I know everyone's different and that hormones are a complete minefield, but had to share...
Bit of background - have suffered from PCOS entire adult life - now 37. Miscarried at 32, due to very wayward periods - conceived on day 26 (!). Successful preg at 34. I'm one of those skinny but bad skin sufferers, so weight was only a problem if I went under. Been on EVERYTHING from those horrendous acne drugs that are now banned (possible side effects: suicide
) to every single contraceptive pill under the sun. But, I'm also a migraine sufferer with a family history of thrombosis and a high stroke risk if I go on the pill, so my choices are severely limited contraception-wise (doc's words). I'm now just on the copper coil, so going it alone synthetic hormone-wise. My choices were blinding migraines (mini pill), stroke risk (pill pill) or a chin totally covered in disgusting acne. Nice!
Anyway, I'm a firm believer in acupuncture (it helped me conceive for preg. no 2) so in despair I went into one of of those high street walk-in Chinese medicine places and had a diagnosis. The funny thing was, they didn't seem to understand or really recognise PCOS, but rather just looked at my chin and told me I just needed a really good detox. This was the beginning of Jan, and since then I've cut out caffeine to one cup of tea in the morning and that's it (admittedly this was friggin' difficult! but I've done it!), and have replaced the caffeine with endless cups of Dr Stuart's Skin Purify, and other than that, just got into a really good, simple skincare routine. And that's it! I'm so happy, but at the same time really annoyed that that was all it took and nobody told me sooner - I had no idea the effect of caffeine on hormones!
Now, I don't know if it's the giving up caffeine (subsequently I'm drinking less milk too) OR the Dr Stuart's that's doing it, or a combination of the two, but I am beyond thrilled to say I'm now completely spot free! Can't bloody believe it! Anyway, had to share and hope this might help anyone else suffering. 