Does Metformin Help with Acne

beatrisp · 08-29-2006, 01:23 AM

Hello,

Im 25, and was trying to concieve, but after a year of trying, was told i might have PCOS. A insulin test confirmed the suspicion. My main problem is the acne. Ive always had acne under control with birth control, but ever since I got off of it, I've been getting worse and worse. I cant even let my husband see me without make up. I feel so depressed. So ugly. I can barely make it to work. I cant even look at people in the eyes anymore. A couple of days ago, my Doc. put me on Metformin to try to conceive, and was wondering if that might help me with my acne. So far ive been on it for 4 days, 1 pill a day, and will increase to 2 pills a day after a week. Please let me know if this might help, or if there is something else i can take.

So sick of my face !!

jennynd · 08-31-2006, 06:39 PM

I don't have personal experience with Met but I know many women have seen great improvement in many of their symptoms, including acne, when on it. You'll have to wait & see if it will do the same for you though. Try to stay positive(easier said than done, I know) & good luck TTC!

CML · 09-03-2006, 02:18 AM

I have been on Metformin for about a year. It took at least six months before I saw any improvement in my acne and it is still not great. I just started Spiro - but it should not be taken when TTC. Hang in there!!!!

mahimahi · 09-10-2006, 06:50 AM

Hi there! I am in the same boat... I've had HORRIBLE cystic acne since my mid teens. They treated with with every acne treatment under the sun. None worked all that well. They even used Accutane -- and they make you go on the BCP when you take it b/c of the risk of horrible birth defects if you get pregnent while on it. Well, low and behold my acne went away ---- UNTIL I went off the BCP!

Fast forward 16 years later and a dermatologist connected the dots and recommended that I get screened for PCOS. I was pretty stunned, never thinking a visit to the Zit Doc would result in an infertility diagnosis! But she was right! And thank God I finally knew what was going on.

I took 1500 mg Metfomin from Jan 06 to June 06 and my acne remained horrible, and my cycles remained irregular. In June 06 we bumped the Met up to 2000 mg and it made all the difference in the world --- my cycles became regular -- a result of my hormones balancing out -- and the acne subsided. I can't tell you how relieved I was.

Hang in there! You'll find the levels that are right for you!

*~Smiles · 09-10-2006, 07:38 AM

I never had acne until my then undiagnosed PCOS went crazy. One of my first symptoms when things stated going haywire was acne. I went to the doctor & was told I had rosacea....but none of the rosacea treatments did anything. When I was finally diagnosed and started Met, I had almost an instant improvement in the "rosacea" and acne. But, then I went through a period where my acne would come & go....one minute it was worse then ever and the next it would vanish. I think that was from my hormones bouncing around, trying to normalize on Met. Anyway, I'm now 9 months into treatment and I have only the occassional minor flares that are nothing compared to before.

Good Luck!!

ERICKA77 · 09-16-2006, 06:03 PM

Metformin defiantly helped clear up my skin.

ЖŁ · 09-30-2006, 12:49 AM

I took Metformin for about 4 months last year.. and I was also having problems with Acne, but once I started taking Metformin, I seen a big improvement in my skin.. it was so clear and glowing!

I was also dieting and exercising, whilst taking Metformin.. so it could have been one or the other.. or a combination of both!

Anyway.. I hope this helps!

Best Of Luck!

mahimahi · 09-30-2006, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by beatrisp

Hello,

Im 25, and was trying to concieve, but after a year of trying, was told i might have PCOS. A insulin test confirmed the suspicion. My main problem is the acne. Ive always had acne under control with birth control, but ever since I got off of it, I've been getting worse and worse. I cant even let my husband see me without make up. I feel so depressed. So ugly. I can barely make it to work. I cant even look at people in the eyes anymore. A couple of days ago, my Doc. put me on Metformin to try to conceive, and was wondering if that might help me with my acne. So far ive been on it for 4 days, 1 pill a day, and will increase to 2 pills a day after a week. Please let me know if this might help, or if there is something else i can take.

