Acne: too old for this shit. Real talk.... what works?

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Hello fellow spotty Mumsnetters!

I was a spotty teenager and from around 14-16 tried everything topical imaginable, ending up on Retinoids (I think- the strong drugs you can’t get pregnant on!) until I was 17. After that my skin was perfect until.....

..... I got pregnant with DD1 at 29. I am now a decade and another kid on and my skin is as bad- if not worse- than when I was a teenager. I saw my doctor about it around 5yrs ago who referred me to a dermatologist. The dermatologist said it wasn’t bad enough to warrant oral drugs and gave me a topical cream (that did nothing) and discharged me. Went back to GP after that didn’t work and he said it was what it was- if dermatologist said it wasn’t bad enough for anything but the topical cream then he couldn’t do anything else.

My skin is very oily- my forehead in particular is a grease pool- and I’ve not yet found anything to really deal with that. I use those little papers to mop it up throughout the day and use an anti grease primer before putting on make up but these are obviously not treating the cause. My forehead is the main area that’s an issue but I also get them on my chin and around my jaw line, with the occasional one on my cheeks.

I’ve had some success with a couple of creams/lotions but neither are perfect. Lumene Gel dries my spots up but doesn’t seem to prevent them. Acquel Anti Acne Cream has kept my forehead clear for a couple of weeks now, but has seemingly pushed the issue elsewhere so I’ve now got painful whiteheads full of puss in my hairline and eyebrows (very weirdly!)

The big hormonal ones will only dry out with ibuprofen gel on - which also dulls the pain of these big buggers. But my spots in general are a mix of these, headless ones and white head, puss-filled beauties.

My mensural cycle seems to not really have any effect on it- it’s bad all month. I have a Mirena coil as the pill made my migraines worse. I do cleanse, tone and then use an acne friendly moisturiser twice a day and wash my face in the shower with a generic face wash for spot prone skin and dedicated (regularly laundered) face scrubby thing. In the past I used Hibiscrub on my face as I read it could be good for acne but it did nothing for me.

I don’t have polycystic ovaries or anything like that, I am a bit overweight but not hugely. My diet is pretty good, I eat fish but no other meat. I wear make up but always take it off before bed and regular clean my brushes and stuff.

I have diagnosed fibromyalgia and am being investigated for lupus. I take a lot of codeine, naproxen and tramadol as well as regular amitriptilyne for nerve pain and sumitriptan for migraines. I take Sertraline for anxiety.

So wise Mumsnetters.... what works? I’ll spend anything within reason. I shouldn’t be approaching 40 with the skin of a 14yr old!

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I used to be anyfulekno on mumsnet and started up a thread about the acne.org regime that worked for a lot of people one here. I did it for about 6 months, 15 years ago and have had clear skin ever since (after suffering horrible acne from ages 14 to 29).

Here's the summary: benzoyle peroxide gel in a small concentration. start with small amount and gradually build up. spend AGES massaging it in until full absorbed. Moisturise with gentle moisturiser. very gentle cleanser such as cetaphil.

We used to use panoxyl - it's almost impossible to get hold of now for some reason. Instead I recommend acnecide gel in the lowest percentage you can get. I've recently started my 13 year old on this regime and cleared up her pimples within a couple of weeks.

sorry that should say benzoyl peroxide!

I'm another Acnecide fan. I got mine from Boots online. I dab it on the problem areas using a cotton bud once a day. I was so impressed with how my skin improved after over 1-2 weeks that I purchased another 3 tubes!

I third the acnecide range from Superdrug.
Stop the exfoliation, gentle is best.
I only developed acne in perimeno. It's the cystic type, deep painful lumps on jawline chin and cheeks. It can hurt to open mouth to eat and it can make them pop and drip pus down my chin which is obviously gross.

GP was not at all interested, so I phoned local private dermatologist. He prescribed 3 months of antibiotics and 3 months of spiro. Paid £150 for half hour thorough appointment, and he wrote a letter for my GP to prescribe. So got the meds on NHS (free for me). I'm about halfway through the course and the difference is amazing. He did say I still had the option of riccione if this wasn't working, but I'm so pleased so far I've really got my confidence back. I spend about 5 hours a day on camera on Teams calls and have done for the last 18 months so it was money well spent for me.
I hope you get sorted OP, my advice would be to spend your money on a private dermatologist and not over the counter teenage remedies.

I had Doxycycline from my GP.and it completely cleared up my skin.. it's an antibiotic that can be used long term.

Nothing worked for me until I tried roaccutane.

Acnecide did nothing for me, my skin hates benzoyl peroxide.

LRP worked for a while then I had the implant & 6 months later my face exploded.

Judging by the posts on here it’s not unusual to have acne in your forties and fifties. It is a big myth that this is a teenage issue. Menopause, as another hormonal change, sometimes sets it off again.

Anyway I agree with a PP that only qualified medical help, ideally a dermatologist, is worthwhile. Otherwise people spend loads on various OTC options, creams, supplements etc, all promising the solution. With an undercurrent that this isn’t a medical condition and will clear up if only the right one can be found. You wouldn’t try and self medicate for other conditions. You also run the risk of more scarring as skin thins with age.

If you want to try doing it on the cheap, you could try one of the online dermatology services, Skin and Me and Dermatica ( you can have a retinoid, antibiotic and niacinamide, good for oil, in the same formula) but after reading posts on here and other forums for years, this just isn’t a one size fits all thing. I definitely think most cases at this age are hormonal related and you won’t find the answer to that in Boots.

