Pill withdrawal acne. Advice from those who have this please

[Lovebug06]

Hi all,

I hope this is in the right bit, I wasn't sure where to put it but thought most ladies coming off the pill may be on the conception board.

I came off the pill 8 months ago after years of being on it. My skin is awful. It is getting me down so badly. A lot of the spots are bumps under the skin but I have loads of whiteheads too. I've noticed this week how shiny my skin is too so I guess it is oily where my skin is bad.

Back when I first came off, I read that it is the hormones going a bit wild, and it should calm down after a few months. So far it is worse. The doctor prescribed me some cream, Benzoyl peroxide, but it did nothing. They said they cannot give me much at all as I'm trying to conceive.

I just wanted to see what others have had this and if there are any skin treatments that have actually helped. Nothing I've bought has so far. And also those of you that had this before, when did it start to clear up? I'm in my late twenties and feel so self concious. Any advice on this, and stories from those that had this and when it went, would be appreciated.

I'm afraid I have no answer but if you find one, pass it over!

I've been off the pill for 12 months now and I'm exactly the same, shiny skin, red lumps under the skin, white heads etc! All the horrible stuff...yet when I was on the pill I had no spots at all! :(

Very annoying....

Hey I can relate to this..... I'm a long term acne sufferer from early teens to now 42!! Ive been pregnant twice this Yr and had 2 miscarriages and my skin went mental. I've tried a mixture of things from microdermabrasion to natural skincare........ Look up zoe bee she does an amazing "coffee and clay scrub" and a cream called "green cream" I use these on an evening and a benzoyl peroxide face wash in the morning with espa balancing moisturiser and I've noticed a massive difference. I hope this helps x

Hey,

There really isn't much you can do prescription wise when trying to conceive.

I came off the pill in 2018 and my skin went insane. It took acne medication that you can't use while pregnant to calm it down. It has been fine since but I'm expecting another flare up as I recently found out I was pregnant.

Sorry I can't be of much help and hope you find something to make it better. It really got to me so know how you must feel.

@dh8892 it's awful isn't it, its making me miserable
@Furbabymum15 so the products you've put have helped your skin? I will give it a go, nothing else ive bought has done anything, just made it worse I think. Thankyou.
@Rumples thankyou. I was hoping it would be starting to calm down by now but no luck. Was also hoping someone on here would say it cleared after a while and give me some hope . Its making me feel awful. Glad you got some help with yours. X

I'm a year off the pill now and am still greasy and very spotty. Before coming off it I had completely clear skin. I find that cerave or cetaphil helps a lot when I use it twice daily but the second I forget or stop I look like a pizza face again...

Hadn't even considered prescription meds though, I guess that's something I'll explore after I have a baby one day!

Yes! I recommend Dermalogica ideally or The Ordinary if on a budget. Benzoyl Peroxide is horrible stuff and doesn’t help with adult hormonal acne.
The game changer for me was the Lumie Clear skin lamp, which you can pick up cheaper on eBay. You have to use it daily but it’s amazing.
Also cutting out dairy.
Good luck x

I’ve found spearmint tea appears to calm my skin. Two cups a day and important it’s spearmint not peppermint.

I like the skin lamps mentioned above too. I don’t have my own but have had a couple of treatments with them.

Thankyou all for your advice. I will look into all that's suggested. I was hoping someone would say theirs cleared up after a while when their hormones settled down, as this is what I was told would happen, but it doesn't sound like it does for many people! Thanks again x

When my family was complete I came off the pill and got sterilised. My skin went haywire. My face was covered in big, pus filled spots and my jawline was agony thanks to boils under the skin that lasted for weeks at a time. I tried using skincare, cleansers, scrubs, the whole shebang. Nothing helped until I mentioned it to the Dr when I was there for something else. She put me on limecycline antibiotics. Just one a day, and within about 3 weeks my skin was transformed. I'm not exaggerating, it was a bloody miracle. I occasionally get a wee pimple when my period's due, but I've been on them for years and the Dr's quite happy for me to keep taking them. I started on them at about 32.