Acne after Stopping Birth Control: How long does it last?

I'm 29 and just over a year ago I stopped taking Yasmin, which I had been taking for several years (before that, low-dose estrogen pills). About six months after stopping Yasmin, I started getting serious acne on my previously clear(ish) skin, which would basically come and go every month. As with most hormonal acne, it's been unresponsive to the usual topical treatments containing benzoyl peroxide and salicylic acid.

It has really been getting me down, to the point where I'm considering going back on the Yasmin. (I'd rather not put those chemicals in my body now that I'm not in a relationship, but on the other hand I had no problems on Yasmin.) My question is.....does anyone have experience with this, and if so I'm especially curious how long I can expect this acne to last.

If it usually goes away in time, I'd like to try to wait it out. But if the only solution is going back on the Pill, I guess I will have to go down that route because this is really taking its toll.

I've heard that evening primrose oil and olive leaf extract might help to balance the hormones in this situation, but I'm skeptical.

Any advice from people have been through this post-pill acne -- I know there are a lot of us -- would be appreciated. Does it get better on its own, or is going back on the pill the only realistic solution? Thanks so much :) 

Hey,

I'm 18 so I don't know how similar our bodies are. But during the summer I got off the pill for about 3 - 4 months. My breakouts flared really bad, and I already have bad skin. But being on the pill makes it better. I really do suggest staying on the pill even though you aren't in a relationship anymore. You never know if you will meet someone new, want to have a one night stand, or my personal reason ... if I was ever a rape victim. Your bodies hormonal levels are different without the pill so you're going to break out. Try to talk to a dermatologist about your problem and see what he recommends you. But like I said. Please get back on the pill. You'll be safer and acne free! :)

(I use a pill called Femcon...  I love it!!)

I am a little different than you because I did have bad acne to start with and went on Yasmin about three years ago specifically to treat my acne. It worked wonders for my skin. I wanted to try going off BC a couple of months ago to see how I would do without it, and my terrible acne came back within a month after stopping. I immediately went back on the Yasmin. I have been taking it for two months now, and my face is fairly clear, but I still have some cystic acne on my neck and jawline that hasn't resolved yet. I have pretty much come to the realization that I will probably need to be on birth control for most of my adult life to treat my acne. I'm not thrilled that I will have to take BC for a long time, but I would rather take it and not have acne than go without it.

Spironolactone is a prescription anti-androgen that can be taken either orally or topically.  It's pretty effective for most women with hormone-caused acne who prefer not to be on the pill.

Also, I've heard that non-DGL licorice can act as an anti-androgen, but I haven't done that research myself.  It might be worth looking into, though!

Hi! I am 23 years old and am going through the exact same thing. Five years ago I was put on Yasmin for consistent ovarian cysts. I remember before I first went on the pill I never had pimples or acne and within the first two months I had a few bad time periods of pimples or acne. When my body adjusted to the Pill I had the clearest skin that I remember and while on the Pill for five years I never had skin problems except now and then around my cycle but I would never call it acne. That's because the pill literally regulates your bodies hormones, oils it produces and emotions as I am sure that you know.

This summer I decided to go off of Yasmin because I was experiencing many of the side effects of long term use over the past year; gallbladder problems where I now have gull stones, and lots of digestive system problems where there was a time period in which I thought I was going to loose my gallbladder and part of my intestine.

When I went off of the Pill I also experienced acne for the first time since high school. Yes it is totally embarrassing and sometimes painful but I have now been off of Yasmin for about 3 1/2 months and have never felt better. My skin is again clear and my body is starting to act normal. I had my follow up and the doctor said that with a regulation of diet everything will be fine.I do believe it just takes time and everyone's body is different. It could take up to a year for your body to re-regulate itself.

I know that washing your face an extra time during the day helps like around 2:30. I take face wash to work and wash my face. I also know that if you are in the gym and wait to shower till you get home you are more prone to pimples. I just go to the locker room and wash my face right after my workout before I go home, or just wipe my face with a towelette. Whatever is more convenient.

Part of your acne could be that the things that you are eating just do not agree with your system. I had to change my diet because of serious health concerns but I also think that my diet is what makes me feel so great. Some times it sucks not to be able to eat the things that my friends eat but I know that I always feel better without those foods; greasy foods, deserts, candy etc.

You also mention that you are debating going back on the Pill and although there are many benefits of the pill there are downsides; a lot of downsides in which we do not know about yet. For instance: There was an article in the Journal of Popular Science (either this month or last) which stated that the Pill actually physically changes the size of your brain. It talks about how women who have been on the pill have a slightly larger frontal lobe than those women who have not been on the pill. The frontal lobe is involved in higher mental functions and plays an important part in retaining longer term memories which are not task-based. These memories are associated with emotions. The frontal lobe modifies those emotions to generally fit socially acceptable norms. This is why women on the pill tend to be more sensitive, intense, irritable, and generally emotional.

I know that when I was on the Pill I could not consciously regulate my emotions and my boyfriend, parents and friends all tell me how in the past three months I have become a different person. I am a lot more relaxed and easy going. My anxiety is down and I'm not as uptight about things. I know that I am enjoying my life a lot more now than I have in the past five years. Also since I have been off the pill I haven't had any ovarian cysts so if things go the way they are then I will stay off the pill.

Being on or off the pill is a huge decision. As for birth control there are other ways you can be safe like condoms or a cycle count (knowing when you ovulate to abstain from sex during that time). I am sure that you know all of this but if I can have my way I will never go on a pill again. Sorry that I have kind of added a few things outside of your topic but I know that discussing it with friends and reading about the pill has really helped my be more confident in my decision. Your acne should go away with time and diet regulation.

