YAZ : Oral Contraceptive

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!  

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.