I've been literally sulking for weeks, ever since the break started. I hate whiteheads all over my face. As old ones are slowly healing, new ones keep popping up, driving my self-esteem into the toilet. However, it has just occurred to me a few minutes ago, that it really is not that bad, if I look at this from another perspective - that is, when I compare this to another skin condition that I used to have.
I developed eczema from using BP a month ago. It was the worst ten days of my life. I woke up with a red, raw and itchy face, and my eyes were too swollen to even open. My entire face was swollen actually, and my facial features got so distorted that when I Skyped with my mom, she screamed. I was rushed to the ER in an ambulance 7 days after I started developing those symptoms, and the situation for under control after the doctor gave me a huge dose of steroid via IV. I was on oral steroid for 10 days afterwards, in case the eczema flared up again.
I remember the despair I felt when I looked into the mirror and saw a raw, red, swollen and distorted face that I could not recognize. I almost missed having acne. I definitely had thoughts like, I'd rather have a face full of cysts than this elephantic, red monstrous face! Well my wish sort of came true. My eczema was cured, but my face is now back to its acne phase.
I watched a lot of makeup tutorials on YouTube, in which makeup gurus teach people how to cover up acne. Well at least I can choose to cover up my acne with concealer if I feel like doing so. I can take hot showers and baths because they don't hurt eczema-less skin. I can still be proud of my facial features because they look normal! But with eczema I used to have - jeez not a chance. No makeup in this universe could fix a swollen face. I had to take cold showers because any hot water would burn my face so badly that I'd cry because of the pain. I looked like Frankenstein's bride when I had eczema! I am not being dismissive of acne though - acne is a serious condition and I feel bad for all of us who have to suffer it through. However, this IS NOT the end of the world for me, because I've experienced something worse.
I'd assume that you are also suffering from acne since you are this far down in this post. Dear friend, this is not the end of the world. It is bad, of course, but it could be a lot worse. Think this way does not solve the problem, but it may help you feel a little bit better.
Hello! I really appriciate your words, made a smile on my face 
How is your condition at the moment? Are you doing allright mentally and physical? Those two things are the most important ones! Acne comes and goes and indeed it is nothing fun to go trough.. though, remember there are illnesses which are a lot worse than acne. Many of us go trough acne but very few of us go trough "Serious" acne. Have you tried using natural products on your skin? I have been using aloe vera for a week and it is working quite well on my pimples. Try to avoid those chemicals and work with natural products (In my opinion they work much better and does no damage, only benifits and they are a lot cheaper than chemicals"
Hit me up with updates and hey, let your smile shine for a moment and take a deep breath and tell yourself you are beautiful. Remember, beauty doesnt come from outside, beauty is whats inside! Dont let this take over you, you are the one who is gonna take over this! In the end of the day it will be allright. Only best wishes
2 hours ago, Adeel2111 said:Hello! I really appriciate your words, made a smile on my face
How is your condition at the moment? Are you doing allright mentally and physical? Those two things are the most important ones! Acne comes and goes and indeed it is nothing fun to go trough.. though, remember there are illnesses which are a lot worse than acne. Many of us go trough acne but very few of us go trough "Serious" acne. Have you tried using natural products on your skin? I have been using aloe vera for a week and it is working quite well on my pimples. Try to avoid those chemicals and work with natural products (In my opinion they work much better and does no damage, only benifits and they are a lot cheaper than chemicals"
Hit me up with updates and hey, let your smile shine for a moment and take a deep breath and tell yourself you are beautiful. Remember, beauty doesnt come from outside, beauty is whats inside! Dont let this take over you, you are the one who is gonna take over this! In the end of the day it will be allright. Only best wishes
Hey it's you again:)! We've talked before in many other threads. Thanks for your comments. I'm glad to know that my words made you smile a little. My condition is not too bad. I don't have any cyst on my face, which is a plus, but those lingering red marks and plenty of whiteheads are driving me crazy. I'm currently on herbal medicine and a strict diet. Things are slowly getting better, but it may take month for me to look presentable without makeup. I'll continue to take good care of myself and hope for the best:).
How are you doing? It seems that you have found a way to control your condition! I do believe that you will be 100% clear soon, given the method that works for you and this cheerful attitude!
I recognized your name but wasnt sure from where haha and i am just trying my best to make people smile and feel good about themselves troughout these kind of situations and remind them of their actual beauty. I am so glad to hear the cysts are gone! Have they left any scars there or? Ive read cysts easily left scars if im not wrong.. I also had 2 cysts but after the aloe vera + tomato treatment they got flat (gone) but the red spots are still there. One of them is really, really, i mean really huge... But I hope they will fade away soon.
