17-04-2018, 21:32
Hi, I’m sure a lot of us on here also suffer with acne and I’m interested in the link to small/underdeveloped breasts. I’ve been tested for PCOS before and the results have been normal, but I think there is definitely a link to my acne and stunted breast growth. I started having acne at an early age (11) and puberty at 9 and I feel my breasts never reached full development during my teenage years. I’m 27 now and my acne is still plaguing me and I’d say I’m at Tanner Stage 4 still on the breast development scale. I don’t have any fat on top of my breasts and they are conical but not tuberous. The nipple is big, pink and puffy and isn’t on a separate mound on my breast, so I know they aren’t fully developed. In terms of my acne, I have rosacea, oily skin, whiteheads and sometimes cystic acne/red bumps. I’ve tried a lot of BCPs and herbs and still not found anything that’s really worked. I’ll give a background of what I’ve tried and what has/hasn’t worked and I’m just interested to see if anyone has any insight or can see any correlation between hormones/herbs that may provide the answer! Thanks so much – this is really getting me down now! If anyone has any suggestions/help or anything that has helped their acne as well that would be great. Share your acne stories, you're not alone!
BCPs tried (since age 18):
Microgynon/Rigevidion: Helped skin a little, but still had flare-ups. No change to breast size.
Yasmin: Cleared skin a few years ago, no change to breast size. Tried again a couple of years ago and made acne worse somehow and actually shrunk my breasts.
Dianette: Helped skin a bit but nothing drastic. No change to breasts, not even swelling.
Marvelon: Worked in the past just like Yasmin, but only marginally helped my skin last year. Gave me dry peeling skin. Did nothing for my chest.
Mercilon: Gave me dry eyes/blepharitis so had to come off. Did nothing for my skin or chest.
Cilest: I felt my breasts swelling within 2 days of taking it but I had to stop because my face exploded and it gave me really bad headaches.
Cerazette: Tried for 5 days and had to come off because I got a nodular spot that was painful and distorted my cheek! I tried it again recently and while my skin didn’t explode it didn’t get any better either and had no effect on my breasts.
Femodene: Last pill recently tried. Within days I’d grown almost half a cup size (yay!) and my face improved (not completely but enough to get by). This lasted for 6 weeks and then stopped when I had a break to have a bleed. Since then I’ve tried taking it again twice and it’s made my skin worse if anything and no change to shrunken breasts (arghh, why not work if it did before?? So frustrating. I thought I'd finally found something that worked
).
Herbs tried:
Fenugreek: No change to breasts (and I can’t stand the smell!)
Wild Yam: Noticed no growth so came off.
Saw Palmetto: I thought this would be good to lower androgens as I have oily skin, but it was terrible!! I began to gain weight around my middle (which never usually happens), my breasts shrunk, my skin got worse. It was a nightmare. My body makes no sense!
DIM: Helped skin very slightly but no change to breasts.
Agnus Castus: Took for 2 months. Really helped skin, to the point where people were telling me it looked good. Did nothing for my chest. Came off due to headaches/migraines/light sensitivity in the days leading up to ovulation (this tells me ED, but I thought Vitex/AC boosts progesterone??)
Vitamins I’ve tried that are supposed to help acne but do the opposite for me:
Magnesium – I suspect it breaks me out but may try again as it’s hard to tell when it’s bad all the time!
Vitamin B6 – meant to be good for skin but breaks me out L
Evening Primrose Oil – again meant to be good for skin, but not mine! Would wake up with fresh spots and oiliness
Omega 3 Fish Oil – made skin more oily, didn’t help
Overview:
Combined pills seem to help me only very slightly – breasts won’t be as deflated as when I’m off it but they barely grow. Skin is sometimes helped a little but never enough to say I don’t have acne. Sometimes these pills initially help my skin and give me growth, and then they just stop after a couple of months! Can you become resistant to BCP?
NB: I have tried antibiotics and they do help with skin only (not boobs), I was on them for years (which is bad as you’re not meant to, but my doctor said it was fine and just kept prescribing them). They destroyed my immune system however and I was always ill on them. I don’t want to take them forever and I can’t anyway because who knows what damage that would do; I feel it just masks the real problem because whenever I took a break from them the acne just returned. You can become resistant to them as well. Which is a shame because they did clear me best out of everything. I haven’t tried Spironolactone, but I’m guessing it’s a similar case to antibiotics – can’t take them forever and they can give you health issues, mask the problem etc(?). I’ve read some things online about women growing bigger boobs on Spiro though.
