Acne and coils... (coil success/negative stories)

[Arveexx]

Hi all

I had the copper coil for just over a year, in the end I found the 2 week super heavy periods and cramping unbearable and I had to have it removed.

I am very acne prone and previously been on roaccutane, luckily my skin has cleared up now. My skin was great on the copper coil because there were no hormones.

I am looking for contraception and would like to know peoples experiences with any of the hormonal coils and acne. I don’t know if my acne was hormonal, but it was so bad and I don’t want to risk anything flaring it up again.

If anyone has any experience of hormonal coils and acne - Whether it made it worse (like everything I’ve read says...) or been unaffected by it. I’d love to know

Any suggestions you have would be hugely appreciated. Thanks in advance

I had the same issue with the copper coil so changed to the hormonal Mirena which the GP swore wouldn't give me bad skin because the hormone dose is lower and more localised. Unfortunately I found that it gave me awful cystic acne, so I had it taken out.

Sorry lower and more localised than the pill, obviously not the non-hormonal copper coil!

Ah thank you so much for your response. Did the acne go as soon as you had it taken out?
If you don’t mind me asking, what are you using now (if anything) as contraception. I am finding it so difficult.

My doctor has also assured me there is limited chance of acne coming back but everything I have read online has said otherwise...

One of the best known side effects of progesterone is acne (along with irregular bleeding).
If you want contraception to make your skin better you need a combined pill (oestrogen and progesterone).

Doctor

Yes, it stopped once I had it taken out. I have a friend who's had much worse acne than me be completely fine on mirena though, so I think it is different for everyone. It might be worth giving it a go as everything else about it was great!

I know how you feel though, I am also struggling with finding the ideal contraception at the moment. I have migraines so my options are even more limited although a few years ago a doctor put me on Yasmin which was really great for my skin, but unfortunately gave me hemiplegic migraines so I had to stop using it. It's apparently quite hard to get Yasmin prescribed though because it costs the NHS a lot more than other pills.

I'm just been put on desogestrel progestogen-only pill (for breastfeeding and migraines) but I'm not too sure of it to be honest.

@Hiphopopotamous That's interesting, I got told it would be fine (which it wasn't!) Please can you tell my GP that?! I think he's read the wrong medical book!