This technically refers to a different forum, but it's general enough to be funny.

If anyone gets one of these PMs, please let the moderators know right away ..... we have had repeated problems with these spammers, and we'd like to shut them down as quickly as possible.

Just forward the nuisance PM to any mod who is active on the board at the time. Mods' names appear in red at the bottom of the page.

Thanks for your help!

Hey everyone,
My name is Lindsey. I've been reading message boards and product reviews on this site for about a year now. I finally decided I should go ahead and become a member bc a person does need peer support
I've had acne since I was ten,and I'm 27 now. The seven years leading up to my 17th bday my dermatologist tried everything on me. Clindamycin, benzoyl peroxide, Retin-A, oral antibiotics, birth control, etc etc. During all this my two older brothers both suffered with acne as well, and eventually both of them ended up taking Accutane with results none of us had ever achieved. I put it off until I was seventeen bc it is such serious stuff. Finally I gave in, and took it for 5 months. Hello self-esteem! I could wear dresses and shirts that showed my back and chest, people I hardly knew at school told me my skin looked great, otc products that wouldnt touch it before seemed ten times more effective, and I ended up with my first boyfriend. For several years my skin was reasonable. Yea I had some pimples, but I could actually count them (two or three as opposed to 100...).
So, my derm told me then that if I still had acne it would return after about ten years. I shrugged that off thinking the whole "it's just because I'm a teenager" (which is what parents and everyone else tend to tell you!). Well, I'm 27 now....and guess what? For about a year and a half my skin has been progressively worse. Now it's reached it's full resistant potential. NOTHING works. And I've tried EVERYTHING...some of which I got the ideas from this site, and some from my derm. I wear nothing but t-shirts now, bc they don't show my chest or back, I didn't go swimming even once this summer, I wore a t-shirt to a baby shower bc the dress shirt I was going to wear showed my chest and it was awful. I don't make a big deal about it and act like it doesn't bother me, but every night when I look in the mirror to see that whatever I've been trying hasn't helped at all, I'm thankful I have a job that keeps me behind a desk where I'm not seen. So I've pretty much gone through the same battle as when I was 17. I've been saying "well I'll try this, and this, and this" and "There's no way I'd take Accutane again." I went to my current derm and she wrote me a scrip for Differin or Retin-A, said that we would try that and the Yaz I was taking, and possibly if that wasn't enough, try Spiro, and If THAT wasn't enough, we could talk about Accutane. Well I've tried all but the Spiro, which I'm very reluctant to use that in conjunction with Yaz due to the potassium-increasing properties of both meds. Plus, the Yaz didn't do much, so I don't really have much faith that the Spiro will either.
Up until about this week I've been adamant that I wasn't taking Accutane again. I have however, been beaten down by frustration, broken faith, embarrassment, and the positive memories of Accutane's effects and the years following. Basically my next appt I will be bringing it to the table. I've had all I can emotionally take.
Sorry for writing so much. I'm very glad to have found a place where other people know where I'm coming from instead of people who say "Why don't you try washing your face more.." as if I'm dirty...
Lindsey

Hi all!

I`m new to this board, so i think it`s proper to introduce myself and my condition.

I won't reveal my real name, but you can refer to me by my nickname.
I`ve had mild to severe acne for over 5 years now. Nothing has worked so far, but now i`m in my second week with a "Exposed SkinCare" treatment, which consists of :

-2.5% benzoyl peroxide gel
-cleanser & tonic
-1% salicylic acid gel

Results so far:

-before the treatment, i had a number of large zits and inflamed portions under the skin. Now, there are no more big ones, but LOTS of small ones.
-no real improvement so far, but I will keep on trying. my problem is that i tend to pick on my face a lot, i can't stand whiteheads so i always pop them

Hi all!

I've started a blog on this site about my experience with the Medical Roll-Cit for my acne scars. Will upload pics very soon. I have day to day entries and pics from everyday. I had very little personal experience to go on when researching this procedure and thought maybe I could help others by sharing my real experience. Hope it helps someone!

~Eve

Hi All,

Im going to keep this short cause i know we all have the same kind of storys to tell
im 24 suffered severe acne since i was 12 tried everything under the sun , various antibiotics and accutane when a was 15. had alot of depression with tane and to be completely honest i was a shell of person on it and lost a year of my life whilst taking it and 6 months to recover afterwords to be honest i was never the same person after it. Anyways after keeping my acne reasonably acceptable for the last 4 years with doxycycline, yeah thats right four years taking 100mg daily of doxy i must be mad lol i have decided to take tane again. mostly because my girl left me (nothing to do with acne) and im fed up of this holding me with everything i do.

