I have been (or am currently on) all of those!
BC can work amazingly. It works by suppressing androgens which cause acne. If you are young and your hormones are a bit crazy, or if for some other reason you have very 'strong' hormones, then the BC may not be able to win the fight. I started taking Yasmin aged 16 and it wasn't until I was about your age that my acne calmed down - because going into my twenties my hormones calmed down a bit and the Yasmin won! I did then have mostly clear skin for a few years. I didn't know any of this until two years after I stopped taking Yasmin and had horrendous skin again and finally saw a dermatologist who explained it! So I guess my point it that at your age, you are probably in a good position to take it as your hormones are more likely to be at a level that BC could control. It can still take months to see the effects though, and you kinda have to be OK with taking it for a fairly long time. If you stopped after a year or two you'd likely be back in the same place you started...
Minocyline didn't do anything for me personally, but obviously it does work for some people. If you are living in a Western country then it's a bit hit or miss as to whether you will already have a resistance to it (as I understand it).
Retin-A (I used at same time as Yasmin early on) - meh, didn't really do anything but dry out my skin. Certainly didn't prevent anything (but I have cystic acne).
Is there any reason you can't go on BC AND take minocycline AND use retin-A? I think they can all be used together as long as you use additional contraception whilst taking mino.
You probably know more about accutane than me as you have completed a course, I'm still early on!

I would go back on Yasmin in a heartbeat if it weren't for the fact that I have really problematic periods that were ruling my life (thanks again genetics!), so I wanted to go on a different form of contraception which would help with that.

Thanks so much for the response! Glad to find someone that has experience with all of them. I am sure I could do the BC as well as the Mino & Retin-A if that's something that people usually do, I just didn't know haha. I will talk to my doc about it to see what she's says. Though I'm worried if I start all 3 at the same time and one of them doesn't work well with my skin I won't know what's causing it, so maybe I'll start off with one or the other, at least at first!

Good luck with the rest of your accutane course! It worked sooo well for me when I took it and I had barely any side effects. I was clear for years with like perfectly matte skin, and even though I'm breaking out again now it's not even close to how bad it was then.

On 27/04/2016 at 7:39 PM, kelbell812 said:

Though I'm worried if I start all 3 at the same time and one of them doesn't work well with my skin I won't know what's causing it, so maybe I'll start off with one or the other, at least at first!

Good point! Btw, I used to live in Canada so I know there's loads of tv adverts and stuff in North America saying Yasmin will kill you instantly or whatever. It started freaking me out when I was over there. When I got back to the UK I asked my GP about it and they said there is no evidence for any risks beyond what is stated in the info booklet, like there are some risks with anything. If you are a healthy person you're basically gonna  be fine. Except maybe with bigger boobs. And lighter periods. And a decreased risk of ovarian cancer. And less acne. Can you tell I'm a fan of BC pills?

Haha thanks! That makes me feel better about it after reading through all these crazy stories online. I mean, my roommate, my friends and both my younger sisters are on BC and love it so I don't know what I'm worrying about. I've always wanted to try it anyway to regulate my periods. I will ask my doc what BC she recommends for me.