Let it take it's time and be careful when you use makeup. It can cover the pores and cause breakouts. I wish I could wear makeup too ugh... What kind of medicine is it btw? What is your diet including? No sugar, low fat etc?
On January 7, 2017 at 6:12 PM, Adeel2111 said:I recognized your name but wasnt sure from where haha and i am just trying my best to make people smile and feel good about themselves troughout these kind of situations and remind them of their actual beauty. I am so glad to hear the cysts are gone! Have they left any scars there or? Ive read cysts easily left scars if im not wrong.. I also had 2 cysts but after the aloe vera + tomato treatment they got flat (gone) but the red spots are still there. One of them is really, really, i mean really huge... But I hope they will fade away soon.
Let it take it's time and be careful when you use makeup. It can cover the pores and cause breakouts. I wish I could wear makeup too ugh... What kind of medicine is it btw? What is your diet including? No sugar, low fat etc?
I'm currently on vacation in China, and the doctor here prescribed me a "soup" made of 20 different herbal medicines. It's supposed to flush the toxin out of my system, which prevents further breakout. I've eliminated diary products, sugary foods, rice, alcohol, spicy foods and seafoods, chicken, beef and lamb from my diet. I also drink a lot of water daily.
Although I sound positive sometimes, I feel pretty depressed most of the time. Like when my mom talks to me, I can tell that she's checking out the acne on my face - she's always looking at somewhere on my face, but not my eyes. I dread about the 13h-flight I'll have to take to go back to the US. I don't know what the flight is going to to my already-damaged skin.
I don't know what is going on exactly, but I've never broken out with so many persistent whiteheads in the US. Maybe it has something to do with the horrible environmental condition here in China. I'm praying and praying, hoping the problem will solve itself after I go back to the US. If it does not, well, I'll take some more time being depressed then lol.
No, dont think that way. Being depressed sucks and i mostly feel depressed myself. Let us face it, it is nothing fun having acne and people looking at your face in public. I am going trough the same. Whenever someone looks at me i tell myself "hell fucking yeah, what is he/she thinking about my dead face?" I mostly look at ground when im outside just to avoid eyecontact with people. My moom looks at my spots often too.. everyone else except my oldest brother look at my spots instead of my eyes. Due that i dont like to talk anymore with anyone except my oldest brother. He didnt have any acne issues when he was at my age but he knows everybody goes trough bad things in life even though you cant see everything. Try to relax and the condition will heal.
Wow, you have removed a lot of food from your diet... Does it help though? What do you actually eat, i am wondering.. and yeah those breakouts might be caused because of the air condition in China isnt any good. And the chinese medicine, any benifits?
11 hours ago, Adeel2111 said:No, dont think that way. Being depressed sucks and i mostly feel depressed myself. Let us face it, it is nothing fun having acne and people looking at your face in public. I am going trough the same. Whenever someone looks at me i tell myself "hell fucking yeah, what is he/she thinking about my dead face?" I mostly look at ground when im outside just to avoid eyecontact with people. My moom looks at my spots often too.. everyone else except my oldest brother look at my spots instead of my eyes. Due that i dont like to talk anymore with anyone except my oldest brother. He didnt have any acne issues when he was at my age but he knows everybody goes trough bad things in life even though you cant see everything. Try to relax and the condition will heal.
Wow, you have removed a lot of food from your diet... Does it help though? What do you actually eat, i am wondering.. and yeah those breakouts might be caused because of the air condition in China isnt any good. And the chinese medicine, any benifits?
Thanks for sharing your experience with your family... So far I have not seen any drastic improvement, which makes sense because both diet and herbal medicine take a long time for the effects to show up. At least 3 months I think. I think that I may be getting fewer new whiteheads this past week, but it could be psychological. Yeah the air in China is really, really bad. I don't think my lung has the capability of filtering the filth. The toxin in the air maybe execrated through my skin, which is why I have so many crazy whiteheads. Again, this is just a postulation. Will know for sure after I go back to the States, which is, excitingly, in 5days. I honestly can't wait.
5 hours ago, Adeel2111 said:I am glad to hear you are going back
It takes time but you should be able to see improvements whitin 4 weeks. Have you tried to apply vaseline or aloe vera before? Vaseline has helped many people. If you havent tried, give it a go
Thanks for the advice! I have tried aloe vera before, and it did not change anything for me after weeks of usage. Isn't vaseline a kind of moisturizer? I never used it because i'm afraid it's too greasy for my oil skin and may break me out.
