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Oral contraceptives, otherwise known as birth control pills, are also approved to treat acne. They work by regulating male hormones in the female...

Oral contraceptives, otherwise known as birth control pills, are also approved to treat acne. They work by regulating male hormones in the female body. Less male hormones normally lead to less acne. 

Oral contraceptives contain an estrogen component (ethinyl estradiol) that is combined with progestin hormones, such as drospirenone (Yasmin® or Yaz®), norgestimate (Ortho Tri-Cyclen®) or norethindrone (Estrostep®). 

Oral contraceptives are taken once a day with a meal. Make sure to take the pill at the same time every day.

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September 18, 2013
Satisfied!

Pros:

Less acne
Increased sex drive :)
No oily skin

Cons:

Intense bleeding which is probably why I'm more tired
Tired a lot
Slight more intense lower back cramps

My face is less oily, it's helping my acne and I also have a great sex drive since i realky didnt have one to begin with:) but I am tired a lot and I have heavy bleeding if I missed a pill and not horrible but more intense back cramps.
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August 17, 2013
Clearing me up

Pros:

Significantly less acne on jawline
I feel more confident

Cons:

Decreased libido :(
nausea for the first month

I'm 24 and have been experiencing acne on my jaw and lower cheeks for 2 years now. I started taking ortho partially to clear up acne. I really didn't have my hopes up because the doctor said it might not work for me though it is helpful for some people. I started my third packet two weeks ago and I have noticed that for the last two weeks my skin has been softer and that my jaw line has been less bumpy. I've been eating a normal diet but have not put in much effort to restrict cheese, milk, and chocolate yet the amount of pimples that come out continue to decline. I still have scars and red spots but the bumpiness has gone away. ANOTHER way I have been able to tell that ortho has helped me has been by using the biore pore strips. In addition to using them on my nose I would in the past use them on my cheeks and would remove a lot of sebum from all areas of my face. I used a pore strip this week and NOTHING came out from the cheek area and a little bit did on the nose so this is how i know that sebum production has decreased! So I did a little research and found out that the pill lowers testosterone levels which in turn decrease sebum production therefore causing less acne ;)
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August 6, 2013
Happy with the results

Pros:

acne clears up, less oily skin
lighter period (3 days max)
no weight gain, no mood swings

Cons:

have to remember to take it everyday
initial breakout at the beginning

I'm a 22 year old college student and I've been taking this pill for 7 months now. The main reason I decided to go on the pill was to get rid of my acne. I had moderate acne and I would use makeup to cover up my flaws and the scars it left behind. My acne would also get really bad when I was stressed in school. I had tried others and didn't seem to work so I decided to give it a shot. I still remember the first month I didn't see much improvement, on the contrary my acne got slightly worse but by the end of the second month I started to see results. As of now, I've gotten rid of 90 percent of my acne. I say this because I still have the occasional pimple here and there(especially when my period is coming). sometimes even 2 or 3 but it's not as bad as before and they go away pretty quickly within a day or two. I still wear makeup to cover up my acne marks but my skin doesn't break out like before. With the combination of a good face wash(morning and night) and this pill I've seen great improvement. I didn't feel like I gained any weight from this pill nor has it caused me to have any cravings. Didn't have any bad side effects. I wear contact lenses and didn't experience any issues in my vision. I think this pill is great and would recommend it to other girls. Don't give up. To any girl who feels discouraged: you should at least stick with it for 3 months to see complete results :) Hope this helped!
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August 5, 2013
At the end of the 5th pack---Skin is completely clear

Pros:

Helps cramps a little, doesn't eliminate them.
No weight gain.
Cleared acne after 3 and a half months.

Cons:

bad initial breakout in the second pack, last 3 weeks.
Nausea in first week of each new pack.
Periods not any shorter or lighter.

