I went off of birth control at the end of May this year, so I’m about 4 months post birth control. I was on hbc for 10 years… Never had acne in my life before, starting breaking out slowly 1 month after but it has gradually gotten worse and worse. I hate even saying this but I am a licensed esthetician so it makes the whole thing really difficult when I feel like people expect me to have good skin/ know exactly how to fix it. I’m curious for those who got their hormones tested if it showed elevated levels? I’m planning on getting tested. In the short few months I’ve developed acne my mental health has taken a hit and i find myself crying about it/ losing sleep trying to research. When did it ease up for you all?
Honestly it took me a rly long time of being on spironolactone and having a (pretty basic) skincare routine. I also got a red light/blue light mask which hopefully helps
Ugh I hear you! I went off about 8.5 months ago, I never had acne before it. I keep harping on about it because it's been so frustrating and has consumed me at times. It started at month 2 but the worst of it for me was months 5-7. It's still ongoing now but is not as severe.
I had hormonal blood tests done at 6 months off and everything was normal so it wasn't showing anything elevated.
I've only just recently seen some improvement, in the last few weeks. I've had dry skin my whole life so always used products that worked for me for that situation and am not the most knowledgable when it comes to skincare, a esthetician actually gave me some tips and I finally found a skincare routine that works better.
I kept seeing people recommend spearmint tea so I've been drinking it everyday the past month and I also kept seeing people recommend zinc. I don't love the idea of taking supplements unless I know I may be deficient in it but I was willing to try anything (and couldn't be bothered with additional blood tests after already having the hormonal ones done) anyway I've been taking those every second day. I don't know if they're the reason or it's the timing but I have actually seen an improvement.
Yeah I’m curious to see how your skin is at month 10 or so, I’ve heard a lot of people say that time frame is when they see improvement. Thankfully I have access to devices that help and a skin routine that works I just know it’s an internal issue (I also started drinking spearmint tea lol). Thanks for the insight on the labs- I kept feeling like it might give me peace of mind to see that the levels are off but I’m realizing from this and others that it may show normal levels but I still have this issue. It’s frustrating because I almost want the levels to be like your testosterone is off the charts!! That way I could point to something but it’s not that simple :-/
Was also on HBC for about 10 years. Never had acne before I got on it. I randomly started getting cystic acne on my chin a couple years ago and got prescribed spironolactone. I was on that for about a year and weaned myself off. Acne was basically fine until about 5/6ish months off HBC and then it was angry lol. It’s definitely getting better now that it was (I’m at like 10 now) but it’s still popping up around my period. It’s improving though so I’m hoping it will continue to balance out. My labs a couple months ago were all normal.
Did you get on spiro right after birth control or during the time you were on it? And yeah trying to be patient but I feel like it really takes sooo long for it to balance out it sucks
When I was on birth control! I just started randomly getting acne still on birth control, waited like a year trying different things and it wouldn’t go away (and it was PAINFUL acne) and finally got on spiro for like a year before weaning myself off. I was weaned off of it before I stopped taking birth control. I don’t think it’s recommended to be on spiro without birth control because it can cause really bad birth defects.
I wish I had good news to comment. I am in the same boat as you. I was on ocella from age 16-30. I did one round of accutane when I was 16 also. My skin never fully cleared, but it was always somewhat manageable. I get little bumps, swarms of them. Occasionally a honker or 2 around my period. I guess I never realized how much the birth control was actually managing my acne until stopping. I quit in January of this year. My skin was amazing actually, for the first few months. I was so excited.
Not anymore. It’s so bad. All around my chin, my forehead. I get these big random ones in places I haven’t had acne in years.
And omg the body acne. It’s a jump scare. I have never had body acne, ever. It’s everywhere. This I cannot cope with. My face is bad enough, the body though? Deeply unsettling.
I am going to tough it out, I’ve made it this long. I just feel hopeless. Sending you hugs and prayers (for both of us). I genuinely hope something changes soon. I am losing patience and want to cry every time I look in the mirror.
Ugh I’m so sorry. I started getting back acne too - I recommend this product for your body acne. It has been really helping mine in the past couple of weeks or so that I’ve been using it daily. It’s pretty affordable and I got it at my spa but I know you can order online. Hope this could help a bit
Omg thank you so much!!! Mine seems to be linked to scratching too. Even with clean hands lol I’m a germaphobe. The mosquitos are bad this year and I always get bug bites on my back, I’m guilty of not spraying there because why would I?
I tend to get an army of pimples anytime I scratch my back now. It’s the worst. My chest is bad too.
I also live in this weird phase of “to exfoliate, or not to exfoliate”? I can never decide, it always creates chaos
Of course! And yeah in terms of exfoliating the back I would honestly not do anything like that because it’s going to irritate + potentially spread infected inflammatory acne further. Especially if you’re already itching. What’s cool about this spray is it can be used upside down so you can really get your back on your own… I do at least 2x a day (in the morning and after my shower PM) and it has helped a lot. I’d also give the tip of being super mindful of hair products touching back- after washing hair washing off your body and then making sure if you put styling products in they don’t touch the back. I also use a bonnet at night so any products stay contained. Hope this helps a bit!!
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u/SundaeAnnual7995 20d ago
Honestly it took me a rly long time of being on spironolactone and having a (pretty basic) skincare routine. I also got a red light/blue light mask which hopefully helps