Regrets

I'm sure we could all look back and wish we'd found what works sooner, but the most important thing is that you find it. Don't regret what's gone before because you can't change it and that's a waste of your energy. Put your energy into being positive about the hear and now and you'll fix it eventually. Are you still taking antibiotics? Still pondering Accutane?

Hey thanks for the advice, I'm just constantly reminded of what I've done wrong so it's hard to ignore..
I'm still on antibiotics and still considering accutane. so not much new hey =/
How's things going for you?

You never know how the antibiotics will play out. May well be the case that you might not need Accutane after all. Time and patience...

I was in the same situation to be honest, was certain that I'd no options and that I'd just end up taking antibiotics time and again unless I got Accutane and could get rid of the acne once and for all. But I stuck with Doxycycline and I also made changes to my diet which has been the best thing I could have done and it's had more of a positive influence on my skin than antibiotics ever has. Nearly six weeks into diet changes whereby I've reduced the amount of dairy and yeast I consume (as I now know I have intolerances following a test) and my skin's clear for the first time in thirteen years. The good thing is that it's changed overall and it just doesn't seem like it's going to be producing acne anymore.

See, there are always options and ways you can change things, so don't give up hope.

Wow that's amazing news!!!! How did you figure it out? Did you try different things and just randomly figured it out? I mean when it comes to food it could be anything.. I know I'm lactose intolerant and I've cut it out completely but nothing has changed with that. I also tried cutting out gluten for a few months earlier without result.

Has doxycycline always worked for you? I've already tried antibiotics a few times and it's never got rid of my acne completely, it just made it less severe. In the end when i stop with the meds it all comes back.. I'd like to get a permanent result. Oh well, keeping my fingers crossed it's gonna work this time..
Your skin looks really good by the way!

Thanks!

I took an intolerance test at my local hospital and started eliminating some of the stuff which came back on the results. So many people who post in the holistic and diet section of the message board report how things like dairy are what causes their acne and it got me thinking that maybe there were foods which were prolonging things for me as well. Not only that, I could pin-point when my acne would get worse, usually after the weekend when I might be inclined to eat more dairy and spicy foods over the weekend, and drink beer.
That's why, when the results came back, it made sense that things like chillies and spicy foods were listed. It also listed processed cheese which would be something else I'd end up eating at the weekend on pizzas and stuff, and yeast which of course is in beer. I used to get pretty bad eczema, on my eyelids of all places, and that would really flare up each weekend. Nearly six weeks since I made the diet changes and the eczema totally vanished without trace after two years.
Boiled milk was also listed on the results and that was something I consumed daily in hot chocolate. Something seemingly as innocent as that may well have contributed to my acne for a number of years. I've cut that out completely now. Regular things like carrots and egg are on there too, so it's good information to know in order that I don't eat these things in huge amounts. If I have them only now and then, I guess my body will be able to process it and it won't matter. But it just couldn't handle the amounts I was consuming. That produces toxins which I assume manifested themselves as acne and eczema.
So I had a small idea in as much as that I could see these weekly patterns in how I was breaking out, but I didn't see the direct connection until I got the results.

Still taking Doxy, started month five of my six month course today. Next month, I'm going to take it every other day so that I taper off gradually rather than stop dead at the end of the course. The last time I stopped dead when taking Lymecycline, I had the breakout from hell which lasted almost a month. Hopefully the end of the course won't make my skin worse. I'm feeling alright about it because the Doxy has always been average at best so I know for a fact that the last five weeks of those diet changes and increased supplement intake - Vitamins A, B, D and fish oil - are directly responsible for me now being acne free. With any luck, they're doing the majority of the work for me now and I won't need the antibiotics anymore.

Every antibiotic I've taken has, to be fair, done a decent job. Especially in the first couple of months. In my case, I guess all they really could do was temporarily mask the negative effects of the intolerances. ;'No matter what I was taking or how I was treating the acne, seems it was always going to be a losing battle if my body was constantly producing those acne-causing toxins.

That's a great idea. Did you you ask them for an intolerance test then?
Imagine how much suffer that could've saved us if we'd known!
I hope the cause of my acne is something simple like dairy, that would make it easy to stop. I can't see where I get it from, I mean I know my mum and sister has had some problems too, but nothing compared to what I have, and theirs stopped by itself without any treatment what so ever. Life is so unfair.

