To take Yasmin for acne

[Hippolyte]

Posting for traffic here. Just wondering whether anyone has experience of using the Yasmin combined pill to treat acne. It's for my teen DD if that's relevant. Thanks all!

Dd went on it for a while and it worked a little bit but in the end we paid privately for her to have Roaccutane at 17 and that was like a miracle. We were really nervous about it after reading so many horrible things about it but the paediatrician we saw started her on a very low dose and increased it much slower than they would on the nhs alongside regular blood tests and she didn’t have any side effects at all. Completely cleared her acne and she’s now 20 and says it’s the best thing she ever tried.

Nothing worked as well as Roaccutane did - what a wonder drug!
However was then on Yasmin for years and had no issues. Then nurse explained because of the heightened clot risk with Yasmin they won't prescribe it to me past 40 so to be prepared in a few years time. I'd never heard of such an increased risk, it was never explained to me. I looked into it, and decided to make the switch to a different pill. Sadly noticed some hormonal spots coming back on chin, neck and some on back (but nowhere near as bad as pre-roaccutane). So Yasmin must have helped keep some hormonal ones at bay.

Also to note I'm not on pill at the moment as TTC, and whilst I know I have oily skin it is so much bloody worse off the pill. Yasmin was good for that too, really helped prevent the shiny face.

I wasn't informed of the blood clot risks at all until I happened to switch GP last year and went for usual pill check. The nurse pointed out they don't prescribe Yasmin past 40 because of the already heightened risks of blood clots then increasing even more past 40. I said I wasn't aware there was any increased risk and had been on it for over 10 years! I looked into it myself afterwards which made me change pill to see how it goes.
My friend also takes Yasmin and I mentioned this to her and she wasn't aware either.

But she is 18, doesn’t smoke, low BMI so risk of a blood clot presumably small. Surely careful monitoring whilst on the Yasmin pill would be better than telling her she can’t have it anymore and had to have one she didn’t get on with and actually made her feel worse. I understand it’s more expensive so am cynical that this is a factor.

Yasmin is expensive, but they often then just prescribe the generic version, which is the case for my friend. I always managed to still yet the actual branded Yasmin from my GP, but they did often comment about 'the system telling us to move you to the generic one.'
I agree if you're happy with the blood clot risk and no other risk factors should be fine to continue. I was on it for 10 years until I was around 36. I've heard Scotland are a bit stricter with it though if you live there?

Thanks- I will check out this pill. Presumably the acne you had was hormonal and so getting the right type and combination of hormone is the key to keeping it at bay. My DD didn’t get it because of acne but because her hormones were making her feel dreadful- panic attacks, fainting, depression and anxiety, sleeping 15 hours at a stretch sometimes. She was cured of all these symptoms immediately( as well as acne on her back as a bonus!) so maybe these hormones are the right ones for her.

What is the ‘generic version’? she wasn’t offered anything apart from Microgynon.

Don’t know if this makes any difference to recommendations for alternatives but She also takes them back to back - but usually with a break every 3 months for 4-5 days for a bleed. She was initially prescribed them back to back no break but sometimes bled anyway so was told if that happened to take a break for 4 days at that point.

Not sure if there's other names, but Lucette is a 'generic' version of Yasmin.

https://onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/lucette.html#:~:text=Is%20Lucette%20the%20same%20as,companies%20and%20have%20different%20names.

Thanks. So same hormones exactly but no ‘worries’ about blood clots from the GP’s who are happy to prescribe one but not the other. This has made me angry. I want her to be safe and have a proper consultation about the pros and cons of Yasmin FOR HER-so she feels confident she can stay on it and not just be given an alternative because it’s cheaper with a “oh and you will probably have erratic bleeding etc for the first 6 months if we swap you to a different pill” Why would anyone want that!

Yasmin was one of the best pills i ever took, cleared my skin up, stopped greasy skin and hair, didn't gain weight, it has diuretic in it, so stops the bloating and water weight. The Dr's won't give it to me anymore as I had a migraine which I'm gutted about.

I've been on it for over 10 years, previous acne was changed to clear skin in a matter of weeks and no other side effects