38 replies to this topic

[Spotthedifference]

'Allo dudes and dudettes!

So, I bit the bullet and went and saw a derm. Natural remedies were working somewhat but I've been quite distressed about my skin lately, and I've been picking really badly as a result of it.

He said my acne is likely hormonal and tried suggesting a birth control pill, but I explained to him the reasons why I can't go on that again (heightened risk of a stroke anyone? Oh, how I love being unique). Then he told me to take antibiotics for 6 months and use Duac gel once a day. He said I should only start seeing any possible improvement after 2-3 months and that it isn't guaranteed to help. He also said my acne is mild but picking at it has made it look a lot worse, and has probably made it spread too.

He suggested using a moisturizer after the Duac as he said it'll burn and make my skin dry. He also said that it might get worse before it gets better and that I'll stay clear once I get off the antibiotics (if I get clear) only if I'm lucky. The doctor also said to stop touching my face, to only wash, use Duac and moisturize and put an emphasis on how the treatments were meant to make me 'feel better' and that there's no cure for acne. Apparently my acne might go away on it's own with age.

Although the derm was really cool I can't help but be in the current mind set of 'it won't work, and if it does it'll stop working after a few months'. I somehow feel like I'll never have clear skin again and that it'll only go away once I'm old and have wrinkles to deal with. I'm also nervous of the damage that the antibiotics and BP may cause, despite being reassured to the contrary. I may start taking pro biotics just incase.

I currently have several scabs on my left and right cheeks, chin, forehead, and next to my eyebrows. I also have a burn on my right cheek and next to my chin on the left side from nail polish remover (I forgot I still had that on my nails. Oops.)

I suppose at least it's not really painful like cystic acne.

Here's some photographs from the start:

http://i1324.photobu...ik/IMAG5825.jpg

http://i1324.photobu...ik/IMAG5824.jpg

Edited by Spotthedifference, 15 November 2012 - 11:50 AM.

[Miss Soloist]

Hey there, you're on the same as me! Except the duac (which i found too irritating). I was actually one of the rare ones who was cured of acne from antibiotics (when i was younger). You should be fine and I expect that given that your acne is mild you'll probably clear up fast and very well. Unfortunately the trade off is that all treatments have side effects, some people feel them to a greater or lesser degree but you won't know until you try it.
You're very wise to take probiotics, they'll certainly help protect your stomach.

Unfortunately for me my acne returned and has become cystic (nothing to do with antibiotics though) so i'm just on these to follow the protocol and as a precusor to the dreaded Roaccutane. Sighs.

[Spotthedifference]

Hi! Thanks for your reply. That's really interesting - tetralysal buddies! Haha. Thankyou for the reassurance, it's nice to hear that antibiotics do at least work for some people. I'm quite willing to live with some dryness and the like - I don't tend to be allergic to things so hopefully the Duac won't be too harsh on my skin, but we shall see in a few minutes.

I went out and bought some organic yoghurts and probiotic drinks. I might look into some tablets and other sources tomorrow too.

I'm really sorry to hear that it came back for you. You seem lovely and it's unfair that you have to deal with it. I sincerely hope that accutane works for you - if you ever need anybody to talk to about it then I'm here for you Will you be making a log for the Roaccutane?

[Miss Soloist]

Yes you'll be fine with them, tetrasyl (lymecycline) is one of the better antibiotics as it has less side effects than minocycline. The only thing i'd advise is make sure you drink quite a bit of water when you swallow the pill. I take mine with food as otherwise i get a bit of an upset stomach. You might find that it has a bit of an aftertaste but it's nothing to worry about.

Yes, i can quite easily say it's been the most horrific experience of my life so far. Thank you. Acne is such a distressing thing, i'm here for you too . Actually i am terrified to take accutane. Really i am! But i'm feeling desperate as my acne is scarring pretty bad. I've never had scars on my face before so it's been very traumatising. I look around at all the young women my age (and their clear skin) and i feel so set aside, like a monster.
I will try and persuade my Derm to give me a go on Spiro but all the Derms here in UK seem obsessed with accutane! If i do then i will make a log but it won't be for a while yet )

[Spotthedifference]

Cheers for the advice. I tend to drink a lot of water so it should be ok. I took mine with my tea yesterday and I'm feeling quite sick today, but that may just be a coincidence. I'm loving the yellow and red colouring, reminds me of a fire truck. You sound like you really know your stuff about antibiotics; I'm fairly oblivious. I think my doctor may be aware of this. Then again I'm still in the mind set where I look at pills and think 'pretty colours!'.

