Bad Acne and Major Hormone probs after MC

[naughtoj]

Well, it has been almost 3 months since my D&C and I am amazed at how long my body is taking to get back to normal. If I ever get back to normal.

I have got acne worse than when I was a teenager. The cystic kind.It hurts and it is huge! Even bacne! (EEEWWWW, TMI). Either I am crying or homicidal or both on a daily basis, sans the 5 days of my period. Actually, it feels like really bad PMS 25 days a month. Hubby has noticed it too. Since I struggled with depression before, this is either post partum depression, major depression getting worse, or just your normal hormonal problems after miscarriage. First cycle post was 35 days, 2nd 40 days so I am moving in the wrong direction for a previous 28 day cycler! First AF was heavier and longer, 2nd heavier but shorter. Not even sure if I am O'ing. Just absolutely NOTHING seems the same. My body really let me down. I was so healthy otherwise, at 31 I really did expect to bounce right back!:-(

Do you guys think if I went back on BCP's that the hormones would regulate? I figure the doc would either suggest that or antidepressants. I already have those. But I know the BCP's would help my acne too.

For those of you that went through a MC, did you experience this? These just don't seem like your average run of the mill mood swings. I mean, one day I am OK, things look OK and I am sure about TTC again and then BAM the next day I can barely get up and sit and cry all day for every reason imaginable, but mostly because I just feel so hopeless. What gives??

 

[nkhansen1]

I'm relieved to hear I'm not the only one this happened to! After my last miscarriage on 2005, I developed cystic acne as well. Like big as the end of my thumb cystic acne! I had a little acne before, but it was manageable- this was totally different. I felt so unbalanced as well- like waves of chaos were crashing around inside me. I don't really know how to explain it. I just felt out of control.
After 8 months of feeling this way, my doctor put me back on BCP (even though I'd had a tubal ligation during my d&c), and I started to feel MUCH better. My acne disappeared within 3 months, and I started to feel normal inside again.
This didn't happen after any of my other miscarriages in which I was allowed to miscarry naturally. I have wondered if the d&c had anything to do with it. I mean, so abruptly removing the pregnancy and emptying the uterus has to have major effects on your hormones. I hope you can find some help to make you feel better.

 

[naughtoj]

Thank you Natalie! Whew...I can't tell you how comforting it is to find someone who went through the same thing! Everyone says that they do have mood swings after MC but not to this degree. It has been scary for me! But I am almost 3 months post so when is this going to get better? Was it still going on for you 7 months post? That is why I wonder if it is more PPD than anything else? Of course, not the acne, but you know...

 

[nkhansen1]

Sweetie, you will always be sad. I still cry sometimes, and it's been almost three years since my last miscarriage. There are a few moments each day where my heart aches for the babies I lost. You will start to feel better, but a lot of it depends on you. I had to make a decision not to put myself in situations that would make me more sad, like watching A Baby Story or Maternity Ward. I made the decision that I would smile and be happy for my friends who were having babies all around me, even though it really hurt me. I made the decision to not feel sorry for myself, but try my best to be happy and upbeat. I realized I had to do these things because the world was not going to stop spinning just because I lost a baby, and women around me would continue to have babies of their own. I had to somehow become okay with my situation, and that required change on my part.
These decisions came after five losses, and up until then I was an emotional basketcase. However, doing those small and simple things slowly changed my outlook and the way I felt each day. I let myself be sad for a few minutes each day, and then I put those feelings away and got on with my life. It does work, slowly but surely. I think it's good that you're seeing a doctor about your depression. It will only help you get through this. I didn't ever take medication, but in hindsight I think I probably should have, at least for a while.
Like I said, it will get better, but only if you put some effort into it. I spent years wallowing in my sorrow, and it was horrible. Don't do what I did. I think that all experiences, good or bad, are given to us for a reason. The bad things that happen to us usually require us to stretch ourselves and grow in ways we never would have before. I believe trials in our lives teach us things we never would learn any other way, and allow us to bear the burdens of others because of what we've learned. I can help you bear your burden and mourn with you now because I've been there. I think trials like ours can be great blessings to others and to ourselves if we allow them to work in our lives.

 

[naughtoj]

Natalie,

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. I know the sadness doesn't go away. I guess what really is bothering me is what I perceive to be 'mood swings', meaning one day I am pretty upbeat and fine and then the next day I am homicidally irritated, depressed, feel physically crappy, etc..and I can't find a trigger for the feelings. I feel like jekyl and hyde, honestly. I have for a long time leaned towards a depressed state as my struggles with that are no mystery but this seems like more. That is why I blame it on hormones..complicated by grief I suppose. And I am sure there are feelings going on inside of me that I am not even aware of/aknowlegeing (sp?). But what you say about the D&C..having your uterus emptied out abrupty and the instant hormone drop...I would think that would be true. Especially since I had a missed miscarriage and had no bleeding or spotting or loss of PG symptoms. I think once a woman gets all those her hormones have already started to 'clue in', if you will. Maybe mine just never did and this is why I feel crazy. Still, it just seems like that type of adjustment would have been over by now! But I know they will just say that "everyone is different".

I suppose my OB would be the one that could tell me best. For now, the zits have abated briefly and for that I am happy!;-)

 

[nkhansen1]

With my last miscarriage, everything was fine until I went for my check at 11-12 weeks, and there was no heartbeat. The growth was such that the baby had died either that day or the day before. The d&c was scheduled for the next day, so my body had no time to figure out on its own that the baby was gone and thus gradually stop producing all the pregnancy hormones. After the d&c my milk came in full force since I'd already had two live births, and my body knew that's what it was "supposed" to do after birth. The milk was particularly hard to deal with since I had breastfed my other babies- it was like a slap in the face on top of the loss.

I think it's totally normal to still feel unbalanced and "crazy." I know I did for months after each loss, but particularly after the last one. I know you probably don't want to, but going back on the pill for awhile really, really helped me. I was 8-9 months post d&c and still feeling so out of it, but going back on the pill evened my hormones out again. You might need a little hormone therapy in addition to your anti-depressant to get you feeling better again.