Hi everyone, I have a severe case of acne caused by PCOS, I’ve taken the drug Tetracyclin, however, once I take the last pill about a week goes by and they re appear. I’ve also taken the famous Accutane, and just depressed me. Not only are they big, red, and ugly but they are more like tumors. I try to poke them with a needle every now and then and that nasty, smelly white stuff comes out. But they keep coming back. Is there anything else I can do to help my problem. By the way, these things are soooo painful that I can’t even sleep at night most of the time I don’t want anything to come close to my face. PLEASE HELP ME FIND A SOLUTION TO THIS PAIN. THANK YOU.

Hi everyone, I have a severe case of acne caused by PCOS, I’ve taken the drug Tetracyclin, however, once I take the last pill about a week goes by and they re appear. I’ve also taken the famous Accutane, and just depressed me. Not only are they big, red, and ugly but they are more like tumors. I try to poke them with a needle every now and then and that nasty, smelly white stuff comes out. But they keep coming back. Is there anything else I can do to help my problem. By the way, these things are soooo painful that I can’t even sleep at night most of the time I don’t want anything to come close to my face. PLEASE HELP ME FIND A SOLUTION TO THIS PAIN. THANK YOU.

First of all, I sympathize with you. I have dealt with cystic acne for years (mainly on the chin due to hormonal acne) so I know what you are going thru. What I'm currently on is called spirnolactone. It's helped in the hormonal aspect of my acne although I do get cysts still. Have you asked your doctor about this medication? If you read the web, alot of women who have PCOS take spiro. Can I ask you, what kind of tests did you take to know you have it? I have chin acne, facial hair but regular periods. I know PCOS is known for the chin acne and excess facial hair and irregular periods . I have considered doing accutane so I don't have to be on anymore medication (i take 100mg a day of spiro) so I wanted to find out your opinion on accutane. Did the accutane make you depressed? Anyways, check out the spiro. It has helped me for over a year.

You might also want to try saw palmetto. It binds with the testosterone in your system, so will reduce how much you have floating around, which is why PCOS has a tendency to cause acne. I had acne from PCOS and it stopped once I started taking saw palmetto and I went on the South Beach diet. Everything I've read about PCOS seems to indicate that insulin spikes are really the underlying evil, and the South Beach diet is specifically for reducing the spikes of sugar and insulin, so I figured, hey why not give it a try. Now, my face is clear, and my periods have come back after being gone for 3 years.

Hey =)
There's several ways you can tackle this problem. The first thing you need to know is whether your PCOS is caused by a Progesterone Defficiency or Insulin Resistance. I think both can be cured the same way, but if you don't want to change your diet, then you might want to figure that out.

Prometheus and I, were both dx as PCOS, although I claim Insulin Resistant because I don't have any of the typical "symptoms". I'm underwieght and with regular cycles. My only hormonal problems were TERRIBLE menstrual cramps, mild hirsutism, hairloss/retention, and of course....Acne (anywhere you can imagine). If you read around this board you will see that both of us, as well as others, used diet to get rid of most of hormonal problems, including greatly reducing or eliminating our acne!

Dietary changes was THE most effective thing I ever did for myself and I've been on everything but accutane! I tried Birth Control - Sprionolactone for 3 years and Avandia- Spironolactone for a little over a year. I've actually been on Spiro for nearly 6 years, but finally dropped it about 2 months ago. Now the only thing I am using to treat myself is my diet.

Aside from the prescriptions I mentioned above, women with PCOS are sometimes misdiagnosed and actually have NCCAH (Non-classical congential adrenal hyperplasia). The symptoms are very similar, but under hormonal tests they will find that you are lacking an enzyme neccessary to make cortisol. This of course would throw your hormones off and increase your testosterone, because your body would keep trying to produce cortisol, which keeps increasing your other hormones. The treatment for this is a glucocorticoid, such as Dexamethasone.


