PCOS and acne.

[eitherwhichway]

I have PCOS but have been lucky that I don't have a lot of the outward symptoms.

I used to get spots along my jawline/chin/forehead but mot too bad and they cleared up when on dianette. I'm still on this pill but my cheeks are bright red with lots of angry looking bumps that sometimes come to a head but not usually.

I'm very self concious of this especially as I work in a job dealing with the public and want it gone! I'm 30 ffs I should be past worrying about spots!

Has anyone got any remedies/medications that I could discuss with my gp? He's fairly dismissive of it so want to go prepared and know what's being offered iyswim?

To be perfectly honest I am/was in a similar situation to you suffered with bad acne since puberty and have pcos I found the only thing (over 10 years + of trying) that helped was dianette.

I have had pretty much everything on offer from the doctor, oral antibiotics, topical ones. I have also tried every over the counter one too. Nothing worked for me but you could try:

oxytetracycline/minocycline/doxycycline antibiotics longterm. They make you feel pretty crappy though and you can't really drink alcohol without having side effects...I tried each for well over 6 months each and noticed no change.

Your other medication option is roaccutane, your doc probably won't want to prescribe it until all other things have been tried as it can have some nasty side effects but could be an option for the future.

There is a zinc oxide antibiotic liquid that you put on your skin called zineryt (spelling?). It can be very drying though and has a short shelf life so spend quite alot on prescriptions in a short space of time.
This helped me very slightly but dried my skin out and made it more red and sore so stopped using it.

Product wise, not cheap but I can recommend dermalogica stuff-you get a free consultation and if you're anything like me willing to try anything then the money isn't so bad...

You're not alone, I fully understand how miserable it can be. Really hope you find something to work for you