It can be a knock to the old confidence alright - although, strangely enough, I'm actually more confident now than I was with clear skin. I think it's just because I'm a bit older now. In saying that I think we all understand that feeling of looking in the mirror and thinking 'why do you hate me so much skin?'. I think that's why the derm perscribed me the things - normally I deal with it, but I've just been getting frustrated and essentialy destroying my skin over it. Sometimes outside stress makes it so easy to turn in on yourself and pick up your own flaws more.

Can't blame you for being worried. If you can get on Spiro instead then that'd be fantastic, I've heard great things about it for hormonal acne. It surely couldn't hurt to try milder things before moving on to accutane. I'm really sorry that you feel like that - I'm a little curious as to where abouts you are in the UK though. You're by no means set apart from everybody else, and I sincerely doubt you look anything like a monster. Where I live there's lots of people with spots and bad skin - and I never even noticed until I started getting them myself. Perhaps you're just more picky about your own face than about other people's? (I know sometimes that can happen - I've always been a bit jealous of this girl that I know because she's amazingly gorgeous, and I only noticed last week that she has quite deep acne scarring)

I think part of acne is that psychological barrier it constructs. We see our differences to other people and think they'll reject us for it, so we avoid them sub conciously. They see us avoiding them, think that we don't want to know them and in turn avoid us, thus falsley confirming in our own heads that our first instinct was right and they don't want to talk to us because of our skin.

I did my first night of the duac gel last night. I washed my face as I normally do with my New Dawn Peppermint soap then applied the duac sparingly everywhere where I get break outs. It burnt quite mildly around my lower face and smelt a bit strange, but it dried very quickly. I was careful to keep my black hair pinned back and wear a top I didn't care about because of the bleaching properties but thankfully it didn't get on them. My pillow case survived unscathed as well, but I'm still using an old light coloured one just incase.

I had to apply a moisturizer afterwards. I used Simple's light hydrating moisturizer because it's the only one we've got in that doesn't break me out, and Bio Oil was too light to do anything. It's the old formula with the bits of glitter in it that I hate, but it did the job reasonably well. I might get the new formula one sometime soon.

When I woke up this morning my skin was dry and flaking but the redness in my face was greatly reduced. A few little spots have dried out, a few more have popped up. The brown patch of skin from my chemical burn flaked off when I washed and left only a tiny red mark. My mum commented that my skin looks better today but that may just be because I didn't pick at it yesterday.

I'm feeling quite hopeful now that I've read some positive reviews. If I can just get it under control for a couple of years I might be ok.

[Spotthedifference]

Just an update as I put the Duac on for the second time. My skin is very dry and a shallow layer is flaking off in some parts (mostly where I have acne). A few of the dried up spots have actually flaked off along with the dead skin.

I've had to stop myself from picking today. It's been really hard, but adided by my parents pointing out every time I go to touch my face (shouldn't have let them know about the derm telling me off for it! Heh.). They're very supportive though and I really don't want to spread the bacteria more considering the derm said some of my acne might be self inflicted through breaking the skin.

A few teeny white heads have emerged over the course of the day. They're not weeping or anything and they haven't gotten huge. I'm still waiting for that initial breakout from the combination of the antibiotics and the Duac. There's a few under the skin bumps that I've been eyeing up suspiciously.

Two big spots that appeared on my left cheek vanished into hyperpigmentation as soon as they arrived. Some of my previous marks are fading. It's kind of a trade off - increased healing time, more red patches. No overall redness yet though which is curious.

I've been gulping down my probiotics and drinking lots and lots of water and green tea. I take most of my supplements in the morning, my anti biotic with my tea/dinner, then use the Duac cream and moisturize an hour or so before bed so it all has time to dry. I take my zinc two hours after the antibiotic too.

Underneath my chin is flaking. It's odd because I'm not using the Duac there. I'm thinking it's because of the antibiotics?

There doesn't seem to be any new under the skin bumps that weren't there previously.

[Spotthedifference]

Yowch! My face is on fiiiiire this morning. All of my cheeks and chin are bright red and everywhere on my face is flaking. Some of my scabs have gone already.

I'm going out soon so I'll be slapping some sun screen on. It's gonna sting like a drunk man's eyes.

On the plus side - no current actives. Woohoo!