Good luck!

I had a similar experience when I stopped taking birth control a few years ago. My skin broke out really, really badly and nothing seemed to help. I went back on birth control and everything and still my skin wouldn't clear up. I used numerous different over the counter and prescription washes/creams/pills. I ended up going on accutane because nothing worked and I didn't want to have lifelong scars.

It sounds like your situation isn't so severe that you would resort to taking accutane. A few things that helped my skin a bit were tea tree oil (The Body Shop has a whole line of tea tree products, but mainly the tea tree oil is what helps and you can get that pretty cheap at Trader Joes and other health food stores) which you just apply topically to break outs, a skin care line called DDF that they sell at Nordstrom and Sephora, it's pretty pricey but it works really well, and a prescription drug called Spironolactone that my derm prescribed me after I started having minor break outs post accuntane. I'm not sure if it's healthier than birth control, but it very well might be and it has similar effects on your skin. It reduced the amount of androgens your body produces which reduces the amount of sebum your body produces so it clears your skin.

Thanks for all of this very interesting advice! I decided to go back on the Yasmin, because there are so many different ways of looking at and there is no way to tell how long it will take for my hormones to go back to normal....  

See a doctor

I did :) She said there was no way of predicting what would happen with regard to the acne if I went back on or stayed off the pill, as different people react differently, and that it was my choice to make.

I agree with you it was your choice and I sincerely hope that it works for you!!! :)

I am on a certain pill, that when you go off it, INEVITIBLY causes bad acne. The pill is called DIANE 35 ED,  and once you are on it for years, you CANNOT ever go off of it without experiencing acne.

I hate putting chemicals into my body, however, I would rather have an artificially manipulated, but balanced hormonal system, then to have acne.

I really do hate that I need to falsley control my body. But I hate acne more, lol. My pill is rare, though, in that once you are on itm it really does cause bad acne once you cease using it; in addition to that fact alone, I also have naturally dodgy hormones!   So my hormones are sketchy at the best of times, in their natural state without pills. Imagine what my skin would do with naturally bad hormones, AND the fact I go off my pill, which causes acne in even the people with the best funtioning hormones!

Well, for what it's worth, whenever I go off a birth control that's meant to help with acne, it comes back! I'm talking full blown & deep acne sores - not just little pimples.

I went onto Dianne (Dianette) since about the ages of 14 (I was a virgin until my 20's!!) and was on that for several years. Then tried to come off it in my early 20's and my skin just about exploded over the period of a year. During that time I tried many things - nothing helped.

Went back into Dianne for a few years and my skin returned to "normal". Eventually switched to Yasmin. I've tried coming off that, but I still get outbreaks if I do. So (not great) but I've been on birth control for roughly 23 years - just for my skin. Nothing else helps.....

omg...I didn't know discontinuing the pill can cause acne.  I stopped taking the pill maybe a month ago and my acne is the worst is has ever been.  I'm 25.  Today was the first day in a week I wasn't embarrassed to leave the house because of my face.  They're cystic pimples that turn into sores, ooze clear stuff, and then turn into scabs.  I've found that neosporin and band-aids can minimize scarring. But I don't want to go to work or the grocery store with band-aids on my face.

I've had acne since I was a teenager but this past week or so has been complete hell with it.  Now it makes sense.

I am almost 30 and have been on birth control on and off since I was 15. I was on a very high estrogen birth control because I wanted to have clear skin on my wedding day. I had beautiful skin on my wedding day, but at a cost.

I went off birth control once before about 7 years ago. About six months later I had full blown acne. My dermatologist put me back on birth control (which was the opposite of the point...I went off of it for a reason) and she put me on accutane. My time on accutane was literally one of the most miserable 6 months of my life. It dries you from the inside out, so I was getting nose bleeds on a daily basis, terrible headaches, my lips would literally peel off in one large sweep like a snake moulting. It can cause depression, which I luckily didn't suffer from. I went to one of the make-up counters at Macy's and the woman working the counter couldn't touch my face. She was pregnant, and the oils from my skin on her fingers could have caused birth defects. That is how toxic and caustic accutane is. My dermatologist took me off of accutane a month earlier than she was supposed to because it was such torture for me. 

I am now 30, am married, and am ready for children. I went off of birth control about 4 months ago, and so far so good. I get some mild break outs on my chin every now again, but have figured out how to get rid of them. The fact that the zits go away at all is a very different scenerio then the last time I went off of birth control...when I got a breakout, they never went away until Iwent on accutane. Now my diet is very different. I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, rarely eat sugar, etc. I also started using progesterone cream. I have been using it for months, and now can't live without it. There are many brands, but I use "Happy PMS". It seems to have the most natural ingredients. It also helps get your period back after going off birth control, and bring you back to a natural balance. I also take primrose oil and fish oil (for omega 3) every AM and PM. Finally, I put tea tree oil on my skin topically every AM and PM, and I honestly think that is what is doing the trick. It's amazing. I get it for like $3 at Trader Joes. It is sold at most health food stores and co-ops. It's a god send. 

I hope this helps. I know every woman's body is different, and this may not work for everyone, but as someone who has been through it before, this time around (7 years later) is has been a very different result. My lifestyle has changed, and so has the crap I am willing to put in my body. My skin is still clear 4 months after quitting birth control. I'm crossing my fingers that it will stay this way.

S