He everyone!

Its a long time since I posted here. My first post here was almost ten years ago. I was having acne on my back, chest and face. On my face it was mainly my chin and it was cystic.

I remember the days when I posted here, I was so scared. Scared the acne would never go away. Scared the regimen did not work on me. Scared I would never be able to get off the regimen. And thats why I want to post here. People told me that when someone uses the regimen and it works, the person does not come back. And thats really true. When the problem is under control you don't want to be confronted with it every day.

So thats why I want to share my story. I want to give hope to some people who have had the same doubts as I did. Ofcourse no one can say what happens, but let me be a light in your struggle.

I started getting acne when I was 14. I was so upset about it. Terrible. I would never take my shirt off. I didn't look people in the eye. It was really bad for my self esteem. I really wanted to find a cure so I looked online, when I saw this site.

The regimen was scary. Two times a day, everyday. It would also had negative social effects. How am I going to do this with a sleep over I thought. But the negative social effects where there anyways. So I tried it. First I tried 2,5% twice a day. This didn't work for me. So I kept trying new stuff. I then tried 5% twice a day, and even though they said the % did not matter, it did matter to my skin.

This worked for a while. But I found it really irritating that I had to use is twice. I would go out and be tired and having to do the regimen. Also, when I was having a sleepover, I had to ask if I could use the bathroom for half an hour. So I tried using 10% once a day. To my surprise, this worked! Ive been doing 10% once a day for like 6 years. And I stayed clear.

Now a couple months back I wanted to see if I could go on without the regimen. I had tried it a couple of times, but failed. Some people stopped cold turkey. This did not work for me. Slowly using less did not work either. The best way for me to stop was to stop using it completely on different parts on my face. So instead of stopping to use it on my entire chin, I would stop using it on a quarter of my chin. I would break out a little bit, and then my skin was used to it. And then I could stop using it on a different part, till my entire chin was clear.

So, i'm proof that you don't alway get 'addicted' to it. Sure, some people need to use it years and years (look at Dan). There is no predication in how things wil go. But have hope, you never know

Also what I would like to add, is please, keep enjoying life. I'm serious. My acne might be gone now, but now I might have tinnitus. I also got bowel problems. And now i'm trying to 'solve' this problem. I think you will go through these routines your entire life. You don't stay healthy forever.

You got to realise that life is full of challenges. You never know what's going to happend your health! So don't be like: 'I can only be happy when my acne is gone!' I know how hard it is, I know the social effects it has. Really. But stay happy! Keep enjoying life like there is nothing wrong with your body. Because someday your acne might be gone, but then have a muscle disorder or something. Or then a close one dies. And your thinking: 'men, I wish I enjoyed life more...' Life is about having a positive mindset even though terrible things are happening. Because we all know these things are happening everyday.

If anyone had a question about anything, you can ask me!