UPDATE: I went out for about an hour. It was reasonably sunny but cold. I wore factor 30 ROC sunscreen - non-comedogenic it says on the label, and for once it's not a lie. My face feels quite smooth with the moisturiser and sunscreen on and the cold air calmed my burning down a bit. I'm glad I only have to apply the Duac once a day!

My stomach's a bit off with the antibiotics. I think it's still within the normal reaction range.

When I sleep I've been making a concious effort to move my hair out of my face. I'm trying to wash my pillow cases more frequently too. There was still no bleaching of the hair or bedding yesterday.

Edited by Spotthedifference, 15 November 2012 - 09:04 AM.

[Spotthedifference]

My Routine

AM

Splash face with warm water. Lather up 'New Dawn 99% natural peppermint oil' soap and gently use on skin. Allow to sit on skin for 2-5 minutes. Splash face with warm water to remove soap. Splash with cold water to tighten pores. Gently dab at skin with a towel to dry.

Apply Simple light hydrating moisturizer.

Take supplements (Omega 3 Fish Oil x2, Evening Primrose Oil x2, Agnus Castus, Vitamin B Complex, Multivitamin, Vitamin C, DIM plus x2)

Take probiotics.

Eat an apple.

Drink plenty of water.

Drink green tea.

PM

Take Tetralysal antibiotic with tea/dinner.

Drink plenty of water.

Drink green tea.

Take a zinc supplement 2 hours after the antibiotic.

Splash face with warm water. Lather up 'New Dawn 99% natural peppermint oil' soap and gently use on skin. Allow to sit on skin for 2-5 minutes. Splash face with warm water to remove soap. Splash with cold water to tighten pores. Gently dab at skin with a towel to dry.

Gently apply Duac cream all over acne prone areas with clean finger tips, completley avoiding eyes, nose and mouth. Apply just enough to cover the areas. Although sufficient time to dry.

Apply Simple light hydrating moisturizer, being careful to avoid sensitive areas incase it picks up some of the Duac. Wash hands. Allow time to dry.

Lifestyle
(This is ONLY here for reference. I don't want discussions or debates about this.)

I go to the gym six days a week and shower after going. I also try to make lean meat, vegetables and fruit the back bone of my diet. I do eat whole grains too and I do sometimes have dark chocolate or crisps, but nowhere near as much as some people. I'm always within my RDA for everything and I tend to stay away from saturated fats. I really don't want any more lectures on my diet causing my acne. It doesn't. Hormones do. And I have no issue with insulin resistance. So if anybody posts anything about my diet, they're gonna get so ignored they'll probably physically turn invisible.

Just kidding. But leave it out all the same.

Today's progress:

http://i1324.photobu...ik/IMAG5851.jpg

http://i1324.photobu...ik/IMAG5852.jpg

http://i1324.photobu...ik/IMAG5856.jpg

http://i1324.photobu...ik/IMAG5859.jpg

Edited by Spotthedifference, 15 November 2012 - 03:34 PM.

[Spotthedifference]

So, I woke up today ---

And I was clear!

My definition of clear is one or two small whiteheads and PIH only. Whilst this is brilliant, I'm also bright red... and I mean bright bright red, and my face won't stand having makeup on it. I've dolloped on the moisturiser so I'm hoping that'll help. My skin doesn't appear to be flaking or burning today, although it still feels tight and dry. I seem to have gotten past the 'fake wrinkle' stage (from the dry skin) although I think I've still got more peeling left to do. A few more remaining scabs came off whilst I was washing this morning. So far I have no actual scarring except for one so small that you genuinley have to be looking for it (and know where it is) before you can spot it. That was from before the T+D combination.

I don't feel as sick this morning. Hopefully I'm adjusting to the T.

UPDATE: My face has been itching like mad and I noticed what could possibly be some shallow scarring this afternoon (or it might be where my skin has peeled but the bits around it haven't yet). Ice cold green tea on the face is a life saver for cooling the skin down. Hopefully it'll fight some of this free radical damage from the BP too.

Edited by Spotthedifference, 16 November 2012 - 02:20 PM.

[Miss Soloist]

So, I woke up today ---

And I was clear!

My definition of clear is one or two small whiteheads and PIH only. Whilst this is brilliant, I'm also bright red... and I mean bright bright red, and my face won't stand having makeup on it. I've dolloped on the moisturiser so I'm hoping that'll help. My skin doesn't appear to be flaking or burning today, although it still feels tight and dry. I seem to have gotten past the 'fake wrinkle' stage (from the dry skin) although I think I've still got more peeling left to do. A few more remaining scabs came off whilst I was washing this morning. So far I have no actual scarring except for one so small that you genuinley have to be looking for it (and know where it is) before you can spot it. That was from before the T+D combination.

