Adult acne, what works?

[Lovespolly]

It's almost certainly hormonal but I have reacted badly to contraceptives so I'm not wanting to go back on birth control.

I've been using acnecide (benzoyl peroxide) for 5-6 weeks now and seeing no improvement.

I cut out sugar and massively reduced my dairy intake.

Currently my routine is: tea tree face wash, miscella water to cleanse, benzoyl peroxide and a light moisturiser.

Can you reccomend products that you believe may help?

@readingismycardio, my acne ever came back, barely got a spot even when I had my period. Yes, my menstruation came back straight away. Dianette is the only pill that I didn't get side effects from.

@IndieRo this is so encouraging to hear! Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to me!

Thank you so much for the replies

I've decided to contact my GP rather than continue paying out for OTC creams and what not.

Mine is cystic, with a bunch of small flat painless spots thrown in for good measure. I'll upload a pic later.

Couple of questions:

What side effects (if any) did people have to roaccutane, lymecycline and epiduo?

I seem to react negatively to most tablets for some reason. I was put on a course of antibiotics for an infection post surgery and had some type of allergic reaction, horrifying side effects where I literally felt as though I was going to die.

I had a similar reaction to a completely different antibiotic I was put on a few months later for a UTI.

It's as though my body can't tolerate antibiotics so I worry how I'll respond to roaccutane/lymecycline.

Also: will long term use of lymecycline result in antibiotic resistance?

In my late 20's and early 30's I suffered badly, tried everything, then at a spa I was recommended to use the Elemis Sensitive Cleansing Wash and SOS Cream...amazing results, so gentle, but really helped heal me and balance my skin, I do think less is more when it comes to adult acne, so many harsh products just irritate skin more.

Nip and fab has really helped my skin! Look at the glycolic range and read the reviews

Malin and Goetz sulfur paste is brilliant as an overnight spot on treatment.

The thing that seemed to make the biggest difference for me was cutting out gluten and cutting down on dairy. But it took ages for that to become clear (partly because I found it hard to do) and it's hard to know what part food played in the overall system.

Duac from the gp works as does nip and fab glycolic fix

Update, I've spoken to my GP who was fab.

I have been prescribed lymecycline antibiotics and duac cream, she's also reccomeded two products she has alot of confidence in:

Neutragena toner - acne stress control

Neutragena - coal tar shampoo

I was a bit baffled by the shampoo but she said she has alot of experience of acne and she definitely reccomends them to supplement the prescription.

I've ordered the toner on eBay as it's an American product and can't be bought OTC and I'll pop out and buy the shampoo tomorrow.

Cautiously optimistic. Wish me luck.

I got referred to a dermatologist after having acne from age 13-39. He prescribed Spironalactone. Life changing. I was on it for 2 years and was so scared to come off. But my skin generally looks great now.
I use Super Facialist Vit C cleansing oil, Pixi Glow Glycolic toner, The Ordinary Niacinamide if I'm having a breakout, and The Ordinary Moisturiser with Hyaluronic acid. I use Nip and Fab Retinol Serum 3 X a week and Epiduo in my pre menstrual week.
Gosh that sounds like a lot, but it's taken me so long to find products that work and don't make my skin bad!

I also use mineral makeup, foundation, eyeshadow, mascara from Lily Lolo and love it!

Good luck 😊

I took lymecycline for around 6 months and there was a dramatic improvement, also I use Paula’s choice BHA lotion around 3-4 times a week to keep on top of it and it is amazing stuff, highly recommend that too

Sorry I'm a bit late to this but I had horrible, painful adult acne at more or less the same age. But my skin is oily but v v sensitive so struggled to find anything that worked but went to a skin consultant who advised go for antibiotics to get under control. I was also on dianette for a while. The skin consultant examined by skin and tested to see what my skin reacted to and figured out what I was sensitive to plus steered me away from anything harsh or chemical which I had been using previously. She recommended aveda outer peace foaming cleanser, followed by exfoliation with a hot wash cloth (instead of product), then splashing face with cold water (instead of toner) followed by avenda botanical kinetics oil control serum as moisturizer. This has worked for me for past 10 years or so. It's expensive but you wear your face every day so I think it's worth it! But crap when you have to go through loads to find what works. Hope that helps and you get sorted x

P.s she wasn't like a medical consultant more like a beauty consultant but it worked!!