Otherwise, if you have PCOS due to a progesterone defficiency, you would just take progesterone to balance things out. If this is what you need, you tell them you want micronized progesterone (forget the name), no SYNTHETIC crap ;-) Or you can use Natural Progesterone Cream (NPC) to fix things. If that makes you uncomfortable you can take Vitex (chaste tree berry), which apparently balances things out, buy telling your brain to increase progesterone production =)

Now, some people breakout from progesterone cream or vitex and it's probably because they don't need it. Progesterone is anti-androgenic and also has the ability to convert itself into one of the Estrogens or Androgens (don't want more male hormones). Yet, one poster realized that she was PCOS and reduced her copper levels and used NPC to get clear and regulate her menstrual cycles.

There's lots of Insulin balancing supplements, such as NAC, ALA, Fish Oils, Milk Thistle, etc. Plus, as others mentioned, there's also the thought of taking Saw Palmetto, Nettle, or Beta sito-sterol as anti-androgens. Unfortunately for me, I've taken 1800mg of Saw Palmetto for months, while on Avandia-Spiro, and it didn't improve my acne at all. LOL, and that's interesting because most people, male and female, report improvements in the 200 - 600mg range. So my guess is that since I was already taking spiro and it's the herbal equivalent, it wasn't going to do anymore for me, than Spiro did. ;-)

That brings up a good point, that if you are Insulin Resistant (most people are), medication nor supplements, can fully replace what a proper hormonally balanced healthy diet can. It's like taking cholesterol lowering drugs, but you are still eating foods that increase your cholesterol levels....it's counter productive. Well, at least thats how my story was and it appears to run this way for a few others.

Yet, whatever you decide to do, know that they all have the potential and have achieved such results as eliminating acne, regulating menstrual cycles, eliminating menstrual pain, reducing hirsutism, lowering weight, shrinking ovarian cysts, and I think the most wonderful of all for those that had problems, given women the ability to concieve.
.

Thank you Saira2,
Well the first test was done because I was trying to get pregnant, I've really never had a regular period, I have skin tags and the acne is soo severe. I went to my obgyn and had a blood test performed. The blood test revealed that it was in fact PCOS. Fortunately I concieved my beautiful daughter Lexy in March of 2001, I was on 250 mg of Clomid. A year before that I tried the Accutane. I personally would not suggest the accutane, when I began taking it I broke out so bad that I did not even go to work for 2-3 weeks, (I lost my job). Then after the 4-6 week I began to notice a difference, however once the medication was finished within 6 months my breakouts where even worse and they became even more painful. More times than not I was feeling very agitated, and sad. All I wanted to do was cry and sleep. I would not even go out to get the mail. I didn’t want to be around anyone.
After I did some research on the Accutane I realized that I had been feeling like that because of the medication. Of course everyone has a different reaction to this med, however I’ve heard more horror stories than good. I also read an article where a lady had taken accutane for 2 years straight, and she was extremely happy with it, unfortunately a few years later she began having liver problems, according to her Dr. it was caused by the Accutane. So I strongly vote against it, but like I said, some people have different reactions to it. Good Luck and hope everything goes good with you…

This may be a stupid question...but I am very interested in this PCOS/hormonal theory. It makes so much sense for me. I had perfect beautiful skin until I was about 25 - since then I have battled cystic acne mainly on my chin/jawline. I have tried a lot that helps - but only temporaily. My doctor said my hormones were fine because she did a series of thyroid tests on me and there is no reason to believe it is hormonal!! I am going to find another doctor because iIreally feel that this has been my problem all along. I have VERY irregular periods, mood swings, and cystic acne. Can you guys PLEASE tell me exactly what tests I need to ask for so when I find a new doctor, I can tell him what I want and not get a bunch of unnecessary tests done? Thank-you!!

Hi Jade,
well you certianly look like you know what you're talking about, thank you for the info, I actually copied and pasted this info into my notebook in order to bring some of these things up to my Dr. I really don't know what kind of PCOS I have, all I know is that I have an elevated LH surge and elevated testosterone levels. My last period was on Thankgiving, after that nothing. I have a really bad feeling I may have been pregnant and had a miscarriage at the time because it was extremely painful, more than usual, and there was some really funky stuff coming out, plus it was extremely heavy. I don't know. Anyways, I really hope that this horrible nightmare will go away, my face hurts so much. I try to use Clinique cover up, but make-up can only do so much. Thank you very much.

