YAZ : Oral Contraceptive

Brand:
Reviews
3.3
358 Reviews

Active Ingredients:
Ethinyloestradiol (20mcg), Synthetic Oestrogen, and Drospirenone (3mg).

Inactive Ingredients:
Lactose, maize starch, magnesium stearate, hypromellose, purified talc, titanium dioxide, iron oxide red.

4 placebo (non-hormonal) pills per pack
Inactive Ingredients:
Lactose, maize starch, povidone, magnesium stearate, hypromellose, titanium dioxide.

The list of ingredients above is provided for informational purposes only. Always check the actual product label in your possession for the most accurate ingredient information due to product changes or upgrades that may not yet be reflected on our web site.

5
21.8%
4
29.9%
3
18.7%
2
15.9%
1
13.7%

Used YAZ : Oral Contraceptive? Rate It:

Choose from 1 to 5 stars
December 24, 2021
I keep getting compliments on my skin

This is a review for a Yaz generic manufactured by Glenmark in India which I took for 4 years.  I’ve never taken the brand but I am very satisfied with how well even the generic cleared up my full face of severe cystic acne. 44 years old here and I’ve been taking birth control pills with no breaks for the last 25 years of my life.  It is the BEST birth control pill for acne that I came across out of many that I’ve tried.  Desogen and Mircette are excellent too but made me depressed.  Accutane worked but thinned my hair so much I wasn’t able to regain it long after discontinuing it.  Prescription topicals and antibiotics never gave me the perfect porcelain skin that Yaz gave me.  With Yaz, I don’t even need use any other acne treatments.  I don’t even think about acne.  I know it’s working when I saw how greatly reduced the sebum is on my face and scalp during the first month.  The sebum goes away first before the acne goes away.  It may take longer for the acne to improve if you have a severe case, usually up to 6 months.  I find that Yaz’s anti-androgenic effects continued to get stronger if taken for longer than that.  After 4 years, I had to switch to another pill because it was causing painful dry eye due to lack of lubricating oil.  I also noticed stronger anti-androgenic effects in continuous use where placebo pills are skipped.  There really is no need to have a period anyway.  Yaz’s active ingredient drospirenone is a cousin of spironolactone, making it its equivalent of 25mg.  I feel that it behaves like a much stronger dose.  I’d like to lower the dose but I can’t.  It doesn’t have the flexibility of dosing like the way spironolactone does.  Expect lots of peeing for the first few months.  Drink lots of water to counteract dehydration side effects such as palpitations, fatigue, headaches.  As for other side effects, I get anxiety for a few hours a day.  It exacerbates my existing insomnia and migraines.  Other than that, it is much tolerable than other birth control pills.  It doesn’t mess with my mood or energy.    If you’re unsatisfied with your results, you can always switch to a different generic made by a different manufacturer.  From what I experienced, generics have different effects from each other even though they are listed as the same ingredients.  This can be done without having your doctor write you another prescription, as long as you have refills left.  Just talk to your pharmacist.  I get better quality generics and customer service from a small local pharmacy than a large chain one.  About blood clots, yes, Yaz is notorious for that.  The risk is highest during your first year of taking it or when you restart after 4 weeks of not taking them.  That goes for any bc pill. So I believe “taking breaks” from birth control pills can cause more harm than good.  I plan to be on birth control pills for as long as I can so I can dodge menopause.  Good luck to anyone reading this!  

 

February 11, 2021
First week of YAZ - will be updating!

Okay so, i've had acne since i was around 13 and I have just turned 18 and nothing has ever worked for my skin. I've tried antibiotics, prescribed creams and even the microgynon pill but none seemed to work. My skin only ever clears slightly when I'm on my period, but most of the time I just have acne everywhere - it's never cystic, and I defo don't have it as bad as some people but it's still bad probably around 15 pimples on an average day but all different sizes. 

Anyways, I started YAZ a week ago and my skin has gone TERRIBLE lol but that's as expected. In addition to this, my boobs have grown (thank god!) about half a cup size and i'm having no emotional side effects as of yet. The worst side effect is defo the breakout, it's honestly so bad! My face is basically one huge spot and they're all so aggressive and sore but i'm praying they will start to clear at the 3rd month. I'll keep updating this when I get a change to any side effects :))

 

-Kate.

