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About a month and a half ago, I had my very first "real" OB/GYN appointment. Mind you.. I have had a lovely Planned Parenthood experience, so I wasn't too nervous about what might happen. I had to fill out what felt like endless paperwork, which didn't seem to have too much relevance in my opinion and they didn't really even mention anything I marked, except for of course, the fact that I checked that I have sex regularly. So, almost immediately, after I had to put on this very cute patient gown, it was such a quick feel and swab that I hardly felt like anything got done, when she was doing an STD check (in comparison, my planned parenthood experience did an extremely thorough STD check and took blood, so I had it in my head that was what was going to happen). Then almost directly after saying everything looks great, she jumped so quick to putting me on a birth control. Telling me that condoms are not even in the top 10 (?) in effectiveness for birth control. Now, I'm sure she would not lie to me, but that seemed like a bit of a jump. I have heard many times that they are very effective if used properly. Anyway, she said enough to convince me to try taking an oral contraceptive. She didn't specify to me exactly what kind or anything. I almost preferred having one of the brand names, but she said that they are much more expensive, so she was just going to give me an off-brand. I didn't argue it and just thanked her and went on my merry way. I stopped by the pharmacy the next day and turns out that it was free. He handed me a bag of TriNessa and hurried back to my apartment. I couldn't wait to show my boyfriend when he got home because he had been pestering me about giving it a try with me constantly saying I wouldn't. So I showed him proudly, and luckily, I had started my period that day, which meant I could take the first pill and it would be effective almost immediately.
Days later I had probably the worst mood swing and temper tantrum I had ever had since I had been in a relationship with my boyfriend. I went absolutely nuts and over the smallest thing in the world. I was punching walls and stomping on the ground and screaming and threatening to leave. It was very unlike me to act like that especially over something small. I was very moody, cried almost every day and I had no idea why most of the time. Soon thereafter, the acne started. And it started rather mildly, so I figured it was just because I had also just recently started my period, but no. It worsened to a level that I have never seen. My face had not broken out that bad in my entire life. I thought my acne was bad in 10th grade, but this was at least twice as bad. I got about 4 cystic acne zits on my chin, along with about 4 smaller ones surrounding it. I broke out on my forehead a little bit and my cheeks a little bit. I couldn't remember the last time I had been so self-conscience. I wanted to hide every time I had to go somewhere in public. On top of everything, I was spotting every day. I would not be able to go a single day without wearing a liner because I would end up ruining my underwear. I know that it could have had something with the fact that I didn't take it at the same time everyday. I tried, and usually would be 30 minutes or less before I would take it, so it wasn't hours of difference everyday. It would range from 1pm-2pm. Somewhere between that time period, I would have taken the pill. That could have led to the non-stop spotting, but I would have thought that it would be slightly less.
I took "The Pill" for a consecutive 16 days. I read some places that the acne comes and will clear up after a month to 3 months, but I only saw it worsening, day after day. There seemed to be a new pimple every morning I woke up. I had gotten used to my mostly clear face and just like that I felt like I was in high school again. Crying in the mirror about my appearance. That may seem childish, but I had struggled with acne since middle school and it had only just started getting better the past couple years. So for the return, it was frustrating. I have currently been off the contraceptive for a month and a week and the last acne I got from the pill is just now leaving. My mood swings left about 5 days after I stopped taking the birth control and my acne started going around that same time. I still have some acne marks from the cystic acne, and that will take some months to fade, but I don't think I was so unfortunate to get any acne scars. My skin should return to the way it was in a couple months, I hope.
**not everyone will have the same response to this birth control and many may have a positive experience, but I have also seen a number of people with the same acne complaint. I would suggest doing your research if you truly want oral contraceptive. Talk to your health care provider to see what would be best for you, depending on your wants from the contraceptive. My health care provider didn't seem to ask me any questions about what I wanted with mine and what would be the best fit for me and just stuck me with some random one which turned out being a miserable experience.
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