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Hey guys!
My acne history:
I remember in 8th grade my forehead being SO OILY to the point where it was wet. If you tried to touch my forehead, your finger would just slide off my face. In 9th grade, I realized that all of that oil wasn’t normal, but I didn’t suffer from any acne. 10th grade was the year I started breaking out on my chin and nose. I’ve never had cystic acne, and the acne I had in 10th grade was pretty mild. Although the acne was mild, the oil was a pain. I remember I would need to go to the bathroom every other period and blot my face dry because it was so saturated with oil.
11th grade was the year all hell broke out on my face. My face was actually relatively clear but I remember the first day of Thanksgiving break I realized that my face was a warzone. My cheeks and jawline had broken out, with a cluster of zits in the center of each cheek. Added to that was my forehead began to break out and the continuation of my nose and chin breaking out. I looked like hell. Every day I would get three new pus filled zits somewhere on my face. I finally decided to go to a dermatologist.
The dermatologist I went to was not very good. He gave me a lot of harsh home chemical peels and told me to use them twice a day. He prescribed some weak oral pills. Three months later, in February, my face was even worse. My entire face was inflamed. I’d say I was always a pretty well liked person, but I remember one day in class this guy I didn’t get along with very well said, “Wow. You’re just so attractive, aren’t you?” after we got into a fight. Everyone in class heard him. I felt awful.
GOOD NEWS THOUGH! In the first few weeks back in school senior year, for whatever reason, my oil production was lowered significantly! I could go an entire day without having to blot. It was AMAZING! I felt like my acne would just go away naturally, because I had definitely stopped trying all of that dermatologist’s ridiculous ideas and I saw improvement. I would still break out every day but I could live with it. From March until July I lived with moderate acne and normal oil production! WOOHOO!
Today though, as a freshman in college, my acne is back to being severe. It really stinks. I break out on my cheeks and jawline pretty much every day, and my forehead is always a mystery. Sometimes it’s clear! Sometimes it’s not. I’m really happy though that my oil production is normal though. So I’m extremely grateful for that.
I went to the dermatologist here 6 weeks ago thinking that he would be better than the one at home. HE IS! He explained everything really well and told me he would be putting me on Cerave cleanser and moisturizer and Bactrim. These may have made my face slightly better… but not by much. He said that if it didn’t work when I came to see him next, he would put me on Accutane.
Well. My appointment is on Tuesday, Election Day, and I will most likely be put on Accutane. I’m excited and nervous at the same time… but hopefully since my acne is just surface zits and not cystic the treatment will go well.
A few questions:
1) Is it realistic to expect that through the blood tests and iPledge things, as a male, I would be prescribed and would take my first pill that night? That would be pretty sweet.
2) What are the top 5 things that I should have to aid me in my journey?
3) I look forward to getting to know a lot of you guys! I’ve been following this forum for the past 6 weeks and I’ve already learned a lot and have been inspired by everybody.
Thanks for the help!