I'm going to introduce benzoyl peroxide back to my current regimen after I go back to the States. I did not have a single whitehead while I was on it a few months back when I was still suffering from huge cysts. Oh maybe I've mention it to you before - have you tried 2.5% benzoyl peroxide? It worked wonders for a lot of people. Did't help me get 100% clear but I was close. It can help dry up your cysts so that they do not feel so bumpy and painful in a short few days.
I havent used it. Do i needmedical certificate from doctor to buy it or? I has a cyst but it is gone after i used vaseline. I have oily skin too but trust me vaseline is pretty good to heal your skin. Many good stories related to vaseline and acne. I will try benzoyl cuz ive heard many success stories about it. The cyst I had is gone, now i have the red huge spot of it which is really annoying to have.. but gladly i feel nothing anymore cuz that cyst was quite painful.. aftera applying aloe vera for a week it started to get smaller and after 2-3 days of vaseline it was gone.. now i need to remove the red mark too and ill be fine.. tired of walking around with plaster on my chin just to hide that damn thing
On January 10, 2017 at 10:25 PM, Adeel2111 said:I havent used it. Do i needmedical certificate from doctor to buy it or? I has a cyst but it is gone after i used vaseline. I have oily skin too but trust me vaseline is pretty good to heal your skin. Many good stories related to vaseline and acne. I will try benzoyl cuz ive heard many success stories about it. The cyst I had is gone, now i have the red huge spot of it which is really annoying to have.. but gladly i feel nothing anymore cuz that cyst was quite painful.. aftera applying aloe vera for a week it started to get smaller and after 2-3 days of vaseline it was gone.. now i need to remove the red mark too and ill be fine.. tired of walking around with plaster on my chin just to hide that damn thing
You can buy it without prescription. It comes in creams, or face wash in different concentrations. It may actually feel pretty good on your oily skin, because it dries up the oil. This website, Acne.org, has so many success stories from people who used BP. Definitely give it a shot!
3 hours ago, sararey said:Hello, just wanted to let you know that steroids can cause acne to flare. If it is worse right now and different than your usual acne,it is probably the steroids that did it. The good news is that it should resolve pretty quickly. Good luck!
Thank you for the information! I did not have any acne while I was on a low dose of steroid. I was worried about it though, because I've learned that steroid could mimic cortisol, which increases stress level, thus an elevated oil production. That did not happen for me. My acne flareup started about a week after I quit steroid... probably because I travelled from the States to China for the winter break a month ago. Hopefully it'll heal faster after I get back to the States in a few days!
1 hour ago, Adeel2111 said:I got epiduo yesterday (Includes 2,5% BP). Read some good success stories about it. Trying it on my spot which is on my chin. If I see any difference ill try it on other spots too. Just too afraid to make it worse for myself now
Great! It may over-dry your skin, so make sure that you keep your skin moisturized. Don't use too much in the beginning, because your skin needs time to adjust. I really hope that it takes care of the problem for you! Keep me posted. Good luck!
Yeah indeed. For now im just using it on one spot since idk how i will react to it. 2 years ago i tried benzoyl proxide cream 5% and it messed me up badly for a few weeks. So I am just checking this one out incase. And how about you? Any news? What are you sticking to for now?
On 1/11/2017 at 11:49 PM, HarleyZ said:On 1/11/2017 at 7:52 PM, sararey said:Hello, just wanted to let you know that steroids can cause acne to flare. If it is worse right now and different than your usual acne,it is probably the steroids that did it. The good news is that it should resolve pretty quickly. Good luck!
Thank you for the information! I did not have any acne while I was on a low dose of steroid. I was worried about it though, because I've learned that steroid could mimic cortisol, which increases stress level, thus an elevated oil production. That did not happen for me. My acne flareup started about a week after I quit steroid... probably because I travelled from the States to China for the winter break a month ago. Hopefully it'll heal faster after I get back to the States in a few days!
Hi HarleyZ!
Yep, people often have better acne while ona steroid... The acne usually shows up abouta week after it is discontinued. That's what happened to me, butthe worst of the acnedidn't show upuntil about 3to 4 weeks after steroids. Thankfully, the acne doesn't usually linger. However, I was one of the unlucky ones who gota very stubborn case, all from steroids. I am sure you will be luckier than me!
Best Regards
1 hour ago, sararey said:Hi HarleyZ!
Yep, people often have better acne while ona steroid... The acne usually shows up abouta week after it is discontinued. That's what happened to me, butthe worst of the acnedidn't show upuntil about 3to 4 weeks after steroids. Thankfully, the acne doesn't usually linger. However, I was one of the unlucky ones who gota very stubborn case, all from steroids. I am sure you will be luckier than me!
