Boycott Alesse!

I have to confess my secret shame: my skin. When I was in high school, I had perfect skin. Literally. P-E-R-F-E-C-T. I probably had three zits throughout my entire highschool years. I was envied. People asked what my secret was, I didn't know what to tell them because I had no clue. I was just blessed, I guess.

Once I started having kids, my skin started showing the effects of all the hormone fluctuations. Nothing too bad, just the odd blemish here and there. After I had Milena, though, that was it -- my skin went downhill, fast. I had no idea what was going on. Suddenly there was breakout after breakout, and since I'm a 'picker' I started getting little scars and blemish marks (you know, those little dark areas of skin).

There were some days, actually A LOT of days, that I didn't even want to leave the house, I was so embarrassed and ashamed. A little part of me died inside every time someone looked at my face and quickly looked away. I knew exactly what they were thinking. When I'd see an Acne Complex or Proactive commercial on tv, it was like they were telling my life story. I totally related and identified with the people on there.

I tried every acne cream out there. Some worked for a while. But they only treated the symptom, not the underlying problem. And I had no clue why this was happening to me. Finally I just had to accept the fact that this was never going to go away, having kids must have permanently altered my 'good skin' genetics.

Just recently, due to some serious side effects of the birth control I was on (Alesse) I went to my doctor to get a prescription for a new birth control pill. Before going in to see him, I went online to do some 'research', check out a few message boards, and see if other women were experiencing the same things I was. Imagine my complete shock to read that all these other women on Alesse had experienced extreme acne and skin problems. One message board even stated why Alesse does this, because it contains the male hormone Androgen which is known to majorly increase oil production.

Suddenly, it all made sense! After having Milena, my doctor suggested I try Alesse (which was new on the market at that time) because it had a low-dose of estrogen. (After I had Gunnar I'd been on a birth control with high estrogen and it really messed me up, so since then I always requested a low-estrogen pill.) So I'd been on Alesse, on and off, for close to three years before having Ryder (obvs, I was on an "off" time when I got preggers with him, lol). Once Ryder was born I went back on Alesse. And my skin got even worse than before!

I grew to hate having to look in the mirror and be confronted with my pizza face. My self-confidence was at an all-time low; I couldn't see how my hubby or my family could stand having me around and having to look at my skin.

So now I am on a new kind of birth control called Diane. Technically, its not even prescribed as birth control. Its actually something doctors prescribe for people experiencing severe acne and/or unwanted body hair (didn't know THAT until I read the product info the pharmacist gave me, what a bonus!!). One of the 'side effects' of the drug is that it is a form of birth control. How weird (but beneficial!) is that?

I've been on it for about three weeks now and am definitely seeing results. The product info said it might take up to a couple of months before you see optimum results, because your body still has to rid itself of all the other hormones from the previous birth control pill (Androgen you bastard! Get out of me!!!). I've had two little zits pop up in those three weeks, but compared to the twenty I would have gotten before on Alesse, that is a freaking miracle.

The only bad thing is that because this new pill is so strong and potent, it has been known to cause serious side effects if taken for a long time (such as blood clots, etc). So my doctor only gave me a four-month prescription. But I'm pretty sure that my skin will have completely cleared up by then and hopefully (cross your fingers, knock on wood, rub the rabbits foot, whatever) will STAY clear.

I'm planning on getting 'fixed' soon anyway, so I can say goodbye to birth control permanently. Yeah!

(Anyone else experiencing the bad-skin side effect from their BC? Do some research on it, you might find out what I did and you can finally do something about it! Good luck)