I don't feel as sick this morning. Hopefully I'm adjusting to the T.

UPDATE: My face has been itching like mad and I noticed what could possibly be some shallow scarring this afternoon (or it might be where my skin has peeled but the bits around it haven't yet). Ice cold green tea on the face is a life saver for cooling the skin down. Hopefully it'll fight some of this free radical damage from the BP too.

Hey! So glad to hear on your progress! I wish my acne was like yours!! Your skin looks really good! Given the type of acne you have, the scarring certainly will not be deep, i doubt it'll be any issue at all and will heal iteself nicely over time. x

[Spotthedifference]

Thanks Miss Soloist! It's not that bad, I just pick at it so much whenever I'm stressed - a lot of the scabs were from where I'd repeatedly broken the skin. It wasn't good.

I saw your post in the cystic forum. For what it's worth, I don't think yours looks bad at all. I know it must be sore, but it really doesn't look like I imagined it to from your description.

Edited by Spotthedifference, 16 November 2012 - 03:54 PM.

[Spotthedifference]

So, I managed to cover up the redness and dryness under makeup today. It didn't last long though, my makeup started cracking as the skin underneath it began flaking off. The redness has subsided a little bit since this morning.

No amount of moisturiser is helping, and under one of my eyes is a bit swollen up at the minute (I got a tiny bit of Duac on it by accident). Overall my skin is clear, but it alternates between looking sun burnt and old (no actual wrinkles, just peeling skin that looks like them). I'm really hoping that my skin adjusts to the Duac soon. My skin feels really tight and sore when I smile. My forehead isn't too dry, but my cheeks and chin are suffering.

I have a few tiny blackheads near my mouth this evening. Nothing huge, and overall I've noticed a lot less blocked pores.

The guy I'm dating is a sweetheart. But that's not really much to do with this log haha.

UPDATE: Just applied my Duac cream. I've put Vaseline all over the areas I don't want it to go - like under my eyes, where I'd get laughter lines, under my nose, around my mouth, the lower part of my cheeks that doesn't get acne. It's made the burning stop. I may actually just smother my entire face in it once the Duac is dry.

I also only used the tiniest tiniest amount in the areas where I usually get break outs. I never smother my face in it anyway, but I'm trying to use just barely enough to cover the areas where I need it. It stills hurts, especially on my chin. My forehead can take it the best.

Edited by Spotthedifference, 17 November 2012 - 02:46 PM.

[Spotthedifference]

I did the thing with the vaseline last night. Didn't cause any new breakouts or irritate my skin any - actually, it soothed it a little bit. When I woke up this morning my skin was less red than yesterday but flaking really badly. It was like the dry skin had 'broken' up into flakes instead of being a tight film across my face, and I could feel smooth, spotless skin underneath it.

I found a facial exfoliating brush in my bathroom (where did that come from?). So I washed my face as normal, only once the soap was on my face I used the wet brush over my skin in small, circular motions.

Most of the flakes came off quite easily and left my skin feeling dry, but not like it had layers of dead skin cells pulling it taut. I put some moisturiser on and it actually did something. I think it couldn't get past that dead skin barrier before. I'm going to keep moisturizing and using the soft brush. It's really made a dramatic difference in the texture of my skin.

I was wondering if I'm actually adjusting to the BP now. Just as I thought this, my mum suggested stopping using the Duac, because my face 'looks red and sore'. Devastated. Now I don't know what to do. It really is stopping the spots - and I know it is because people have said so - but my mum thinks I might just be better off 'having the spots and not being red all the time'.

[Spotthedifference]

I think my skin is almost entirely used to the BP now. My skin is only red when I'm in the heat or cold, and the flaking has subsided greatly. I'm using 1-2 drops of jojoba oil after washing twice a day which is making my skin feel so soft and stretchy and I'm not breaking out from it at all.

I have a line of dying whiteheads (that are now just red dots) on the left side of my face, and a skin coloured, small round bump underneath them. I'm still getting clogged pores on my upper cheeks but my chin, forehead, nose, my lower cheeks and next to my eyebrows are 100% clear now. You can literally just push the clogs out now.

I've not been picking like I used too, and I think that's helped a lot.

