Dianette : Oral Contraceptive

In the past decade I've done three stints of Dianette, or Co-Cyprindiol as it's now called. The first time, back in 2007, it worked a charm and I was on it for about 5 years. However, when I came off my spots returned, but not badly. In 2015, it cleared my spots again but made my skin dry and flaky. When I came off, my spots returned worse than ever and I started getting thick hair growth on my top lip, arms and legs, which eventually evened out. Just a week ago, I started it again, and now I've broken out in the worst cystic acne I've ever experienced. Seems to me, although it works while you're on it, after each stint your symptoms return with a vengeance. My advice? Never start on it

A while ago I had really severe acne so I went on dianette. It took a few months but it did clear up my skin totally. However, I also noticed a lot of weight gain resulting in stretch marks. As a result, I switched to a course of antibiotics which seemed to be working at first but now my skin has got really bad again. I have restarted taking dianette for a few days and have experienced mood swings however I am not sure if that is a result of my acne or the pill. I did not like taking dianette but I fear it is necessary if I want clear skin as nothing else has worked

I absolutely LOVED being on Dianette a few years ago, it hugely helped my skin clear up. I still had some active acne, but not to the extent I had previously. I did stay on it for 4 years, which is not recommended in the UK because of it's blood clotting issues, however I did not experience any side effects. I have since asked to go back on it, however my GP wants my blood pressure checked again and again to make sure it's low enough to go on Dianette.

I've had hormonal acne for 20 years . I started taking dianette aged 20 and it definitely helped my skin but I did still get spots . Every time I came off it my skin was worse than ever so I ended up back on it but it took longer to kick in each time . After the birth of my son when I was 29 my skin really flared up , I had cystic acne on my cheeks which was leaving pitted scars . I was getting an improvement after 6 months but was still really fed up so took 2 packets back to back and for the first time in 15 years I had no spots !. I carried on doing this until a couple of months ago and the worst I'd get was a spot on my chin every few weeks which cleared up with bp . I decided to do an experiment and see what happened if I went back to taking the pill 'normally' and last week I had a cystic spot on my cheek for the first time in years . I've done loads of research and opinion is divided on if it does any harm continuously running 2 packs back to back . The issue is that my doctor thinks when I'm 35 ( next year) I need to come off dianette. I am aware of the increased risk compared to other pills but to me it's worth it not to be depressed by acne . I know by my little experiment that I'm still acne prone so I'm starting to panic . That is where the but comes in because it's not something ( most ) doctors will agree to you taking until you truly 'grow out ' of acne . Personally I've had no side effects and getting acne does make me depressed, moody and irritable so feel better on it . I've had no weight gain , I weigh the same as I did when I was 20 !. It's a shame there's not a way for the manufacturers to lower the risks of dianette so it can be taken until it's no longer needed . After spending a fortune on getting rid of my acne scars I'm terrified of getting full blown cystic acne again.

I've recently started dianette , just coming up to the end of my second week , so far my skin has got slightly worse . However I've heard this is fairly normal as your body needs to get used to this pill . I can say the first few days I got bad side affects , however now I'm not getting them as much . I'm going to carry on with this for 3 months and see if there is any improvement then . I will then give an updated review . My GP has asked me to go in after my first month on these so we can see if I'm okay to carry on taking them.

I'd never recommend this pill to anyone, it's very dangerous. I have PCOS and took the pill for 5 years. I went from moderate acne to perfect clear skin in two months. My nightmare started when I noticed varicose veins in my legs and other side effects like headaches, mood swings, anxiety, depression, grumpiness and low libido. Also, once you quit the pill your acne will come back worse than before.

Works for some people but I came off this within two and a half weeks of taking it. After the first week I began feeling very low and just mentally unwell. It was a hard feeling to explain but depression is often hard to describe. I stuck with it for a further week and a half but I couldn't take the depression any longer. I gave it a go and it didn't work but that doesn't mean it won't work for other people. I had suffered from depression in my teenage years and depression does run in my family so maybe I am more prone to feeling like this. Who knows? But I knew pretty quickly it wasn't for me.

I've never had amazing skin, but at the age of 23 I developed full blown acne out of the blue. I tried several courses of antibitoics and creams such as benzyl peroxide but nothing worked. After much convincing, I managed to get my Doctor to put me on Diannete, even though I'm classified as obsese. I was so depressed about my skin I decided to accept the risks and go for it anyway. It's been three months now and I've noticed some change, although I'd still my acne is still quite bad. I've noticed that my skin goes through spells of being really clear and then really bad. I'm not sure if anyone else found this? Anyway, I'm going to stick with it as I don't want to go on Roacutane and hope that in time my skin improves. Fingers crossed!

you definitely need to wait for these tablets to work, don't give up hope. i think after youre 3rd of 4th months there should be some improvement. if youre depressed etc seriously consider taking a different tablet as these dramatically effect your mood. good luck to anyone else trying them!x

I've been on this pill for a few weeks now and my acne has started to improve! However, I started to get really bad headaches, even on the first day of taking it! Also, at work I started to feel really dizzy and sick, even though I had no reason for it! I've read most of the reviews, and I haven't experienced weight gain or loss in appetite. I have yet to experience what it is like coming off the pill, but the doctor said that she had a 'plan c' after the pill so if you're worried about coming off it, just talk to your doctor! As for breast growth, not yet for me! But it happened for my mum so it will probably happen to me too. I think if it worked/didn't work with your mother, it will have the same effect on you! So I wouldn't read too much into these reviews as it works differently on different people.