Any success with hormonal acne and not going on the pill to cure it?

[OchNoAgain]

I've suffered adult hormonal acne for years now and have bouts of it being better and worse. Just now it is awful, very painful cystic lumps all along my jaw and chin. It looks and feels awful and I'm really down about it. It's not just a few pimples in the week before my period.

I've tried various contraceptive pills in the past, some of which have helped my skin but have always left my with unbearable mood swings and very low mood. I have no inclination to go back on the pill but would welcome any ideas for helping with the acne. Supplements maybe?

I don't really want to bother my GP at the moment but don't know what else to try.

You need to bother the dr, most acne’s hormonal or kids would get it.

I had oral antibiotics then off to dermatology for roaccutane when they didn’t work because I was 41 by then & enough was enough.

I started Anti Acne Club supplement back in September and mine has completely cleared up. I was cynical but desperate enough to try anything and you get all of your money back after 2 months if it hasn’t worked for you, so worth a try.

Lymecycline 408mg antibiotics. I'm prescribed 1 a day and the difference is astounding. I tried every lotion and potion going and apart from the odd period pimple, my spots, boils and lumps have disappeared. Honestly, there is treatment out there, you're not bothering your GP, you're seeking treatment for a medical issue.

I have the exact same problem and had to come off Dianette because my blood pressure was getting dangerously high.

The only thing that has worked for me is these tablets. They are ridiculously expensive but they do work. It can take 12 weeks to see proper results, which it did for me. It says on the dosage that you can reduce from the full dose to just one tablet a day once it works. However for me any reduction has resulted in the spots coming back!

So I’m on the full dose 2x2 tablets a day and it has helped a lot, any spots I do get aren’t the cystic acne type and clear up quickly.

www.advancednutritionprogramme.com/skin-accumax

I don’t buy from that website though as cheaper from elsewhere

Antibiotic lotion from dermatica. I forget what it's called but if you go on the website they personalize your treatment and it's affordable. Can't recommend them highly enough.

Well it's sorted now because I'm perimenopausal and the hormones are different. ;) But honestly the thing that managed them for me those last few years (after I'd figured it out) was bensoyl peroxide every morning (not at night because it ruined all my sheets). Gentle skincare routine taking care not to stress my skin, and bensoyl peroxide. 5% works, no need to get any 10% version even if available.

Thanks very much for the replies. The Anti acne Club thing looks interesting but yeah expensive if it doesn't work. Might still give it a go though.

PPs are also right that I should really speak to the GP. It is clearly a hormonal imbalance and I've been living with it (being miserable about it!) for too long now.

Oh and that Skin Accumax looks interesting too. I will invest in some supplements while I wait for a GP appointment (8 weeks for a non-urgent appointment...)

Thanks again

I got rid of it with zinc supplements and omega 3 oils (in various forms over the years) and with a very very mild face soap (I have rosacea too so most topical treatments make that worse)

It’s not really an imbalance, I’ve got pcos & I had acne. I’ve still got pcos but no acne.

It’s a bacterial infection. The gp surgeries are open for patients.

Ah ok fair enough, I'm not very medically minded. Thanks. I'll make a non-urgent appointment. Who knows what the world will look like in 8 weeks anyway!

@Fluffycloudland77 how did you get rid of the acne? DD has PCOS and been taking Dianette for 6 months and definitely still has acne. She's not taking anything else. DS has taken Lymecycline for over a year with limited success, has tried bensoyl peroxide 5%) sporadically (DD tried it once and it burnt her skin so never again).

Demonologist recommended roaccutane for DS but he (and I) are not keen.

I took roaccutane after the implant sent me cystic. It made me tired but it was worth it.

NICE Guidelines are topical treatments, oral antibiotics and escalate to dermatology for roaccutane if they don’t work. It’s indicated for cystic acne and mild persistent acne resistant to gp treatments.

Roaccutane.

