Things are looking up

For the first time in a loooong time I haven't broken out with any new cysts in 2 weeks. Actually been afraid to say anything here so as not to jinx my good run.

A little background - 39 y/o female been dealing with hormonal adult acne on and off since 14 y/o.

In December started Spironolactone about 2 months ago bumped up to 100mg a day.
Around May started exfoliating every other day w/ Avon Anew glycolic peel retexturizing pads (Thanks Wynne)
Last month switched to organic dairy and started using Aczone topical gel.

I am not sure which of these things (or maybe combo of all) is working for me but this is the longest I've been clear in years. I don't know how long it will last but for now I'm gonna keep doing exactly what I'm doing..


Not posting this to gloat but to let others know from someone who has been down and struggling for a really long time to hang in there. One day out of the blue things can totally turn around

Anyone been on Niacin for 3 months or longer?

I've seen a lot of recent posts about Niacin success but everything I read is from folks who just started it, nothing from anyone who has been on it longterm.

So my question is for those who have been taking Niacin (the non flush variety) more than 3 months, can you please tell me:

A. What kind of longterm results are you seeing with your cystic acne that can be directly attributable to niacin?

B. What kind of side effects have you experienced?


I am concerned that on the bottle at the pharamacy it says Niacin may cause sudden drop in
blood pressure. I have normally low blood pressure and am taking spironolactone which makes it even lower, so that could be really bad for me.

As well I have a history of liver sensitivity, e.g. when I was taking the antibiotic Bactrim for my acne for just one month I was hospitalized with toxic hepatitis - it took me months to recover.

I also have some small red broken capalleries on my cheeks that looks like rosacea, I would def want to avoid the flushing form of Niacin because that could make it even worse.

Isolating

I’ve been going through an isolation phase lately and it’s 95% due to my acne. The other 5% is that I’m laid off, and can’t really afford even the gas money to go too many places.

I’m in a bad place emotionally and financially. I am unemployed, single, no children (even though I still desperately hope and pray that I may still be able to have one) have no real prospects career or relationship wise and am 39 y/o. There is never a time when my face is completely free of cysts on the lower half of my face. And where there aren’t cysts there are red marks and scars to show where other cysts have been.

I know I shouldn’t but I have been purposely staying home A LOT, avoiding people and places, men, dating, even my own friends and family at times...the discomfort and judgment is just more than I can bare.

When I do venture out for food or water or basic necessities, I just pray that I won't run into anyone that I know....of course I always do.....Then I’ll go a whole week without leaving the house at all and then I’ll go out on some short errand like to get gas, post office, and grocery store thinking I don’t look THAT bad but then I’ll catch a glimpse of myself in daylight or in the pharmacy mirror under those bright lights and my goodness, I just can’t wait to get back home and isolate some more.

I keep trying new meds. I keep hoping it will pass, that the new meds will work and my skin will clear…That I’ll get a job and meet someone and everything will fall into place…..then I’ll have to force myself out and people will have to accept me as is, that eventually something will give. But it doesn’t and it hasn’t and I’m losing hope that it ever will.

Everyday I take my pills, put on my topicals, wash my pillow cases and sheets, clean my make up brushes, try to avoid stress, eat all the right foods, do positive things to work on my mind, body, and spirt, and I hope and pray that my skin will improve but despite it all.....everyday the cysts keep coming.

I know what everyone will say – that I should not let acne stop me from enjoying things but the truth is I don’t enjoy myself when I am out in public with a chin full of painful cysts, makeup caked overtop of them trying to conceal the horror, people judging me in poor lighting, and just knowing that the stress of the whole exposure will make more cysts appear.

Somedays I truly feel like I’m sinking and I don’t’ understand why after battling this horrible infliction for 25 years it just keeps beating me down further and further. I don’t know how much further I have to fall. Or how much more I can really take.

Acne and the Beach

Just curious with summer well under way how are you ladies handling being at the beach or in pools, on boats, etc. with acne? Are you wearing makeup, going bare, or avoiding those summer activities altogether?

For me it's very hard to leave the house without make up to cover my red marks and the one or two cysts that I always seem to have on my chin.

I HATE the thought of going to the beach wearing makeup, but I also don't want to be mortified the whole time I'm there and not enjoy myself.

Was just wondering what your beach routine is, particularly if you have cysts. Do you cover them or no?

Going organic

Just had my latest checkup at the dermo and she was really shoscked that I'm STILL not clear (she even said she felt like crying for me) and showed up with 3 new whopping cysts on my chin (Hormonal acne sufferer here) despite being on spironolactone for 6 months now and upping my does to the highest level that me and my Dr's are comfortable with.

She gave me some new topical stuff, Aczone which is supposed to help with the inflamed kind of acne that I have. And then she happened to casually mention as an afterthought on her way out the door, "Oh and make sure you are eating mostly organic, milk and meat."

I was suprised as I have been seeing numerous dermos within this same practice for the past 25 years! I am almost 40 and the chin acne is still as bad as it was when I was a teenager, if not worse. And never in all that time has any one of them ever mentioned diet changes. They always just write out prescriptions for everything under the sun and nothing has worked. the spiro has helped but it's just not enough to keep me clear.

Anyway, I just came back from the grocery with a stock of organic milk, cereal, juice, meat, and bread.

I hope and pray this is the magic bullet I have been waiting for all of these many years. We shall see.

Can anyone tell me how long it should take for me to see results of changing to the organic diet?