Diane-35 : Oral Contraceptive

Hi, I just went off the diane 35 pill while on my 6th pack, therefore my during my 6th month of it because it did not work for me at all. I feel compelled to write this review as while on it i read on here it may take 3-4 months to start working (I am not saying this isnt true) which is what motivated me to be so patient with it to eventually see if it did start working! On the diane 35 pill i would noticed my skin would clear up and then breakout again, this was a vicious cycle that continued for the entirety of the pill, I believe this was because my body couldnt balance with the strong hormons from the pill. Nearing the end I was giving it final chances, ie if it didnt break out horribly again, which of course it did, I also noticed that my skin was actually extremely worse than when i started the pill. I've quit the pill for almost a month now and my skin's condition has increased increadibly, I am approaching my first period since quitting and have only developed 3-4 pimples. I am not on any medication currently the only changes I have made is using a niaminicide serum every morning and a retinoid every other day & I have reduced my diary intake significantly but I cannot comment on that effectiveness yet Backround about me: 2-3 years ago I was on doxycycline for 6 months + contraception pills and topical creams which didnt help much, so i was classified as having severe cystic acne. I then did a course of roacctuane which kept my skin pimple free for a bit over a year, when I started getting pimples again is when i went on diane (6 months ago). Acne runs in my family, my father and his brothers/sisters have had acne into their 30/40s so I am determined to seek a cure !! :)

Please don't take this pill. All hormonal birth control is bad, but this is the absolute worst. Thinned my hair to the point that you can see scalp, and 1 year after stopping, it is still falling out. Yes it made my skin mildly better...but if I could go back in time I would shake myself and scream 'clean up your diet, read The Period Repair Manual, practice good skincare and get off the pill!!' Having clear skin for a short period of time and then paying the consequences forever couldn't be less worth it. Besides my skin is better now than anytime I was on the pill. I just cut out dairy and sugar. Other Diane side effects included: insomnia, migraines, muscle cramps, anxiety, skin pigmentation, rosacea and depression. All of these went away when I stopped taking Diane. Unfortunately my hair is still dead. Please girls, don't do it.

Yes.. Diane35 gives you nice skin..never pimpels..shiny hair.. and it fights against unwanted hairgrowth.. but wait when you stop the pill for any reason. You will pay the price for it, beautiful stories doesnt last forever.. diane distroyed everything in my body after 2 years only of using it. I stopped in february since that day i suffered until now from oily and dead hair and acne.. yes its good for a while when u take it but it destroys completely your hormones. Be carefull with the birh control as it is an chemical hormonal.

Had my IUD removed after a year as I had nothing but bad experiences using it... acne, weight gain (8kg/ 17lbs) terrible mood swings and extremely low libido. I started Diane about a month after IUD removal. At first my acne got slightly worse and was quite moody and sad. I wanted to throw Diane out and stop taking it.. but I have heard to give it a few months to work and i'm so glad I did! About 2-3 months in my acne started disappearing, my periods are SO light and haven't had any cramps since taking Dianne. I have had no weight gain with Dianne and haven't had any trouble losing weight while on it. Not only that but my mood has changed dramatically. I feel happy and calm and so pleased I stuck it out and gave this pill a chance.

Hi Ladies I have been using this pill for 5 months now. For the first month I did'nt see any changes to the acne until second and third month which were the worst. The acne worsened during those two months, cystic pimples which were red and puss filled were all over my chin and jawline. Not forgetting the scarring that came with those cysts. I was so tempted to ditch this treatment and look for an alternative therapy. But due to reading a lot of posts with similar stories, I was hopeful that maybe I needed to give the diane a little bit more time. Its not until I hit the end of month 4 mark did I start seeing some clearing on my skin. Its now end of month my and I am completely clear. So one needs to be very patient with diane, clearing of the acne takes a while. But its worth the wait.

