YAZ : Oral Contraceptive

I am 31 years old. Unfortunately, I've struggled with acne since puberty. Nothing worked for me until I got on Yaz, which I was on for years. Then I had my children, and decided to stop taking it, thinking I had outgrown my acne. But I hadn't. :( It took me two years to figure out that Yaz was saving my skin-- and when I went off it and was no longer breastfeeding or pregnant, my skin went totally haywire. Acne, and so oily. Less than 2 weeks into starting Yaz again, my face is SO MUCH BETTER!

Going off birth control throws your hormones out of whack and can cause some serious skin issues. Sure, it might fix your skin - but at what cost? How long will you stay on the pill? I'm now terrified of coming off of it. I cleared up due to a retinoid and would highly recommend them instead. I don't have any complaints about Yaz. I didn't have any side effects and I like the birth control and predictable periods... But I still regret going on it because now I'm stuck on it.

I took this while on Accutane in 2008. I believe this is what actually kept my skin clear when I was no longer on Accutane. I was not even washing my face anymore. I got acne in my 30s. I am now 37. I stopped taking Yaz 6 months ago-thought I'd go "natural/hormone free." I also thought it would clear up the slight melasma I have. But I still have the melasma. And, even worse, I am been back in the derm's office for acne-again! I believe mine is hormonal and am having to start all over again with tretoinin (sp?), doxycyclin, and am started Yaz again today.

Yaz was very effictiev, I never broke out and for a while my sex drive was fine. But I've been on it for almost 2 years if not more and my sex drive is completely gone, I have cramps that make me want to die, and I just want to switch to another birth control pill now.

I have been on Yaz for about 6 weeks now. The first 3 weeks weren't nice - my acne became worse that it had ever been. I returned to the doctor saying it wasn't working etc. She encouraged me to stick with it for a 3 month course and then re-assess my options. By about week 6 I have almost over night seen a turn around in my skin. It's not perfect yet, but redness is definitley reduced and it has minimised the areas on my face that are breaking out. I was discouraged at first but beginning to be very happy with this product. I suffer hormonal acne that came on severley almost overnight. My skin was clear one day and horrible the next and kept getting worse.

This product takes time to work, but it is so worth it. After about 2 and a half months on yaz my skin was a lot clearer and i had no more breakouts. I was on minocycline (antibiotic) during the first 2 months which interupted the effectiveness of the pill. Once i stopped taking that, yaz kicked in and my skin started clearing up. It just needs time to adjust to your body, good luck!

I also started taking spironolactone at the same time which I think also really helped wih clearing up my skin.

Originally I was prescribed Diane 35 by my dermatologist, but I decided to go with Yaz eventually because it has a lower dose of estrogen as well as a shorter 4-day period. Now I have been on Yaz for around 6 months already. While I don't really regret choosing it over Diane 35, I have to say that I do have very mixed feelings about the results that I am getting. First of all, here are the pros and cons of Yaz for me. Pros: - No weight gain at all - Sex drive remaining there - Gradually lighter period - Increased breast size - Reduction in oil production of skin Cons: - Increased anxiety level - Increased irritability - Mood swings - Breakthrough bleeding - Cystic Acne remaining there I didn't really get an initial breakout from Yaz. For the first few months I did notice some strange things happening to my skin. For example, during the 2nd month for about a week my skin went from super oily to super dry with zero oil production. But very quickly it went back to normal. Yaz has really helped me greatly in reducing the oil production of my skin. Prior to taking it, I couldn't get by one or two hours without looking like a complete oil slick. But now the oiliness of my skin is very normal and in acceptable level, even though I still consider myself having oily and acne prone skin. However, Yaz has so far failed to clear me up. Somewhere from the middle of the 4th month I have started to break out more and now I have been breaking out really badly in cystic acne. I am not certain whether the sudden onset of cystic acne is directly caused by Yaz or other factors though. Emotionally it has been a roller coaster for me in the past few months. Although I don't think Yaz is to be blamed alone for all my anxiety / irritability / depression, I do believe that it plays a part in affecting my moodiness more or less. And I really think that anyone with a family history of anxiety or depression issue should be very very cautious with hormonal treatment. Anyway I am going to stick with Yaz for another 3 months maybe, just to see if my cystic acne will improve or get worse. If it gets really out of control or doesn't have any improvement after that, maybe I will consider switching to another brand, maybe Diane 35, who knows!

I used this and my skin was PERFECT for months after getting on this, but i had to get off because I lost my insurance and this stuff is expensive. Then i got horrible acne, cysts and deep whiteheads all that stuff, so when i broke down and decided to pay out of pocket, it was never as good, it still helped but i still broke out on my chin and had at least one cyst every month along with smaller forms of acne on my chin. so i stopped using it, my skin now cleared up with a combination of retin a and spironolactone but still if you have insurance try it! It may work longer for you, and when i did work it was awesome.

I tried Yaz years ago (before I took Accutane twice) and it didnt work for me. However, now I'm 19 and I've been on it for 2 months and it has completely cleared my skin. I used to have itchy whiteheads along my forehead, jawline, and cheeks which are now all gone. Yaz got rid of the acne I've had for 10 years and even Accutane couldn't deal with. Yes, I have some side effects but they are generally mild and I can deal with them if it means clear skin.