Please help me with my acne

[polkadotspot]

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

My daughter suffered, still does sometimes. She gave up chocolate for Lent and her skin improved hugely, and returned when she started eating it again. I agree that pillow cases should be clean every day, as should towels. And wash them on a hot wash. Flannels too if you use them. Good luck.

Watching

Read Caroline Hirons blog, she has a section on acne which is really good. The things I'd look at are:

• Diet: cut down on sugar, drink LOADS of water
• Sleep: The skin can repair when you are sleeping, make sure you are getting enough
• Foaming face washes: Don't use anything foaming. Use a soft flannel, warm water and a cleanser. Even though your skin is greasy as others have said oil based works best. Avoid things that dry out your skin and damage its natural protective barrier.

-Dermalex Acne cream: its moisturising and calms the skin. Prevents bacteria from growing and forming acne. Much less harsh than other treatments but really effective.

www.carolinehirons.com/2012/05/acne-cheat-sheet.html

Place marking as I’m 39 and still have acne.

One thing I’d say is that I once gave up sugar for a month and my skin was absolutely crystal clear. So you could try that. I have a very sweet tooth and not enough willpower but I think diet does affect things.

OP I agree with the PP who asked about polycystic ovaries - have you ever been checked for that?

I had dreadful acne but Roaccutane sorted it out, thank god. Massive sympathy, I had many years of despairing about my skin - it's not just the appearance. It's painful too!

Cats mother Thank you! I’m ordering tonight! I’m not on Facebook but am going for it. God bless u xx

I've had acne off and on since I was 13 (I'm 45 now).
My skin used to look very like yours and I had roaccutane as a teenager and in my 20s. I have quite a bit of scarring.

One treatment I discovered that has really helped is an overnight mask of Sudocrem and rosehip oil. Sudocrem alone dries me out too much and rosehip oil makes me too oily but together they seem to soothe, clear and moisturise - I notice an incredible difference overnight.

Have you tried the pill? my oldest dd had roaccutaen and her acne also came back. She went on Yasmin and antibiotics at the same time, acne disappeared. She stopped the antibs and stayed on Yasmin and has the odd tiny spot and thats it

dd2 is also on Yasmin and it has cleared her skin almost completely after 5 months.

Acnecide gel is great.

And I don't really believe in diet but both dds say if they eat a lot of sugar their skin gets dramatically worse.

Yes definitely try an exclusion diet. Have you had allergy/intolerance tests etc? I saw someone on here recently post about it being caused by her perfume which she sprayed towards her face and it cleared up after she stopped.

Roaccutane is largely a miracle drug, generally working for most people and only requiring one or two courses for long term improvement. 4 courses and still acne? It's weird.

I started my second course of it last week btw.

@Blarneybear you should absolutely believe that diet can affect your skin. Some are lucky but some can't even have 2 500ml bottles of coke a week without getting whiteheads (me). Or boils from eating ice-cream, or coffee, and lots of other nice things. :(

I have had really bad hormonal acne (that kindly lasted nearly all bloody month as my periods are a bit ducked) up until recently when I started using Oskia Renassiance Gel cleanser - it’s expensive but I’ve had about two spots over the last seven months. Obviously when you’ve tried a lot of stuff a cleanser may not help but could be worth a go. It’s really made me feel so much better about myself.

Nothing but sympathy here. I remember how much it knocks your confidence.

Mine cleared up when I was 24. I think it would have gone anyway but I found a foundation with salycylic acid in it which helped (neutrogena used to make it but I don't think they do any more).

I'm 39 now and have dry skin. Dry skin! It's so weird. Good luck OP, don't try too many new things too quickly!

I’m assuming when you say you were prescribed roaccutane you were seen by dermatologists? Did they recommend anything else?

Are you still seeing a derm (rather than a GP) for treatment?

If your acne is hormonal and androgen related it may respond better to something like spironolactone (sp?). If it’s PCOS related Metformin has been known to treat. Has your derm looked into any underlying hormonal imbalances and treatments like this?

PowerCutie - retinol (usually used for wrinkles) can help immensely with acne scars

Have you looked at the Acne.org website? Lots of useful advice.

Has the dermatologist suggested anything else? If It's hormonal then could you try spironolactone?

It’s not as bad as you think, op. The rest of your skin looks nice.

I’ve had acne since I was about 12. I managed to control it with benzoyl peroxide products from America. I then hand microneedling done recently and it caused a massive breakout and it’s now worse than ever.

Get USA version of Proactiv
Get oil blotting sheets and use every few hours.
Use only bare minerals.
Start drinking spearmint tea. It reduces androgens and apparently works as much as the lymecycline.
Get a sulphur mask to use on each individual spot overnight.

I can’t drink fizzy drinks otherwise I will definitely get many new spots the next day.

Good luck

Polkadotspot I had acne from aged 12,when i was 19 i went on the pill and it cleared it up.When i came off the pill to get pregnant the acne flared up again,anyway to cut along story short i had acne again some years later and i used Freederm gel and also Freederm wash,it works.Good Luck x

I used dianette for about a year and mine never came back.

I had cystic acne from early teens to late twenties. I went on all kinds of treatments, my first one was minocin or minecyline or something like that. I never had the nerve to try accutane.

I was also diagnosed with PCOS in my mid - late twenties. I used to get terrible cystic painful spots all down my cheeks and jawline.

The only thing that helped me was losing weight. Obviously your situation is different to mine, as I was 5 stone overweight. I lost 6 stone and my skin really cleared.

Also, just using the simple oil balancing cleansing scrub really really helped. I can’t sing it’s praises enough. Not sure if they still sell it, it was a quite small tube with and the product inside was opaque and a blue green colour.

I tried the Clinique 3 step anti blemish solution cleansing regime and that was horrific, it made my skin sore, red and start peeling, nasty.

I hope you find a solution. X

This is the face wash, as I say it really helped me, and I’ve tried every lotion and potion going. Not sure it’s widely available any more.

I have done roaccutane twice. First time didn’t work either. Second I have been on a long low dose but dermatologist warned me it probably isn’t going to be a permanent cure until I go through menopause

Changing diet will help
But I would say don’t use all the wacky foreign creams. Unless you have done roaccutane you don’t know how sore and thin the skin can become. Don’t risk damaging it more. Get advice from a doctor. Something like an androgen blocker might be your next step

Elimination diet - find out about your body and tolerances