Hi there I am now on Diane 35 for the second time. I honestly regret ever coming off it! I had been on Diane for around 10 years. I was prescribed it for my moderate acne as a teenager (16-17years old) It cleared my skin right up but it did take a very long time. I would say 6-12 months before it was completely clear and under control. I very rarely suffered from breakouts after being on Diane. I maybe got 1-2 pimples occasionally. But my skincare was not amazing and I did wear cheap makeup. Diane is a life changer! However, after 10 years it wasn't working for me anymore, I started to get breakthrough bleeding and then regular pimples. 1-2 cystic ones every month, which was not normal for me. I decided to give my body a break and came off the pill completely for almost 2 months. My skin went ballistic around the 6 week mark! Pimples everywhere, my back and my chest were the worst and I also had breakouts on my face. Not to mention the other side effects from coming off the pill - nausea, cramps, headaches, loss of appetite and mood swings. I know that so many women have amazing experiences once coming off the pill and say they feel like "their 15 year old self again" but honestly it was the opposite for me. So, I decided to go back on it and it was fine for a while, until the breakthrough bleeding started again, about 3 months in. I ended swapping pills and was on Norimin for around 4 months and it was good, was also meant to clear skin due to its estrogen content. After the 4 month mark my skin went crazy, again! So I rushed back to the doctors and got a script for Diane 35. I have been on Diane now for almost 4 months and my skin is far from clear but not terrible. My back and chest have cleared up - that happened around 1-2 months of being back on Diane 35, so not too bad. But my face is not clearing as quickly. I am getting cystic pimples on my jaw and chin and have lots of tiny little bumps on my chin and cheeks. I definitely feel as though it gets worse before it gets better, I don't remember exactly how long it took last time for my skin to clear. I just remember it being a while. I'm anticipating around the 6 month mark that I should hopefully see a decent improvement. I know there are a lot of scary stories out there about this pill but for me the benefits outweigh the risks. I am lucky enough not to experience any major side effects but of course there is always risk associated with any type of medication.

Hey girls, I've been on Estelle 35 (generic brand of Diane- 35) due to skin problems. I have never had bad skin as such, but the hormonal pimples I do have on my forehead and on my cheeks in particular have made me really self conscious and this is the reason why I've decided to try this Pill. In the past, due to myself not being confident in my skin, have tried so many different options. Creams, exfoliators, Bezac, Doxycycline Oral Antibiotic (which was amazing, but you can't be on it for more than 8 months), Epiduo, different skin routines... so many different things, and nothing has really worked out for me long term. So far (2 and a half months in), I haven't seen much change in my skin. I've read various reviews and have come to the conclusion that I should see effective results between the 3 - 6 month range... I just want it to show results as soon as possible. I am usually such a patient person, though with this pill and not seeing any positive changes to my skin as of yet, I'm slowly getting impatient. I just have to stick it out, but I need it to show results soon, just so I can start feeling confident in myself again. As far as side affects go, I haven't had any... maybe only increased appetite, but that's not too much of a major issue for me, so I guess I've been quite fortunate. In saying all this, I do want to keep you posted on my progress as this review page has honestly shown me so much and giving my input will hopefully help some of you who are going though the same thing. Please do go to my blog, there will be updated reviews every couple of weeks to keep you updated if interested. We are all in this together xo

I've been on different birth controls and pills for 15+ years, but I have NEVER had side effects like I had with this pill. I guess a high dosage pill (in this case estrogen) comes with the risk of more severe effects. I have never once before in my life had migraines or anything related to migraines. On Estelle 35 I had daily migraines that were so severe I could only lay in bed in the dark and cry from the pain. It started a few days after I started this pill, and they haven't come back since (over a year ago). I gave it a total of 3 weeks before deciding to stop torturing myself. On top of that, this pill has been linked to long term severe health issues - proven! It is banned in many other Western countries! Ladies there are so many less harmful effective birth control options, and smooth skin is not worth your life. Stop accepting this pill and the people who produce and prescribe it in spite of proven links to blood clots and other life threatening conditions.