This may be a stupid question...but I am very interested in this PCOS/hormonal theory. It makes so much sense for me. I had perfect beautiful skin until I was about 25 - since then I have battled cystic acne mainly on my chin/jawline. I have tried a lot that helps - but only temporaily. My doctor said my hormones were fine because she did a series of thyroid tests on me and there is no reason to believe it is hormonal!! I am going to find another doctor because iIreally feel that this has been my problem all along. I have VERY irregular periods, mood swings, and cystic acne. Can you guys PLEASE tell me exactly what tests I need to ask for so when I find a new doctor, I can tell him what I want and not get a bunch of unnecessary tests done? Thank-you!!


Hey sweetie, I'm sorry that you are also going through this.
As far as tests, my OBGYN did a testosterone test, and LH test. I also had a progestrone test perform which concluded that I had PCOS. I began with the exact symptoms you have. Call your Dr. and set up the appt. Tell him/her that you would like to get tested for the PCOS, he/she will know what tests you need. Good Luck hun...Keep us updated!!

I was wondering about something, I mean the chances of me getting pregnant again are slim to none, I already have a beautiful daughter and I"m happy with her. If I were to get a Hysterectomy will that solve my acne problems? I know it will solve most hormonal issues we have...please advise

Yet, one poster realized that she was PCOS and reduced her copper levels and used NPC to get clear and regulate her menstrual cycles.


You mentioned copper. That was one other thing that I did after I found out about the PCOS that I forgot to mention. When I got a hair mineral analysis done (which I definitely recommend, helps you know what you're trying to balance), I had high copper, and I think that's a normal problem w/ PCOS, and that's part of what leads to the high testosterone. I think some people might have collected the copper while on the pill, since the pill causes you to collect copper, and it seems like a lot of people have their PCOS start after quitting the pill (probably started sometime during the pill, but was masked until coming off). Anyway, I just took a molybdenum supplement for a while, and that took care of the extra copper, and was a very easy way to get rid of that copper.

Hey,
Look, whatever you do, don't get a hysterectomy. It's really not neccessary and why do you want one? Do you have ovarian cysts? If so, then it is probably due to Estrogen Dominance and a Progesterone Deffieciency (look up Dr. John Lee). This is the other aspect of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and it has to do with having an imbalance on LH & FSH hormones. What you need to do is talk to your doctor about Progesterone supplementation. Like I said before, you need to get the micronized prescription kind or use Natural Progesterone Cream (NPC). Most women with PCOS love the cream, it helps shrink cysts, decrease facial hair, acne, etc. ;-)

Anyway, this was something I posted awhile back, but it should help you when asking about your tests:

This will help you know what tests to ask for, TSH, Thyroxine, cortisol, DHEA and other steroid hormones... Unfortunately I don't have ALL my test results so I can't give you the levels for Free & Total Testosterone, Androstenedione, Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) and other hormones. Although, I took a Female Check hormone analysis by Body Balance and it does give me the normal saliva (free?) levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone when you are at days 20-23 of your cycle. Those are:

Body Balance (Great Smokies Diagnostic Labs)
Estrodial: 5.50 - 13.20 pmol/L
Progesterone: 259 - 979 pmol/L
Testosterone: 25 - 135 pmol/L

Below are hormonal tests that should be run to help with a variety of hormonal diagnosis. This is just a fraction of what my endocrinologist tested me for, but these are the ranges from my hospital's lab, unless otherwise noted:

Cortisol:
AM (7-9pm) serum 4.30 - 22.40 ug/ml
PM (3-5pm) serum 3.09 - 16.66 ug/ml

17-Hydroxycorticosteroid Progesterone (17-OHPS): serum
Male 0.4 - 3.3 ng/ml
Follicular Phase 0.1 - 1.2 ng/ml
Luteal Phase 0.4 - 4.8 ng/ml
(Brook Army Medical Center)

