IUD and Acne

I had a Liletta IUD (basically the generic for the Mirena because my insurance didn’t want to pay for the Mirena) inserted coming up on 2 months ago. I had my tubes tied after my second child, but got the IUD for period control because my periods were extremely long and horribly heavy when they returned after my son was born. Pretty soon after having it inserted, I started noticing significant acne flare ups. I had been having some hormonal acne breakouts since my son was born, but nothing compared to this and it just seems to keep getting worse.

I know the IUD can have acne as a side effect, but I had the Mirena IUD for 7 years prior to my husband and I deciding to try for our second and I don’t recall ever having any trouble with acne. I started seeing a dermatologist about 4 months ago for the minor hormonal breakouts I was having and she put me on an oral medication and two topical medications. Those seemed to help, I only had an occasional blemish during my period. But since the IUD insertion, even those medications don’t seem to be doing anything. I’m sure they are to some degree, so I would hate to see what my skin would look like without them...but my skin seriously is terrible. Painful cystic acne, large blackheads, whiteheads, unusually large pores. I have an appointment with my dermatologist in a week and will be asking her what I can do.

I’m just wondering - Has anyone else experienced major acne after getting the IUD and if so, did it ever improve as your body adjusted to the hormones? I really don’t want to have to have it taken out because with the Mirena, my periods stopped and so far with the Liletta, they’re already just spotting where before I was practically hemorrhaging for 7-9 days.