If you are on Instagram, follow 'My Skin Story' - she is great and seems to know her stuff, without pushing loads of products to sell etc.

Hello all

I've been using the Duac cream for about a week now, and the neutragena toner for a few days. I'm sad to report that it's making things ALOT worse :-(

I examined my skin closely this evening after avoiding mirrors for a while and it looks dreadful. I'm even getting spots under my chin / near my neck which I never got before.

I don't know whether it's the Duac or the toner that has made things worse, maybe both.

I was cautiously optimistic when I saw the biggest spots reducing in size somewhat but that progress has halted now and instead my acne has worsened x 10. Every inch of my face has acne, some big raised ones and tons of 'flat' red spots and blemishes.

I didn't realise how bad it had got as I can only feel about 10-15 of the raised ones when I touch my face, I got a nasty shock for sure.

I have the lymecycline here as a back up plan as I was hoping the cream alone would help, I tend to have bad reactions to oral antibiotics so kept them on standby instead.

I'm going to bite the bullet and start the lymecycline tomorrow. I'm really hoping it helps.

Take the lymecycline - the antibiotics and the cream do two different things and need to be used together. The antibiotics tackle bacterial infection and the cream encourages a faster "turnover" of the skin - clearing out the pores quicker. The creams do also cause a purge period where it gets worse before it gets better but you need to stick with it throughout that period - I suspect that's what you're experiencing now.

For a face wash I would massively recommend Cetaphil - it's so neutral and non-pore blocking. Packaging looks very medicinal!

@Lovespolly - meant to tag you in the post above!

I cured mine by accident, having resigned myself to a red raw life.

A friend gave up bread because she was trying to lose weight, so I gave it up too. She quit after a week, but in less time than that, I started to notice a big improvement in my complexion. I stuck at it, and within a fortnight, my skin was fully clear. It hadn't been for about 20 years. Never once.

I eat bread again now but not as much, and I can gauge how much I can get away with. I know full well that if I eat a bunch of floury things for a couple of days in a row, I'll start getting painful spots again. And I know that if I stop it'll clear up.

I want to be helpful for future visitors. I have been taking all my life pills with a high concentration of collagen and it really helped all my life. Besides that, I also used acne treatment oil from here aenoacne.com/products/cystic-acne-treatment-and-acne-scar-remover and you know what it was giving me an extremely great result in combination with the collagen. Anyways it all depends on you and your health, sometimes a simple diet program can help you remove acne. But if different kinds of creams and pills help you then do not stop using them, but please consult with the dermatologist.

Roaccutane here too.
No mental health side effects for me (and I have had depression in the past so was really looking out for this) but the extreme dryness of lips etc wasn’t fun. But only temporary. Has worked v well for me and my acne is completely hormonal.
Try and get a referral to a dermatologist. In the mean time try other stuff but j think topical things don’t work that well with hormonal acne. In my experience

Also agree though that prior to roaccutane, apart from when I took the pill dianette, my skin was at its best when I was eating low carb and no gluten/sugar

Honestly Dermatica subscription has cured mine and my friends, my skin is actually nice now which is unbelievable- the only marks I have are old scars

Interesting reading. For those that Roaccutane hasn't worked. Watching because Ds1 is just starting.

I have always had hormonal spots and finally at the age of 43 for the first time I can remember I have a clean complexion after 4 weeks of my Dermatica treatment. I was very sceptical but I used a friends referral code so only paid the postage for the first month. I will happy pay the £19.99 per month moving forward. I am so impressed

Has anyone tried 47skin products to help with the scarring? It's got great reviews but I'm reluctant to spend money as usually anything new just aggravates my v sensitive skin