Why You Experience Acne Breakouts After Stopping the Birth Control Pill?

Acne is a common symptom after stopping the birth control pill, even if you did not experience acne before starting the pill. A lot of women go on the pill to help with acne breakouts, and for the most part the birth control pill does a good job with clearing up acne. However, the birth control pill does not fix acne. The symptom of acne is indicating there is a deeper imbalance happening in the body. The pill does a surface level job to help with acne, but is not getting to the root cause for healing your acne in the long-term. The pill suppresses acne and oil production until you decide to come off the pill and your acne can come raging back.

How the Pill Works 

The birth control pill is made up of synthetic hormones (progesterone and estrogen) and its job is to shut down your natural hormone production and signalling between your brain and ovaries. This happens because the body is being pumped with synthetic hormones, so your body does not need to bother signalling to make any more of its own natural hormones. Because the pill is only providing progesterone and estrogen hormones, it ends up reducing your testosterone hormone production. This is why the pill is prescribed for acne concerns because of its ability to suppress your natural testosterone hormone.

When the pill is stopped, the body goes through an androgen rebound. This means that your testosterone hormone increases in production. Your body is working to bring your hormones back into balance, especially after testosterone has been suppressed for months or years of being on the pill. When more testosterone hormone is produced, this causes more oil production on the skin, which triggers acne breakouts.

Negative Effects of the Pill on the Body & Acne Triggers

The birth control pill causes a lot of havoc on the body from depleting nutrients, increasing inflammation, stresses the adrenals and thyroid, causes insulin dysregulation, burdens the liver and disrupts the gut microbiome. Unfortunately for your skin, it is not considered the most vital organ system in the body. And when the pill is discontinued, the body needs to first attend to the more vital organ systems to heal, like your liver. The pill can burden the liver overtime especially when you have been taking it for years. The liver is responsible for detoxifying the body and eliminating hormones the body no longer needs - including synthetic hormones.

Nutrient Depletion

The birth control pill depletes various nutrients in the body such as zinc, magnesium, b-vitamins, vitamin C, selenium etc. When it comes to skin health, zinc is a vital nutrient. It also supports a healthy immune system as zinc has antibacterial effects towards acne causing bacteria. A zinc deficiency can impact the bioavailability of vitamin A in the body, another essential nutrient for skin health and preventing acne breakouts. A zinc and vitamin A depletion can often coexist together in the body.

Gut Microbiome

The birth control pill can cause imbalances within the gut microbiome. The pill can cause issues with leaky gut: a symptom where the intestinal lining in the gut can have gaps. These gaps can allow undigested food particles, toxins, and pathogens to enter into the blood stream where they do not belong. Leaky gut can increase the amount of inflammation in the body, which can show up on the skin as acne. The gut is connected to the skin, so therefore any disharmony in the gut can be expressed on the skin.

Insulin Resistance

The pill can increase insulin resistance and inflammation in the body. Insulin resistance occurs when your cells are not able to receive the signal from insulin to transport glucose into your cells. This leaves high blood sugar levels in the bloodstream and more insulin getting produced to try to deal with the demand. When there is an insulin surge in the bloodstream, this signals an increase in testosterone production from the ovaries, creating more oil production on the skin and therefore causing acne.  

Final Words

Have you decided to come off the pill? Do you feel worried about your acne coming raging back when stopping the pill? Please know that there are many natural solution you can choose to support your body when coming off the pill. This can help you to experience milder symptoms post pill. I recommend starting a natural acne treatment at least one month before you stop hormonal birth control. When stopping the pill, symptoms like acne can occur within the first 4-6 months. It takes time to normalize your cycles post stopping the pill, especially if you have been on the pill suppressing your natural hormone production for years.

My 8-week Clear Skin Alchemy program can help to support your body coming off of the birth control pill. My program will help to give your body the reset it needs and deserves after taking synthetic hormones for months to years. My program will help you to heal you gut, support your detoxification systems in the body (especially the liver), balance your hormones, reduce inflammation, balance your insulin, support your adrenal glands and repair any nutritional deficiencies. All of these negative side effects caused by the pill can trigger acne breakouts. By addressing these root causes, you can learn to heal your acne for a long-term solution.