Best Regards
Bloody hell that kind of lines up... It's been more than a month since I discontinued the steroid. However, the lower half of my face and my forehead are still cover with whiteheads, and there are two huge painful cysts on my chin. I'm not very surprised about getting cysts, because I'm used to seeing them. But those crazy whiteheads that came out of nowhere? Now I'm starting to think that the steroid might have done something. Thanks for reminding me. I guess there's nothing I could do about those bastards besides waiting them out...
8 hours ago, Adeel2111 said:Yeah indeed. For now im just using it on one spot since idk how i will react to it. 2 years ago i tried benzoyl proxide cream 5% and it messed me up badly for a few weeks. So I am just checking this one out incase. And how about you? Any news? What are you sticking to for now?
I'm still on Chinese herbal medicine. I'm not doing very well. I got new cystic breakouts on my chin, and new whiteheads along my jawline and on my forehead during the past two days. After washing my face this morning I stared at my face for a good ten minutes in the mirror and felt disgusted. I don't know when this travesty is going to end. Looking at my friends' pictures on FaceBook made my heart bleed. They had so much fun during the break, whereas I did not even went downtown once. I could not even gather up enough courage to go to the gym, because I hate seeing my own reflection in the mirror at this point.
Will get back on BP next week. How are you feeling about the treatment? Any changes?
Maybe I have asked you this before but have you tried vaseline? It has worked nicely for many people. On the whiteheads gently put on thich layer of vaseline for 2-3 nights and there is a chance for good improvement. I know, i just want to end my life whenever I see my refelction. I used to be that guy who was always with friends and doing fun stuff 2-3months back but when this started i just make excuses to avoid everything. I sit in my room most of the time and never turn the light on incase anyone comes in my door can avoid seeing my face. Yesterday I was taking a shower and when I cam out of the shower I heard my brother yelling from upstairs "No, he doesnt have it, have you seen his skin?" And i asked him "Who doesnt have what?" He replied: Mom asked if you had any chocolate in your room. Wow. Okay. Was just hiding under my carpet for rest of the night. It is emotionally taking over me. I am breakingout on my forhead idk why... it was getting better and better but then boom 2 days ago or smth i started getting huge pimples again on my forhead.. but im for now just using vaseline before bed and that other thingy with BP on the red mark on chin.. idk what to do.. i would prefer anything else than this
@Adeel2111
Yeah you've mentioned it before, but my oily skin cannot take any heavy-duty moisturizer. I get an oily mask within hours of application, and it feels absolutely gross. But thank you anyway! I am really happy for you that you found it to be beneficial for your skin.
I am really sorry that your brother said that hurtful thing. He probably does not know how devastating it is to have acne. Most people with clear face don't get it. We understand each other, though. Everybody on this forum can relate to one another, which is very comforting. As for breakouts on forehead - have you been stressed out/staying up late lately? Stress and lack of sleep may result in acne on forehead, which I also have. I have trouble sleeping, and am constantly stressed about school work. Well I guess there's no quick fix to that...
And guess what, I did it again. I tried BP again on my lower cheeks and bam - massive redness. I had a pretty bad reaction to it. It looks a lot like the eczema I got last time, only this time it is not itchy and raw. It just looks really, really red - I'm talking scarlet red. I immediately washed off the BP. Will throw away the bottle. Won't ever touch it again. I am freaking out again. Having acne really is nothing compared to having massive skin rash... Fingers crossed. I hope that the redness will go away on its own in a few days.... I am not going back on steroids again.
@HarleyZ
I have very oily skin too.. I wash my face and after 4-5 hours my face is so shiny because of the oil.. It is annoying tho. Honestly, it is worth to give it a go maybe once or twice? It didnt make my skin any worse at all, or maybe cuz i got a huge pimple on my forhead the day after using vaseline but i didnt stop and now overall it is slowly healing due to vaseline.. just use it before bed and gently wash it off early in the morning.. It is worth a try, trust me, i was afraid to try it myself but im glad i did.
I hear the BP story of yours. It sucks but i think it is normal to get worsen before getting better when you use BP.. I am using bp on my spot and done it for 4 days and no improvement so far... but vaseline on forhead is helping. Yeah i stress about school as well... i sleep 1-2 am and wake up 7 am so yeah, quite lack of sleep... 5-6 hours of sleep is not even close to enough.. i actually think thats what is causing my acne, never thought of it before.. lack of sleep and stress or lack of vitamine D. Last winter I had acne on my cheeks but when summer was getting closer my skin was getting better... and when it was summer - a lot of sun and a lot of sleep - my skin was perfect. Now again around winter time i got my acne and im not sleeping so well lately except weekends. There are too many things that can cause acne so i cant get to a conclusion