17- Alpha Hydroxycorticosteroid Progesterone (17A-OHPS): serum
Male 0.4 - 3.3 ng/ml
Follicular Phase 0.1 - 1.2 ng/ml
Luteal Phase 0.4 - 4.8 ng/ml
Oral Contraceptives up to 1.2 ng/ml
Postmenopausal up to 0.6 ng/ml
Children (1 - 15 years) up to 3.0 ng/ml
(Brook Army Medical Center)

11-Deoxycortisol (11-DOC)
Males and Females 20 - 130 ng/dl
Post Metyrapone >5000 ng/dl (5 ug/dl)
Post ACTH (60 min. after stimulation)
Males & Premenopausal Females (Follicular) 82 - 290 ng/dl
(Quest Laboratories)

Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone (ACTH):
Plasma 10 - 52 pg/ml

Glucose: Serum 70 - 105 mg/dl

Prolactin (Serum):
Males 2.1 - 17.7 ng/ml
Nonpregnant 2.8 - 29.2 ng/ml
Pregnant 9.7 - 208.5 ng/ml
Postmenopausal 1.8 - 20.3 ng/ml

Follicle Stimulating Hormone (FSH):
Males (13 -70 years) 1.4 - 18.1 mIU/ml
Normally Menstruating
Follicular Phase 2.5 - 10.2 mIU/ml
Midcycle Peak 3.4 - 33.4 mIU/ml
Luteal Phase 1.5 - 9.1 mIU/ml
Pregnant <0.3 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal 23 - 116.3 mIU/ml

Luteinizing Hormone (LH):
Males
20 -70 years 1.5 - 9.3 mIU/ml
>70 years 3.1 - 34.6
Normally Menstruating
Follicular Phase 1.9 - 12.5 mIU/ml
Midcycle Peak 8.7 - 76.3 mIU/ml
Oral Contraceptives[/u] 0.7 - 5.6 mIU/ml
Pregnant <0.1 - 1.5 mIU/ml
Postmenopausal 15.9 - 54 mIU/ml

Estrodial:
Males ND - 52 pg/ml
Postmenopausal (untreated) ND - 37 pg/ml
Menstruating
Follicular Phase
(-12) 11 - 69 pg/ml
(-4) 63 - 165 pg/ml
Midcylce (-1) 146 - 526 pg/ml
Luteal Phase
(+2) 33 - 150 pg/ml
(+6) 68 - 196 pg/ml
(+12) 36 - 133 pg/ml

ND = No detection


Thyroid Stimulating Hormone
(TSH) Sensitive: Serum 0.35 - 5.5 uIU/ml

T4 FREE: serum 0.89 - 1.76 ng/dl

T3 FREE: serum 230 - 420 pg/dl
(Smithkline Laboratories)

Thyroxine Total: serum 4.5 - 12.5 mcg/dl
(Quest Laboratories)

Inhibin: serum
Males < 21 pg/ml
Postmenopausal < 98 pg/ml
Premenopausal < 10 pg/ml
(Quest Laboratories)

DHEA Sulfate: serum
Adult Male 80 - 560 ug/dl
Adult Female 35 - 430 ug/dl
Postmenopausal 10 - 190 ug/dl

BETA HCG (Human Chorionic Gonadotropin): serum pregnancy test
Positive >25 mIU/ml
Indeterminate 5 - 25 mIU/ml
Negative <5 mIU/ml


If what you want isn't here, then do a search for hormone reference ranges/levels and a variety of sites will provide the info you need.

Best of luck ;-)

Thank you all for you info and advise. I have an appt with my derm on Feb 19, 2004. I'll let you know what happens.

Hi! I did not read all the posts. But I had a case of severe acne. I don't have it anymore. It is very easy to get rid of it. You need high dose of probiotics. Specially accidophilus. THas all!!! You can buy it in any pharmacy. 3 tablets 1 hour before every meal, you will see that in a couple of days, the acne will reduce and then dissapear. Try it!