Dianette : Oral Contraceptive

It is a fantastic acne treatment. My husband is a dematologist and both parents are Doctors so I am luck to have expert and honest advice. If you are within your BMI (a healthy weight) dianette is perfectly safe to be on and can be taken thoughout your life. Many women are on dianette for years, come of it for children, then go back on it with no problem. The amounts of hormones in dianette (and any other pill) now is so small that it is perfectly safe to be on. Any type of medication can have side effects and not suit some people, however the side effects always affect the minority of people so don't let any 'horror' stories put you off - they are the minority. I really would give dianette a try as it worked for me and my husband (a doctor) says that it has amazing results for 95% of his patients.

worthy to give it a go, if it doesn't suit you can always stop it and try something else

Having read most of the reviews of Dianette on the site (over 600!), I feel as though a lot of people are not writing an educated and impartial review. I see 3 main problems with some of the reviews. The first is people saying it doesn't work having only been on it for 3 months or less. Dianette takes 4-6 months to clear acne. Secondly is the scare stories about the risk of venous thrombosis. Whilst there is an increased risk and I do not want to take it lightly, it must be put into persepective. The risk of having venous thrombosis whilst not on any combined pill is approximately 10 in every 100000, 40 in 100000 whilst on a combined pill, and 60 in 100000 whilst on Dianette. This works out as a 0.06% chance of having a blood clot whilst you are on Dianette. Personally I know the risks and choose to accept them. My acne was so bad it was making me depressed and anti social. I see it as I can either have a 0.01% chance of a clot and be miserable, or have a 0.06% chance, clear my acne and be happy, a calculated risk I am more than willing to take as I do not smoke and live a healthy lifestyle. The third problem with the reviews is people saying that as soon as they stopped taking Dianette the symptoms returned. If your acne is hormonal and caused by an excess of testosterone, then Dianette helps because it works as an anti androgen, effectively blocking the symptoms associated with excess testosterone. There is no cure for Poly cycstic ovary syndrome, the usual cause of excess testosterone production, you can only manage the symptoms, so whilst Dianette is not a cure, it does controls the symptoms. Dianette was never marketed as a cure for a hormonal imbalance, there is NO cure for a hormonal imbalance, so it seems unfair to criticise it for not being effective when you stop taking it. To summarise I would say give Dianette a try, wait atleast 4-6 months before you judge its effectiveness, be aware of the risks and make an informed decision.

But i think i didnt get those side-effects because the only purpose i took dianette for was my acne which wasnt bad at first place i use to get few spots now and again but because im a freak it use to really lower my confidence and i had to do something with it. Girls dont put other girls off this drug, because everybody is diffrent it works for one person it doesnt for another and i think people should trust their GP's more because i reckon by learning about this stuff at uni for years they will know better. thanks.

I read through some of these reviews before beginning dianette and the general theme I picked up on was that they take a while to work, with many not seeing results for a few months. This can obviously be a little disheartening to many newly prescribed, hence why I wanted to report my own experience so far! I've been taking dianette for just over two weeks now (so still on my first packet) and I've generally noticed such a huge difference. My skin isn't perfect, but so much better than what it was! The cystic acne I experienced around my jawline and cheeks has almost completely disappeared (100% clear jawline, 90% clear cheeks). The very few cystic acne spots I experience on my cheeks are fast to heal and are often gone within two days. Other small average pimples have vanished completely and redness has decreased massively! ( - not sure how dianette may have caused this though..). Basically my skin is almost entirely clear with only one or two small cyst type spots at a time that are easily concealed due to reduced redness and inflammation I've also experienced. My acne history (for anyone with perhaps a similar case!) - - acne began at 16 and gradually got worse, cystic acne beginning at 19, peak severity was about three months ago (now 22), at its worse my entire face was red and inflamed and even sore to touch, not at all coverable with makeup. - face has never been particularly oily/ greasy and prescription creams have always been far too harsh, drying out my skin and worsening redness. - Clearisil brand worsens my acne - big issues with red angry skin associated with acne including purplish scarring in the past - microgynon made my cystic acne 10 X worse, hence switched to dianette. My main point is that hormone based remedies like dianette will work differently for EVERYONE, I was so pleasantly surprised with my own experience I wanted to write this as an example that you shouldn't be put off by other people's experiences, just as you shouldn't buy into it too much. It really is trial and error. Final note - the only other side effects I've experienced are on and off nausea particularly late day and evening and especially if I drink alcohol. One drink results in pretty intense nausea about two hours later. Not a big deal for me though as not a big drinker! :) Final, final note (I promise!) - in case people who haven't been prescribed dianette are looking through these reviews as a potential remedy; here are some things I've personally found very effective and have used/done for many years to help keep my acne under control (may be worth a try if you have a similar acne profile to myself) - clean and clear oil free moisturiser, doesn't do much for cystic acne but helps keep other pimple types at bay and improves overall quality of skin which makes a MUCH bigger difference than you'd think. It has a nice cold tingly feeling and contains sacylic acid which helps dissolve sebum clog pores. - freederm treatment gel - a little pricey for such a small tube but is good for treating cystic acne without aggrevating it. The only topical treatment I'll use on my cystic acne. - cardio exercise (lame and mundane remedy I know!) but after a run - makeup free - I find the sweat and heat helps dry out spots without being too harsh and over time (daily runs for a week at least) the increase in blood circulation speeds up healing of spots. - sun beds (yes dangerous and does increase risk of skin cancer!! So try to avoid doing this!) but this also drys out my pimples and speeds up the recovery of cystic acne. - I use a multitude of face masks (acne/clear skin orientated) and I find that steaming your face beforehand amplifies how effective they can be, due to opening up pores. ^^^^ I've stopped/kept to a minimum all these other remedies above whilst taking dianette just to accurately take note what it's doing to my skin and it's still looking the best it has in a long time despite not doing these! Remember this is my personal experience, I'm not saying it'll be the same for you, but perhaps maybe worth a try if you have a similar acne profile/history as I described above.