Started on lymecycline which worked ish but as soon as I stopped it came back. Roaccutane changed my life, it's not one to take lightly, do your research, you'd need consultant referral anyway, but it was amazing for me. Please don't be afraid to speak to your GP, acne is a medical problem and in my experience isn't all diet and skincare, medication sorted it permanently and didn't come back despite eating dairy etc!

Duac sorted mine out. It was absolutely horrendous and now I get a few white heads ear my period. A dab of duac and it’s gone within a day or two.

Lymecycline and azelaic acid cream on prescription sorted me out.

I've heard good things about Zitsticka Killa pimple patches for stress acne but haven't tried it myself.

When I get hormonal spots before my period now, I use tea tree oil and rose hip oil and it takes the pain and inflammation down.

Tretinoin has sorted my terrible adult acne out. Got worse before it got better though. But started improving at the 3 month mark.

I developed the most horrendous cystic acne when I was pregnant with my first DC. GP insisted it would go away once I have birth. It didn't, it got much worse. I had to see three different GP's before I found one who would actually treat it as a medical problem and prescribe Lymecycline. Unfortunately, by that time it had already caused scarring but the Lymecycline did clear it up within about 3-4 months. I carried on taking it for another couple of months just to be sure. That was 7 years ago and it hasn't come back, although I've had another baby since then. My friend who is a pharmacist told me that no amount of products, creams, lotions etc even the ones you get on prescription will fix severe hormonal acne, you have to treat it from the inside out which means oral antibiotics and potentially for several months. Other things that helped were only using face wash for sensitive skin (simple brand or boots own one are both good), investing in a good moisturiser that contains sacylic acid (I recommend La Roche Possay Effeclar Duo, this really helped with the redness and I believed reduced my scarring over time) and not 'over-washing' as this dries your skin out and then it overcompensates by producing excess oil which makes the acne worse.

I need this thread! I’ve tried everything! Prescribed I’ve had duac, adapalene, differin, lymecycline, doxycycline. Nothing worked. Went back to the GP who wasn’t understanding (and had gorgeous skin😡) and was told that I wouldn’t be referred to a derm because it isn’t bad enough. It flares up the days leading to my period and goes down about a week after so for almost half the month I can barely touch my face.
I can’t take the pill because it gave me a pulmonary embolism.

My son takes Lymecycline and no longer gets any cysts or boils. He still sometimes gets small whiteheads, but the painful lumps are completely gone. It's amazing.

It doesn’t have to be bad for dermatology, it just has to be persistent.

See a different dr.

I’ve tried all kinds of stuff over the years, and at 43, was sick of it. My skin is similar to yours - large cystic spots on chin and jawline , under the skin.
The only things that have worked are a lotion with salycylic acid / I started with Paula’s Choice Liquid Exfoliant, which definitely worked, but is very expensive (£30 a bottle), and am now using a similar product by Nip & Fab (£10 on offer at Tesco)

Also, minimising dairy, and drinking spearmint tea ( not peppermint).
Someone on here recommended it, and I swear it’s made a massive difference.

Only using mild, unfragranced oil free moisturiser.

I started using all of the above a year ago, and for the first time ever in my adult life, my skin is more or less clear.

@fairynick keep pushing, my acne wouldn't have been described as severe as it was only located on my chin, but it was persistent, I basically went in and cried and said I'd spent 10 years of my youth hiding away trying everything recommended and I'd had enough, I was finally referred!

Can I just vote for DIM supplements for cystic chin acne. I'm not on any hormonal contraception and nor do I wish to be.
These supplements have stopped my monthly chin spots and didn't take long to work. I've been very impressed.

Try spearmint tea. Has completely reduced my hormonal acne (and other PCOS-like symptoms). I've had the pill, Duac, Zineryt, antibiotics, nothing has helped.

But then I read a couple of studies about how spearmint reduces androgens - small studies, nothing major, but I thought I'd give it a go. It's been a revelation for me!

I spoke to the doctor after it changed my period slightly and he was absolutely fascinated about the link between spearmint and hormones - he was happy for me to keep using it and said it was just obviously doing something to my hormones, so I've had a cup or two a day since. If I stop drinking it, cysts come back with a vengeance.