Thats about it really id post up progress pics but ive no got the balls lol

cheers all

Hey all, my name is John, I've had acne my whole life, scarred up mostly now. Just thought I'd check out some good facts I didn't know about acne and help others with info I have picked up on

Hello!

I have been suffering from acne for about 8 years now - I got my first pimple in 5th grade and by seventh my forehead was covered. I am now 20 years old and in my second year of college- with acne (what i've come to believe as being cystic) on my neck, cheeks, back and chest. It has "traveled" to different spots of my face and left those sweet, sweet reminders we all love to call scars.

I have been watching the forums and visiting this site for a while now and only just realized that it might be nice to join. I have tried literally about 95% of the OTC medications from the creams to the washes to the 3-step systems, but I have also been on Accutane prescribed by my family doctor and various other types of creams. I also gave Proactiv a try and that did not seem to do much for me. The only thing that the OTC products seemed to do was empty mine and my mother's wallet. Accutane screwed with my mind and made me sick, but it was the closest I got to anything ever working. I am thankful when the winter season comes because jackets and hoodies cover my back, chest and sides of my neck. During the summer I rarely will wear tank tops or anything that will show it.

Today I will be visiting a dermatoligist for the first time. Not sure what to expect yet but I really hope that she can help me out with a solution. Not only has acne ruined my teenage years, but it has lowered my self esteem to the point where I still cry about it at times. My boyfriend of two years tells me that he does not mind but that does not change how I feel about my face. When I am talking to a family member/friend or a customer at work, it is not hard to tell that they are looking at my acne, and not ME.


Sorry about the long intro and I'm sure there are other things, but that's just the jist.

Hi everyone, my name is Ben and I've been suffering with acne for 11 years.

I'm 27 and I still experience it. Throughout highschool and college, it was bad. I tried pro-activ, retin-a cream, every kind of scrub, cleanser, AHA, vitamin B5 pantothenic acid, EVERYTHING.

I was prescribed retin-a cream by a dermatologist at the age of 18. It worked to some extent, but it was quite harsh on my skin, as was pro-activ and any other acne treatments. My skin lacked resilience and flexibility on these treatments. The dermatologist actually told me I should be on accutane... But my mom did not allow this to happen.

I trucked onwards thinking "will accutane be my only hope? Even a dermatologist told me that is my ONLY hope..."

THEN, I discovered Dan's site, before these products came about, when he was simply using over the counter products.

I was super skeptical about the regimen. It made sense to me, but I was afraid to try it.

One day, I became totally frustrated and walked over to the grocery store to make another "what shall we try this time" experimentation in the skin-care products section (its size is a testament to how many people suffer with acne...). I remembered Dan's advice about BP, so I grabbed some 10% clean and clear BP wash, 10% persa-gel, and used my old toner (neutrogena) as well as some vaseline intensive healing (to sort of combat the dryness).

For about a year and a half, I stuck on my bootleg version of Dan's regimen, and it worked for me. The 10% DID work for me, BUT, it didn't keep me totally clear. I still have occasional breakouts.

I've come back to Dan's site a few days ago with the knowledge that BP DOES work, and am now speculating that it is basically the amount and methodology to utilize the BP that is the most key to success. Even on 10%, I was seeing results - which drove me back to Dan's site!

I just received Dan's products in the mail last night, and have begun "the regimen" on full dose. I've stepped backwards from using a very high concentration of BP, to a lower concentration, in hopes that it will clear up all the annoying breakouts that I get every few weeks.

I just wanted to share my story, and to let everyone know that BP does work. My face is very used to BP. Thus, I've decided to start up on the regimen full-dose. I'm tired of my face feeling overdry just to combat what acne I still have left. It's been 11 years!

The only thing I can tell folks on this site, is PERSISTENCE. Keep the stress low, hydrate, and do not give up on the regimen - IT WORKS. This is coming from someone who had acne terrible enough to the point where dermatologists would tell me that "accutane is my only hope." I had huge cysts, nodules, whiteheads, you name it. I was covered. I thought I'd never attain a face free of craters. WRONG - it all goes away with the right treatment.

The skin has incredible healing properties, and once that acne is under control, the scars seem to diminish over time. I still have a few pock marks, but just living life and keeping to a strict daily regimen has helped me a lot.

In closing, I want to say that Dan's products are excellent, as I've tried them last night. I have a lot of faith in this method. Sorry my post was so long-winded - acne has been a large part of my life and has greatly shaped who I am today. I actually feel more humbled and thankful in suffering through acne, and feel for everyone on this site. DON'T GIVE UP!

