Please help me with my acne

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Hi,

Posting here for traffic...

I'm a 22, and have been suffering with acne since I was 12. I have been on all the medication under the sun for the last 10 years and have also been on roaccutane 4 times. I paid for private treatment last year for skin peels that didn't work.

Please please please can I have your suggestions on how I can combat my hideous skin?

I work in a job where I am customer facing and I'm incredibly embarrassed by my dreadful skin. I'm starting to reject social occasions due to my skin being bad, it's slowly starting to ruin my confidence...

I'm currently taking lymecycline and due a review at the doctors within the next 2 weeks.

Any help would be gratefully received

You need to explain exactly what your skin is like. For example, i had lovely skin until I became pregnant and I turned into boil girl! They were mostly on my cheeks and nose, very sore painful pustules and boil like swellings. I was asked if I was taking drugs and if I was hiding bruises!!! I found a rosacea group on facebook and as a result of trawling the net I realised that when becoming pregnant my skin had become very greasy and a breeding ground for skin mites. Could you have this same thing? I had this awful skin for 10years until I tried a recommended cream which cleared it up almost immediately. I now have lovely skin and it has really changed my life. Drs are sceptical about it, as was my pharmacist DH, but it worked. Google Demodex mites and see if it could be this. I could give you more details if you think it could be this, but join Roseacea (in English) group and check out their posts too, they discuss all the medication you list.

I was wondering if starting puberty at 12 caused greasy skin which in turn caused mites to multiply

An you explain exactly what kind of skin you have ? Is your acne cystic, blackheads , whiteheads , all of these ? Could you post a pic ?

The only thing that helped me was going on a contraceptive pill called Yasmin. I had greasy skin and lots of spots and blackheads. I did not have deep, cystic acne though.

YAsmin didn't work for me but Dianette did for a while (though it's not prescribed much these days)

A combination of an androgen blocker called spironolactone and a topical antibiotic gel called clindamycine is the only thing that had shifted my cycstic acne (hard, painful lumps along my jaw and nose)

I found giving up dairy and oils and nuts really helped.

Pic here - it's a mixture of blackhead, white heads and some cystic around my jaw line. It's incredibly painful! My skin is also very oily and I normally look like I've been sweating it's that bad

Have you had Roaccutane?

I doubt that his will help you and I’m no expert but just using very simple facial products worked for me - actually used skincare from simple

Can you take the pill? Have you tried co-cyprindiol, (used to be Dianette). It is the only one which keeps my acne at bay and I am over 20 years older than you. I have been on it since 15 except for having dc and breastfeeding, it is a miracle cure for me.

It also stops my skin being oily and calms my horrendous periods.

I'm 31 and have always suffered with acne. I was particularly bad in my late 20s. I discovered that if i drink milk then i will break out within hours. This was a life saver to find out as i always used to have cereal each morning and i didn't realise what i was doing to myself! Now i just have milk substitutes (i.e. rice milk) and my skin is much clearer. I do feel for you, it's an awful thing to have.

I had the most hideous acne until I was about 32. I had done everything. Nothing helped and the dermatologists said it would probably just improve in my 40s. I found the oil cleansing method and now have clear skin. It sounds absurd and it goes against your instincts with oily skin (mine was super oily) but after a few days, the oils in my skin started to balance and my skin started to heal. I can not recommend it enough. You use a mix of castor oil and olive oil (the castor oil is antiseptic) and the ratio of both can change depending on how far along the process you are. I started with a larger amount of castor but reduced quite quickly because it was drying. Must find link...
theoilcleansingmethod.com

Cats mother what cream sorted your skin out pl? I got roseacre when pregnant too (8 years ago) still have it :(((

You poor thing, that looks sore.

The castor oil is also 'drawing' so it will bring everything to a head so to speak so you use much less of that. I use the Weleda calendula oil with the oil cleansing method. It's very soothing to sore skin.

What is your diet like? Are you getting enough Vitamin A and zinc which are 2 of the best elements for skin health. Diet is key. Do you have lots of fizzy drinks, sugars, dairy can affect some people. Are you getting your 5-7 a day?

Have you ever tried perfectil. A woman I know used it once and I couldnt believe her skin. It was like a veil had been drawn across her face. it was incredible.

Hoe often do you wash your sheets? Changing sheets, in particular pillow cae s daily can help prevent break outs. Exfoliating with a salysic acid based exfoliater (e.g. dermalogiva daily microfoliant) also really helped me (my skin used to be very similar to yours). Daily exercise was also helpful. Things that made my skin worse included over washing it (tempting when it’s oily), heavy moisturisers (I use jurlique day cre which is based on natural oils and very soothing). The thing that made the most difference was pregnancy (but not really a long term solution). My skin is a lot better now, I seem to have outgrown the worst of it but it’s not perfect.

I'm 27 and have also battled Acne since I was 12. Sometimes a lot like yours, sometimes a lot worse.

I've finally got it under control now, as I'm down to a few "normal" pimples only (plus the stupid scarring I'll never be able to get rid of).

I did this by doing a combination of things.
First off, acne is directly linked to the gut. Acne sufferers almost always have gut issues.
I cut daily entirely. Do not substitute with Soy, Soy is a bitch too. Rice milk, almond milk, coconut milk. I can have goat cheese for some reason but nothing else.
I also cut gluten (I eat gluten free bread instead of normal bread and that's enough of a change to make it a sustainable diet for me). and eating too much sugar and fruit. I have discovered that I have IBS (as does my mother who suffered with horrible acne. My father ALSO had acne, he has multiple allergies including a rather severe gluten intolerance - both parents didn't realise these issues until they were over 30 and never considered a link), which means that not only does my skin react strongly to foods I can't have, but my stomach does too. Often feel bloated etc - this has gotten worse with age, those symptoms didn't develop until I was perhaps 24.
So diet diet diet! It is the most important thing, but won't fix it overnight.

