Teen acne WORSE with benzoyl peroxide. Any knowledgeable people around?

[AreolaGrande]

Poor DD(almost 14) is struggling with acne. She started her period for first time last month.

We bought Acnecide benzoyl peroxide (cleanser, 5% treatment gel and moisturiser) and she has been using diligently for 5 weeks now but rsther than improving, the acne has become worse 😥

Should she persevere or does she need to stop using and speak to the GP regarding something else? Could the contraceptive pill help?

She's upset as back to school next week and her poor face is so sore ☹

Any advice would be massively appreciated.

Dr Sam Bunting and Dr Dray videos on youtube are fab btw.

I have terrible skin and the thing that has been most beneficial is alpha H liquid gold. It just stops everything getting clogged

My dad also had bad acne and after trying Acnecide, we uploaded photos to the doctor. Practice nurse called us and was able to prescribe antibiotics. It was a long course - 6 or 8 weeks, but it totally worked. Well worth it.

zinc tablets helps, take one a day

I had acne for years and years and years since I was 12 yo. Had roaccutane 3 times. Tried all the other stuff, antibiotics, creams, no sugar, no dairy, no gluten etc. Roaccutane was the only thing that worked but it only cleared up 80% of my acne. So at the age of 40, having had acne for 28 years, I found out about fungal acne. This changed my life and explained why none of the antibiotics etc worked.

It sounds odd but I started using Nizoral anti-dandruff shampoo on my face. I would put it on dry skin and leave for 10 mins, then wash off and wash normally with bar soap. Then use moisturiser that had no ingredients that feed fungal acne (I use Avene Tolerance Emulsion) and my skin became 100% clear for the first time in my life. I'm now 44 and for the last 4 years have probably had a total of 10 spots. I'm so annoyed that I spent 28 years thinking my acne was bacterial and no doctors ever mentioned fungal acne.

There are lots of websites that explain about fungal acne. You need to be very careful about everything you put on your skin to make sure it has nothing in it that feeds the fungus. After years of having to cover up with make-up at 44 I now don't wear any make up at all except mascara and a very light clear powder and I look better than I ever did.

I really suggest doing some research on fungal acne. I wish someone had told me about it 28 years ago!

Benzoyl peroxide made my acne worse and gave me a painful blistered rash. Tretinoin did make me purge but my skin improved by 10 fold. That being said, it made my skin too sensitive and I gave it up after a year. I'm on Dianette now and it works much better with minimal side effects. My skin was also incredibly oily and the Dianette had kept it at bay whereas even tretinoin had my forehead shining like a disco ball by 10am.

Hey, oh OP it must be difficult for you and your daughter. I actually didn’t get bad acne till my 20s. There are lots of different types of acne, I had cyst acne and tried everything before going to a dermatologist and went on roaccutane, I know it can have bad press but I was so low I was willing to try and it was amazing.

I would recommend seeing a dermatologist as they can help you understand which type of acne your daughter has.

reading some of the other comments, I get very frustrated when people put things like carbs and sugar are to blame/diet to blame. It comes from a place of ignorance for the vast majority of acne sufferers and implies that we make poor choices which results in us having bad skin, this is just not the case.

OP-wishing you and your daughter well. I understand there is about a 6 month waiting list for a dermatologist on the NHS so if going private is not an option then get your daughter referred ASAP.

@AreolaGrande I am the mother of a child who took her own life, randomly and without any warning, whilst taking Isotretinoin/ Roaccutane. I am in no doubt that this drug caused my daughter to do what she did. She took it for 6 months and was never on more than 40mg, so not a high dose. It still killed her.

The dermatologists, in my experience, are too keen to hand this dangerous drug out and do not give you the full side effects of Roaccutane. We were warned about dry lips, headaches, low mood and depression but not sudden suicidal ideation which comes over some patients like a wave and for some it is overwhelming. In fact, the dermatologist told me that kids who took their own lives did so because of their acne (not true- this drug clears acne and yet suicides are happening once skin is improved). I was assured this drug was safe and my 15 year old beautiful, vibrant, happy daughter is now dead. I have to live with that and it’s almost impossible.

This drug was originally developed to treat brain cancer. It is a chemotherapy drug. It affects the frontal area of the brain which is undeveloped in young people. Please don’t give this poison to your child.

Sadly, we are not the only family to have lost their child to this drug. I am in touch with so many people, from all over the world, who have lost their children to suicide or had their child’s mental and physical health irreversibly damaged by Roaccutane. One lady is constantly on “suicide watch” over her son who took this drug and who’s mental health is now shattered. The simple fact is that if you allow your child to take this drug you do not know if they will be ok or one of the unlucky ones to suffer tragic side effects. It’s like playing Russian Roulette with your child’s life. And one thing I can guarantee is that if the worst does happen and your child is one of the unlucky ones no one will listen and no one will care. And you will have to live with that.