I have been on Diane-35 for almost 6 years now. I am 22 years old, and my family doctor prescribed me this medication in high school mainly to cure my acne but also to be used as a contraceptive because no other birth control properly regulated my period. I must say, for all of you who are skeptical about this drug... It works wonders. It did take about 6 months for me to start seeing a change in my skin, but after that, my skin was nearly free of pimples (I would still get a few every now and then), and it has been that way for 6 years. Aside from merely its benefits of curing acne, I cannot express enough how perfect it is for period and hormone regulation. After the 6 month point, I can honestly say that my period has been so regular that I will know exactly what day of the month (and even approximate time of day) I will get my period, and I know exactly what to expect of my moods/skin at different points in the cycle. It has been life-changing. HOWEVER, this is where my concern starts to come in. I've noticed that my hair throughout the years has been thinning dramatically and does not ever grow past a certain length. I use heat on my hair probably once every couple of days, and wash my hair about twice a week (I promise it's not gross; the natural oils make it healthy). So I know that can't possibly be the issue. It's gotten to the point where I got my hair dresser to put in sew-in extensions to make my hair thicker because I feel like I have no hair on my head. I am Italian mixed with Arabic, so you can probably guess that thick, long hair runs in my family. Recently I've read reviews about Diane about women complaining that they've lost close to 70% of their hair by the age of 30... and this freaks me right out. I went to the doctor about it and he prescribed me Tri-Cyclen (28) which I am hesitant to start taking because it didn't seem like he had any idea where my concern was and my body is so used to Diane at this point. If anyone has any insights PLEASE do enlighten me!!

Rarely had a pimple during my teens...had combination skin and suffered from mild eczema. Fast forward to early adulthood. Suddenly (and I mean suddenly) saw whiteheads all cross my face mainly in the cheek and chin area. I would classify it as mild/moderate acne. It really distressed me at the time and affected my self confidence. Spoke to my GP and after failing to see any noticeable results using prescription creams (Differin, Duac) she prescribed Diane-35. I used the generic brand (Brenda-35 and Estelle-35) ever since. Changes I noticed: acne got worse for the first few weeks. Boobs got bigger. Gained a teensy bit of weight. In a few months my acne cleared up completely. No matter what I ate or how little or much I exercised my skin was acne free. I would get maybe one pimple every now and then but it was definitely bearable. Late last year (August) I decided that I wanted to stop using the pill. My skin was clear but a) I did not wish to be so reliant on the pill and b) I experienced vaginal thrush which did not go away despite using prescription and over the counter meds. I had not experienced this during my first 4 years on the pill but I think my body was telling me it had enough. My decision was a hard one because A LOT of people on the site have claimed that going off the pill ruined their skin. I was initially torn because on one hand I know how hard it was for me to live with acne but I also know my body wasn't coping with having the pill in my system. So what I decided to do was go off the pill, but ease my body into the hormonal changes that will happen as soon as I go off it. In August I began to eat healthier by cutting down my consumption of diary and sugar. In September I cut it down even further and introduced my body to daily doses of zinc and evening primrose oil. In October I got off the pill and continued my diet/supplement regime. I didn't get any pimples until November. A lot of people say they break out like crazy but in my experience I have only ever experienced three whiteheads in my chin area on any given day. Most days it is clear or I have one small whitehead. My chin area is a bit sensitive and bumpy but by no means would I classify it as breaking out. After going off the pill I also noticed that my hair got oilier and my thrush problem disappeared. I've been pill free for a few months now and so far I'm happy with the results. I am eating dairy and sugar occasionally but I consume it in small portions. I still take my supplements religiously as I believe my acne is hormonal and the supplements help balance my hormones. I think if I did not put in these measures my post-pill breakout would be much worse. Diane-35 is a crutch. That is the honest truth. If you wish to use it make sure you know what you are getting yourself into.