Of course everybody is different ((i hate when people say that to me)) , but ortho-novum ((i was on the generic of it 'necon' and im about to start a different generic of it 'nortrel')) really did help me a lot. It didnt help right away though. I was on it about a year and my chest/back cleared up completely. I was able to wear anything i wanted to last year and it was great. I switched the patch b/c i wanted to try it at the end of last year..big mistake..it messed my horomones all up, then switched to ortho-lo..HUGE mistake. Hopefully my body will get back to normal soon. Of course it's not as effective as accutane..but it will help it. I would be on it even if i wasnt active b/c of my acne. ;)