Acne!!!

I have always had a problem with acne. I know it is completely hormonal becauseI would break out right before my period and then when I was pregnant and nursing, I had a perfectly clear complexion, but as soon as I weaned my babies from the breast, I would start breaking out again. While I was on orthotricyclen, I broke out worse, then I switched to Ovcon 35 and had a clear complexion. While I was on Lupron....clear complexion, then I went back to ovcon 35 and still had a clear complexion. The last pill I took was the night before my surgery....Now 2 weeks later, I'm breaking out!

Any ideas on what to do about this? I don't want to take BCP's just for acne. I don't want to take anything, really. What do some of you do to deal with acne?

I had no acne for the 23 years I was on the pill. Same as you, I took my last one the night before my hyst. For the first few months I had pretty distinct "periodic" acne outbreaks (and breast pain). The good news is that they decreased over time, and now I just get one or two zits now and then.

At least we know our ovaries are still chugging along.

After taking non-stop BCP for 5 years I did not know what an effect this had on my acne. For 5 years I had a great complexion with only a few blemishes. After my hyster and not taking BCP.. I have a lot of blemishes and oily skin.


I cleanse my face daily sometimes 2 daily with a very mild cleanser to rid my face of the oil it has. I stay away from alcohol base products to avoid drying out my skin. Yet the problem is still there.

Any helpful hits would be greatly appreicated!!

I've had probs off and on in the past.............since surgery, it has been constant. My face always has several breakouts, plus my chest has been broken out too!!! So far, nothing I do helps. At one point, I was using an antibiotic ointment in addition to benzoylperoxide (a couple years ago)....it worked well, I stopped cuz I stopped having problems, but thinking of asking my doc for some again.

I went to a dermatologist a few years ago & got some topical medications--one of them was Retin A and the other I cannot remember. It smelled really strong & had to be kept in the fridge. No oral antibiotics for me, thanks. I cleared up pretty well after that, but the two things I've kept doing is using Cetaphil cleanser (either pump or bar is fine, Osco drug store has a generic version of the pump product that works fine) and I apply Neutrogena 2.5% benzoyl peroxide every night. You've seen "apply to the affected area" on the benzoyl peroxide product labels, right? I found out that "affected area" isn't where you've got the zit, it's ANY area of your body that's prone to break-outs. You need to apply the medicine BEFORE you break out, which is why I use it every day. It takes your body 1-3 weeks to make a zit, so you've got to keep using this stuff every day, even if you don't have any obvious signs of breaking out. Stay away from products that contain sodium lauryl sulfate or sulfite--they are foaming agents commonly found in cleansing foams and shampoos. Those things are amazingly irritating to your skin and that can cause break-outs. Suave had a foaming facial wash that I used for two years--until I went to the dermatologist & he told me to knock it off.

Isn't it fun getting wrinkles & zits at the same time???

I've had nasty skin (zits blackheads and oily skin) for the 2 weeks since my surgery but I dont have ovaries so I dont get whats causing it

HellO!

I have the cure for you. It's called spironolactone and every GYN knows about it. It supresses escess androgen production which sounds like exactly what you have. My symptoms mirror yours and ortho tricyclen made it worse too. (Those commercials were so off) I still take it after the surgery and have only had one or two pimples due to my fluctuating hormones. (If you've seen my posts, you'd know that I'm a mess)

Bring up this miracle drug because within 1.5 months of taking it, I was zit free!!