Your poor DD, I have all the sympathy for her! I hope she finds a scheme that works.
I've had acne & whiteheads and redness and flushing on and off all my life. Last year I spent a fortune at a beauty therapists, utter, absolute waste of money. This year I emailed staff at the Ordinary with pics of my skin and asked for help, what they prescribed was their squalene cleanser, then in the morning a Niod serum, then their moisturiser, and at night rosehip oil with azeleic (sp!) acid cream afterwards then moisturiser again. Bloody HUGE difference. £90, for 6 months.
Soft, blemish free skin, no redness, no breakouts. Lots of their products are on 3 for 2 at Boots, not the Niod stuff though. Also on ASOS if you've got a decent discount voucher or code!

devastated that’s awful, I’m so sorry. You post has made me aware of this, and others I’m sure, so thank you.

@AreolaGrande i can understand your concern because there is so much bad publicity for roaccutane online - but there really is no proven link to suicide. None at all. No lotions and potions worked for me dd until she took this and she was so depressed about her skin. She now has amazing skin - people actually comment on how luminous and clear it is!

@Notcontent Wow! It takes a special kind of insensitivity to make such comments 3 posts after I have explained what happened to my daughter due to Roaccutane.

The point of my post was to let the OP know that in considering this drug for her child she should be aware that most dermatologists don’t acknowledge, dismiss or play down the side effects of this drug and, as in my case, make the patient think this drug is safe. It is not.

For your information there are proven links to suicide with this drug. Roaccutane has a black box warning due to its dangers. Even the manufacturers admit this drug can cause suicide. There are plenty of studies to confirm this drug can cause suicide but due to the powers of Big Pharma and their overriding wishes to protect the reputation of one of their biggest selling, most profitable drugs, these reviews are regularly dismissed and discredited. That doesn’t mean they are not true- just that money talks.

The yellow card data shows 82 suicides connected to this drug in this country. It’s is likely to be much higher when you consider most people don’t know about how to report, or don’t bother to think about it when they’ve just lost someone. Often suicide happens after treatment has ended and so people don’t make the connection. Whatever. I am in contact with mothers in France, Australia, US, UK who have all lost children to this drug so please do not tell me that we are wrong and you are right that there is no link.

The only difference between you and your luminous skinned daughter and me and my dead daughter is luck. Pure and simple.

You might want to think about that.

DD2 had awful skin, and after some to and froing from the GP, we found that going on the pill was the biggest game changer and a topical skin ointment that had a mild antibiotic in it.

Notcontent "no proven link" is not the same as no evidence. It seems there's enough evidence for it to be listed as a side effect and for studies to be ongoing. It's very difficult to 100% prove a mental health side-effect, but there are still warnings and it's something to be aware of. As we already know some other drugs can have this effect in teens, it's something I would take seriously.

What is her skin care routine op? Only thing we found worked for my dd now 22 was the teenage range from dermologica. The moment she stops her spots returns but when she keeps their products up she has good skin. She was very bad age 14. BP really dried her skin out and made the acne worse.

@DevastatedandDistraught i am very sorry as I didn’t read your post before posting. If I had I would not have. I am not that sort of person.

Lots of different responses here OP. My son had terrible acne. Benzoyl Peroxide is very harsh on the skin as are a lot of the other products you will see recommended. I would get a really simple wash and moisturiser (shop carefully as some of the ones that say pure or simple aren't). The GP is likely to suggest benzoyl peroxide (or other creams that contain bp), then oral anti biotics, possibly the pill. We got a dermatology appointment in the end and he took roccutaine (monitored closely - fixed). Fungal acne (as mentioned before - looks sligtly different often with very sore eyes like rosacia). Giving up dairy, sugar etc only makes you more miserable.

My best advice would be to go to the GP or get a private derm appointment and look into Roaccutane if I’m honest. I struggled hugely with acne and know how debilitating it can be. I’ve spent years and years and so much money on things that didn’t help. Roaccutane while not right for everyone can be an absolute miracle.

Ditto for my teenage son. He tried everything prescribed by the GP over two or three years but it was starting to scar which was the tipping point for the dermatologist. One course of Roaccutane cleared it up permanently and the side effects were pretty mild for him, except sore lips and a tendency to have more regular nosebleeds.

DevastatedandDistraught I am so sorry about your daughter. It was heartbreaking to read and I can’t imagine how you have coped. 💐

I wrote earlier in the thread that my son had taken roaccutane for 6 months and just wanted to say that we were told by the dermatologist about there being an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and suicides that were possibly linked to the drug. The dermatologist spoke at length about it and about a general low mood that is more common. I was obviously concerned, as was his dad, but my son was adamant he wanted to take it.

My son did experience slight low mood when he went onto a higher dose but I think that was possibly due to not being able to exercise as much as he had some aches and pains (common side effects) aa he was used to doing lots of running and weights so it was a big change to his lifestyle. It may have been linked to the drug itself though. The dermatologist lowered his dose immediately when we called her and he was then fine.

It’s very important that people know the risks/side effects though and it’s awful if some dermatologists are not highlighting these.

DD when 14 went on Lymecycline which cleared up her acne within 3 months alongside topical acnecide.

Lymecycline is an antibiotic that works well for acne

It was prescribed by her GP and we could see a difference after 3 weeks

Your DD won't be prescribed roaccutane until other options are tried first which if you had spoken to you GP you should know about

I was trying to remember the name of the antibiotics my son took before roaccutane and that’s the one. Unfortunately although it improved things initially, it stopped working and he suffered from headaches whilst taking it. Glad it worked for your daughter.

My fungal acne looked identical to other acne and never had anything wrong with my eyes.