Spotty skin, at my wits end...anyone got any tips?

[CinnamonTwist]

As a teenager I had pretty spotty skin, it's a fairly unsurprising thing and I dealt with it as best I could thinking it was a 'phase' and would pass with time. At uni I started taking Yasmine as a contraceptive pill (having tried others and found my body really doesn't like hormones, it was the first one which didn't give me awful side effects, and I tried a lot) and I found this made a massive difference, my skin was clear and lovely, only breaking out with the odd spot occasionally. A year ago I stopped taking the pill as we wanted to ttc this year (and knowing the problems I had with hormones in the beginning I wanted to give my body time to adjust beforehand) however my skin has just been awful ever since, so so spotty, I thought it was just an adjustment after stopping the pill, but it seems it's here to stay. At 26 I am so fed up with it and feel I shouldn't have to deal with teenage skin... It doesn't help that it is incredibly sensitive (I can't use face wipes they give me a rash, I went for a facial and got a rash after that this year too) and also incredibly oily in my 'T' zone, if I moisturise, at all, it breaks out even worse.

So, does anyone have any tips, anything they've tried that works for you that may work for me? Or anything in particular you've found that may make it worse? (DH is convinced there may be an ingredient in a shampoo or something that may make it worse, I'm not so convinced, I think I just have crap skin!) I have reached the point where I will try pretty much anything, and any help will be very gratefully received!! I know it's not the end of the world to have bad skin, but it is really getting me down and I don't want scars and spots all over my face!

Give up all dairy. It's known to cause acne . Something to do with all the hormones in cows milk.

Drink lots of water and If you wear foundation try to go a few days a week without any on. I have crap skin too.

aveeno moisturiser in the cream and olive green tube has randomly helped me lots.

I noticed my flare ups got worse if I ever had cheese or oranges / orange juice -guaranteed big breakout of the painful variety after any of these. I also break out badly if I use skin care with orange ingredients (clarins do a one step cleanser which was horrendous for me!) however, going dairy free has not made any difference to my skin (dc3 is dairy intolerant and still BF, so I've excluded dairy from both our diets for 12 months now).

I really don't think my dietary links are wide spread for others though! But worth making a note of what you eat and how clear or not your skin is?

Given how clear it was for you though, have you discussed things with your GP re the hormone link? It will be interesting to see how it reacts to the hormones when you are pregnant, I hope that helps you.

I don't have any experience of holistic stuff with skin, but I do wonder if there might be something that way that could help you rebalance it somehow??

Following a post I saw on acne.org I have been using tea tree night gel (boots own) with a small amount of ibuprofen gel and my skin has cleared up - I'm 40 and have had acne since I was 13. It's early days though as have used lots of things which have cleared my skin for a bit then stopped working.

I fifth La Roche Possay Effaclar. It really helps my grotty skin. Whenever I get lazy and stop using it I can really see my skin get worse again! It's not cheap but worth it, you get boots points and there is an offer on reasonably often (I saw buy 1 get 1 half price in boots in Wimbledon today for example). The starter kit is a great way to see if/what works for you.

Sympathies. Bad skin is shit.

I took Roaccutane at 40. Bloody brilliant. Am sorry I delayed it for so long. But Roaccutane is not suitable if you are ttc.
I would still encourage you to go to your GP. This really is a medical issue and they will be able to prescribe something, even if you're ttc. Start the Efaclar regime, it will help. Benzoyl peroxide is v good too. Dairy triggered mine, but not all dermatologists believe the dairy link. I went back on some dairy recently (yogurts only), triggered my only outbreak since Roaccutane grrr.
But if you've cysts or nodules with scarring, go to the GP. If needs medical intervention.

And if it gives you consolation/hope, I had fantastic skin when I was pregnant. Amazing skin. God it was great. Ne'er a spot.
Good luck!

I've not found a solution for mine, aged 48. I have two problems - massive, painful, lumps is one. And scabby sort of old spots is the other - the latter can hang around literally months.

I know citrus is a trigger for me too, so I avoid it. I can eat the very occasional orange, but I wouldn't have more than one a week. I used to eat loads of them and grapefruit, and satsumas.

Judging from your history it's possible you may have PCOS. Sorry that doesn't help skin wise (probably Yasmin or Dianette will be the main things that will help, and Roaccutane, but no good if ttc obv). However, it's worth knowing about the pcos if you are ttc...Are your periods a bit irregular?

Same problem here at 33, had just found products that work for me (vichy normaderm) and now ttc and read that salacylic acid (the active ingredient in a lot of anti spot skin care) can cause birth defects. So stoped pill and skin care regeime and major flare ups. DH paid for some expensive blue/red light treatments which really helped but at £50 a time are not a long term solution I can afford. I have found a nutragina moisturiser with grapefruit in it that seems to be helping though.