Probiotics - to help restore the balance in your gut. If I stop taking these / slack on diet, I start to get spots again.

As for skincare, I use argan oil or almond oil or something similar to clean my face. It sounds odd to put oil on your face, but actually it's efficient and gentle - it lifts the dirt out of your pores / makeup off your face and allows you to wash it off with a washcloth. I always put cold water on my face afterwards to close the pores and stop bacteria getting in and messing it up even more.
I use the Aztec healing clay face mask off Amazon. It's great really, I use it once or twice a week to clean face. In the beginning when I still had worse skin I'd use it daily basically. It does dry out your skin so it's good to add a little healing moisture to it - I would use a tiny bit of calendula oil (supposedly great for healing and naturally antibacterial - if I put some on at night, in the morning my small pimples will have come to a head and the rest of my skin looks smoother and more even. I should mention the clay mask also helps the pimples come to a head.). Vitamin E oil on the face before bed will also help heal the pink spots and scars.

The only "harsh" thing I use is a benzoyl peroxide cream 5%, which I use once a day if I've having trouble with breakouts.

My experience with sensitive people is that harsh medicines just fuck your gut up even more and send you even more off balance. If I'm on antibiotics say, I will get flare ups and stomach problems and have to be super good about taking the probiotics in order to calm my gut (and therefore my face).

Good luck !

Oh and wash your makeup brushes regularly

Castor oil, not calendula oil. **

Aww I really feel for you, I have had bad skin in the past and have tried lymecycline and others too.
My skin has improved a lot in the past year but I'm not sure if it's just to do with getting older (late 20s now) or if it's due to the things I do.
The other things I do are:
-make sure I have taken all makeup off before bed in a gentle way.

• I gently cleanse and moisturise and put benzoyl peroxide on the spots that I have.

-I use face tissues to pat dry and then throw away, I was told by a skin dr that bacteria can still live on towels so don't use them to dry your face.

• try not to touch my face at all to minimise bacteria getting on my skin. Make sure that I Clean phone screen with antibacterial.

-I change my pillow cases every day to prevent bacteria build up touching my skin.

• I try to only wear makeup when I have to.
• Make sure I wash makeup brushes after every use to prevent bacteria build up.
• I stopped wearing heavy "longwear" foundation as this made my spots worse because my skin can't breathe.

Have you examined your diet? You may very well have an allergy or are eating too much sugar. Do you regularly drink alcohol, soda, juice, etc? Everything we put in our bodies has to come out somewhere, and I think your diet needs to be looked at.

Have you been checked for polycystic ovaries? That jawline acne is very hormonal. Other signs would be abnormal periods, weight gain and hirsute issues ( very hairy arms, legs, facial hair etc).

I expect you have had all sorts of checks but I would suggest a gynaecologist specialising in endocrine problems. It looks painful and depressing, I hope you find some solutions soon.

Oh, that looks sore :-(

My DD, now 15, finally got hers under control by starting the pill, she takes Yasmin now, Marvelon didn't work.

She also cut all her face care routine down to an absolute minimum, with all products with as few ingredients as we can find. She has very pale, very sensitive, very fine skin, and we found that anything with acids, or "ides", or alcohol all caused flare ups.

She now uses Micellar for cleansing and Body Shop Aloe for washing and moisturising.

She also changed her shampoo to a mild one, now using Body Shop Ginger which has no alcohol in it.

She is lactose intolerant, which is interesting to note from previous posters, and tries to limit her dairy intake, which I think also helps.

Good luck. DD has been left with some scarring which I hope will fade as she gets older, but at least we have got on top of the painful red breakouts.

Eloisedublin, the cream is ZZ cream. It’s Chinese and can be bought on Amazon but cheaper on the Demodex.co.uk site at £32. I joined Rosacea (in English) on facebook and some posters were singing its praises. Join and search the posts for the info and testimonials about this cream. I’m forever grateful to these posters, they really did change my life! About 18 months ago now. I did a lot of googling about mites and this cream and decided I had nothing to lose by trying it. I was so miserable with my sore, swollen, weeping skin. I was sceptical as you don’t get to know the full ingredients as was DH. You get a very small pot but only need a very very small amount on your skin. It stinks and makes your eyes water so night time is the best time to put it on. I used a moisturiser in the morning as it is quite drying. Do your research. It’s the decomposing of the dead mites which affects your skin, so killing them will make your skin worse before it gets better.
You have to use it every night for 120days, even if your skin improves which I did and still didn’t finish the pot. 10 years I had this and it improved within weeks and hasn’t returned in the 15 months since I finished. I feel like I’m pushing some MLM product as it sounds too good to be true! My confidence returned and I became so much more happy! This cream worked for me. DH a pharmacist, states that the listed ingredients are a basic cream containing sulphur which was given to dogs to cure mange! It seems to be a controversial subject - skin mites which Doctors don’t seem to know much about. Good luck if you get it, hope it works for you x

ROACCUTANE!

I went through all the medications, including limecycline.

The only one that worked for me was Roaccutane.

Within 3 months of taking Roaccutane my acne had disappeared and it never returned.

Have you tried roaccutane? It's the only one that worked for my brother after years of trying

As stated in my OP I've had roaccutane 4 times, 6 month courses. The doctors will not prescribe me any more courses.

Thank you all for your replies, I'm going to take it right back to basics and look at my diet to start with. I have cut back on dairy as I always thought it might be that!!