28 replies to this topic

[May853]

Second day of using Dermify. I know it's way early to tell anything, but my oiliness is much less than usual. One of the reasons I wear makeup all the time is b/c of the oiliness that only enhances my skin's uneven tone. The mineral makeup seems to slow down this process, or make it less noticeable. But I just put on my makeup, and I didn't have to blot at all. Pretty sweet. I have noticed before, though, that often when I change regimens, my oil production will slow down briefly, and then pick back up once my skin adjusts. So we'll see, it could be just that.

I am still waking up with random whiteheads. But they're not super huge or anything. Anyway, I just passed ovulation so I think I should have broken out worse than I did. That's been normal the past few months anyway. Maybe I'm finally adjusting to not being not spiro anymore. I'll keep updating.

[May853]

So I've been using Dermify for roughly two weeks. So far, I like it. My overall oiliness is definitely down. While I'm not 100% clear, I'm also at the point in my cycle where I typically have my worst breakouts, and it's not so bad this time. I've been trying to be really religious about using the Dermify exactly as it says to on the instructions - wash AM & PM, mask 3 times a week, and then post Atralin, as a spot treatment. I've noticed some dryness around my mouth lately, b/c I think at night sometimes I forget to moisturize. Whoopsie. Overall things are not so bad. Trying not to get my hopes up, but figured I'd give a progress report.

[May853]

Okay, so now it's been a little over a month since I added Dermify. My oiliness is still down by a lot, so that's nice. Still having minimal break outs. I like the texture of my skin, though. I am trying my best to keep my hands off of my face, and remember to moisturize, as I am getting a bit of dryness around my mouth and chin areas. I seem to be drying out in general, as the weather is finally a little cooler here and the humidity is down. I have also been taking evening primrose oil, but it's only been about 2 weeks since i started that. I'm hoping it'll help with my hormones and stuff. Mainly I take it for boob soreness around my period, but figured it can't hurt my skin either. Sounds like cool stuff.

[lameleah]

Hi may I'm following this log. Hope it all works for you. It's precious that you keep writing all this time. Thanks for giving a long term reference!

[May853]

Thanks, I had no clue if anyone was reading at all.

Well, I had nil for a breakout the week before my period, which is usually not super bad anyway, but I have had something pop up then. Maybe the EPO is helping to a degree. But true to form, this week (period week), I am experiencing a fresh batch of whiteheads, which reared their ugly faces yesterday. Fun!! However, most of them do seem to be fading already. Even as soon as last night. But there are still new ones that are popping up, so I don't know when this will end. So here's how things are for me normally: At this point, I have about 2 weeks out of the month with essentially clear skin then I have the week of my period, when things seem to erupt consistently and then I am not usually healed until around the time of ovulation. So things are definitely hormonal. Only thing is, I can't take spiro or bcp. Plus if I do mess with my hormones, it seems that things get worse acne-wise after I stop. This has now happened 3 times in my life - both times after stopping bcp after being on it several years each time, and then when I got off of spiro.

My sister in law goes to a homeopathic doctor who is also a RN, so I am thinking about seeing her if my hormones continue to plague me in this way. I think I will give the EPO some time to help, though. What is a few more months?

[May853]

This months' breakout is terrible in my opinion. And it's itchy! I don't like that. It reminds me of when my face first broke out from Dan's BP. But I haven't changed anything topically, so I don't know why I would be having an allergic breakout. Ugh. I should go to that homeopath and see if I have food allergies. I have been eating a lot of chocolate lately (PMSing) but other than that I can't figure out why this breakout is so bad. It's around the periphery of my face, so when i look at myself in the mirror it's not awful, but on the sides it is. Boo. I am so sick of this.

[May853]

Okay, so I saw my dermatologist a couple of weeks ago, and we've now added one more thing to my regimen. He suggested that I might like Skinceuticals Blemish and Age Defense serum. If I had known it was essentially the same as that PTR gel I was using at the beginning of all this, I wouldn't have purchased it. It's a Salicylic acid/Glycolic product, and so I'm not optimistic at all, as I didn't see any kind of results from that product. He offered (at a cost ) the services of his resident esthetician for help during my monthly breakouts, and I'm thinking about it, but haven't been to see her yet. I've always wondered if facials would do much of anything at all.

