Hi everyone,
I'm new here so a bit of background about me:
I'm 20, female, struggling with hormonal acne. Up until a few months ago I barely ever got a spot in my life. I used to get told I have baby/porcelain skin (should have not taken that for granted). Now I have moderate acne in my cheeks, on my chin and jawline. I was diagnosed with PCOS over a year ago (FSH:LH was 6:13) followed by another diagnosis of the same thing more recently (FSH:LH was 11:27). I'm lean and my glucose levels were fine. I cut out diary from my diet a few months ago to cope with my excruciating period pain but that's a whole other story. Finally, I ended upgoing on the combination pill (Ovreena, don't know if the brand matters or not). I'm in my 3rd month of taking it and I've no relief with either my period pain or the acne. After some research on this website I believe too many androgens may have a big part to play in my acne. I've been looking into taking Spironolactone. I'm getting married in February so I'm really desperate to get my skin in order before then. No girl wants to wake up feeling ugly on their wedding day.
So my question is:
What do you suggest I do now? I had hoped the pill would be the answer to my problems but it's solved nothing so far. If you're in a similar position and have found something that helped you I would be very grateful to hear about it. Thanks in advance to all who took the time to read this!
Hey!
I'm about your age, I'm 21 and out of the BLUE around 19 years old after having a breast augmentation, I started getting awful, cystic acne on my cheeks too. Never in my life have I had acne on my cheeks.
I never found out why I had it, but anyway - I was on birth control and it didnt impact me in anyway, neg or pos. The pills really didnt do anything.
I got rid of it with 2 months on accutane. You can see my full journey and pics clicking this. You can compare and see if you have similar skin as me or not, cus you dont have any pics so im jus assuming your situation!
Before the accutane though, if your acne is much milder than what I had, I suggest epiduo.
Hi there thanks for your reply!
My fiance had extreme acne in his teens and he's now on his 3rd round of accutane and his skin is clearer than mine now. I'm too scared to go on it though cos I know it's a severe drug and my acne is not as bad in comparison. He did epiduo too like you before he went on accutane again but that just burned his face off similar to yours so I'm sceptical to try it. Thanks for your reply anyway and your skin is looking so much better! I hope I get there someday soon too finger crossed.
Did you get tested for just your fasting glucose?my fasting level was fine but once I did a 3 hr oral glucose test it showed I gave insulin resistance. Its typical in lean PCOS to not show up in fasting. Im on metformin now and wish I couldve found out sooner because my skin was definitely reacting to food/high blood sugar spikes. Im also on 100mg Spiro and definitely recommend it but low carb/sugar was the only thing to fully help. I recommend metformin & berberine supplements if you do have IR so that you can eat somewhat normally still. Im also lactose intolerant but find I tolerate sharp cheddar cheese as it has low lactose content btw. Good luck!
Thanks for the reply! Yeah I got my bloods done when fasting. Maybe I should try that. Did you have any symptoms of being Insulin Resistant other than just acne?