So sick of my face !!

I could have written your post. I know what you're going through and how awful you feel -- this is not just phyisical, this impacts your emotions, your self esteem, your confidence, everything.

For 20 yrs. they've treated my acne every which way possible - even with Accutane. I only got diagnosed Oct 2005 --- same as you, I went off the pill to try to get pregnant and the acne EXPLODED. I had cystic acne as a teen and it was back and raging. Sometime 5 huge aliens riding my face at a time. Like you, I cried, I didn't look people in the eye -- I just felt so ugly and like people were wondering "Why doesn't she do something about it?" No matter what I tried, nothing worked -- and of course b/c we were trying to get p/g there were alot of meds I couldn't use.

About that time my insurance changed and I had to switched dermotologists. This was a blessing in disguise. After meeting with the knew doctor for like 10 minutes and telling her my history, she knocked me on my A** when she told me that she thought my acne issue was a fertility issue!! There is nothing in my history or my family history to suggest that I'd have fertitlity issues.

She sent me to an Endocrinologist --- an absolutly amazing doctor who does research in PCOS. Apparently the dermo had learned of PCOS thru this Endo and talks she'd given at the hospital. Blood tests confirmed her suspicions -- I had Insulin Resistance (pre-diabetes) and as a result PCOS.

I did NOT have all the symptoms: I am lean with low cholesterol and low blood pressure with no family history of diabetes. Of course, I'd been griping to docs for decades about the acne, irregular periods and hair growth. I realize now that docs don't always get it right!

I was on 1500 mg Met from January - June. The acne slowly got better, but it was still a problem. And my periods were still very irregular. I had 2 between Jan and June. In June she bumped me up to 2000 mg Met. This was the magic level for me --- I had my first 2 normal cycles and the acne was G-O-N-E!!!!

We had started seeing a Fertility Doctor at this point on the advice of the Endo. The good news is that he didn't think it would be hard for us to get p/g once my cycles got regulated. I had not yet started ovulating on my own, so he recommended that we use Cholmid. We took it in July and surprisingly we got p/g! We are now at 9 1/2 weeks.

.....so that's my long story..... What I want to say to *YOU* is hang in there. Patience is NOT an easy thing to come by when you are going through this. It will take some TIME for your body to respond to the medicine. But grasp for the patience you can find, and hold on to the HOPE and FAITH that things can get better.

And stay in touch! There is alot of support here.

thisfreakingsucks · 10-05-2006, 07:59 PM

I think it helped me i get maybe one zit or so around my time of the month

Laura Nesbitt · 10-12-2006, 01:38 AM

I, too, struggled with acne in my teenage years. Went through all of the treatments starting with antibiotics and moving up to accutane in college. Then in my mid 20s things improved and I was able to go off all meds for acne (was still on BCPs for BC). I had a couple of times where I would go off the BCPs for a few months at a time, but finally two years ago at about age 34, I came off BCPs all together. Before that, my acne had started coming back and it just continued to get worse for two years. Also, I've had ovarian cysts (big ones that burst) since age 20 and in the last two years those have picked up in frequency and intensity. I had a cyst burst in July and had an infection of my reproductive organs at the same time. And BOY did I break out! My skin was awful when I was in the hospital. Of course I was majorly dosed with antibiotics, so things have seemed a bit better since then, but I still have an unreasonable amount of acne for a woman aged 36.
I first learned that acne seems to be the result of a blood sugar handling problem when I was in my teens, but didn't think much about it. All acne treatments seem to be focused on symptom control. But it makes sense to me that if IR is the problem that Met would not only help but actually correct the CAUSE of the condition.
I have NOT been diagnosed with PCOS. I am at the Mayo clinic (I thought they could figure this out, but I was wrong). The endo here says I only have one or two symptoms of PCOS (acne, hair loss) and that my ovarian cysts do not fit the morphology of most PCOSers, so she does not think I have it. The only thing they are offering me is BCPs or a hysterectomy.
I would be very interested in knowing if Met works for your acne. Please keep us posted.
I can totally relate to how you are feeling. When I was on accutane in college I had THE WORST BREAKOUT of my life. I did not want to see anyone or do anything. I am afraid it will happen again. However, just keep standing tall. YOUR SKIN IS NOT YOU. I hope the Met helps.

