YAZ : Oral Contraceptive

The initial breakout was rough! I didn't want to go out or see anyone. I decided to stick it out for 4 months to really give it a chance. I am finishing my second month on it and it seems to be getting better. Today my face feels good and looks pretty clear. I'm hoping it just keeps clearing up. No weight gain or emotional side effects. I am willing to give it a chance for a while since I've struggled with acne for so long.

I took Yaz for 6 months(from april 2015 to august 2015) after my gynecologist recommended it as a treatment for my PCOS. Initially, she told me to only take it for 4 months, but my left ovary still had 5-6 cysts and took it for another 2 months. Yaz did a great job for my ovaries in these 6 months, I got rid of all those cysts(and still cysts-free now), but for my hormonal acne, it was terrible the first 2-3 months. I literally didn't get out of the house for days, I developed big, painful pimples all over my face, like never before; my appetite was over the roof(I gained 2kg in 6 months, mostly water retention I think, because I was constantly fighting my emotional binge-eating feeling lol). After these horrible 2 months, my face slooowly started to be somehow "normal" again, and in my last 2 months I only had a few blackheads on my nose. Once I got off, my acne slowly came back and by november-december, my face was full of little monsters again(no cystic, painful pimples though, but a lot of whiteheads and blackheads). I think Yaz works as long as you stay on it, but you can't really take it forever :) Now I'm on metformin and spironolactone for almost 2 weeks as a treatment for PCOS and insulin resistance. Hope this one works, as now I am treating the cause of all my problems(bloody hormones!!!), not the effect.

I went on YAZ when I was a sophomore in high school in the hopes of it clearing my mild to moderate acne that I had had since 6th grade. It took a couple months to actually help my skin. It never made it worse, but it took a while (probably a year or so) to completely clear my skin. I was so excited I finally had clear skin! I had no problems with it until fall 2015 (my sophomore year of college). I started having migraines that were unbearable, so my doctor wanted to switch me to Aviane because it has a lower estrogen dose. I did a lot of research and read horror stories about people's skin on Aviane so I decided not to take it. Ultimately, I quit brith control all together hoping that I had grown out of my acne and boy was I wrong. I stopped taking YAZ in the middle of October and my skin was okay for a few months. I was taking vitamins and eating clean hoping it would help. Now it's January and my skin is the worse it has ever been. Horrible acne all over my cheeks, forehead, and chin/jaw area. It is so bad that I've decided to go back on birth control. I'm afraid to go back on YAZ because of the migraines and moodiness, so my doctor is having me try Sprintec (generic for Ortho Cylen) to see if it will clear my skin without the horrible migraines. I'm on my third week and my skin only seems to be getting worse, but I'm still hopeful! Overall, I would not recommend YAZ unless it is your absolute last resort for acne. And beware of going off the pill. I know everyone reacts differently to the hormones but for me personally going off YAZ has wrecked my skin. I'm giving it 3 stars because it really does help clear acne, but with that you'll have to be on the pill for the rest of your life if you want to keep your clear skin.

I loved this pill at first: it cleared up my acne, made my periods regular and short, and was overall good except some tenderness in my breasts. THEN... every period I would cry, break out horribly, yell at EVERYONE, and I gained 10lbs in 2 months (while actually eating LESS and working out MORE)... it got horrible. I've been off of it for a while now and my moods are so much better, but I still haven't lost the weight and my acne is back. Looking for something else to try... hopefully it will work a little better and not make me gain 10 more lbs!

It didnt work for me, I gave it plenty of time to work, but it made my pmdd worse and gave me cystic acne instead of clearing up my regular acne.

it works, but use lots of moisturiser...

I'm switching to a generic oral contraceptive because Yaz really wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. I used it for 3 months. However, everybody reacts differently, so I'd still recommend it.

I am 28. I did a round of Accutane about 6 years ago. My results were amazing. I went zit free up until I started nursing school 1 1/2yrs ago. My dermatalogist decided my breakouts were stress related. About 3 mon ago I visited her again. My cystic acne was back along my jawline and chin and it was leaving awful scars. I have a Mirena IUD for contraception. She decided my breakouts were related to it or polycystic ovarian syndrome. She reccommended that I have it out and begin oral contraceptives. I visited with my gyno and he said i could do both. I decided to share so that i could bring attention to polycystic ovarian syndrome and IUD use and the relation to acne.

Worth a try, but I was never keen on the idea of birth control, as i was not sexually active, but was just trying it to help my skin. As far as clearing your skin I feel like there are much safer ways that could have the same mediocre effect.

I've only been on Yaz for a month now and so far the only side effect I've experienced is the ititial acne and the continuous spotting between periods. I was told to give it a month or two so my body gets used to it. I will wait it out. I hope it evens out soon.