DD 18 suddenly developed bad acne. Roaccutane?

[MamaWorriedAboutDDAcne]

I’m a regular poster but NC for this as I have discussed the issue with RL friends who may be here.

Over the last ten months 18 year old DD has developed terrible acne. It’s come out of the blue and is causing her huge anxiety. She was always prone to a few small spots with her period but these spots now are constant, big and leaving marks.

She has tried Lymcycline which did nothing, so a dermatologist then prescribed a cream three months ago which initially seemed to help but unfortunately over the last few weeks the acne is getting much worse. It’s mainly on her cheeks so it’s very obvious. She’s feeling very despairing about it now and has frequent sobbing fits about it which breaks our hearts to witness. She wears makeup to conceal it but her skin often looks very’bumpy’ and she’s very upset about the scars being left behind.

She has a good diet and exercises well but this is now her A levels period so we’re wondering if her acne is stress related. She’s starting to say that she wants to take Roaccutane which the dermatologist mentioned at her last appointment but the dermatologist talked about possible issues with the treatment and having done some reading, I’m very concerned about her taking it.

Cam anyone offer any advice about acne that appears in later teenage years, or about Roaccutane?

Also, any recommendations for laser treatment for the scarring?

Would really be grateful for any information or suggestions. Thanks in advance.

I tried all kinds of things but ultimately it was the Swiss formula made with apricot kernels scrub that seemed to work, twice a day. This is obviously not a scientific study!

My son had roaccutane (when he'd tried everything else and it was starting to scar). It was a game changer for him and cleared it up permanently. It's heavy duty though.

Okay, thank you. I’ll look into that. I know nothing about PCOS. Are there any other symptoms aside from acne?

Ask the GP to run the test. Sadly we had to go private to get the right treatment for my daughter’s skin. Overall she was pretty cut up with it all and we needed to get her counselling but this was combined with bereavement and other shocks. She is probably the healthiest eating student.

Will Dr's still prescribe Dianette pill? This is what worked for me for years. Now use tret. Dsis tried roaccutane but liver couldn't tolerate it which was flagged as crazy itchiness.

Agree with others if she does start it to wait until after a-levels but before university to support with side effects.

I'm in my 40s but still really struggling with acne - I was prescribed antibiotics and this 20% acid cream - worth buying the cream privately and giving it a go before anything more drastic, mine cleared up fully in weeks!
www.pharmacyonline.co.uk/product-landing/skinoren-cream-azelaic-acid/?ref=PPC&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjwr7ayBhAPEiwA6EIGxKIXpb4Au32Fr5jmae5b_FMqYnRuXzcgdVlk_dMW9_Hgw2VaFCW1TBoCq2EQAvD_BwE

Thanks for the recommendation. You say you are still struggling with acne but this cream cleared it up in weeks. I’m a little confused, do you mean that it has stopped working?

The NHS page on pcos lists the symptoms in more detail, but irregular periods and weight gain are probably key markers. I thought of endometriosis too, which is more painful periods and pain between periods too, plus fatigue (not a medic but have had endometriosis.) Here's the info on pcos https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/polycystic-ovary-syndrome-pcos/ and endometriosis https://www.endometriosis-uk.org/symptoms

My daughter is a lovely size 8/10 so weight gain is more likely in older years but not if diet managed. The pattern of acne was the give away but it’s different treatment to antibiotics or R.

My son was prescribed Isotretinoin at 17. He took it throughout the winter - if she goes ahead wait to the autumn because of skin sensitivity. Took it for 6 months, skin clear and still clear at 22. Dry skin, dry lips but otherwise good. Don't research here, take the advice of dermatologists but take action (apricot scrubs, magic creams are all nonsense).

Spironolactone (Aldactone) - worked for PCOS acne.

Also she uses retinol every other day in the evenings.

Extremely healthy diet with highly limited carbs.

I had hormonal acne due to breastfeeding. Mine has mostly cleared up with tretinoin if she hasn't tried this already? I've been on it for 6 months now and my skin is so much clearer. Sorry if I'm suggesting something you've already tried.

Worked brilliantly for me 20 yrs ago - life changing x

DD is on another combination of antibiotics and face wash and I wish they’d refer for Rocictane but it really isn’t that easy where we are. She’s had 2 dermatologist appointments and they still want to try another combination before a hospital referral and no idea how long that will take.

I took it for six months when I was 19. And in Australia. I had to wear a giant hat every day. In the short term my skin was super dry inc my lips and the inside of my nose. However my skin cleared up after a couple of months and apart from the odd zit I never experienced patches of acne again. I had to sign a statement saying I would not get pregnant. Came back to the uk to get a Oreo but the gp wouldn’t do this. No mood issues that I recall. Good luck

Very similar happened to my daughter at around this age. Gp tried all the normal stuff but wouldn't refer her on🙄 in the end we paid for her to have private consultation (£180)
The private consultant was great, I thought he would prescribe rocacutsne but he prescribed spirolactone. Loads less side effects but only girls can take it due to hormones. After 3 months she saw pretty good results after 6 months she just get the odd spot.

That’s why I’d try something like the pill first. You just need to ask for the right one.

I took roaccutane in my late 20's/early 30's and being miserable with acne since a teen and no GP taking me seriously.
Best thing I ever did, the difference in my skin was amazing. No low mood noted, if anything my mood improved as I was much happier with my skin.
Had to go along and do a pregnancy test each month before they release the prescription and had blood tests to check my liver. Had the usual side effects of dry lips, I had aching joints particularly in my ankles and mostly first thing. Sweating a lot during exercise. The best side affect was my hair though, I have oily/greasy hair that needs washing everyday and it was the only time I could do days without washing and it still look great.

I used it in my 30's. I'm conflicted about it. It works, but at a cost. My view is if you start experiencing side effects stop ✋️ I ploughed on with it and feel it has had a long term detriment to my overall health. I can never prove it though.

Some people have an easy time on it whilst others don't. My doctor said the worst side effect is death. I think it is so important to stop if there are signs you are one of those people it wrecks.

DD had terrible acne along with super sensitive skin, so topical treatments were out. She went on the pill, which cleared it up within a couple of months.

She was only 15, so I was a bit reticent, but looking back wished she had gone on sooner. Her face literally looked like it had been burnt and blistered, it was awful.

Sorry, I meant I was still struggling with acne in my 40s!! Now that I've used the cream it's completely cleared up :-)

I’m going to ask the dermatologist about this as you’re the second poster who’s mentioned it, thanks.

Thanks for clarifying this, I am going to look online now!

I’m very grateful for all the responses here but am quite concerned about the differing responses to Roaccutane as from this admittedly very small sample here there appears to be two distinct reactions to the treatment, that it either works brilliantly or was a terrible idea and people still regret it now.

DD starts university all being good with her grades in the autumn and is going to be several hours away by car so I’m concerned about if she starts taking R and I’m not around to monitor her reaction or give support. I take on board what a PP says about stopping as soon as there are signs of a negative reaction to the treatment, thank you for your advice.

Lots here to consider……

I have bad acne, was not suitable for roaccutane but had everything else they could offer with little success. What has worked is monthly biorepeels, dermal 500 antibacterial moisturizer and quinoderm facewash