35 replies to this topic

[JeNNa86]

Hello all! I've struggled with acne since I was 12 years old, I'm now 20. Every derm. prescribes me with retin-a or oral antibotics which I have never fully taken. I really don't want to have to go down that route but if the CSR and b5 dont help then that is going to be my only choice. I was on Proactive for awhile and it helped but I was not fully clear so I stopped. I havent been fully clear in 8 years!!! I am ready for a change!

I've been on b5 since June 17, 2006. In 8 more days I will have been on it for 3 months and I am still breaking out. I'm not sure whether to continue with it or not.

Last night I first started the CSR. I got Dan's BP in the mail and wanted to start ASAP.
I washed with purpose gentle cleansing soap then waited 15 mins. and applied Dan's Bp all over, one section of my face at a time. Then I moisturized with neutrogena healthy skin with aha.....I figured it would be okay to go ahead using this moisturizer since I was already using BP to begin with so my skin is pretty used to it.

I dont wake up until about 12pm so I take 6 pills of b5, then 7 in the evening-6pm, and 7 before bed- 1 or 2 am.

I had a huge nodule on my cheek and the doc prescribed me cephalexon, 1pill twice daily for a week at 500mg. I only take it for another 3 days and then 1 pill in the morning on the 4th day.

After the 4th day I'm going to take a probiotic from being on the antibiotic for a week.

Also, I'm taking 2 teaspoons of flaxseed oil daily. (One dose in the morning, one at night)

I try to exercise but I only weigh 100lbs so I dont want lose anymore weight so I'm just doing weights when I go to the gym. Also, I've been incorporating yoga to relieve stress just incase I am breaking out from stress. I'm not stressed though, but I could be and I just dont know it. LOL. I drink plenty of water and at home or dinner I drink water w/ lemon. I'm starting to change my pillow cases too so I'm sleeping on clean ones.




I'm trying to NOT:
Eat fast food, Drink anything but water, TOUCH MY FACE I.E. PICKING AT MY FACE it is a BAD BAD BAD BAD habit. I have to break it because I think my face will def. clear up if I stop picking, and it would eliminate some red marks! I'm also trying not to have my cell phone touch my face.

Hmmmmmmm.....I think this is long enough I hope you guys still read it since it's so long but if not I will post shorter messages in the future.

As for right now I will show u guys pics.....






Here is the left side of my face and my chin.....
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/cheerjen24/33.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/cheerjen24/222.jpg
Thats the bad side of my face..... below:

Attached Files

•  1.bmp   351.62K   293 downloads

[ampm]

Good luck!!

[tikvica]

welcome and good luck!

[JeNNa86]

Day 2

Things are looking better the big mark on my right cheek peeled off and now its just a red mark which is easy to cover w/ my makeup. The nodule on my forehead is still there from putting bp on my forehead when I never break out up there.
I was taking country time b5 vitamins and I just ran out of them so I have to go and buy more now. They didnt even last a week so I think I'm going to switch back to solaray.

I applied a aspirin mask only to the big nodule on my forehead for an hour and rinsed it off just to see if it would help since that's really the only active pimple that is bothering me. I know thats not part of the CSR.

For some reason I've had so many pimples this week that are hard and under my skin and hurt so bad I dont think the cephalexon is working and I cant wait to be off of it on thursday.

I will post more pics tomorrow and see if there is a difference from day 1 to 3 lol

[JeNNa86]

Day3 on CSR
Day 83 on B5

Well really no different today. I am pretty pissed to hear that the red marks are going to be bad while on the CSR. Why does BP make them worse and cause them not to heal?

Anyways, I'd still rather be clear!!!!

At least I dont have any new pimples but my face looks no different than it did the other day except for some of the nodules went down Here are pics.
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/che...24/IMG_0883.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/che...24/IMG_0882.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/che...24/IMG_0881.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c200/che...24/IMG_0880.jpg

[JeNNa86]

I'm in major depression today.The red marks that I had now look worse and the ones that had faded before I started are now red again. I had a derm appt. today and he thinks I really should go on minocycline and retin a he thinks it will be the best combo seeing the red marks I have and few cysts. Of course, my mom thinks that is the best plan. My derm feels very strongly that I will clear from the antibiotics/retin a. Ugghhh I am so confused who to trust or what to do Any advice?

[tinman]

Hi JeNNa86,

My advice to you is to stick with the CSR. Red marks may take longer to fade for some people, but they actually faded quicker for me. This was down to my using a moisturizer with AHA in it.

Besides, if the CSR clears you of spots, the red marks will only be a temporary inconvenience anyway.

Whatever you decide, stick with it religiously, and give it a good amount of time to work before giving up.

By the way, in my experience, the best thing you can do to help your regime is get enough sleep.

Good luck!

[JeNNa86]

Thank you! I get like 10 hours of sleep at night! LOL I cant imagine what my face would look like if I didn't!

[JeNNa86]

Day 5 CSR
Day 85 b5

5 new little pimples. The redmarks/eft over acne is not going anywhere. When I was on proactive my pimples would heal over night. I am very down. I was reading about the CSR and Dan says expect to clear on week 1 and break out on week 2.....But I broke out on week one! I was using the proactive BP before the CSR so maybe I'm breaking out from switching brands?

[JeNNa86]

Same day.