I just finished my 5th pack on this pill, and I must echo others and say you gotta give it a little time! I had literally NO breakouts in high school (I'm 25 now), but a couple years ago, I started getting one or two big pimples a month around ovulation. It's gotten worse over time, where I would get a few big, painful pimples around my mouth--a small breakout. I would classify my pre-OTC acne as very mild to mild. I went on this pill to get rid of that. In the second pack of OTC, I got two bad breakouts---worse than I've ever had in my whole life--big, painful, inflamed, horrible acne. I was really sad because I was convinced it was a sign this pill wasn't going to work. BUT I stuck it out, and by the end of the 3rd pack, my skin began to clear. I haven't had a pimple since. I just use cetaphil in the morning and when I go to bed with Aveeno moisturizer, and that's it! No spot treatments or anything needed. I hope it keeps up this way. See my gallery for pictures of the improvement over time!
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August 4, 2013
SO HAPPY! :)

Pros:

Acne clears up in three days!
No mood swings
Short periods that last three days!

Cons:

Minor abdominal cramps while on period
Feel sick without eating food with it

I went to my doctor really quickly to switch to a new birth control because the previous birth control I was on - Yaz - had a HUGE lawsuit against them from blood clots and people dying from it, here in Canada. So I URGE all women to please do some recent research on the birth control Yaz before considering. Coincidentally, my doctor had clipped out a newspaper article about Yaz and told me he was no longer prescribing it to anyone anymore. He switched me on tricyclen! I had really bad break outs all along my forehead, jaw line, cheeks and chin. Literally after taking it for the past THREE days my skin has drastically started to instantly clear up! I also have a lot of traveling to do this month for a wedding and I'm very happy my face has finally decided to clear up. I haven't had any mood swings or anything. My hormones have been so messed up after having my son 18 months ago and I can finally say I'm happy with my new birth control.
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May 22, 2013

Pros:

clears skin dramatically
regulates cycle

Cons:

made me gain so much weight
carcinogen
made sex painful

it did clear up my skin completelry i would only get the occasional pimple befor my cycle. but it made me gain weight like crazy and i never had and problems with my weight prior. it also took away all my sexual desire and made sex painful for me.. it was giving me nygothian cysts on my cervix.. i know it was the pill cuz one i got off it all went away. i was on the pill for about a year.
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January 3, 2013

Pros:

Cleared smaller bits of acne.
Safe sex.
Regulated and lightened my period.

Cons:

Still got the big cystic pimples.
Must be really, really regulated.

Just because you're taking birth control doesn't mean you need to start having sex too, I started taking it specifically for my acne. I would reccommend birth control to even girls at a young age, because it helps regulate your body and helps you out a lot! Cleared my small pimples, so I actually had some clear skin, but I still had my cystic pimples. Also lightened my period a lot, which reduced my stress which also helped reduce my acne.
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January 3, 2013

Pros:

Cleared my skin about 75%
Increased my breast size
No mood swings

Cons:

Slightly longer periods
Breast tenderness for 1 week right before my period
Slightly decreased libido

This birth control really cleared up my skin a lot. I still get about 2 cysts and some small whiteheads around my period but no where near as bad as before. I went from moderate/moderately severe acne to light. I have been on 4 different birth control pills before and OTC cleared my skin the best out of all of them. There are definitely some cons but I think it is still worth taking to keep my skin clear.
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October 28, 2012

Pros:

Helps acne

Cons:

Acne was HORRIBLE when I attempted to get off the pill

I took accutane, and within a year my skin was broken out again. Ortho lo cleared it up where my prior BC (desogen) appeared to do nothing. I was clear for about a year and a half, when I decided I no longer wanted to take the pill and cleanse my body. Wow, big mistake. Acne came back worse than ever within a month of being off. I've been back on the pill for about 3.5 months and things are better, but still not as good as they were when I was on it. I think being on this pill may cause more harm than good... I feel like I'm stuck on it now. But it does seem to help with acne.
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October 3, 2012

Pros:

~ breasts grew
~ acne went away
~ mood swings aren't as bad
~ little to no cramps
~ shorter lighter periods

Cons:

~ weight gain, I was 120 when I started the pill and now I'm 124 so not that much weight gain
~ makes me wanna eat food more

I'm 15 and I started taking OTC in February because I would get extremely bad cramps and very bad mood swings. I have been taking OTC for 8 months now and I love it :) I haven't tried any other form or type of BC but I would have to say this one works great. I got scared at first because some people said it makes you sick the first few months but I have not experienced any bad side effects except for some weight gain and breast tenderness and occasional headaches. I would reccomend trying this !
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