I was put on dianette about six years ago . I had been suffering from acne since a teenager and nothing the GP prescribed for me worked that well . I thought by 20 ( when i was prescibed dianette) that roaccutane was the only answer but was very reluctant to take it 'cos i'd heard so many side effect horror stories. I was very surprised to find that after 2-3 months of taking dianette my skin had really improved and after apx 4 months it was more or less clear which for me is pretty amazing . I have had three breaks from dianette and every time my acne has returned , the first time it was worse than ever , i had massive spots on my back and spots on my chest and neck - not good!. The third time i took a break from it my skin wasn't THAT bad tbh i decided i could live with it and was off dianette for 6 months . I have gone back on it for contraceptive purposes really but i'll take dianette over any other pill as it does make me virtually spot free !. The down side is dianette does give me awful mood swings ..mainly around the time of my period . I get very over emotional and frustrated . I am sure dianette is the cause as that hasn't happened in my breaks from it.

I'm 22 and have never ever suffered with spots, about 6 months ago I started going to the gym and weight lifting, my diet changed drastically and I was talking all kinds of supplements then suddenly about 3 months ago I had a HUGE breakout of cystic acne! It was awful, I have never felt so low, depressed and ugly, I couldn't even go out of the house at one point because the paranoia that people were looking at my face would eat away at me. At this point I started to research about the supplements I was taking (creatine, BCAA tablets and protein shakes) and read horror stories that it made other people break out in acne. I immediately stopped taking ALL supplements but continued to work out. After visiting the doctors they prescribed me with ACNECIDE gel which contains 5% benzoyl peroxide, I used this for 2 weeks and saw no change (but the doctor did advise that you have to be persistent with it). Acne does run in my family, my sister who is 24 has suffered with it from being 15 and my dad also suffered really bad with it when he was a teen. After speaking to my sister about how bad my acne was depressing me she advised me to try the YASMIN pill, I read lots of reviews and decided to start taking it (my sister gave me a months worth of her pills), I started taking YASMIN and three weeks in my acne was worse than ever before but I carried on taking it as I didnt want to come on my period. After this I went to the doctors and literally cried my eyes out my skin was depressing me that much! The doctors then prescribed me with DIANETTE pill, I have been taking this for 10 days and wow! My skin is clear than ever, I have the odd spot here and there but I dont get white heads any more and I can actually walk around with no make up on feeling confident, In fact I have never felt so confident! Now, Im not actually sure if its the Dianette that has cleared my skin, or the YASMIN? I dont know if the Yasmin took a little longer to kick in and cleared my skin, if it was the Yasmin then I have made a huge mistake by switching to the Dianette because thats in my system now. But then again it could be the Dianette that has cleared my skin but could it work that quickly? (10 days) Im really confused as to what it is but what ever it is is working, at the minute I am currently taking.. Dianette pill 1 x zinc tablet per day 1 x Vitamin E tablet per day ACNECIDE gel cream at night My skin is honestly perfect and Im starting to feel so much more confident. I havent experienced depression as such but have had mood swings and been very emotional (crying at tv programmes etc) but I'm not sure if this is because my hormones are a little all over the place with me switching pills so much but Im hoping that that will fizzle out once im settled on a pill. I am going to continue to take the dianette and I will keep you updated how I get on, If my spots come back I am going to come off the Dianette and go back onto YASMIN.. One thing I would say is I would definitely recommend the ACNECIDE gel cream. Sorry for the really long post but I just wanted to share my experience as it may help some people.

I took this pill for 6 months and have to say it changed my life! My acne was painful & greatly lowered my self confidence. My acne mostly cleared after 4/5 months and completely cleared after 6. Sadly I have had to stop taking it and since then my mood has lowered greatly, my acne returned and my periods have returned to being irregular. I was so scared to take this pill after the many frightening reviews and long lists of side effects I had read, so it did take me several weeks to bring up the courage to take the pill. I am so happy I did and I would recommend that It is worth a try if you have tried everything else!

DONT GO ON IT. YOU DONT REALISE YOUR DEPRESSED UNTIL YOU COME OFF IT ANDS ITS OUT OF YOUR SYSTEM. I was prescribed roaccutain at age 17, after 6 months i had clear skin and was amazed, however i had horrible side effects with that and decided never to go on it again. A year later my acne was back, really severe, on my face, neck,arms legs even bum. I was devastated, didnt want to go out of the house,sat crying in the mirror..... then went on diannette. After 3 months started improving and after 6 months NO spots! However i suffered with the cons above. Was on it on and off for 7 years. Finally came off it 7 months ago... At first my acne was unbearable, didnt want to go out again etc but got through it and now only have a few spots on my face. Been using freederm every morning and night and it works! Best thing of all, absolutly no side effects. If i were you id do the same. Short term pain, long term gain. Dianette is a bad drug. DONT GO ON IT. YOU DONT REALISE YOUR DEPRESSED UNTIL YOU COME OFF IT.

It's worth a try - didn't work out for me since my hormones went insane, I went up 2 clothes sizes and about 3 cup sizes! Acne looked good tho :)