Oral Contraceptive
Efficacy
63%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Note: Improvement significantly increases after 24 weeks.
Oral Contraceptive
Acne.org’s Real World Take
All oral contraceptives appear to clear the skin about the same amount. Some people report cessation of acne symptoms and others see partial relief. However, messing with hormones is messing with hormones and it’s best to proceed with caution. But if you’re looking to take the birth control pill anyway, one of the benefits is clearer skin.
Oral Contraceptive
How to Get It
Have a dermatologist? Make an appointment to get this medication. Don't have a dermatologist? See The American Academy of Dermatology Physician Database to find one.
Used Norgestimate (Ortho Tri-Cyclen®)? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
June 15, 2018
Trying to be patient and hopeful!
I have been taking the generic version of this birth control, Tri-Previfem, for a month and a half. I have not had any side effects (no weight gain, same boob size). During the first month, my acne cleared up for the most part. It has definitely been worse this past two weeks since I started the second pack. The pimples are popping up frequently, but are healing faster than normal. I have also been eating a lot of sugar in the past week, and I've noticed a relationship between my sugar intake and acne severity. I have struggled with moderate hormonal acne on my face and back since age 13 (around 5 years). I'll update again after I have taken this pill for a longer time.
August 24, 2015
Product used: Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo (Oral Contraceptive)
It stopped working
This birth control really did work for me for the first few years. At some point I guess my body got used the the birth control (per my doctor) and I started breaking out horribly again. The side effects were minimal when I was on it, and if it continued to work then this rating would be a 5 rather than a 3. I do encourage other women to give this birth control a try since it did work for me for about 5 years without any crazy mood swings, but I did experience some weight gain. If you are concerned about weight gain, my weight would fluctuate off and on while I was on this by about 10 pounds, for the most part I would stay right in the middle with a 4-6 pound gain, but around my period or times of high stress it would go up to a 10-12 pound gain. Different birth controls affect each woman differently so I can't say that every woman will experience the weight gain that I did, but I figured I would give you all a heads up.
January 11, 2014
Fair
Cons:
Difficult to lose weight on
Initial breakout
Migraines, moodiness
I took this medication for two months. The initial breakout left me feeling miserable; I had painful cystic acne all over my chin. I also got terrible headaches, and was a moody all the time. I think my acne is finally starting to clear up a bit but I don't know if it's because the medication is actually helping or if my initial breakout is just ending. This is not the pill for me at all.
December 24, 2013
:(
Pros:
Works for a whole
Cons:
Nausea
Mood swings
Acne worsens
I've been on ortho tri cyclen for 5 months now, and for the first 4 months it really cleared up my skin, better than it's been in years! But this month my skin has broken out worse than ever before. Plus I have naturally dry skin so when it breaks out and I try to treat it, it dries out too and looks disgusting. On top of that I've been nauseous and had crazy mood swings. I've been trying to stay positive, but I can't decide if I want to quit the pill or switch to another one.
November 11, 2013
Good and Bad
Pros:
No weight gain
Light periods
Light cramps
Cons:
Didn't help acne
Longer periods than past birth control
I initially went on sprintec because I wanted to be on a birth control that would help clear my skin. I used to be on Loestrin 24 Fe, but that just wasn't cutting it. I have now been on sprintec for a little over 6 months and my experience is both good and bad. The good part, I haven't gained a single pound and it hasn't effected my emotions at all. Periods are light and I don't get terrible cramps like I used to. The bad, my skin hasn't improved at all and I actually just started accutane a week ago because I couldn't deal with it any longer. Overall its a great birth control IF you have clear skin already. If you want to go on it for acne, I recommend going on another birth control!
March 2, 2013
I started this November 2011 and up until the end of December 2012 it had done great for my acne. My skin was the clearest it had been in years and I was getting a ton of compliments. Around New Years my face started to break out and now I have all this acne on my face again. Yes, I would usually get cystic zits on my face around my period, but this is that plus some. I'm still on it and using the topical Epiduo (As i have been the whole time). I made a doctors appointment to see what's wrong.
January 26, 2013
Pros:
- VERY effective birth control
- no significant weight gain
- never have cramps or irregularity
Cons:
- seemingly no correlation to my acne
- artificial hormones in my system
Most of the time I have one or 2 pimples on my face which I can tolerate. However this past year I have had a chronic breakout all over my face, chest, and back, trying every routine & topical product available. I have been taking Tri-Cyclen for 12 years so I don't think it's to blame unless it combined with my young-adult hormone shift to produce chaos. Am switching to Diane 35 to give it a try (lower pregnancy protection but apparently stronger against acne).
January 23, 2013
Pros:
No weight gain
Seems to slowly cure acne
Cons:
Horrible initial breakout
Mood swings
I have been on this pill for 3.5 months, about to finish my fourth pack. I still have occasional breakouts, though it seems to slowly be getting better. I did not have acne before I started this pill; it GAVE me hormonal adult acne. I am simply sticking with it because of all the reviews that tell you to hang in there. I'm hoping next month is finally the end of this acne bull$&@!!
I went on the pill because I was previously on the patch and insurance stopped covering it.
If you don't have acne, STAY AWAY. I had perfect skin my whole life, now at 25 I all of the sudden have acne. My self esteem has taken quite a blow and I don't know how much more I can take. This month better yield clear skin, and fast.
December 19, 2012
Pros:
- less acne overall, get a few now and some tiny ones that nobody sees anyway
- chest, arms and back are now clear
- body changes. this can be a pro or con, but my waist went from 27 inches to 26, my hips from 36.5 to 41 inches, and my breasts from 34A to 34B.
- no babies, 2 birds with one stone
Cons:
- the acne i do get is cystic and painful, i'll have 1-2 small or large cysts on my face at a time
- recently started getting small bumps on my forehead, never had this problem before, i ahve bangs that cover it, but still
- tiredness and exhaustion
I am an 19 year old girl and had acne since I was 12. I had tried antibiotics, over the counter, and prescription creams, so my doctor recommended OTC. I used it for 4 months. Just finished my fourth pack, and do not plan to continue.
I did experience a small initial breakout, but that calmed down within a month.
My face isn't cluttered with zits so that's good, and i'd get cysts anyway. However, it did not remove as much as i'd like, and i still struggle. My doctor gave me a prescription for Diane-35, which has a higher amount of female hormone and blocks male hormones too. If you're going to switch up birth controls, look for one that has a higher amount of hormones, a lower amount will most likely cause a terrible initial breakout and other bad side effects. It works for a lot of people though, so give it a shot.
July 27, 2012
Pros:
No Cramps
Larger Breasts
Decreased Apptite Initially
Cons:
Bad Breakouts during week 3
Breast Tenderness
I am finishing up my second month of the pill and so far I have not seen any changes in my break outs. It always get pretty bad around my pms week and this month was no exception. I would say contrary to what a lot of girls are say my appitite actually decreased the first month. I will notice how it affected it more when I get back to school because I tend to eat more when I am home. The most noticable side effect in my case would be how sore my breasts have become. I have very little breasts (A cup) and I can definitely tell they are swollen. I could give or take having the larger breasts because I am only 5 foot tall and don't need them to be huge. I've been on several birth controls before this and have had swollen breast but I think they have gotten larger on this one out of all the others. I am sticking with this pill for a little while longer because everyone has said it takes at least 3 months for the acne to clear up. I have hopes that next month my pms breakout won't be as severe.
Pros:
No weight gain
Cheap(er)