disappearing act

[nhamann]

hi,
I'm 20 and all my life I was acne free. Recently in the last year or so my skin has been rebelling and I have been getting these nasty "under the skin" pimples that are very painful and really hurt my confidence. I used to pick them, but that only made it worse, so I have stopped doing that, but I dont know what to do to relieve the pain. They seemed to get worse when I went off of my prescription birth control pills. Since I have went back on the birth control my face was cleared up during the summer, but its acting out again this winter. I can't afford to see a dermatologist so I was hoping you could tell me what I am doing to make my acne pop up and disappear out of no where. Are there any over the counter products you recommend? Help!
Nicole

[cmills79]

Hey, the same thing has also happend to me! I am 19 and went off my birth control (Ortho Tri Cyclen Lo) about 4 months ago...and within this last month my acne has been TERRIBLE! I started breaking out like crazy and have never had anything happen like this in my life. Before I started taking birth control my acne was mild...the worst my acne ever got was like maybe 4 pimples at a time. After I got on my birth control...I was basically still the same...the birth control didn't seem to improve my acne but it didn't get any worse either. Now I am SERIOUSLY considering getting back on my birth control again in order to see if maybe my skin will clear up...but I am unsure if this will do the trick? You said that your acne cleared up during the summer once you got back ON birth control? I wonder if I get back on it will do the same for me...I started taking birth control becasue I always would get very bad cramps during my period and I sometimes would pass out or throw up with the pain...so my mom took me to the doctor and she prescibed me birth control in order to help my cramps not be so bad. It kinda helped me a little but it wasn't a dramatic difference...so after about 9 months I stopped taking my birth control and figured I would just deal with the pain...but now my SKIN has become a huge problem...I don't know what to do...do you think I should just keep dealing with this acne or try getting back ON birth control to see if it will clear up? I am guessing that since i got OFF birth control my hormones have pretty much gone crazy because I also feel like my skin has gotten a lot more oily than usual on my face. Alot of people on this site have tried using different creams and pills to help treat their acne but they all got them by going to go see a doctor or a dermatologist...as far as over the counter products I would recommend Aveeno clear complexion cleasner and moisturizer to help treat acne because I recently started using it when my skin broke out and it has helped me somewhat...it is very good especially for getting rid of the redness that I have on my face...it is a good soothing product but it's not exactly as strong as I would prefer for getting rid of pimples...I used to use Proactiv Solution during the past 5 years and it helped ALOT but within this past year I believe it stopped working for me because I started breaking out more and more so I think my skin eventually became immune to it. Also, I especially quit using proactiv recently because it suddenly began irritating my skin alot which it had never really done before...I think this was because I got off my birth control and somehow it made my skin really sensitive to it. So go ahead and try Aveeno, I think it may definitely be good for reducing redness and make you skin feel clean and healthy, also, some of my friends have said they used Neutrogena and Clearasil products and say they work GREAT! but then again, they hardly have acne at all...they have breakouts once in a while but it's nothing serious. So yeah, what do you think about me getting back on birth control...do you think I should? I would really appreciate your input. Thanks!
Cmills79