Has anyone had a positive experience seeing an nhs dermatologist with adult acne?

[Fluffycloudland77]

I used to take dianette but got migraine with aura & am now contraindicated from all combined contraceptives. I have pcos and an hour after washing my skins so oily my glasses slide down my nose.

It was the only thing that worked. You can’t take standalone anti androgens unless you take spirolactone etc off licence which my gp can’t prescribe. So she has referred me to dermatology.

I have been to an nhs derm before. The first one told me to sunbathe with no sunblock on 🙄 pretty sure that’s not a cure for pcos. I refused and he discharged me. I have very pale skin that burns easily.

The second one said I should try Yasmin. Then offered roaccutane but at the time I hadn’t totally given up hope of being a mother and we were about to start fertility treatment. He asked me if I didn’t think I was over reacting a bit. My face was covered in spots. I was 30.

I’m now 41. All hope of having a child is long gone & I have been referred again.

My pcos symptoms are escalating. I have acne that isn’t responding to oral antibiotics & skinoren. I have chin hairs that grow really fast, the peach fuzz hairs on my cheeks are getting darker & thicker. My skin is so oily people ask me if I’m sweating. In the mornings it looks wet when I get up.

I need an anti androgen but I’m wondering if there’s any point? Gynaecology aren’t interested in managing my pcos, dermatology have been massively unsympathetic in the past. Maybe endocrinology would be helpful?.

I just know their either going to offer roaccutane or refuse an anti androgen. I don’t think I can deal with the disappointment again.

What about spironolactone? A derm could prescribe that for acne.

Yes they could but the question is will they? My gp hadn’t even heard of it for acne.

My gp made my appointment for a week after my follow up with her and they cancelled it and remade it for February 2019.

Find the UK skincare board on Reddit

Fantastic as questions like this

Hi OP, I haven’t been diagnosed with PCOS but I do get acne and also can’t have the combined pill due to migraines.

I listened to a podcast lately where they interviewed the author of a book called The Balance Plan: Six Steps to Optimize Your Hormonal Health. I thought I might give it a read.

No experience with a dermatologist either, but watching with interest! Hope you get some help with it

No amount of skincare has ever made a difference. Even beauty therapists have told me their products won’t work because it’s comes from inside me.

The pcos always wins. Skincare interventions work best on people who are doing something wrong. I’ve been wearing spf 50 everyday for 20 years, non smoking, non drinker, one cup of coffee a day then water all day, cleanses with cetaphil, cook from scratch every day (I even make my own curry pastes), cows milk allergy person who uses three clean face cloths at night to clean and dry my face, 2 more in the mornings & has a fresh pillowcase every night. I should look great but I look like a crystal meth addict but with really good hair 💁🏻‍♀️. Which I’m too embarrassed to get trimmed as it involves someone being near my face.

Almost completely unqualified to comment, being a bloke, but for what it's worth have you tried the zinc picolinate supplement? I discovered it after getting adult acne as a result of taking anti depressants. Didn't go away when I stopped taking them! The zinc worked almost immediately for me. I cut the 22mg tablets up because you shouldn't take such large doses every day. Only take it now when an outbreak is about to happen. (I get a 'bruised' feeling on my skin.)

Sorry if you've explored this already without success.

Appreciate if you are being referred in Nhs to a derm you will be unable to choose but a derm with an interest/experience in endocrinology would be useful as your acne is hormone related. Alternatively would it be possible to get your gp to refer you directly to an endrocrinologist? (Not sure if possible on Nhs)

A derm can prescribe spironolactone off licence. Also, I believe that metformin can be used to treat acne for PCOS sufferers, although not sure if derms prescribe this widely in in UK.

Could you afford to source a private derm who has experience in treating acne in pcos patients?

Every time someone mentions acne o post the same thing. My ndn s adult son had terrible acne. She took
Him to a high street Chinese herbalist and it was TOTALLY cleared I’m weeks.
I realise your situation could be more complex, but it could be the thing that saved you, so I had to post .

I can’t afford a private derm, if I could I would because I’ve scarred so badly from July that skinoren isn’t touching it. I could probably do with laser but that won’t be funded by now.

I’m going to write to my gp, she might not know I’ve been rebooked and endo might be more sympathetic. Or she might want to keep me with derm seeing as pcos is incurable and the only symptom I get comes under their remit.

If it wasn’t for my skin and hormone levels I wouldn’t know I had it. The gynaecologist repeated all my tests as she was convinced my gp was wrong.