My skin during birth control vs. getting off of it
After being on birth control for five years, I decided like a lot of girls, that I wanted to see what my body was like off of it. I didn't expect to have many changes because my transition getting on it was pretty seamless. I didn't have acne before besides when I was in middle/high school and had those teenage breakouts or parts of my face that was more congested. I was definitely always super sensitive the week prior to my period before getting on birth control and my periods were also super heavy. Back when I was with my college boyfriend at the time, I decided to get on something even though I was nervous of the side affects. I had a few friends who had horror stories about IUDs or finding the right thing for them. I settled on the Nuva Ring. It wasn't as hard to remove as an IUD or arm implant (and especially not as painful). But I also am very forgetful so I knew I couldn't do the daily pills either.
Anyways, a break up later and fast forward to last year. I truly was like I'm not even having sex, what am I trying to prevent? I religiously put in a new Nuva Ring and pay for this expensive ass birth control ring and I'm not even needing it really. So October 2022 comes around and I decided to stop since it was the last ring out of my 3-pack. A month goes by and I don't really notice too much of a difference in my skin besides I'm starting to see more hyperpigmentation and more texture around my cheeks, jawline and forehead. Like I said, I'm used to having near perfect skin which I really took advantage of and am kicking myself for the few pimples I'd rarely get.
Two months go by and I'm breaking out a lot more. I'm starting to notice my breakouts are almost cystic pimples. There's also so many more white heads and black heads everywhere. Of course what you're not supposed to do is pick at them. So naturally, what do I do? I try to pop the white heads. Weird logic, but I really am thinking that the more I see the gunk coming out, it has to be better since it's unclogging everything right? But I wake up every day and more white heads are appearing and I can't seem to catch up. At this point, I'm not comfortable to even go outside my apartment without putting a BB cream or light tinted moisturizer on. I notice that I still have a bottle of this at-home chemical peel my esthetician from South Florida gave me since I moved to Tampa. Every time I've gone to her and she's used this magic potion, in a few days my pore won't turn into small scabs and my breakouts would disappear. I have pretty tough skin so I layer this on one night and watch a movie. Mind you, the bottle says "Leave on for only 3-5 minutes". I keep this thing on for HOURS. The tingling subsided and I forgot it was still on my face. Also, lowkey I'm thinking let's just leave this on a little longer to really penetrate these stubborn pimples. I realize that I need to wash it off and being lazy, I just take some toner that's near my couch's coffee table and wipe it somewhat off. Again, NOT what you're supposed to do. I wake up the next day and I have basically removed the top layer of my skin around my forehead. It's raw. Part of me is kind of happy because I can tell some pimples went away and it somewhat worked. A few days go by and now the raw skin has turned into this thin scabs that have hyper pigmented. It looks even worse than how it was before (which you can see in the 3 months after picture below on my forehead - and it doesn't even do it justice on that side of my face).
For the next few months, I'm so incredibly unhappy with my face. I can't leave the house without pounding on a heavy foundation which is very unlike me. I hate that I'm not feeling confident anymore leaving the apartment without putting something on my face. I hate that it's probably not helping that I'm layering product on my face that's clogging my pores because I wear it until the end of the day. I'm stress-eating which isn't helping at all... The sugars, carbs, etc. I know is playing a small part although I know it's mostly just my hormones being out of whack. I'm thinking if I get monthly facials this will help. I even try to find a holistic doctor to check out my bloodwork to see if I need to be changing something within my gut or eating habits because when you think about it - your skin and body is a reflection of what's happening from within. If I'm focusing on the root cause, that's probably better than just trying to fix it with skincare/facials. I do micro-needling sessions, I try to cut out dairy (too hard for me), try to minimize sugar (also too hard for me lol), try to drink more water, try to take vitamins/supplements, etc. Everything I'm doing isn't showing any difference on my face. My skin looks even more irritated and I feel like I'm at a loss. I'm watching YouTube videos on how others have coped with it or what they've tried and what's worked for them. So much so that I'm now getting targeted by ads on Instagram from Acne-Specialists near me. I keep hearing how to just push through, your skin will get better by the 6-month mark to a year. But I'm so close to just getting back on birth control at this point because I can't stand my face. Anyways, I see this ad on Instagram of a before and after picture of a girl who cleared up her face by going to this woman and using this skincare line made for acne-prone skin. Of course I'm skeptical thinking none of the treatments, facials, skincare I've used so far has done anything to really show any improvement. But I'm scrolling through this page and I see that it's for skin like mine and I'm actually seeing results from even just a month of using these products. I immediately book an appointment even though she's in St. Pete and I'm in Tampa. Not too far of a drive, but you'd think there'd be a closer specialist that I could find in this city. Long story short, I've been using this line called Face Reality for the past month and it's the only thing that has helped my skin. In a matter of a week, I started to see improvement.
Now, I'm currently at the seven month mark. I just got my period last week for the first time in months and I think my hormones really needed that because my skin is starting to look more clearer. Of course this could also just be the result of religiously using this speciality acne-focused skincare line daily but I like to think it's a combination of that and making it this far in the post-birth control journey. Staying away from dairy, sugar, etc. may help some but I guess time really has a lot to do with it. I'm not going to lie the first six months are rough. I constantly thought about getting back on birth control but thankfully that Instagram ad found me just in the knick of time. For anybody else who's struggling with their skin too after getting off birth control, I recommend finding an acne skincare specialist and using a skincare line that is made specifically for those with acne. It's been a game changer for me. I may not drink enough water that I need to daily or exercise every day, but what I rarely forget to do is use my skincare regimen I was given every morning and night. I've also heard this brand Elix (who also targeted me) which is a menstrual wellness brand to combine Chinese medicine & clinical research for personalized herbal treatments for women's hormonal health. You take a quiz and from that, they specialize a personal blend of ingredients for you to take from a dropper every day. It's supposed to help with getting your period back to normal, alleviating tough PMS symptoms, and much more. I'm placing an order for that soon to see if I can get my period back to normal, which should help everything else.