October 2, 2018
Acne ridden mess to kinda clear in 3 months
Just finished my third pack, and compared to how my skin was before, it has improved tremendously. I think I have a few more pimples coming in at the moment, one on my cheek, near my lip and on my forehead, but they're pretty small. Also, before starting the pill I was dealing with a lot of those little bumps on my forehead that take foreeevver to go away. They've cleared up A LOT but there is still some there, so I'll update next month on their status. The first month I had occasional mood swings (legit a couple fits of full blown tears for pretty much no reason.) I think my body/emotions just had to get used to the new hormones, because that hasn't happened since. My body, namely my butt and my boobs, have actually filled out quite a lot, so I've probably gained a bit of weight, but I honestly haven't checked because I like the way it looks. My only negative is that my boobs have been kind of sore, but nothing particularly bothersome. All in all I'm pretty happy so far. It definitely takes time. It's only been in the past couple weeks that I've really seen the improvement, but it's been getting better and better quicker and quicker.
November 10, 2018
Update: Currently on my fifth pack, my skin is almost completely clear except for one small pimple on my left cheek and some blackheads here and there (nose mainly). The bumps on my forehead are pretty much entirely gone, and my skin is soo soft. I think that has a lot to do with the skincare i've been using lately, but I know the pill was helping me before, so it's hard to tell what is working the best. Overall I'm thrilled with how my skin looks and feels, and would definitely recommend yaz in conjunction with a good skincare routine and drinking lots of water, provided the pill is an okay option for you health-wise. I stand by four stars because while yaz has worked very well, I don't think it's truly capable of getting the job of totally clearing done on it's own. Also, by pack four, the soreness in my boobs had gone away.
March 8, 2018
It takes 3-6 months
I have been on Yaz in the past and it really cleared my skin. I was on it for 5 years and had flawless skin by using Acne.org BP once a day and taking the Yaz. I went off of it for a year and my acne came roaring back. Four months ago I started to take it again for PMDD. My skin started to clear within a few weeks, but full clearing took four months. The first time I was on Yaz it took the full six months. I have never experienced much of an initial breakout with it, but everything that was below the surface, eventually did come to the surface and could be removed. The only reason I gave it four stars is that it caused me to have pretty noticeable melasma all over my face. That may just be my body though. I will gladly take some melasma over terrible periods and very bumpy skin.
March 6, 2018
YAZ SAVED ME
After I went off the pill a few years ago I developed really bad, painful cystic acne all over my jaw and cheeks. It was a constant struggle with tons of products, diet and lifestyle changes, etc but nothing helped. It took about 2 years of this until I realized I had to go back on the pill. I went on another one before Yaz which did not make any difference, and after 5 months started Yaz. It took about 4 months until my skin was completely clear. So be patient and it will work for yoy too. I've seriously never been happier with my skin. As for other "effects" of Yaz, the first couple of months my mood was just volatile and I was a bit irritable and resated to everything but that passed. I now feel stable and rarely get mood swings. Also didn't gain any weight nor did my boobs grow (unfortunately)
This Was Helpful

1 user(s) found this helpful

Report
December 1, 2017
GOOD FOR ACNE, BAD FOR EVERYTHING ELSE
I've had cystic acne on my chin appearing like clockwork a week before my period and I would spend the rest of the month attempting to get rid of it, just for it to leave a scar and another one to appear the next month. This gets rid of cystic acne very fast, within a week at the least but if you're still having problems I suggest cutting out dairy for the 2 weeks before your period-- It worked for me and I was amazed. I got changed off of Vestura to Nikki and it still works for my face. However, I have had TERRIBLE mood swings and headaches. Before I realized it was the medicine, I could not go 3 days without crying my eyes out. I'm going to ask my derm to go back to Vestura because I can't go Nikki for much longer, so if you get put on a generic and you notice changes in mood and general feeling, ASK TO BE SWITCHED TO ANOTHER GENERIC. It will save your life.
This Was Helpful

