I just joined the site and I'm looking for help. I have been suffering with adult onset acne for a while now. I have really painful cystic acne and it was under control for a while when I was taking birth control. I stopped taking the bc because it was killing my sex drive and I was getting horrible migraines all the time. Not to mention that I got worse PMS while on it and I was an emotional wreck each month. So rather than deal with that all the time I figured I'd see how bad my skin would be without it. 6 months later I'm starting to get really depressed about how my skin looks. I'm broken out all over my cheecks on one side of my face and my chin and between my eye brows. The dermo wanted to put me on accutane, but I said I wanted to exhaust my options first before dealing with a drug that could potentially cause far worse damage than acne.

I have taken oral anti-biotics in the past with not much improvement. I have really sensitive skin, so topical stuff almost always causes me to have a rash or some type of chemical burn if there's harsh chemicals in them. Even switching moisturizers or face cleansers tends to freak my skin out, so I try to avoid switching products a lot.

The Dr. put me on Duac about a month ago and at first I was just using it as a spot treatment because I didn't want to have a major reaction to it if I put it all over my face. That wasn't doing much so I decided to try a small patch on my chin and boy was that a mistake. My chin was actually fine, but I woke up the next day and one side of my face looked like I had a horrible burn. It got so red and sore and started to scab up the day after. I went back to using as a spot treatment but that really is useless. I can't figure out why if I used it on my chin a totally random patch of skin on my cheeks would get red and irritated, but either way, I'm done with Duac.

I have been reading a lot about this new stuff, Aczone, so I am going to go to the derm this week and see if he will prescribe that. From what people have said it can cause some dryness but I am hoping I wont have this horrible reaction with that as well.

Anyone else out there with super sensitive skin have any suggestions for what to use? Your help is greatly appreciated

Thanks!

2ra

I also have very sensitive skin, and I have found that a great moisturizer to use is Aveeno- Ultra Calming Daily moisterizer with SPF 15. It completely takes away my redness and it does not make my face oily or break it out. I have tried every moisturizer out there and I usually will break out. This is one I have used for over a year and it truely is amazing. I also use a face mask once-twice a week that has sulfur in it which completely calms my skin. Also, if I have a bad pimple I will leave the sulfur mask on just that spot over night and by the morning it is usually at least 80% gone. I have also switched my make up to bare escentuals which also has helped calm my breakout. Hope this helps. I was just prescribed Aczone 2 days ago- will be starting it tomorrow. Will post my results soon. (also- I have found tanning helps my breakouts on my face)---I know it is really bad for you- but after suffering 10 yrs with Acne-- I will tan 1-2x a week to keep it at bay.

Two essential questions, first:

1. What complexion type are you?

2. What percentage Duac lotion were your prescribed?

I have had to deal with these painful little bastards for way too long.

I found that using a rechargable facial brush helped in the prevention of new ones.

I do use proactive, not really sure but their mask seems to help a bit with the pain. But there are several other sulfur masks out there.

I also have started washing my face with Epsom salt. You can even use it as a mask ( it feels weird, but it really seems to be helping my face.) just look it up online. And it is cheap, you can get a bag of it for around 4 dollars or less. So I figure even if its not a 'cure' its also not breaking the bank.

Not sure if any of this will help you or not.