Oral Contraceptives
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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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12.1%

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February 15, 2010
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

Birth control (the obvious), bigger boobs by atleast a cup size, lighter less painful periods, cute little turqoise packaging :)

Cons:

Worsened acne, caused breakouts along my lipline which continued well after the pill was discontinued, also it is very expensive

I'm not really one to write reviews but I figure I might as well, just in case someone else has or will experience a similar side effect. Overall, I liked Yaz as a birth control, but in my case while taking it I suddenly began getting these little pimples along my lipline. It was extremely unattractive and very frustrating as of course no one wants bumps on or near their mouth. You might be thinking, maybe it was cold sores? But it was not, I know what cold sores look/feel like, I get about 2 a year sadly, and these bumps were completely different. They were like literal pimples that I'd get elsewhere on my face yet were occurring directly on my lip line. I had NEVER dealt with this before, and to make matters worse I was breaking out in these little pimples just as often as the acne elsewhere on my face (moderate acne). I couldn't stand it but I didn't know what to do! Eventually I stopped taking Yaz but the bumps still didn't stop. Eventually I came to the conclusion that the only thing to deal w/ the bumps and get them to go away in addition to my other acne was to go on accutane, which I'm now on and the bumps have stopped. I only made the Yaz lip bump connection when I did a google search on it and saw that other people had experienced similar lip bumps, up until then I had no idea what it was and was constantly cutting out foods thinking I had developed an allergy to something I was eating. Anyway, I'm sorry this is SO long but I just felt I should share my experience in case anyone else has dealt with something similar.
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December 8, 2009
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

Zero.

Cons:

HORRIBLE ACNE all over my face, chest and back. Terrible abdominal pains, major gas...sick. Felt overall disgusting

I wouldn't recommend this to my worst enemy... unless we're talking about Octomom. I think if you have ever watched a half hour of daytime tv, you would know this stuff is terrible. There is a lawsuit war raging against this BCP for sever side effects. It messed me up so badly I didn't know if I'd ever recover... I got this to help treat my moderate acne, like promised in the commercials. Not so much. I had the hugest most repulsive acne surge I've ever had in my entire life. Possibly there was some mood swings in there too, but it could have been me just being totally depressed about my gross face, chest and back. I got it free from Planned Parenthood, but I ended up paying with acne scars and a vacation photo album full of me hiding my face in humiliation....
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November 12, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

No cramps, no babies, no headaches

Cons:

Acne on my cheeks down by my jawline....hard pimples that are big bumps but dont pop, so they turn into craters because I can't NOT try to pop them!

Pretty good stuff. It's wicked expensive in the US tho. $65 for generic Ocella without insurance. A lot more for brand name Yasmin. I order mine from an online drug store in Canada. MUCH cheaper (about $18 a month for brand name). I used Yasmin for 2 years, but then discontinued it because of the price when i lost insurance. Did Yaz for the past 6 months, TERRIBLE headaches. Back on Yasmin now. Boobs hurt like they never have before, but overall, I'm glad I'm back on it. 3 weeks into the pack, acne isn't terrible, I have had a little breakout, but nothing some makeup can't cover up.
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October 29, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

Improved my skin after getting worse for the first month or so, only one real side effect.

Cons:

Complete sex drive killer. No libido whatsoever :(

I've been on this a cuple of months now and was pleased about my skin but i'm going to have to change because i want my sex drive back!!! Now :(
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October 25, 2009
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

bigger boobs, pregnancy prevention acne has cleared even on body period lasts 3-4 days rather then 5-7

Cons:

vaginal dryness! moody and very hungry a week before period. i get a couple pimples before period but my acne got alot better. spotting in between periods. my sex drive is not as crazy as it use to be

i like yaz but with all the scary commericals im thinking of changing bc i use to be on the patch and that worked great but i also saw all the horrible commericals for that too. im really confused on what i should take? i never had vaginal dryness like this before it really sucks, but thats what lube is for right :)
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October 9, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

Prevents pregnancy, acne, and moodiness. Shorter, easier periods!!!

Cons:

Decreased Libido. Nausea when I first started taking it for a couple weeks.

I used this product for the first year of my marriage. It was wonderful as far as preventing pregnancy, and making my periods a lot shorter and lighter as well as drastically decreasing my cramps, and moodiness. I didn't gain any weight while on it either. I had some nausea for about the first 3 weeks, but nothing terrible. The only downfall, was the fact that I noticed my libido wasn't as strong, but that may have been due to other health issues and other medication for breathing problems. With insurance I paid $30.00. After a year I switched to a different generic BC pill and only paid $5.00 And it was just as good.
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September 13, 2009

Pros:

starting to clear up my acne, boobs are getting bigger, not sexually active so can't say if it works for that, no weight gain or loss...

Cons:

made acne worse at first, first few days made me nauseous, and very sore breast...

only been taking it for a week, but it seems to be working with very little sideaffects...
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August 21, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

Prevents pregnancy.

Cons:

This pill made me break out like crazy! I have been off for 3 months and I'm still getting zits. I barely had any acne before I started taking Yasmin. It also made me so depressed, I even contemplated suicide. My sex drive was zilch as well.

Not bad, if you want to to turn into a horrible, zitty bitch. lol
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August 5, 2009
Product used: YAZ (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

Cleared up my skin, less cramps, less mood swings, shorter periods

Cons:

I broke out with cystic acne the first month a half

IT made me break out really bad the first month and a half, but I am on my third month and it seems that my cystic acne is gone. I switched from ortho tri cyclen because it was no longer keeping my skin clear. Yaz made my skin worse in the beginning, but now is clear. And hopefully my skin just gets clearer and clearer. If your insurance covers it like mine, or you could afford it I would try it. And give it 3 months to work, like the doctor said.
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July 28, 2009
Product used: Yasmin (Oral Contraceptive)

Pros:

does what it says it should - I haven't gotten prego, less bloating and cramps

Cons:

Moody, moody, low sex drive, moody, breakthrough bleeding (however I think I'm an exception on this one)

I like this pill more than some other one's that I've tried, however, after being on it for almost a year, I am really starting to feel dragged down emotionally. I have these crazy mood swings that I've never had before (not just when I'm PMSing), and god love my boyfriend because my sex drive has tanked. I'm getting so tired of having side effects to pills, but I would take slight acne and cramps over the depressing mood swings I get with Yasmine. I guess I'm off to the dr to see what other options I have.
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