1 user(s) found this helpful

Report
October 15, 2017
Give it 3 months
I agree with the last post. Give it three months. I never had skin problems as a teen. My acne journey started when I was 20 and was prescribed the contraceptive pill Levlen. When I was 21, I started taking Diane. My skin cleared up in two weeks and remained flawless for years. When I was 29, I had to go off the pill for 3 months to get some hormone testing done. My acne came back worse than ever. I started using proactive twice daily and after 6 months of taking Diane again, my skin was returned to normal. But then all of sudden after 5 years, two years ago, Diane stopped working for my acne. I started getting big blind pimples on my chin and lower part of my face. My doctor suggested I try zoely. This made my skin oily and I broke out in comedones on my cheeks and big pimples on my forehead. I stayed on Zoely but started taking minocyclin. I took it for 6 months and my skin cleared up. But as soon as I stopped taking the antibiotics, the acne returned. I tried a second course of minocyclin and using a retinoid cream. The antibiotics didn't work this time and neither did the cream. After a year of taking zoely, my skin was oily, I had comedonal acne and very oily hair. My doctor suggested Yaz and I was willing to try anything. So I stared it. I immediately began breaking out in big blind pimples on my cheeks, chin and forehead. Also small, painful bumps along my jawline. The large pimples on my cheeks were horrible. I was constantly reapplying my make up through out the day to try and conceal my blemishes. The pimples would stick around for weeks and have left dark marks on my face. But I noticed that my skin and hair were no longer oily. I've always been a person who has to wash her hair every second day. But now I could go three days without oil. This has never happened before so I stuck with Yaz thinking it was a good sign. Second month, more of the same. Third month, less occurances of pimples on my forehead, less large pimples on my cheeks- mostly small ones that would go away in a day or two, still a few painful bumps along my jawline. Now I'm halfway through the fourth month. No more big pimples, a tiny pimple once in a while on the sides of my face not far from the hairline. No big blind pimples, scarring is fading. Yesterday I went to a music festival and after being in the sun all day I thought the sweat and make up would cause a big break out. I got one little pimple close to my hairline on my left cheek which is gone today. So I would encourage you to wait three months. If you're not seeing any improvement by the fourth month then fair enough, stop taking Yaz. Other things you should know. I still wash my face with proactive products twice a day. I've been doing that for 7 years. I use an oil free moisturiser, foundation, primer and powder. I take hair, skin and nails vitamins everyday. And for the past two months , I've been using the neutrogena LED light therapy mask for ten minutes every night. I understand how acne can impact upon your everyday life. Clear skin is my thing. I look at everyone's skin and compare it to mine. As soon as I wake up every morning, I check for pimples. I get it. I have an autoimmune disease which creates a hormonal imbalance so my doctor has warned me that I may have issues with acne for the rest of my life. I never thought I would be dealing with teenage skin problems at 36!
This Was Helpful

13 user(s) found this helpful

Report
July 19, 2017
Give it a full 3 months
These reviews helped me a lot so I thought I'd share my experience. I had severe hormonal acne + pustules all over my face, specifically on my cheeks and jawline, when I got prescribed yaz. The first month was absolutely terrible and I broke out all over my forehead, back and chest... I was literally scared to leave the house. In the second month, it was just as bad but new pimples weren't surfacing as often. Month 3: up until the 3rd week I had small pimples on my face and everywhere else had cleared up (nothing as bad as month 1) but it wasn't till I completely finished my 3rd pack that my face cleared up. I'm now in the middle of month 4 and my face is completely clear!!!! I can go out in public without makeup and finally feel confident, which was NOT the case 3 months ago. Also, I have experienced no side effects except nausea during the first 2 weeks of starting the pill and bigger boobs :)
This Was Helpful

13 user(s) found this helpful

Report
June 27, 2017
Saved my face!!
I am 18 and I suffered from cystic acne for a long time, which left scars on my face. I tried antibiotics for years and a different type of birth control (Microgestin Fe), which didn't help much (if at all). My doctor switched me to Yaz. I just finished my third pack and my face is spotless. It began working almost immediately. By the middle of month 2, my face had almost cleared up completely. I get a few small breakout spots while on the placebo pills, but I NEVER get any cysts. I have a few mood swings on the placebo pills and my boobs are swollen and a little bit sore all the time. I have grown two cup sizes, but I have had no weight gain other than that (which I am fine with haha) and no other serious side effects. I would definitely recommend Yaz for acne.
This Was Helpful

6 user(s) found this helpful

Report
July 2, 2017
Hi..m please let me know. I'm 21 years old and I'm a virgin i want to tale birth control pills I'm scared if i take bith control pills i might have side effects.
December 7, 2018

Did you get any response? If you did can you also tell me because I'm in the same situation. 

 

February 21, 2017
Slowly working
Thought I'd post my experience with yaz! I started yaz 3 months ago.. I'll be starting my 4th pack in about a week! When I started yaz i was having very mild breakouts on my back as well as a new inflamed pimple on my face about every 4 days or so and theyd take a couple days to go away with the odd cystic pimple every couple months or so! I should also mention that about 95% of my breakouts are around my mouth and chin area! Month 1: my pimples here were about the same with no change really! Month 2: End of month 1 and beginning of month 2 were horrible for me!! all my pimples cleared around my mouth and Id say for the entire month 2 I had maybe 6 cystic pimples on my left cheek.. no where else just my left cheek which I never get pimples there thats how I knew it was from the Yaz. As well as this, my back broke out in at least 20-30 pimples and I'm still dealing with the aftermath of that! Month 3: Month 3 I was still breaking out on my back moderately! I was clear for about 2 weeks now I notice that I am getting a couple more pimples again, so I'm praying that in a couple more months the body acne will be gone for good! As for my face, I havent gotten a cystic pimple in 28 days hooray! And maybe one or two little pimples that have gone away in about 2 days.. although I actually still have the bump on my face from the cystic pimple that was from 28 days ago.. So I'm hoping that goes away soon or I'll have to go to the derm and get an injection I guess! Will update again at the end of month 4 :)
This Was Helpful

6 user(s) found this helpful

Report