teen acne - help

[dementedma]

DD2 seemed to have escaped teen acne but now at 18 has really bad acne on her neck and shoulders - not her face thankfully. As she takes thyroid medication and is prone to migraine, the GP has ruled out some of the usual oral medication, including the pill. any suggestions?

I'd be tempted to go back and see a different GP first of all.. there are so many different meds to try and the usual is simply an oral antibiotic ..Tetralysal is a common one.
Failing that there are topical antibiotics.. my son has acne and has Zinertyl which is like a roll on deoderant in style as well as the oral antibiotic.

For over the counter stuff I recommend Panoxyl ..it comes in 3 strengths (Lloyds chemists) ..boots do a similar one own brand and it's basically a peroxide gel. Tends to bleach the hairline a bit but good at drying up the spots. My son's is bad on his neck too but we have found the above combo is just about keeping it at bay :)

She needs to talk more about a good full strength antibiotic and absolutely rigorous use of a topical treatment. Its easy to get a bit slapdash about acne treatment as you need to go on for months before uyou know it's working or not.

If she has migraines don't push the GP re " the pill for acne" . THe GP is acting responsibly- dianette (the usual one) carries additional stroke/clots risk compared to the regular pill and combined with migrane isn't a good idea .

Demented, I was at dr last friday with dd,15, with same problem. Within a 5 week period she has needed 2 separate lots of antibs. as an acne spot has got really badly infected-one on back of neck and one on arm. Nothing has made a difference and she baths daily etc but dr wants to put her on a 3 month course of antibiotics as she (dr) feels it is quite bad and dd is really self conscious -wont wear t-shirts,go swimming etc. So I am really hoping that they will make a difference. My dd is same as yours-nothing on face but lots on neck and shoulders. I would try and get some oral antibiotics

DS1 had terrible acne. He has very bad migraines too. Our GP was wonderful. We started off with all the washes and creams - no change. She then put him on antibiotics but also referred him to the hospital at the same time just in case antibiotics did not work. Unfortunately, there was very little difference so by the time the antibiotic course was over he had an appointment to be put onto Roaccutane. The GP kept a close eye and said that Roaccutane was the way to go as he may end up with scars.

I second about the life changing thing. My son felt the same. When his 4 month course was over he had skin that a film star would be proud of and 2 years later gets an occasional spot.

My ds has acne on back and shoulders quite badly and his face but not quite so severe,he has been on 'oxytetracycline' now for ages which keeps it under control.

My DS has been on Lymocycline ( antibiotic) since just before Christmas and it has made an enormous difference.