I have struggled for acne longer than I can remember and have finally reached my breaking point. I am reaching out to the community for a little guidance on the situation.
I have struggled with some form of acne since I was 18 years old. At 18, I had the worst breakout of cystic acne I have everexperienced over the course of 4 months. After trying several topicals, my derm finally prescribed me Accutane which remedied the problem for about 3 years.
From 21 on, my acne slowly began reappearing but was manageable with OTC cleansers and washes.
When I was 24, my acne returned with a vengeance. I started using the Nuva-ring BC which controlled my hormonal acne and got it to a manageable level (but never fully clear). About 3 years later I had to quit using it due to other health issues and I was on the hunt for a new BCP.
I went to see my OBGYN, who informed me I could no longer used oral BCP due to my high blood pressure and my only option was a Mirena IUD. I asked several times whether the Mirena would cause my skin to get worse and was assured that although it would not make it worse it would not make it better either.
For the last two years with the Mirena, my skin has been an uphill battle. I have gone to my derm more times than I can count and tried everything from months and months of oral antibiotics (minocycline), .05% tretinoin cream which was later bumped up to .1%, sulfur sulfacetamide and clindamyacin foam/gel. Nothing worked, and worse of all..the array of topicals and antibiotics aggravated my facial eczema that I havent dealt with since I was a child.
As a last resort, since I cannot take Accutane since I would like to have a child in the next 5 years, my derm prescribed meSpironolactone. I started on Spiro at 50mg daily for the first month and saw no improvement. I did some research and decided to add Inositol in my regime in the hopes this would combat my hormonal acne. This helped and I had two weeks of amazingly clear skin and 2 weeks of standard breakouts. This past month the derm upped my dosage to 100mg daily and I had clear days here and there, but when I brokeout it wasin places I never use to get acne and it was more cystic, which I havent dealt with since pre-accutane.
Going into my third month of Spiro, continuing to take 100mg daily, I currently have 7 large active pimples on my cheeks,countless small whiteheads on my foreheadand 2-3 whiteheads on my lower chin. It is nowhere near my time of the month so if anything this should be one of my clearer weeks.I am reaching out in the hopes someone can give me some advice. Have you take sprio and had similar problems? Could it be the mirena? Is it safe to supplement while taking Spiro? I also recently added fermented cod liver oil and zinc to help with my eczema..should I stop those as well?
Any input would be great!
On 5/31/2016 at 0:24 PM, AL11389 said:I have struggled for acne longer than I can remember and have finally reached my breaking point. I am reaching out to the community for a little guidance on the situation.
I have struggled with some form of acne since I was 18 years old. At 18, I had the worst breakout of cystic acne I have everexperienced over the course of 4 months. After trying several topicals, my derm finally prescribed me Accutane which remedied the problem for about 3 years.
From 21 on, my acne slowly began reappearing but was manageable with OTC cleansers and washes.
When I was 24, my acne returned with a vengeance. I started using the Nuva-ring BC which controlled my hormonal acne and got it to a manageable level (but never fully clear). About 3 years later I had to quit using it due to other health issues and I was on the hunt for a new BCP.
I went to see my OBGYN, who informed me I could no longer used oral BCP due to my high blood pressure and my only option was a Mirena IUD. I asked several times whether the Mirena would cause my skin to get worse and was assured that although it would not make it worse it would not make it better either.
For the last two years with the Mirena, my skin has been an uphill battle. I have gone to my derm more times than I can count and tried everything from months and months of oral antibiotics (minocycline), .05% tretinoin cream which was later bumped up to .1%, sulfur sulfacetamide and clindamyacin foam/gel. Nothing worked, and worse of all..the array of topicals and antibiotics aggravated my facial eczema that I havent dealt with since I was a child.
As a last resort, since I cannot take Accutane since I would like to have a child in the next 5 years, my derm prescribed meSpironolactone. I started on Spiro at 50mg daily for the first month and saw no improvement. I did some research and decided to add Inositol in my regime in the hopes this would combat my hormonal acne. This helped and I had two weeks of amazingly clear skin and 2 weeks of standard breakouts. This past month the derm upped my dosage to 100mg daily and I had clear days here and there, but when I brokeout it wasin places I never use to get acne and it was more cystic, which I havent dealt with since pre-accutane.
Going into my third month of Spiro, continuing to take 100mg daily, I currently have 7 large active pimples on my cheeks,countless small whiteheads on my foreheadand 2-3 whiteheads on my lower chin. It is nowhere near my time of the month so if anything this should be one of my clearer weeks.I am reaching out in the hopes someone can give me some advice. Have you take sprio and had similar problems? Could it be the mirena? Is it safe to supplement while taking Spiro? I also recently added fermented cod liver oil and zinc to help with my eczema..should I stop those as well?
Any input would be great!
Hi there!
I have been on Spiro for 2 1/2 years now. I currently take 125 mg. I've upped my dosage a few times along my journey and each time I break out for a few weeks to a few months. Mirena can absolutely aggravate acne, have you inquired about Copper IUD which has no hormones? I can also not take any BCP and choose to use a diaphragm, not the best option, but there is no way I am messing with my hormones anymore. I have also heard fermented cod liver oil can make acne worse. Zinc is a great supplement, keep that up. I've beentaking Berberine which is a great supplement, look into it for PCOS and hormone balancing, helping gut, keeping inflammation at bay, keeping blood sugar level stable which is a big culprit to acne and inflammation.
http://www.naturalmedicinejournal.com/journal/2012-12/berberine-compared-metformin-women-pcos
http://www.soulcysters.net/showthread.php/350038-BERBERINE-Helps-MOST-PCOS-Issues-Acne-Insulin-Resistance-Hormonal-Imbalances-etc
http://pcosdiva.com/2014/12/berberine-pcos/
Feel free if you have any other questions to reach out!~ Liz