Hello beautiful people!

I am Jennifer, a 21 year old girl from Hong Kong. I started having really oily skin and developing mild acne about a year ago after I took the plan B pills. The acne was not too severe but was enough to destroy my self esteem. Then two months ago I finally decided to try going on birth control pills because I have heard so many wonderful stories about how they clear up people's acne. During the months when I took the pills, I also started using the treatment of Acne.org. At first my skin stayed completely the same, not better, not worse, but then I made a big mistake by skipping the 7 day period gap and I started a new pack of pills right away (because I was scared of having my hormonal level fluctuating during the period).

So during my second pack of pills, I started to have serious breakthrough bleeding which brought me severe cystic acne that I never had before. The bleeding kept going on for two weeks until I finished the second pack. Now I have already stopped taking the pills for about a week now. And I have had my normal period after two weeks of breakthrough bleeding. My skin cleaned up a bit during my period but now the cystic acne is back again. Overall my acne is definitely even worse than before I started taking the pills.

I want to go off the pills, but I have also heard people saying that the after the pills acne can be very troublesome and tough to get rid of. It may be weeks or months or years until I can have my normal skin back. I am very lost. I am planning on going to the doctor's but I am not sure what kind of treatment I should ask for  

Hello beautiful people!

I am Jennifer, a 21 year old girl from Hong Kong. I started having really oily skin and developing mild acne about a year ago after I took the plan B pills. The acne was not too severe but was enough to destroy my self esteem. Then two months ago I finally decided to try going on birth control pills because I have heard so many wonderful stories about how they clear up people's acne. During the months when I took the pills, I also started using the treatment of Acne.org. At first my skin stayed completely the same, not better, not worse, but then I made a big mistake by skipping the 7 day period gap and I started a new pack of pills right away (because I was scared of having my hormonal level fluctuating during the period).

So during my second pack of pills, I started to have serious breakthrough bleeding which brought me severe cystic acne that I never had before. The bleeding kept going on for two weeks until I finished the second pack. Now I have already stopped taking the pills for about a week now. And I have had my normal period after two weeks of breakthrough bleeding. My skin cleaned up a bit during my period but now the cystic acne is back again. Overall my acne is definitely even worse than before I started taking the pills.

I want to go off the pills, but I have also heard people saying that the after the pills acne can be very troublesome and tough to get rid of. It may be weeks or months or years until I can have my normal skin back. I am very lost. I am planning on going to the doctor's but I am not sure what kind of treatment I should ask for  

Hello, Jennifer!

I would say 2 months is a not a very long time to say if it's working -- I would give a good 4 or 5 months to see if it's really making your skin better or worse. Usually, when taking birth controls, acne becomes worse before it gets better, but, if you to stick to it, your skin will eventually gets clear.

Also, what kind of birth control are you taking? Depending on the type of progestin, your face might get oily, especially if it's levonorgestrel or desogestrel, for example.

I think your skin might be having a hard time adjusting because you went from no birth control, to 2 months straight of birth control without the 7 day gap, back to no birth control, so your hormones are probably still trying to figure out what's happening. I'm not sure if skipping your period brought on the cystic acne, because when I first went on my pill, I would skip the 7 days and it would be fine. But it might just be that the one you're taking isn't right for you. 

Not sure how much worse your skin is now, but if it wasn't very severe before I'd probably ask for a topical treatment. I think with most oral treatments (exception being maybe Accutane?), you run the risk of it coming back after you stop. Hopefully your doctor will give you some good recommendations though.Good luck!

Hello beautiful people!

I am Jennifer, a 21 year old girl from Hong Kong. I started having really oily skin and developing mild acne about a year ago after I took the plan B pills. The acne was not too severe but was enough to destroy my self esteem. Then two months ago I finally decided to try going on birth control pills because I have heard so many wonderful stories about how they clear up people's acne. During the months when I took the pills, I also started using the treatment of Acne.org. At first my skin stayed completely the same, not better, not worse, but then I made a big mistake by skipping the 7 day period gap and I started a new pack of pills right away (because I was scared of having my hormonal level fluctuating during the period).

So during my second pack of pills, I started to have serious breakthrough bleeding which brought me severe cystic acne that I never had before. The bleeding kept going on for two weeks until I finished the second pack. Now I have already stopped taking the pills for about a week now. And I have had my normal period after two weeks of breakthrough bleeding. My skin cleaned up a bit during my period but now the cystic acne is back again. Overall my acne is definitely even worse than before I started taking the pills.

I want to go off the pills, but I have also heard people saying that the after the pills acne can be very troublesome and tough to get rid of. It may be weeks or months or years until I can have my normal skin back. I am very lost. I am planning on going to the doctor's but I am not sure what kind of treatment I should ask for  

Hello, Jennifer!

I would say 2 months is a not a very long time to say if it's working -- I would give a good 4 or 5 months to see if it's really making your skin better or worse. Usually, when taking birth controls, acne becomes worse before it gets better, but, if you to stick to it, your skin will eventually gets clear.

Also, what kind of birth control are you taking? Depending on the type of progestin, your face might get oily, especially if it's levonorgestrel or desogestrel, for example.

 Thanks so much for replying!! I was taking Marvelon but I have stopped now and I don't think I am going to go on the pills again. I went to the doctor's and he made me choose between antibiotics and Accutane. I picked antibiotics eventually, although he kept on recommending Accutaune as much more effective. I know that going on antibiotics can only help temporarily but I guess I just need the short term relief....  now I am more worried about whether it is possible for my skin to go back to normal again. Now my skin gets more and more oily and it is nerve wrecking since it is making my makeup look terrible as well.