However, I have also tweaked my regimen and have been using the Lush Dark Angels cleanser that I've had lying around for a long time. What the heck, right? So I've been using it daily - sometimes at night and sometimes in the morning, and I think it's helping minimize my period breakout, which seems much less horrifying this month. ((Shrug)) I'll keep on with that and see if it continues to help, as my monthly breakouts fluctuate as far as severity. I think I'm going to commit to using the Dark Angels at night and the Dermify in the morning, b/c Dermify is second to none in helping combat oiliness. I've also added an eye cream, but hopefully that won't affect the other stuff. I just look really sad lately. Like I could stand to sleep for 5 years or something.

Also I hate Cetaphil Lotion. I used it last night b/c I'm out of the Skinceuticals daily moisture stuff, and I looked like a grease monkey when I woke up. I can't stand using that stuff on my face - it seems like it just sits on top of my face and never absorbs. I am only going to use it for my body from now on.

Well that's where I am. Cheers.

[May853]

Went and had a facial Saturday. I stopped the Atralin two days prior but didn't realize that waxing was still a no-no. Apparently I got off easy with this stupid breakout as a result of waxing - it could have ripped the top layer of skin off. The wax was some supposed to be more gentle than some and she didn't leave it on but for a couple of seconds before ripping it off. LOL I'll take my non-noticeable upper lip hair to this whitehead mustache instead. Oh, geez, what next?

Other than that, the facial was nice and relaxing. She said my pores were reasonably clogged and that they looked better after she was finished. It wasn't with my dermatologist's esthetician as they aren't open on Saturdays. I did think she was going to break my nose off when she was doing the extraction haha.

She gave me some samples of moisturizers and a mask. One of the moisturizers seems pretty nice - very non-greasy. I always need that. I have to keep reminding myself that oilier skin equates to fewer wrinkles, but I do get annoyed with my shiny t-zone. I'll be trying the mask tonight probably. The products are Dr Grandel brand, or something like that.

I barely had any PMS symptoms last month and I think I have the EPO to thank for that. The lack of boob soreness is enough to warrant my continuing to take it in my opinion. I also didn't spot like I have been for MONTHS for the 5 days before I actually start. I didn't miss that at all and my husband didn't either. So it looks like the EPO is starting to do stuff on the hormonal front - fingers crossed my skin is the next side effect!!

So as of now, if I hadn't gotten waxed, I'd look pretty decent.

[May853]

Okay, so I've been STILL breaking out. Location-wise, it's definitely hormonal, but I don't even see real rhythm with my cycle. Sometime I break out pre-period, sometimes post, sometimes around ovulation, etc, etc... I saw the dermatologist's PA (first time with him) about two weeks ago, and although I was relatively clear with nothing inflammatory going on at that time (as is always the case when I see the derm), I complained and he gave me some suggestions. One suggestion he had was adding Acanya, which contains BP, which I still have serious reservations about. I do not deny it did wonders for my acne, but my skin condition was not great while on it. I think anyone who uses BP knows exactly what I am talking about. Acanya also contains clindamycin, so what he did was prescribe a clindamycin phosphate lotion for me to trial for two weeks. If that did any good, then he would strongly recommend using Acanya. At the same time I started using the clindamycin phosphate, I also started washing with a sulfur soap (Grandpa's something rather) and using a Clarisonic once daily. I was pretty clear for the past two weeks or so, and then today and last night have started having a whitehead breakout (my period has just ended). I have one inflamed spot also.

So this morning, very trepidatiously, I added a tiny li'l bit of BP (left over acne.org stuff that wasn't expired) to the clindamycin and put it only on the lower area of my face (where a dude would have a beard basically). This was also something he said I could do to keep my skin from developing resistance to the clindamycin. I am anticipating redness and itchiness from the BP, but I plan to do this every other day to start and if need be build up to once a day. Hopefully ever other day will be enough? Wishful thinking. That assumes my skin won't rebel full force again. So here goes nothing.

Anyone who is new to my log, just ignore that regimen I have listed. It's changed now, plus it didn't work. I'm still on atralin and not using dermify.

Digestion-wise, I'm starting to have problems again, and I am thinking about going to that naturopath. Perhaps all this crap is related, and helping one thing will help another.

Alright, well, sorry for the lousy update.