When I read on the internet about women taking a BCP that clears their skin and makes them grow cup sizes I feel like crying haha. I don’t know what other pills I can try; I feel like I’ve tried all the main ones. Can anyone recommend any BCPs or herbs that have helped their acne and chest size if you’ve had a similar pill effect experience to me? I know everyone is different, but desperate here! (E.g. If Femodene worked for you as well, what else has worked for you as it may help me too?) Does anyone know of any conditions/reasons for a link between acne and underdeveloped breasts? I’ve tried asking doctors but they are very dismissive of small breasts as a medical/hormonal problem.
Thanks so much! Sorry for the long post!
Beth x
BCPs tried (since age 18):
Microgynon/Rigevidion: Helped skin a little, but still had flare-ups. No change to breast size.
Yasmin: Cleared skin a few years ago, no change to breast size. Tried again a couple of years ago and made acne worse somehow and actually shrunk my breasts.
Dianette: Helped skin a bit but nothing drastic. No change to breasts, not even swelling.
Marvelon: Worked in the past just like Yasmin, but only marginally helped my skin last year. Gave me dry peeling skin. Did nothing for my chest.
Mercilon: Gave me dry eyes/blepharitis so had to come off. Did nothing for my skin or chest.
Cilest: I felt my breasts swelling within 2 days of taking it but I had to stop because my face exploded and it gave me really bad headaches.
Cerazette: Tried for 5 days and had to come off because I got a nodular spot that was painful and distorted my cheek! I tried it again recently and while my skin didn’t explode it didn’t get any better either and had no effect on my breasts.
Femodene: Last pill recently tried. Within days I’d grown almost half a cup size (yay!) and my face improved (not completely but enough to get by). This lasted for 6 weeks and then stopped when I had a break to have a bleed. Since then I’ve tried taking it again twice and it’s made my skin worse if anything and no change to shrunken breasts (arghh, why not work if it did before?? So frustrating. I thought I'd finally found something that worked
). Herbs tried:
Fenugreek: No change to breasts (and I can’t stand the smell!)
Wild Yam: Noticed no growth so came off.
Saw Palmetto: I thought this would be good to lower androgens as I have oily skin, but it was terrible!! I began to gain weight around my middle (which never usually happens), my breasts shrunk, my skin got worse. It was a nightmare. My body makes no sense!
DIM: Helped skin very slightly but no change to breasts.
Agnus Castus: Took for 2 months. Really helped skin, to the point where people were telling me it looked good. Did nothing for my chest. Came off due to headaches/migraines/light sensitivity in the days leading up to ovulation (this tells me ED, but I thought Vitex/AC boosts progesterone??)
Vitamins I’ve tried that are supposed to help acne but do the opposite for me:
Magnesium – I suspect it breaks me out but may try again as it’s hard to tell when it’s bad all the time!
Vitamin B6 – meant to be good for skin but breaks me out L
Evening Primrose Oil – again meant to be good for skin, but not mine! Would wake up with fresh spots and oiliness
Omega 3 Fish Oil – made skin more oily, didn’t help
Overview:
Combined pills seem to help me only very slightly – breasts won’t be as deflated as when I’m off it but they barely grow. Skin is sometimes helped a little but never enough to say I don’t have acne. Sometimes these pills initially help my skin and give me growth, and then they just stop after a couple of months! Can you become resistant to BCP?
NB: I have tried antibiotics and they do help with skin only (not boobs), I was on them for years (which is bad as you’re not meant to, but my doctor said it was fine and just kept prescribing them). They destroyed my immune system however and I was always ill on them. I don’t want to take them forever and I can’t anyway because who knows what damage that would do; I feel it just masks the real problem because whenever I took a break from them the acne just returned. You can become resistant to them as well. Which is a shame because they did clear me best out of everything. I haven’t tried Spironolactone, but I’m guessing it’s a similar case to antibiotics – can’t take them forever and they can give you health issues, mask the problem etc(?). I’ve read some things online about women growing bigger boobs on Spiro though.
When I read on the internet about women taking a BCP that clears their skin and makes them grow cup sizes I feel like crying haha. I don’t know what other pills I can try; I feel like I’ve tried all the main ones. Can anyone recommend any BCPs or herbs that have helped their acne and chest size if you’ve had a similar pill effect experience to me? I know everyone is different, but desperate here! (E.g. If Femodene worked for you as well, what else has worked for you as it may help me too?) Does anyone know of any conditions/reasons for a link between acne and underdeveloped breasts? I’ve tried asking doctors but they are very dismissive of small breasts as a medical/hormonal problem.
Thanks so much! Sorry for the long post!
Beth x