kikiim · 10-12-2006, 01:49 AM

I know exactly what you are talking about! I just went on Metformin also and I am hoping that it helps. My doctor also put me on some topical meds that are making my face VERY DRY and that is also embarrassing! Hope it all goes away soon. I always thought my face was my best feature until now!

mahimahi · 10-18-2006, 02:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Laura Nesbitt

I have NOT been diagnosed with PCOS. I am at the Mayo clinic (I thought they could figure this out, but I was wrong). The endo here says I only have one or two symptoms of PCOS (acne, hair loss) and that my ovarian cysts do not fit the morphology of most PCOSers, so she does not think I have it.

Your story is alot like mine --- and I also do not fit the typical PCOS profile. I am lean, with low blood pressure and low cholesterol. I have no cysts on my ovaries. But all the blood work comes back positive. Like you I've had cystic acne since my teens --- more mild to absent when I am on the pill, and controlled well now that I am on Metformin. I have also always complained about low blood sugar -- consistent with insulin resistence.

My endo mentioned that alot of doctors mis-disagnos PCOS b/c there is a spectrum of symptoms and also b/c the ranges that the labs use for judging the blood results is skewed -- the levels of testosterone should be lower then what the lab range says b/c their range uses the average values for "all" women, including PCOS women -- it should only include the values for "non-PCOS" women.

Think about getting a second opinion from a doctor -- an endocrinologist that has experience with PCOS. Mine does research here at the medical college. Perhaps she can recommend someone near you. Feel free to look at this thread for my posts and private mail me if you want to!

mahimahi · 10-18-2006, 02:08 AM

One more thing, I saw the endocrinologist two weeks ago -- at that time I asked about treating the acne and also excess hair growth. I've been having laser hair removal, and though I have noticed an improvement it is a slow process and also expensive.

She mentioned a medication (a lotion) that can be used for the excess hair growth, but since that would be limited to a local region -- and wouldn't treat the acne -- she suggested a different medication... I believe it was spironolactone. (I read online that Spironolactone and finasteride can help to relieve the symptoms of excessive or thinning hair and acne.)

I cannot take the meds right now (I am pregnant) but I will look into it once I am done nursing.

I will say that being on metformin has helped tremendously with the acne!! For this I am very grateful. I have used DOZENS of other acne meds and nothing really ever worked well. I am hopeful that now that I have this diagnosis they will be able to target the REAL cause of the acne.

GOod luck!

Lew · 10-18-2006, 05:39 PM

I also had an acne problem and was told by my dermatologist that I had overactive oil glands. No, it's the PCOS!

I am on Metformin and Spironalactone. The Spironalactone is used for the acne/too much hair thing. I have noticed a dramatic change in my skin. I might get a zit every once in a while, but that's it. I also use Claron (I think that is what it is.) that my dermatologist prescribed for me. It's topical where the Spironalactone is by mouth.

Good luck and I hope that this helps!

irlori · 10-24-2006, 03:09 AM

thank god for this message board.
my acne is sooo bad right now i don't even want to leave the house. i started this new program at work, i work in a school and the newspaper is coming tomorrow to take my picture, i wish i could put my face in a paper bag.
i just went up to the 2000mg of met xr today and after reading these posts i am praying for some improvement.
i also went to the derm last week and just start using a bevoxyl face wash and duac - a topical lotion.
he also injected my big pimples with cortisone, they went away over night, but i got a dozen new ones today.