I had similar problems post coming off the pill in my 20s. Horrible cystic acne. Two things really worked for me. Roaccutane is amazing stuff it actually remodels your skin so got rid of scars. My skin is actually very good these days. I managed subsequent flare ups with Guinot hydrodermie facials which use electric currents to kill bacteria in the skin. There was dramatic improvement within 24 hours each time. They also do some great products like a desensitising moisturiser
Which made my skin much less sore and itchy and a very good concealer that covers spots well all day and actually has healing ingredients. My situation was shit but I can give you hope as I no longer have problem skin.

La Roche here too.

Also a lavender and tea tree solution in hot water with flannel once a week during a hot bath while pores are open ( or after sauna or steam)

If you do the open pore thing, Kiehl's blue astringent lotion is brilliant for cleaning the t zone.

As a mask/deep cleanse to get any gunk out, I have Kiehl's charcoal mask.

The balancing lavender toner from Elemis is wonderful when my skin feels a bit bleurgh and sensitive.

I am often complimented on my skin whereas pre pregnancy was a bit spotty

Good luck to you.

Other than the rare blemish my skin has changed completely since using La Roche Posay

I started with the £11 gel wash which lasts for ages as you don't need much.
The effaclar duo was next which helps keep skin clear

I now have the eye gel, heavier moisturiser which I use when I need a boost and a lighter one for daily wear.

The sun cream fluid doesn't break me out either but tend to wear that more on holiday

Can't praise it enough - worth every penny and has probably worked out cheaper in the end as I'm no longer buying lots of different things to try

Hope you find something that suits

I do the same as MovingOnUp - a clean flannel every day to remove a creamy cleanser, an acid to tone (currently using Bravura calendular toner), a moisturising toner spray, serum and then moisturiser.
I treat spots individually at night with benzyl peroxide 10% dapped directly onto the spot and left to crust. Brings even the big under the skin pustules to the surface and zaps them.

You can see from people's suggestions on here that it is so variable, and you've just got to try everything!

Also, we're not alone; adult acne is not unusual. My mum still gets the painful cysts (only chin ones; hormonal) in her mid fifties. She said she never had any spots in her teens/twenties.

I've always felt like I was fighting my skin, but if I look back at old photos it's nowhere near as bad as I thought it was at the time. I hardly ever wore any makeup either.

La Roche Posay
And using a Magnitone brush worked for me.
I haven't had a break out in ages.

Be careful because many acne treatments are not recommended when pregnant.

I had terrible skin from my early twenties until early thirties when I figured it out. I loved yasmin but then my gp said they couldn't prescribe it anymore. I also had zynerit and antibiotics over the years. A couple of years ago I finally figured out it's triggered by dairy. So now I don't have cereal or porridge with milk and no yoghurt. I tried only using organic milk for a while but that didn't work. I still have milk in tea and cheese or cream in meals but my skin is soo much better. I should probably give up all dairy but I'm not ready for that yet.
If I have cereal with milk or yoghurt a few days in 1 week, I soon break out with a few spots. It's so nice not to have constant zits I'm trying to hide.

Good luck in your search and also with TTC.

I also struggled with this and the only thing which seemed to help was being really gentle with my skin. I started using cetaphil to cleanse and gave up all the exfoliators/masks/treatments.

Weirdly since getting pregnant my skin has mostly been really good. My baby is three months old now and it hasn't yet gone back to how it was. I spoke to my mum and she said having children "cured" her acne so hopefully it might be the same for me (and you!)

Thank you all so much, I think I'm going to start with some of the cheaper options (no.7/boots) then try la Roche posay, unless it's on offer in which case I'll try that first as so many of you love and rate it. Regarding going to the doctors it takes 4 weeks here to get an appointment, and as lots of you say I don't want to try anything too harsh as we are TTC, so I'll go with OTC/shop stuff first. Also like lots of you say, I have been hoping that pregnancy will help, but I recently had a miscarriage so I am just fed up with it all really and want to take some control! Regarding comments about makeup; unfortunately I know this wouldn't help me I don't wear much makeup now, and only bare minerals so very light and gentle (as my skin is sensitive and anything heavier makes it break out) I didn't use to wear any makeup as I worked in a lab and clean room environments, where it's not allowed, and my skin was just as bad then (Yasmine didn't fix it completely in the beginning, it took a few years, and the other pills etc made it worse)
I had been holding off asking on here as I felt it was one of those things that I should probably just deal with, but after my MC I just felt that if someone could help then I should at least ask, thank you all for being so helpful! I'm very glad I asked now!

Ginjo yes they stopped Yasmine for me too when I switched Drs after uni, but it was the same thing just a cheaper version they switched me to. I think it was basically just an unbranded version.

I'd second cetaphil cleanser and moisturiser, then benzol peroxide. I've hormonal chin acne and at the moment my skin us clear. Washing too much makes my skin worse, in my own experience.

Another vote for LRP

The best thing for me was a nasty gum infection. Two rounds of some hefty antibiotics and I've never had better skin!

Panoxyl followed by a good moisturiser ten minutes later.

Dairy free really might work for you. All those hormones in milk from cows are too much for us humans and can cause so many health problems from PCOS , acne, menstrual problems, menopausal problems, digestive issues and even hormone related cancers.