Acne is one of the side effects associated with Mirena. Your Acne will be Hormonal and it's the most resistant Acne to treatment. The Mirena will be exacerbating your underlying tendencies. The only thing that will help is probably Roaccutane. This will have a permanent effect on the oil glands making your skin less oily. Sometimes it's not a permanent solution and hormonal Acne comes back. But very few need more than two treatments.

Underneath it all, here is how the hormones work.

We all have more testosterone than we do female hormones, and when the females hormones drop, whether as part of a normal cycle, or in peri/menopause, the testosterone isn't being kept in the same balance.

I'm only explaining this because it shows why acne can turn up at any time.

The thing that jumps out at me is the fibro and possible lupus. I've had RA from a young age and had adult acne for years (having had no real issues as a teen). A few years ago I had the sudden realisation that all my worst acne flares have coincided with arthritis flares. Once I'd noticed it was such an obvious pattern but it never occurred to me they could be connected and I've never read anything to that effect. I think for me it's where my body is so prone to inflammation that it reacts to every pore with even the tiniest bit of anything in. My arthritis is currently well controlled and my skin is mostly clear. I take spirulina daily which helps and use the dermalogica precleanse oil. Switching to oil cleansing was a leap of faith but it has actually made my skin less oily and cloggy.

May be totally not what's happening for you but thought I'd share.

I found roaccutane side effects were too much so my dermatologist put me on spironolactone. Stopped the hormonal spots and also helped my hair grow (a welcome side effect) Im late 40s with very oily skin like urs. Also agree with Angel that cutting out dairy and sugar makes a huge difference. My acne was never awful but im almost 40 and had enough. Worst investing in a dermo ur previous one sounds terrible and very unsympathetic!

On the other hand I’m allergic to cows milk and it never made any difference to my skin & I take vit d and calcium tablets daily.

I second spending the money on a private dermatologist rather than messing about in the skincare aisle. Round here it’d cost £150-200 for an initial consultation. Get your GP to refer you then the consultant might well be able to get the GP to prescribe any treatments on the NHS. I’m told with acne it’s really worth paying for the dermatologist because you should only need to pay for a consultation or two: it’s unlikely to involve any expensive investigations or tests.

I had this in my late thirties. Tried literally everything and spent a small fortune.
I was on antibiotics for over a year!!! Nothing prescribed by the GP worked and anything I bought was complete waste of money.
And they were so painful (aside from looking horrible). Eventually had to force GP to refer me to dermatologist (had to agree to pay myself) who put me on Roaccutane for 4 months. It worked almost overnight and I've not had one since (now 47).
Just wish my GP had sent me 12 months earlier - my face wouldn't be scarred like it is now.
Good luck OP

I had acne as a teen which cleared with roaccutane and continued use of dianette contraceptive, during/after pregnancy the acne flared up again, even restarting dianette did not control it.I know it's not bad enough for more roaccutane but it's bad enough to affect my confidence.
What I've found helps is salicylic acid face wash, a prescription from online dermatologist dermatica, benzoyl peroxide on any particularly nasty ones, and a lifesaver for me is rose hip oil. When I use this at night I wake up completely oil free. If I forget I wake up with a horrible greasy face.
Good luck finding what works for you.

Lymecycline cleared my skin for the first time in my 40s. It still works now butiworry about taking it all the time. You could try your GP again or get a private prescription via Superdrug?
My GP prescribed Zoolantra when I had a flare up recently.

Another vote for skin and me as they prescribe a cream that is taylored to your specific skin needs. Myself and my work colleagues all signed up and have all witnessed an improvement to our skin. We are all battling skin issues as wear full PPE for most of the day.
Here is a link to the promo codes board for a free month to try .
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/promotional_codesbargains/4198470-Skin-and-me-first-and-fifth-month-free-p-and-p-3-99

Hello if you want to try a dermatologist Dr Sam Bunting specialises in adult women with spots- I have found her and her colleagues v good and helpful in recommending a simple routine. They are doing virtual consultations right now I think. Also her blog has some good suggestions.

Cetaphil oily skin cleanser and dermalex acne cream worked wonders for me.

I very much empathise. The best advice I can give you is to first try and accept that what works for other people will not necessarily work for you, and I say that as someone who has sent twenty+ years pursuing a trial and error strategy 😁

Having said all that, anecdotally it's seems that Effaclar helps a lot of people (I bloody love it), and you can get the trial set for a reasonable price. Niacinamide really is a hero ingredient (I also use the Effaclar serum). It might also be worth you trying a oil cleanser - oil over-production often happens when skin is too stripped of its own oils and tries to overcompensate. I really rate Superfacialist Vit C cleansing oil, which I've used for years. I then double-cleanse most days with Cerave salcylic acid cleanser, which I've only been using for about three months but I think has really helped.

Diet changes have never seemed to make a difference for me, and it's interesting to read Dr Anjali Mohto's recent Insta posts on this (basically there's very little evidence that cutting out dairy makes a difference, but there's some evidence that a low-GI diet can help).

A DIM supplement might also be worth a try? I think it's helped me but hard to gauge.

Wishing you the very best of luck OP - please remember you are absolutely not alone.

Like others, I developed jawline acne aged 40 (thanks peri menopause). I cut out dairy and noticed a significant improvement in my skin within a week.

Mirena coil might be making it worse? There's one you can try with lower amounts of hormones in maybe?

Adult DD can't take roaccutane because of her MH history of depression and ED. After a moron GP prescribed it (luckily she read the contraindications before she started taking it) she was so desperate she had a private appointment with a dermatologist. They prescribed various facewashes and creams. It took about 3 months and cost about £400 but her skin is lovely now.

Where do you live where GP can prescribe roaccutane?.