Hey y’all, i’m currently in the middle of stims and my skin is suffering badly. Please help, what has helped your skin with breakouts during this time?

  • My doctor approved taking spironolactone during IVF so that helped a lot. My skin blew up with birth control priming and also with HCG triggers. If you happen to prime with BC, switch to Syeda/Yasmin! It’s used off label to treat hormonal acne.

    ETA: I’ve been using prescription dapsone and 15% Azelaic acid for years, those also help. Both are pregnancy safe and signed off on by multiple OBs.

    I have a fancy red light mask and tbh it hasn’t done shit.

    i lovedddddd spironolactone when i was on it years ago. My derm made me come off it when i started ttc BEFORE I found out i needed ivf. They also told me i would need it cleared out my system which would take 3 months for a safe pregnancy. My derm prescribed dapsone but i seen online it wasn’t safe to use while breastfeeding so i freaked out because if i can’t use it while breastfeeding i figured i couldn’t use it while FET cycles. Dapsone is some good stuff, i would love to use it but im hesitant. Hopefully im done with B/C because that started the breakouts now it’s stims 😔 once i start PIO boy oh boy 😩

    That's wild because I was told I could literally stop spironolactone the day before I conceived and it would be fine. I used dapsone during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

    wow, i’m going to do some research tonight before bed. They told me it could possibly cause birth defects. i have a tube of dapsone but i put it away because i was concerned it would negatively affect my embryo’s.

    It can affect sexual development in male embryos/fetuses, but it’s my understanding from my derm that happens later in embryonic development so it would be many weeks into gestation that spiro would cause a negative affect. I seem to remember something like 6-8 weeks?

    In any case, my RE said there is no evidence that spiro has a negative effect in IVF so it was reasonable to take it during stims. I’m sure she will want me off it if I ever get to transfer stage.

    that was exactly it, i couldn’t remember why they told me but yes the male embryos. Transfer is usually the next cycle after ER for me. It’s too late to start now. i am interested in the dapsone i have here, so I’ll look into that.

  • My skin exploded with acne immediately after my first ER. It’s been over a year and half since then and I STILL haven’t figured out how to calm down my hormonal acne (though it’s MUCH better than it was a year ago). I tried tretinoin, monthly facials (with strong salicylic acid peels), silk pillowcases, and all manner of acne fighting products. I visited a dermatologist who prescribed me some pregnancy-safe topical products (a topical antibiotic and azalaic acid), and they’ve helped somewhat. I finally bit the bullet and bought a red light mask and it’s been GREAT. Though it hasn’t cured my acne, it’s really calmed down my skin. I still do monthly facials (but no peels since getting a positive beta), but I think the red light mask has made the biggest difference and I wish I had bought it sooner.

    The red light sounds interesting. I should look into it. My skin has calmed down a lot but stims has it going crazy and i hate it!!! i have a sulfur face wash the derm said was safe but also told me let her know if i get a positive so we can possibly stop it so im a little confused about that. I have a compound azelec acid but i don’t like it. My insurance won’t cover the azelec acid so i pay out of pocket for the compound and i just don’t like it and i think it makes me break out more. Maybe it’s my skin purging but ughhh !!!