Anyway I'm happy things are working out for you. I'm gonna have a look into the intolerance thing. Have you tried any other types of antibiotics the doxy? or always the same?

Sorry, I've only just seen your reply.

Yes, I asked my doctor about the intolerance test when I noticed that pattern between what I was eating and when I was breaking out the most. I think he referred me to the hospital mainly because I kept annoying him about my acne and I didn't really have any other options to look at because he said he wouldn't refer me for Accutane because my acne wasn't severe or cystic.

Still going well with the diet changes. I've had one notable breakout since mid-January and I kind of caused that myself. I certainly made things worse by picking, which I was still trying to get a handle on. I started to learn that I was most likely to pick whenever I was stressed, anxious or feeling insecure. I'd arranged to meet up with a girl at a concert that weekend and I get pretty anxious about it. I'm not really used to that kind of thing and I guess it was a bit too much. Maybe I'll learn how one day. Anyway, that triggered the picking and by the time the concert came around, I just didn't feel like going and I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. That was a bit of a learning curve as I'm starting to realise that I need to learn to better manage any situations which might trigger those feels and hopefully that will curb any urges to pick.

Between avoiding the picking and paying attention to the intolerances, hopefully that will keep things mostly clear. I'm tapering off the Doxy now. Taking it every four or five days so the last lot of pills is probably going to last another month or so, then hopefully that decrease will mean my system won't freak out.
I've taken Doxy a couple of time before, and Lymecycline, Oxytetracycline, and a few others. They're all along the same lines really so I'm hoping I can be done with them now.

Sorry, I've only just seen your reply. :)Yes, I asked my doctor about the intolerance test when I noticed that pattern between what I was eating and when I was breaking out the most. I think he referred me to the hospital mainly because I kept annoying him about my acne and I didn't really have any other options to look at because he said he wouldn't refer me for Accutane because my acne wasn't severe or cystic.Still going well with the diet changes. I've had one notable breakout since mid-January and I kind of caused that myself. I certainly made things worse by picking, which I was still trying to get a handle on. I started to learn that I was most likely to pick whenever I was stressed, anxious or feeling insecure. I'd arranged to meet up with a girl at a concert that weekend and I get pretty anxious about it. I'm not really used to that kind of thing and I guess it was a bit too much. Maybe I'll learn how one day. Anyway, that triggered the picking and by the time the concert came around, I just didn't feel like going and I didn't like what I saw in the mirror. That was a bit of a learning curve as I'm starting to realise that I need to learn to better manage any situations which might trigger those feels and hopefully that will curb any urges to pick.Between avoiding the picking and paying attention to the intolerances, hopefully that will keep things mostly clear. I'm tapering off the Doxy now. Taking it every four or five days so the last lot of pills is probably going to last another month or so, then hopefully that decrease will mean my system won't freak out.I've taken Doxy a couple of time before, and Lymecycline, Oxytetracycline, and a few others. They're all along the same lines really so I'm hoping I can be done with them now.

Thanks for the long reply!
Would you want to do accutane if you were offered it? Or do you consider you're acne less severe? It looks pretty good to me judging by the pictures! And I guess if antibiotics are doing it's job... But I totally get what you mean with triggers.. I know mine gets worse when I'm stressed about something and then that makes me even more stressed which leads to even more acne... It's a vicious circle!

I think the way forward for me personally is going to be to keep the diet and those triggers in check, and to cope better when I'm stressed, anxious, or even when my mood's just low. When the latter kicks in, I pick. Been there these last few days and I picked at my face, managed to create a few problems even though I don't have any notable acne to speak of. I was just picking and scratching I guess, now I've got to let that heal.

Beyond that, I just need to learn not to care. Haven't really got a clue how but it's the only way because, in my head at last, even the odd pimple looks bad and if I make it worse, I feel worse, so the whole thing just goes around and around. If I didn't care, I'd probably be happier and I'd probably be spending time with people; distracting myself from my skin and giving myself other things to think about. Just seems really hard to let go because I've been focused on it for so many years, those habits are still there even though the acne isn't so much anymore.

If things got worse to the point where a derm would say yes to Accutane, I'd take it in order to try and bring it all to an end for sure, but I might as well try and work with what I've got, learn to like myself and my appearance more, and just take care of it instead of being my own worst enemy.