Acne.org Products
Hormonal Therapy
Efficacy
63%
Based on All Available Studies
Strength of Evidence
Note: Improvement significantly increases after 24 weeks.
Hormonal Therapy
Acne.org’s Real World Take
Any brand of oral contraceptive appears to clear the skin about the same amount, regardless of whether it is officially approved for acne treatment. Some people report complete clearing of acne symptoms and others see partial relief. However, artificially controlling your hormones is a serious decision, so it’s best to proceed with caution.
Hormonal Therapy
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 Oral Contraceptives? Rate It:
Choose from 1 to 5 stars
January 30, 2012
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Cons:
-lowered sex drive
-constantly threw up during first few months, which ocurs sparcly still
-weird vaginal discharge
This is a good product if you get through the enitial first few months of being sick (might have just been me who knows). It did help to clear acne after a month or two, but has lowered my sex drive conciderably.
December 21, 2011
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
Less Acne
Lighter Periods
Cons:
Galbladder diseased - Had surgery to remove it.
Terrible for the rest of your body. Causes NUMEROUS problems. I had no idea that my birth control could cause me to have galbladder disease at 16 years old. (I'm now 18) Please, do NOT take this birthcontrol. This or yaz. I am currently in a law suit against them for my surgery and hopefully I get it covered. That wasn't cheap! Stay away from this birth control!
November 22, 2011
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
prevents hormonal acne. small pill, easy to take.
Cons:
? i honestly dont have any.
I was very scared and hesitent to start taking bc. I was afraid my emotions would spiral out of control with irritability. But infact, things are just peachy : ). I don't break out on my jaw line like i used to and i think my ta tas are gettin a little bigger : ). Honestly, I feel like this pill has helped regulate my emotions. I'm definitely not a hot mess like I thought i would be. Also, I feel like my skin and hair are less oily, and I contribute that to this pill. I strongly recommend it : )
October 3, 2011
Pros:
Less Acne
Crazy sex Drive
Slightly Bigger Breasts (naturally big so I can't really tell if they got bigger)
Cons:
Very Minor Headaches but I think that's because I'm just dehydrated.
Feel Nauseous sometimes but that is because I'm too much in a rush to eat food with the pill in the morning.
Possible slight weight gain but that's not a problem.
Remember to ALWAYS drink A LOT of water and eat food with the pill! Water is the answer for everything! If you are having really bad side effects, it's probably because the dosage is either too high therefore your body isn't used to it or because you are dehydrated. I'm almost 17 years old. I haven't really had any side effects. If i did gain weight its not much to worry about for me because it isn't much of a difference and i can maintain my weight pretty well. I love ortho-cyclen so far and been on it for half a month. I thought i would've had very bad side effects just because that is my usual luck with anything oral, especially oral acne medication like doxyclen and minocyclen with major headaches and minocyclen actually turned my gums gray! It looked like i had gum disease! I'm glad i researched it and found out that it's a pretty rare but possible side effect. Regardless any pill is usually an antibody and antibodies are meant to kill bad things but also kill essential good bacteria! Orthocyclen has made my boyfriend really happy and we couldn't have more of an amazing sex life! We are both glad we can know we can have sex anytime with me being safe. P.S. the only reason i rate this 4 out of 5 is because I just really hate taking pills and putting anything into my body. Anyways, it's really not that hard to remember taking it because if you love your pill, you love the idea of just being protected; so trust me - You'll remember every day!
September 19, 2011
Pros:
lighter periods
pregnancy prevention
larger breasts
inexpensive
Cons:
a little weight gain
possible moodiness?
I barely noticed any side effects for this birth control. I don't remember feeling any extreme pain or discomfort, and it's a reliable form of protection. Some friends that are girls as well as my boyfriend noticed a change in my breast size, and there was a small change in my weight, but there have been no side effects that have made me want to consider coming off this prescription. I don't have any acne to begin with, so i can't say if it helps clear that up or not, however it didn't give me any either. Overall, it has been working for me and i will consider to use it. Hope this helped! :)
August 29, 2011
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
~Completely cleared back acne, and almost all face acne is gone
~No emotional side effects
~No weight gain
~Bigger boobs
~Regular periods
~Only $5 a month with my insurance
Cons:
~You must be PATIENT if you're using it to clear acne.. it gets worse before better
It took about 4 months for my body to fully adjust and respond to this birth control, and my back and face acne got MUCH worse before it got better, but at the start of month 5 I am completely clear (maybe 3 or 4 new blemishes per month now). If you're going to try Yasmin to clear acne, be patient through the adjustment phase and give it at least 5 months.
July 9, 2015
If you went on this pill for acne, expect it to get worse after you come off... It has for thousands of girls...
June 30, 2011
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
Clearest skin of my life
Boobs grew
Cons:
Weight gain
Moods
Liver condition...
Yaz did clear up my face beautifully. However, that's about the only good thing I can say about it...
I never had much acne before I started taking it because my doctor prescribed it to me when I was just 16 years old because of ovarian cysts. I took Yaz for about 2 years until my freshman year of college I started experience all kinds of crazy problems with my stomach. Digestion type things. Turns out that I have a liver condition called "Gilbert's Syndrome." Supposedly there's no correlation between this and Yaz but I never had any problems until about a year after I took the pill. Then everything started to change. Once I stopped taking it, my face freaked out, and has been ever since...
Nothing I do clears it up. Not even other birth controls. Bottom line, it may clear your skin, but it may also cause a lot more problems that are more detrimental than acne...
Good luck.
December 30, 2010
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)
Pros:
No new acne lesions.
Cons:
Body aches.
Period lasted 7 days.
I was prescribed this along with Doxycycline to control a severe outbreak. I ended up getting a bad flare-up of hundreds of acne all over my face this past November. I've never had acne problems before. My DHEA-S and Testosterone levels were really high which is most likely the reason why I broke out so badly. I don't know if it's Doxycycline that did it or Yaz but I have not gotten new acne. I am left with 2 nodular acne on my right check and about 10/15 inflamed acne on my left check. And 2 nodular acne on my forehead. I have noticed significant improvement. Give Yaz a shot if your hormone levels are messed up like mine. Now I'm just hoping Differin and Duac do something for scars.
December 23, 2010
Pros:
I only felt nauseous the first week or so
No babies
No weight gain so far
Cons:
Tired
Made my acne worse!
Lessened my sex drive
Break-through bleeding
I got off Apri last January because I had gained 25lbs during the two years I was on it. I almost instantly lost the weight. However, I started breaking out for the first time in my life. I got back on birth control in November, hoping it will help with my acne. I've been on Ortho Tri-Cyclen for about a month now and have had the worst acne of my life. Literally a nightmare. I am hoping it will change in the next few months, and that I can hold out until it does! My mood seems fairly normal which is why I really want to give OTC a change before switching to something else.
December 14, 2010
Pros:
helps control acne breakouts
eases cramps
regulates period
Cons:
weight gain? Actually, I haven't gained weight, but I cannot seem to lose weight, either, even when dieting stringently.
I like the birth control alot (I'm on ortho cyclen). It really helps with my hormonal acne, but I've just learned -- unfortunately by trying it out-- that skipping a period by taking all active blue pills, can cause you to break out really badly. It sucks because I've been on this bc for about 7 months, and my skin was doing really, really well -- getting better every month. But then I skipped a period and all hell broke lose. I'm in the second month after skipping and its starting to calm down. I won't skip in the future, and hopefully my skin will be nice again :)
Pros:
-reduced pregnancy risk
-helped to clear my acne on both face and back
-lighter, shorter, trackable periods
-helped my ovarian cysts
-small pill
-covered by health care