My skin totally cleared up when I was pregnant, how can I replicate?

Jelohi · 06-02-2004, 05:17 PM

Background - I am 37 years old & have had ongoing acne on my face, back & chest since adolescence. It's not cystic or anything, but annoying & ugly. I have tried: Retin-A, Differin, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, not wearing makeup, numerous OTC products. Pregnancy was by far the best! Any ideas on products/suppliments/treatments to help what must be hormonally related acne?

KimRick · 06-02-2004, 05:31 PM

Getting pg again. . . I know what you're talkin' about, when I was pg with my daughter, my skin looked & was flawless. NOW, it's like a train wreck that I can't get out from in front of. I'm taking Ortho-Tricyclen Lo and I'm on Doxycycline Monohydrate and Benzaclin Gel. They're working fine, it's just that it would be SOOOO nice to have great skin without the chemicals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jelohi

Background - I am 37 years old & have had ongoing acne on my face, back & chest since adolescence. It's not cystic or anything, but annoying & ugly. I have tried: Retin-A, Differin, Ortho Tri-Cyclen, not wearing makeup, numerous OTC products. Pregnancy was by far the best! Any ideas on products/suppliments/treatments to help what must be hormonally related acne?

lanalove34 · 06-02-2004, 09:46 PM

Hello. I am also 37 years old and have had acne, inlcuding VERY oily skin since high school. I recently had my third child and during this pregnancy my skin was perfect. It was unbelievable because my skin wasn't so great during my other two pregnancies. I asked my OB about it and he said the only way to replicate the pregnancy situation is to try birth control pills. But he wasn't sure which ones -- it's just a trial and error kind of thing.

Anyway, I' m not trying birth control because my mom had breast cancer and doesn't think the estrogen from the pills is such a good idea. Instead, I just started spironolactone two weeks ago (50 mg/ day) and I'm using TAzorac gel. So far, my skin is getting better, but still oily. I'm really hoping the spiro will work.

This past pregnancy proved to me that my acne and oily skin is completely hormone related and not related to anything I eat, or what soap I use. I think this is probably true for a lot of people. Good luck with your baby and your skin!!!

(By the way, I also have used every medicine there is practically over the years -- antibiotics, retin-a, topical antibiotic, benzyl peroxide, accutane, among others)

Alexandra789456 · 06-02-2004, 11:15 PM

Well I would definitely suggest the bc pill as I was told by my doctor that the bc pill has almost the exact same effect on your body as would a pregnancy.

coloradogirl1 · 06-03-2004, 01:02 PM

I hear you! I am 30 wks pregnant right now and my skin is flawless. I know that it will be devastating when I get my acne back after the baby. So, I;m trying to find a pill that will be similar to pregnancy hormones. I'm thinking that maybe I need a higher dose pill because the lower dose ones (like OTC-lo) DESTROY my face.