(i will post pictures soon)

-Ben

Hi everyone!! I just signed up for acne.org and I'm very excited. I've known about the site for a couple months and I've found the message boards quite helpful. It wasn't until a couple weeks ago that my acne has REALLY started to bring me down 100%.

I've been suffering from acne since I was about 13 and I'm almost 20 now. My acne is very interesting though. I started out only breaking out in between my eyebrows, then it spread to my whole forehead. It wasn't until I started college that I started to break out around my mouth. Now, the weird things is, is that I have never (and I literally mean never) have had one pimple on my cheeks. They are like porcelain. But anyways... I started going to a dermatologist when I was about 15 and he put me on every kind of oral and topical medication possible. Nothing worked! On top of that, I tried every acne system on the market from ProActiv, Murad, etc. and none of that worked either.

About two weeks ago, I really started to feel the emotional effects of my acne (mostly because it has gotten much, much worse). My mom suggested that I go to an esthetician that her friend with acne goes to. She did some microdermabration, a masque, and some electro-voltage. She recommended that I start using Dermalogica for cleansing my face and Mineralogie for my makeup (I refused to go out in public without makeup). I'm a little apprehensive to buy yet another skin regimen that is expensive and will fail, so I just wanted to see what all of you had to say.

I think it's great that there is a place where people can talk about their acne and I thank Dan for starting this amazing website.

So again, if anyone out there has similar problems, or just wants to give a helping hand to a desperate girl...I'M ALL EARS!

Thanks everyone!

Hello, I have recently joined becuase I needed a place to go and talk about my problems, Acne has taken over my life emotionally. I feel like udder crap and needed to go somewhere to talk.

this site has helped so much already, i have been doing the wrong things and expecting unrealistic results, i am starting dans regimen now, and am looking forward to some good results!

Hi, my name is Teraerae . I hope to meet a lot of people here.

I've been having sever acne for a month now. Before that I was fine. I had few breakouts on the chin and I covered it with makeup. Because of the make up I didn't realize that my acne was getting much worse. A month ago my face started feeling very tender and cystic acne came from almost nowhere. Using the oil cleansing method might have something to do with this. I put olive and castor oil on my face daily and at one point I left the olive oil out with te cap off. They say extra virgin oilve oil can turn rancid after being oxidized but I found that out too late. It may have a correlation to my outbreak.

I went to my primary care to see if they can help. My nurse tested me for bacteria and fungus infections. I turned out negative for bacteria but positive for fungus. That really scared me because I read that fungi were parasites and they can permanently damage your skin tissues. I finally got a dermatologist appointment on Nov 16th.

Right now I'm on doxycyline 100mg and ketoconazole 200mg. After 10 days on the doxycycline seems to be alleviating the pain. I started the ketoconazole 10 days after the doxycyline. I think both of them are working pretty well as the bumps started smoothing out a little bit. I also started running again, eating less sugar, meat and vegetable juice to be healthier and speed up the process.

I'm hoping for the best but my mom is very critical of me. I keep wondering if my face will ever clear up like before. My skin is very tender, touching it is painful and sometimes it itches A LOT. I try to find pictures of other members with the same acne severity to see what they did to improve it, but so far I've found none. My friend has suggested accutane but I can't take that until March because of insurance issues. I also do not want to take it because of the side effects. I'm worried about depression given my current situation.

That's my acne story and I hope to learn a lot more from this forum about being acne free and being healthy in general.

Thank you.

Hello all.

I'm new here, and I started a regimen log under diet/holistic. I'm trying NdnRomeo's plan, and I'll be keeping it updated at least once per week with my progress and how things are going.

I've had stubborn acne for about 13 years. I've been on about every prescription possible with no luck. I had one cycle of accutane about 7 years ago. That cleared up my back and chest (which still look decent) but didn't do anything for my face. I kind of got to the end of the road topical-wise because nothing seems to work. And oral antibiotics eventually started damaging my liver so I had to stop taking those. I've had no insurance or inadequate insurance for the past five years, and I've been in college, so i haven't been able to go to the dermatologist. But considering how totally unhelpful my last dermatologist was, I probably haven't been missing much. So at this point, there isn't much for me to do except wait to go on accutane again once I start my real career (teaching) in a year or so and get some real insurance--and hope it works this time. OR--best case scenario--Romeo's plan, or some other holistic-type plan works, and then I'm clear without accutane.