I think the oral antibiotics are actually breaking me out. My face isn't breaking out (I think because of the Duac) and my chest is completley clear, but my back has broken out and my arms and legs (in small whiteheads and red dots). My stomach is a bit off but nothing horrific.

Overall I'm confident enough with my skin to not have to wear makeup over it to go to Uni. I'm not entirely sure if my back acne is due to using the machines at the gym or not - people understandably sweat a lot on them haha.

I've ramped up the amount of Duac on my cheeks because I'm tolerating it better now. My face isn't swollen anymore, which is brilliant - my eyes were all swollen and sore. I make sure to leave even more room inbetween the Duac and eyebags now.

I'm hoping that if I become used to the topical antibiotic in the Duac that the BP in it will still be effective enough to keep me clear as my acne wasn't moderate or severe. If not I'll probably swap over to the treatment from the regimen instead.

Hoping you're all doing good!

Edited by Spotthedifference, 27 November 2012 - 12:01 PM.

[Spotthedifference]

So, I pushed an awful lot of clogs out of my cheeks today and one out of my forehead. I have two incredibly small whiteheads on my left cheek. There is a large scab either side of my face where I picked at a very small raised bump and what I think was some milia.

Overall my skin has been much clearer and I've not had to deal with the normal/large sized whiteheads that I'm usually stuck with over my cheeks. I'm really happy that next to my eyebrows is still clear.

I've been using only a very small amount on my clear areas as maintinence and putting more over the spots where I need it the most. I'm still only using the Duac cream at night and I've not missed any of my antibiotics so far. Every day I give my face a bit of a rinse with green tea just to add some extra kindness to my skin considering how harsh BP can be.

I'm having some stomach issues with the oral antibiotics and I'm not sure if my hair is thinning out or not. It seems quite thin at the moment, but I've started using jojoba oil on it so it's completley flat and smooth and not fluffy like normal, so I don't know if it's just a change in texture and a bit of paranoia. My hair dresser didn't say anything when she was putting my hair up recently and I've not noticed any excess hair falling out.

I'm really stressed out at the moment so this should be a good test of how well my regimen is working. Coursework season at Uni is always such a pain in the butt.

[Spotthedifference]

This is me today.







Today is the first day of my period as well. I'd say that's a pretty good result.

[Spotthedifference]

Under extreme stress, ill, and being attacked by mother nature all at once. Still clear.

[Spotthedifference]

My face is 100% clear. I'm getting less clogged pores now although there's still a few small ones on my cheeks and one on my jaw line. The blackheads on my chin and nose have gone down considerably and my skin no longer feels dry or oily all of the time. The jojoba oil is perfect for my skin and didn't even give me an initial breakout and the green tea washes have kept my skin nice and smooth. I continue to be very happy with my organic soap and my skin tolerates the BP well enough now that I only go red in extreme weather conditions or when I'm embarassed (something which never happened before).

I still have some red PIH but that doesn't bother me like the acne did. I've not worn any foundation, concealer or powder in a couple of weeks now and have mostly avoided picking at my skin (although I still push out the clogged pores).

I have one or two spots at most on my chest nowadays but I still have mild acne on my back and a persistant agressive whitehead on the back of my neck. I think the oral antibiotics are actually doing something now, and my stomach has calmed down somewhat. My moods are still a bit unstable but I don't know if that's from general life stress or the antibiotics.

I've also started to take 1000iu of VItamin D a day now and upped my EPO to 3 a day. I don't know if my decrease in clogged pores has been partially due to the vitmain D or taking my zinc more consistently (I've been missing a few days here and there).

Edited by Spotthedifference, 12 December 2012 - 10:08 AM.

[Spotthedifference]

Still clear. Got a spot on an area of my cheek where I don't put Duac normally, dabbed some on over night and it's gone. My chest is much clearer too but my back, shoulders, arms and legs have mild acne now - I think due to the antibiotics. My moods have been getting better. I got a yeast infection from the antibiotics but took some medicine and started my probiotics up again and it doesn't seem to have come back.



^^ No makeup.

[XXYY]

your skin looks amaaaaaaazing! what do you mean by your chest/back/shoulder acne being due to the antibiotics? do you mean because you stopped taking them? are you using the duac there? also do you have a link to where you get the peppermint soap from? does it remove makeup or do you use something else (when you used to use it might i add, you so dont need it anymore )

Edited by XXYY, 06 January 2013 - 09:05 AM.