Hiya,

I agree with you, i believe in getting to the root of the problem and then trying to fix it.
I dont have kids but do think mine is hormone related.My acne returned after years of been good when i had problems with my periods ( hence i think its hormones causing it ) My periods stopped for about 8 months due to stress,poor diet and exhaustion.
when they did return so did the acne :(
I'm going to order s hormone test today, my dietician recommended it.Its done through saliva samples throughout the month so they can see exactly what your hormones are doing during your cycle.
I will keep you posted.

x

I too have been told it's hormonal acne. And for years (8) I took birth control and spironolactone. My face looked GREAT for the first time in my life. I started having a whole host of bas side effects after years of use, so Jan. 1 I went off everything and have tried to do it naturally (diet, exercise, blue light therapy, supplements etc etc) and my face is worse than it's ever been. :( I just started back on spiro 9 days ago. I'm not happy about that at all. But I'm not happy with this terrible scarring painful acne either. SIGH.

my derm gave me a prescription to ocella the generic of yasmin to help me with my hormonal acne. If i forget to take it a couple of days my chin and jawline will break out so that's how I know it's working. I've been taking them for 9 months. I dread the day I will get off to have kids...

DaisyMai~let me know how that works...that's a great way to get to the root of the problem, seeing what hormones are out of whack, I'm interested in hearing what you find out!

Kookyloo~I feel for you...i've tried the natural stuff too, and they didn't work :( What BC did they put you on?

LettingGo~I've tried otho tri-cycline low...and it made me so sick, so with merana, and others I've tried , but maybe I should ask about Yasmine?

I have tried BC, and it made me feel so sick and nauseous...I never get past the 4th day,lol. And I remember in high school my mom put me on Depo cause she was scared me and my BF were gonna have sex, it made me have crazy mood swings...I'm scared of BC...no good experiences,lol. I use the non hormonal IUD as a method of BC, so I don't have that reason for needing it, but if there's something that would rid me of this awful condition...then I'd like to find it,lol. I've never tried the spironolactone, what is that?

I too did not have much problem with Acne as a teen. After 18 it just got worse. When I finally got treatment, the dr. diagnosed me with hormonal acne and gave me spironolactone. Over time it helped tremendously. I gained my confidence back... unfortunately it is not pregnancy safe and I am trying to conceive so I went off of it. So, over time it's gotten worse and worse again. So depressing. So definitely it is hormone related.

Spironolactone is a testosterone suppressor. It really did help my skin....but it KILLED my libido. :/ I just don't know what else to do at this point and feel desperate, so I'm back on it. No improvement yet, but it's only been like 10 days. It took 3 months when I first started taking it years ago to see improvement. Hopefully it won't take that long again for it to get better.

I used to take Levora for BC. But I was having terrible migraines from it. I'm not currently on and BC now. It never seemed to help with my acne anyway.

Yes, it sure doesn't help the libido. And for me it like 6 months to start seeing improvement and a year to really work. So slow but I was willing to try anything.
BC pills never helped my acne either.

hey all, new to this board but wanted to weigh in to see if this helps anyone. i too have been in and out of derms' offices for years and so frustrated. the two that seemed to help me were Minocycline because it treated the bacterial infection so it worked on the inside. that worked until i got prego and had to get off it. then my issue became hormonal but i didn't know it til just this last year. i tried to go back to Minocycline but it wasn't bacterial anymore. i tried to use a couple diff scripts (Epiduo, Differin) and different types of BC and they didn't touch it! i've been on the Yasmine (knock off version of Yaz) BC pill for almost a year now and LOVE IT! of course my skin gets a little touchy around the time aunt flo comes around but nothing close to what i used to have! i also don't have my period (aside from the hormones) but i'm part of a very small percentage i guess. i really hope that helps someone as i know how hard it is to deal with this, and how expensive it can get!

No libido sucks,lol....but if it took care of the acne, I'd try it,lol!!! I wonder why some BC's seem to work, and others don't...I wonder what it is in the Yaz that seems to work? I've heard about law suits for it though for causing all kinds of health problems, scary :( It would be neat to see what the hormone is in it, or not in it...and possibly just take a plant based hormone supplement, or something like that...

I think back on my childhood and I think my skin had the occasional red, gross break outs but all I used to do was wash with soap and water and maaaaaaybe some acne cream.

Into my 20s, I've tried all sorts of washes and it just seems like I get smaller but more break outs.

I notice that it gets worse right before my period. Is that when you get it?

I had great skin as a teenager , i got married at 19 and had my baby at 21..still great skin till i turned 22 and then vicious acne started and never ended with me..I went for a course of 6 months reaccutane,which is dangerous if taken when you are expecting..It got worse at first then much better and did a good job..4 years later Acne was back..all the while i was always trying acne washes,creams and so on..i too another 6 months course eventhough the info about side affects was sooooooooo scary..and it worked good but again in a few more years acne came back..went to so many doctors and they said it is hormones and there is no solution better than the one i took..i refused to take another does as there was no garentee it would work permanently..I am almost 38 now,lol and have occasional teenage looking acne and im dealing with it topically..sometimes it is ok sometimes its bad..especially if im stressed out..I am concerend about the scarring on my face though..does anyone know of a good cream to fix that?one that has got Vitamin E perhaps??

BTW, My periods are regular and i also went for a doc who prescribed 3 months of two kind of pilss, one birth control one a pill to supress tostestrone hormone..it helped but my periods started being weird..almost no bleeding at all and i didnt want to go back on it as i am now hoping to conceive..

As far as I know, Yasmin/Ocella has a smaller dose of hormones than Ortho-Triciclen. Other forms of hormonal birth control bothered me, but Ocella gave me no side effects and cleared up my skin.

hi aztbear! I'm also having crazy hormonal problems lately. I'm having horrible acne, huge cystic module thingies, and really bad periods. I'm also leery of birth control since I had bad experiences with it. I just started trying evening primrose oil which is supposed to help regulate your hormones. Most drug stores sell pms blends which have natural supplements to help regulate hormones. I'll let you know how it works. I also use very gentle face wash and moisturizer and get a clindamycin gel prescription from my family doctor which help draw out the bacteria in the cystic acne. I use benzoyl peroxide which is over the counter in a low percentage(i have sensitive skin) and that helps dry out and shrink the pimple. Send me a direct message if you want to know more about my skincare routine and which products I use. Changing up my routine has helped me alot.

This post is amazing to me! I have been ravaged by cystic acne for over 20 years. One dermie claimed it was from perodontal problems but after getting dentures, no improvment! Before I read this post, I was wondering if it could be from hormone problems because it always gets worse when I become hyper sexual. I think you people have just identified my problem! My ears are up and twitching! LOL