a whole wealth of information. Of course you need to sift through it all and what works for one person unfortunately may not work for the next! I like one site - I think it is called 'The love vitamin' but there are a lot of other blogs etc to look at.
Good luck, I hope you find something that helps!
I experienced the same problem when I went off Yasmin. While on it, my skin was perfectly clear and then after going off Yasmin, within 6 months, it was worse than I think it had ever been. What has finally cleared my skin is a 3 prong combination: (1) diet: eliminating sugar and following a low carb, low glycemic index regiment, (2) supplements: 360 mg standardized saw palmetto, 50 mg zinc, and an inositol combo (myo-inositol / d-chiro-inositol) (3) topicals: I started with Clearogen but it was too drying, though it did work for me. Now, I'm making my own blend of an essential oil combination (sea buckthorn seed oil, rosehip oil, saw palmetto extract,) and others that I'm still experimenting with including peppermint oil, argan oil, licorice extract, etc. etc. etc. All of this is working very well, beyond my expectations really. It has taken time and patience.