Bacne after getting off birth control. Help :(

I had bad bacne before going on Accutane my senior year of high school. After completing the regimen, all of my severe acne went away. I now just get occasional pimples on my face and my back and shoulders have been extremely clear since. Not sure if it has changed, but I had to do a regimen of 5 months on the medicine and then it was finished. I see your wedding is in August, so if your dermatologist starts you at your March appt, it would be bumping right up to your wedding. I’d call and see if they can get you moved up if other people cancel. If you can’t, I can say the medicine was working very well by month 3 or 4, so you would be pretty clear by the time of your wedding.


Note: since the medicine causes birth defects, they do require you to state what primary and secondary methods of birth control you’re using and get tested for pregnancy each month. I wasn’t sexually active or on the BC pill at the time I was taking Accutane, so I just put down male and female condoms and they were fine with that.

I get hormonal acne too, and it can be a real pain. I'd suggest a body wash with salicylic acid, then skin serum(s) with ingredients designed to combat acne and redness (if dry skin isn't an issue, niacinamide is a great product to look into), then use a calming lotion once the serum dries down. I've used products by The Ordinary and have had a lot of success with them.

Another strategy is to get enough sleep, exercise, drink lots of water, and eat as much organic and unprocessed food as you can work into your diet. Foods like diary and meats can contain a lot of hormones and cause acne to flare up. It's also helpful to cut down on caffeine and alcohol.

Hopefully your dermatologist can help provide additional tips!

Struggled with acne as well and did a round of accutane back in high school and was on the birth control pill for years after to control my acne which worked. Same thing though - got off the pill and acne surged back. After stopping the pill and not being able to get my acne under control, I did one more round of accutane and now apply a nightly prescribed retin-A and I haven’t had one pimple since😌. (Before accutane and retin-A I was doing 3 month stints of different skin care routines and less harsh acne topicals like the Tactuo pump and none of it helped so it’s been a long journey). Would highly recommend the prescribed retin-A at the very least! It’s stronger than any OTC retnoid you can get. Hopefully the appointment with your dermatologist helps!