So yeah, that's what I'm up to. The most difficult part of Romeo's plan is definitely going to be getting off dairy products. I never realized until now that pretty much every food I like is a dairy product or has a dairy product in it (I LOVE CHEESE!). So if you have any advice about going without dairy, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks!

so im 16. a guy and i have acne. a lot of it.
lots of scars.. lots of hyp'n
i get whiteheads daily which i usually take the white off of or pop and get a scar.

ive had acne since i was 13. thanks for reading.

I've been battling my acne for a long time, I'm 19 and thankfully it's not as bad as it used to be. Now my acne is mild to moderate but I have yet to find a regimen that works and all the drugstore products dry my face out, including clinique which i paid a lot for. I've decided theres no use in using harsh chemical products, im trying more natural stuff like burt's bees, and I refuse to use salicylic acid (the source of my drying out) because I have sensitive oily skin and my acne is mild enough that I can use natural stuff.
So if anyone has some advice I'd love to hear it.
Thanks for reading

hey everyone I'm new here and I finally decided to tackle this problem

I've had acne since I entered puberty, then I lost it before I turned 20 at Spring break, two years ago and didnt get it again till after that summer, best summer of my life, as you can imagine...

acne has always been a problem for me because it sucks away my confidence with girls and sometimes just people in general. I never skiped class because of it but I have avoided social contact, just a few nights ago, I kinda stood up a really cute Polish girl and I still feel like crap about it

as for treating it, I decided to start reading up about it on the internet. Because of that time when I was acne-free, I figured nutrition probably had a lot to do with it, I just wish I could remember what I did differently. I decided to start by cutting dairy, soft drinks, bread and vegetable oil from my diet

I do have a few questions:

in the myth section of this website, they say there might be no connection between diet and acne, what are your thoughts? I've seen a lot of topics here where people seem to link the two.

I also read that other foods can cause acne, like rice, meat and pasta. I'm not ready to give those up just yet, not eating dairy or bread is a stretch as it is...

Also, without milk and bread, what can I eat for breakfast or tea? What can I snack on? And on Thursdays I only have 30 minutes to have lunch so I cant come home and cook and have to eat something at the university bar, what could they possibly sell that's not unhealthy?

anyway, I hope to learn from this website and to teach something in case I manage to do this

This is my story...which is sort of blurry I might add...SO I can't remember my skin being horrible, I don't think it's ever really been horrible, but it hasn't been great either. I think when I moved to Illinois from NY when I was 15, my skin hit rockbottom. I remember being in the hotel that I stayed in before I moved into my new house making this concoction with St.Ives Apricot scrub, some kind of liquid soap and Ambi fade cream saying "I'm just going to shock my face", yeah didn't work...from that point, I've tried Retin-A (sucked), Tazorac (sucked more) and Finacea (which worked fairly well, I was pleased until I found that it gave me blackheads which I had never had b4) I was going crazy with concealers, powders, u name it I tried it to cover my drama on my face!!
I'm almost 24 and it's been a journey, I've found that OD'ing on sugar, which I love to do causes a lot of problems i.e. Cystic Acne, which I've had for 3 years. After MUCH research, I'm on high doses of Vitamin A (150,000 iu's a day) and milk thistle to detoxify the liver, I drink at least two liters of water a day, a bottle of water mixed with chlorophyll and at least 3 servings of fruits and veggies. It's been hard, Proactiv sucked A** and so did murad. It's hard when ur friends have clear glowing skin, and then ur oily with big ol pores and a cyst or two...as I stated, my skin has never been THAT bad, but it's not great either. Now I'm on Dan's regimen tweaked, with added toner. This along with my supplements and New diet has gotten my skin 85% clear Now I'm working on eliminating tiny little bumps on the top of my cheeks...I think their Milia, I've tried popping them and nothing comes out, their just there and quite annoying...n e one having similiar issues with the bums

I just joined today about an hour ago. I've already started up my blog and hope that maybe just a few of you will follow my story and maybe swap tips ideas and other things that will hopefully move us towards less or no acne.