I broke down today. I went to put makeup on before class and I looked so awful I didn't even want to go outside. I started crying so hard for 30 mins. Then I looked even worse so I just didn't go. This is such an embarassment being 20 and feeling like the only one with acne. *Sigh* My mom is making me take the minocycline and stop taking B5. My acne has gotten too bad this month. At least I can say I tried B5 and it didn't work and never have to wander.

So now I'm taking minocycline 100 mg 2x's a day.
And I'm going to continue using the CSR

Also, I added prayer into my regimen. Yes, I know it sounds silly but for the past two nights I have prayed that my acne will clear up. I'm such a good hearted person that I don't deserve this! lol. Hopefully God will understand.

Im in such depression that I have cried practically all day. Acne is just stressing me out too much and I need to quit letting it get to me because more and more will just come. And then I get so frustrated that I want to pick at it and then I become more mad later that I touched it.

NO MORE AM I GOING TO PICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[baberella]

Same day.

I broke down today. I went to put makeup on before class and I looked so awful I didn't even want to go outside. I started crying so hard for 30 mins. Then I looked even worse so I just didn't go. This is such an embarassment being 20 and feeling like the only one with acne. *Sigh* My mom is making me take the minocycline and stop taking B5. My acne has gotten too bad this month. At least I can say I tried B5 and it didn't work and never have to wander.

So now I'm taking minocycline 100 mg 2x's a day.
And I'm going to continue using the CSR

Also, I added prayer into my regimen. Yes, I know it sounds silly but for the past two nights I have prayed that my acne will clear up. I'm such a good hearted person that I don't deserve this! lol. Hopefully God will understand.

Im in such depression that I have cried practically all day. Acne is just stressing me out too much and I need to quit letting it get to me because more and more will just come. And then I get so frustrated that I want to pick at it and then I become more mad later that I touched it.

NO MORE AM I GOING TO PICK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i really feel for yoy!my skin is pretty similar to yours.i have been opn the csr for 5.5 weeks and thimgs are just getting worse!i am debating taking a antibiotic.i am v depressed as well!i spend all my time and money on acne related stuff and i have two young kids who should be the top priority-well thet are but this comes a close second! let me know how you go lol x

[SPaHB]

hi jenna, i can say that sleep and stress make huge differences with acne. when i get stressed/worried over long periods of time i notice the week after i break out like crazy.. and we both know the best thing to do is not to pick, it's hard and yes i do give in a little bit and get mad at my self afterwards too lol. hang in there! i found that it helps to GENTLY exfoliate with a bath scrub brush, the bristel kind. this helps make-up go on smoother. just don't scrub hard if you are going to try it.
-best wishes

[Wəəgəə]

Hey Jenna,

I really hope this clears you up. I know what it's like to be depressed all the time. Especially when you've got other issues to deal with, then you've got this stuff to worry about. Doesn't sound easy but try not to think about it. I've tried many things but unfortunately my skin is too bad for 'normal' stuff so I had to get Accutane. So, I'll keep up with your log and here's to clear skin!

(you have a pretty name btw )

[JeNNa86]

(you have a pretty name btw )

Thanks

Anyways when I woke up this morning things were looking better. It could be because I applied less BP maybe my skin just got too irritated. Anyways now all the red marks looks like scabe and a couple of them peeled off during the day but my skin was real pink underneath (at least it didnt bleed so I know the scabs were ready to come off since they were starting to do so on their own.) I will definitely post new pics up later when I wash my face tonight. Hopefully I wont break out from my stress yesterday.

I popped one whitehead today because I HAD to and it looks fine now but at least I didn't go on a picking frenzy!! I'm so proud of myself!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REPLIES I FEEL MUUUUUCH BETTER today! I'm so glad you guys understand how I feel.

[twred321]

make a punishement for yourself touching your face, dont mattter how severe it is - it should help get rid of habbit.

[JeNNa86]

make a punishement for yourself touching your face, dont mattter how severe it is - it should help get rid of habbit.

LOL funny how you say that, I just got a rubber band and everytime I want to touch I am going to start to pull it.

Day 6 CSR
Day 2 Minocycline

New pics.... Tell me what u think and be honest!! Nothing will hurt my feelings. LOL I promise.
Forehead
Chin
Right cheek
Left cheek

[tinman]

Reminds me very much of how my skin used to look. Except that my big bumps were slightly fewer than yours (although they were worse than yours too, with surrounding large areas of redness). I'd describe your acne as "moderate" or "moderate to severe", looking at your left side. As such your skin will probably need three full months to clear with the CSR. But hopefully sooner!

[JeNNa86]

Tinman, I definitely think it will take three months to clear me! Buttttt HOPEFULLY *crosses fingers* Sooner!

And guess what?

Today I woke up with NO new pimples!!!!!!!!!WOOOHOOOOOOOO Hopefully I don't get any thoughout the day. Just a few days ago I had like 3-4 cysts. All my pimples dried up as a scab lookin/redmark.

[Malcolm Cringe]

A little skillfully blended concealer never hurt a guy.

Cam >B)

Doesn't look too bad at all, stick with it. Luckily it looks more red than bumpy, which you can cover up with make up. I'm a guy, so I don't have that option, I go out all greasy lmao.

[JeNNa86]

Yeah it more red marks. No active acne, which is a first because usually when I wash my face I feel all the bumps under my skin and now I don't!!!!