7 replies to this topic

[Daisyinthedesert]

My daughter is 12 - she will be 13 in December. She started breaking out in quite nasty pimples last year at the age of 11. I started her on Proactiv and it worked a treat! ALL her pimples cleared up beautifully. Unfortunately, being a youngen' she got quite slack and stopped using it. ALL the pimples came back in full force by last November. And steadily got worse.

She started high school (year 7) this year. She finds school hard work because she is dyslexic and so is quite embarrassed enough without being the ONLY kid in Year 7 to have such bad skin.

I tried to put her back on the Proactiv, but the skin just got worse. In the end, I took her to our GP about 5 weeks ago - she put her on Epiduo cream (every night) and Doxy tablet which she takes every morning. I've also put her on a "teen" multi vitamin and a fishoil tab every night. I've also bought herthe Cetaphyl cleanser and moisturiser because of their gentle and anti-soap properties.

Well, so far everything seems worse. The pimples are still very red and cover her face - especially on her cheeks and the sides of her face and her forehead. there are almost pimples upon pimples, it's very distressing as her mum not to be able to do anything for her. So far, though, she's only had one huge crying episode about her face, she's one strong little girl!

She hasn't had any reaction to the tablets and I make sure she eats something with them or at least has a glass of milk with milo. Her diet is excellent compared to most of her friends, she loves eating fruit, loves salads and will eat lean meats and vegies. I know it's mostly hormonal - the GP said the pill might be the answer, but she hasn't even had a period yet, so I don't want to go down that road until her body develops a little more.

The first few weeks were quite painful on her skin - burningsensation and quite dry, but theCetaphyl moisturiser worked well on her skin and now there doesn't seem to be as much burning. It is winter here in Australia so the sky is quite overcast, am a bit worried about the sun in summer.

The only real difference I've noticed is a heap of blackheads have appeared amongst all the pimples on her cheeks - I'm hoping it's just the combination of the tablets and the cream which is bringing them out and it's a good thing!

We have another GP appt in 6 weeks' time - I'm hoping her skin has improved - if not, I might ask for a referral to a dermatologist. I'm scared of scarring on her skin and worried about her self esteem. She's also due to get braces at the end of the year. Bloody hell, being a teenager can be great, but the bad things really suck!

From Daisy x

[AmaraG]

hi Daisy,

Sounds like you and your daaughter are doing the best you can so Im sure youll fine what works soon

One thing" if I read correctly your daughter takes the doxy with food/milk? That can actually make her absorb less of the medicine so its better if she takes it early than eats later. I know with me, it made a big difference not eating with the meds.

Also, maybe being on bc might help her but watch out for side effects with that some have a lot more than others and the generic versions I wouldnt rrecommend at all. I too ortho cyclen for years without negative effects but when I switched to generic I noticed a huge difference and not in a good way.
Most important be there to support her and it sounds like youre already doing that so good luck to you and her both, hope this helps

[Ivy.]

That's great you're there for your daughter! What a wonderful mom.

Yeah that's iffy about the BCP - they really mess with your hormones, and for most people when they don't take the pills consistently, they still break out - of if they stop the pill altogether, their acne comes back worse then before.

Hopefully the antibiotic does something, I know for my sister they did virtually nothing but she had super inflammed cystic acne all over her face.

[lilahv26]

Awesome that you're so there for your daughter!! Its going to help her so much to have an ally in you fighting her acne.

One thing I would be wary of though is going on hormonal birth control so young. Her hormones are trying to sort themselves out now, and in the long run she's going to have less problems if you let them do their thing naturally. I think part of why I've struggled so much with acne post BCP is because I went on birth control so young, my hormones never had a chance to really "finish" puberty. I started on the Depo Provera shot at 15, was on it consistently until about 22.5 which is when I started birth control pills, and then I just quit those six months ago, first time without artificial hormones in my body since I was 15. Now, in addition to acne, I'm struggling with so many female problems. I know Depo shuts down your body's production of progesterone and by starting new artificial hormones (birth control pills) right after that it probably never started again... and so I probably have my own hormones in my body for the first time since I was a teen. Yikes. Anyway, I started the Depo for irregular periods (very irregular, sometimes I would get my period for a whole month straight). I should have just rode it out and let my body finish doing its puberty thing... because now I'm just dealing with the same things later in life when its NOT normal to have those problems!

[micheniche]

How about medical grade skin products? Man your daughter is stronger than me. I cried god knows how many time over my skin!

Edited by micheniche, 05 June 2011 - 05:36 PM.

[Daisyinthedesert]

Well, it's been about 7 or 8 weeks since I last posted and we think we have found some success! For the past three weeks, we have been on a new regimen and it's working so far! Basically, we stayed on the Doxycycline and Epiduo for maybe 3 months all up. My girl's skin didn't really clear up but it was certainly less red and "angry" looking, but all the bumps were still there and she was still awfully embarrassed by it all. The only real improvement was that most of the pimples had cleared up on her chest, but her face and back and shoulders were still really bad and quite painful too!

We went back to our GP to get a refil for the Epiduo and while we were there, she said we could continue on with the Doxy or move to something she thought would be a bit stronger. We said yep, let's go for it. My daughter will be a bridesmaid for the first time in January for my brother's wedding and is desperate to have better skin by then!

So, the GP kept us using the Epiduo cream every night and put us on Minocycline tablets - 1 every morning and 1 every night. I also became very strict about how she took care of her skin and she now has to use the Cetaphil face wash every morning and every night. We also put on the Benzac AC 2.5% cream every morning. This goes on her face, back and shoulders.

Anyway, it's only been 2.5/3 weeks since we started this regime - and I am THRILLED to say that MOST of the pimples on her forehead have now gone, the ones on her back have settled tremendously and seem to be fading and the ones on her nose and cheeks are still very visible, but seem to be slowly improving. This is an incredible result and we are rapt. She is soooo happy and that is the best reward I could get - I think she realises now that this is something she has to work at and my nagging her was actually all for the best! She's also started having a quick shower every morning (she used to only shower at night-time) as I explained how the sweat and oils can build up on her skin and it was best to put the cream on a freshly washed back, etc.

My daughter has had no problems at all with the change of medication and her skin has pretty much gotten used to the BP and the extra BP every morning. She no longer has any peeling and hasn't for weeks and it is no longer painful to put it on. Also, since using the extra BP and the change in medication, the blackheads that had broken out around her nose and cheeks have almost disappeared - you have to look really closely to see the few that are left.

So, so, so happy. It's a slow, long process but the hard work so far has been worth it! My daughter is still such an innocent - only 12 1/2 and still likes playing games with her friends etc - and it's so hard to see them deal with such an affliction. Particularly when very few of her friends have pimples and none have had acne as bad as her.

Hopeful that all of you who read this get some heart - stick with a regimen faithfully and give it a go - it's been 4 or so months since we've tried these two medications, creams and various vitamins, etc. Finally, some good news!

Daisy xx

[emmieri]

Aw, let her know we're rooting for her! I know how she feels, I started getting bad acne at age 10 and it was quite rough being the only one at school with acne at that age. (I'm 21 now.)

I'm glad things are looking better for her! It takes a lot of experimenting with different medicine combinations to manage difficult acne. Things will always get worse before they get better, so hang in there! You're a great mom for doing this research for her.

[dollyjoon]

u seem like such a great mother!!!
and im so sorry about your little girls face
i will keep u both in my prayers!!