I'm 20, and go away to school, I'm in my junior year. I have been lifting weights for years, and pride myself in my physical appearance. I love the summer time, I'm tan, no pimple, tons of girls, etc. You get the Idea. Then school comes, no more sunlight to help cure my acne, prescriptions for antibiotics and facial cremes run out, and I'm stuck. Right now I haven't left my fucking room for a day, no gym, only ate twice. I don't know what to do. Lately I got a HUGE breakout on my face, around my mouth. Nasty white heads, it looks fucking gross. Yesterday I popped a bunch because I couldn't stand myself in the mirror. I found some left over benzoyl peroxide and put that on all day and before i slept last night, and today I STILL got new ones, maybe not as many as yesterday, but it's not improving. Improvement would be my face being generally clear. Body acne during the winter is one thing, I can conceal that with clothing. Facial acne is fucking ridiculous, I get self conscious and I cant even go to the gym, the one place where I feel super confident. I hate this, I'm so embarrassed I don't even want to go to the doctor, I feel like people would look at me like i'm a disfigured monster. Seriously, this shit is bad. I don't know what to do. I doubt anyone will even read this, but whatever, I'm skipping class all day today...I don't even know if i'll go to the gym. I might get food now, praying nobody is in the dining hall.

Hey i finally signed up after 3 weeks of stalking people on acne.org i finally tried to sign up and join the conversations. and im Aj btw you all can call me anything i hardly care
im 2 weeks into the regimen and so far ive seen the ups and down but i keep by head up and think positive
Thank you feel free to start a conversation(like i want that:P) or just msg me if you have suggestions or questions thanks!

Hey everyone new member here

I have just recently discovered this site, and I am going to give this Regimen a chance (if I can get my hands on the products). It seems to be rather expensive shipping over seas. Since I live in Denmark.
I already spent a lot of money on other treatments which did not work. So I guess I may to spend that extra money on the shipping.
The only thing so far working for me has been antibiotics, but I don't like using it due to the side effects.

-Ruben

Hi.. My names Lee im from Manchester UK, had acne most of my life im 23 years old and been getting it scince i was like 12!! ruined my life tell u that.

Im on Accutane at the min going up to about 5 months and im still breaking out bad style fucks me right off.

Hope that this treatment does work i red up loads about it an perantly it does do in the end i think im gonna need my treatment extending.

Making me feel dead low and stuff not going out no sochal life at the min due to these tablets i think its just 1 of the side affects that Come with it ehhh

well gonna stop rantin on now ill be ere all day!!! haha Nice meet ya ppl !

I don't post much but i've read so much and have watched all of Dan's videos. If you decide to read all of this, then I love you.

I ordered the starter kit a couple weeks ago, and as I waited for it to arrive I began on the Regimen with what I had laying around.

For the week leading up to my shipment of the Acne.org products, I used:

-Cetaphil cleanser
-Neutrogena Terminator 10 (10% Benzoyl Peroxide spot treatment)
-Cetaphil moisturizer

Within the first day my skin started clearing up and I was so surprised and happy. The 10% Benzoyl Peroxide was really powerful and got rid of my pimples within two days.

I then received the Acne.org products and even though I was having success with the other products, I decided to start on Dan's products.

I had the same successful results as I was previously having, except for a few breakouts here and there.

I discovered that the Acne.org Moisturizer is what causes my skin to become red. So I will sometimes use my Cetaphil moisturizer which is a little better and stings less.

During the first week my face became extremely tight, but after week 1 it started to loosen up and I bumped of the benzoyl peroxide from a dime size to thick half finger. I guess I am lucky to become so used to the benzoyl peroxide this quickly. I keep using more and more now because i am not experiencing a difference from when I only use a little to using a lot.

Well that's all I have to say for now, i'll keep posting about how my experiences are going.

soup_nazi

Hey my name is tom ive suffered from acne fromage 15 till currently now 26.It sucks.Waking up in the morning new break outs using a needle to pot several whiteheads then trying to enjoy the day but waiting for the next new arrivals.I just want to have clear skin like everybody else,just to see how feels not to wake up and worry about your face.Not having to conceal yourself in your room away from friends and family.work is the worst.Testing new products hoping one will work watching your diet while your friends and family comsume junk and dont even wash there face and have clear skin,You feal like an outcast perhaps a mutant in a way.A feeling distrought and low self esteem.I envoy everyone around me and watch as they live life normally not going for there dreams and if i just had there clear skin what a boost of cofidence and why they take life for granted.Walk in my shoes for just one day,week,months,years how do you feel.My life has been destroyed for 11 miserable years,what my life would be like if i never had acne.Peace no Peace,until this war is ended

Hi everyone! Im trying to decide which product line to carry at my spa. Image or vivant?? I heard good things about both. does anyone know anything about either one? which one is more effective? anything to help me make up my decssion? Thank you

Hello my name is Alex. I have perfectly smooth skin everywhere except my face.

Hi, Acne.org Users:

I'm new to the Regimen and was wondering if, when you apply the BP and moisturizer, if you get this flaky-pasty residue. What are you suppose to do?