My acne story

[tinkleivories]

I was first diagnosed with acne when I was 12 years old and since then I have tried countless medications and treatments for it. I've been on Minocin, Tetracycline, Erythromicin, Clarithromycin, By-Micin, Dianette, Yasmin/Yaz, Isotretinon gel, Differin gel, salicylic acid, Dalacin T and all sorts of prescription topical ointments.

When I was 16/17 I was put on Roaccutane for six months with a starting dose of 60mg per day. It wasn't until the fifth month that I saw any improvement. My acne was categorised as moderate-severe and was a mixture of pimples, blackheaRAB and horrible cystic acne. For women, the only foundation that could be worn without going flaky was Lancome's Teint Idole with silcocks base as a moisturiser. It cleared my skin for about a year and a half and then the acne came back - although nowhere near as bad this time, initially.

Eventually it got bad enough for me to go back on antibiotics, and this time I was prescribed Trimethroprim which was an absolute miracle cure for a while - provided you never miss a dose. I have tried literally every Birth Control pill that is available in Ireland in the hope that one of them would help with the acne but none worked. Unfortunately I developed a resistance to Trimethroprim after about 1-2 years of use and my skin started to break out even worse.

In the meantime I was experimenting with new BC pills which could have also contributed to my skin getting greasier etc. For women with a similar problem to me, I don't have PCOS - I had a laparoscopy to check for endometriosis and PCOS and everything was fine on that end. And because of years of antibiotic use I am plagued by yeast infections which I am now taking acidophilus for (I get it at least 8 times a year if not more) that have also become resistant to most treatments! I also think my makeup may have contributed to my recent breakout as I changed it around the same time from Bare Minerals to Estee Lauder Double Wear and now I have cystic acne all over my cheeks and jawline (a place I never used to get spots). Although my skin is oily around the nose, wherever I have spots is ridiculously dry - so much so that they are the only two foundations that will go on over it without flaking off.

I did try the glycolic facials for a while, but with a recommended minimum treatment of 8 weeks at

 

[wwwgirl]

Have you tried seeing a dermatologist? I honestly don't know what to tell you. When I was a teen I had pretty bad acne. They prescribed me some kind of topical ointment that helped but I don't remeraber what it was. All I know is that it was a white cream in a tiny jar that you had to keep in the refrigerator all the time. I still have acne but I don't get it nearly as frequently as when I was a teenager. My last outbreak was around 2 weeks ago and I ended up with several pimples on my left cheek.

 

[tinkleivories]

Yeah I saw a dermatologist when I was 16/17 for about a year and a half. But to be honest in Ireland (or at least in my experience and family's experience with Derms) if all the usual antibiotics haven't worked, then they send you to the dermatologist and all they do is push roaccutane on you, and if you for whatever reason can't/won't use it then they discharge you from their care saying that there's nothing else they can do. Pretty pathetic really. I'm 22 going on 23 now so I've had acne for the last 10/11 years. I might have to look into going abroad for treatment! Alot of the meRAB and treatments that are used in America for acne aren't available in Ireland so our options are very limited in comparison.