Hormonal acne and contraceptive pill

[Sunshinegirls]

I have just been prescribed 'cilest ' contraceptive pill to deal with my hormonal acne. Does anyone have any experience with this pill? Does it work? I'm 40.

[OtherBarry]

I used to have this and it worked really well but the doctor said I had to come off it when I turned 35

I'm on the mini pill now and my skins much worse for it

[EatsLeavesAndShit]

I used to have a different pill for acne (Dianette) but it didn't seem to have much effect on my skin, even though I took it for years.

What worked for me (after 15 years of trying everything!) was quitting dairy. The hormones in the cows milk obviously did something crazy to my hormones. Is your acne mostly on your chin sunshine ?

[Sunshinegirls]

Thanks for replying. It's mostly cheeks, jawline and neck but also a bit on my chest and back. I asked about Dianette but the doc was reluctant to prescribe it due to my age. Very interesting about dairy, I don't drink cows milk, but when I eat cheese I notice it does aggravate it. I have also been prescribed an antibiotic cream. I have tried all sorts of skin treatments and drink lots of water, take herbal pills for skin. Not much seems to work.

[EatsLeavesAndShit]

I feel your pain, I spent so much money and time trying to find a cure. I still get one or two spots at that time of the month but they go within a couple of days, nothing like the ones that lingered for months before.

Any dairy sets mine off, so cheese, yoghurt, lattes, too much butter. I also try to eat a healthy diet with salmon and avocado 3/4 times a week. There is a supplement called maca which is supposed to balance female hormones. I add it to smoothies and porridge and it seems to help too. this smoothie is a good one

Perhaps you could try doing a detox style elimination diet for a while to find your triggers? The Carol Vorderman detox diet is pretty good (tough, but good!), and even if you do it for just a week you could see what effect your food is having.

Hopefully you get to the bottom of it, it's so upsetting when nothing you try works.

[Sunshinegirls]

Thank you so much, I will try cutting dairy completely and see if it works. Il check out Carol V's diet too. I already make a smoothie like that one except without maca powder, so I will start adding some of that. Great advice. Acne is pretty depressing, especially at this age! Thanks again

[befuddledgardener]

Yes it cleared my skin but then dried me out completely and then my hair turned brittle and started falling out massively. I came off the pill and while my hormones were adjusting I had a whole year of really bad acne. Now I still get odd spots a few years down the line but it's manageable.

[EatsLeavesAndShit]

Oh yes, I forgot to say, I came off the pill completely too, and after a few months of weird hair loss while my hormones adjusted things have been fine since.

I read that the pill is a mild antibiotic, so it's bad for your intestinal flora, which has knock on effects to the rest of your health. If you don't need the pill for contraceptive reasons you could give that a try?

This woman's ebooks, particularly Well and Good are easy to read and encourage a natural way of balancing hormones.