Hi folks,

Sorry for the rather long post but once again I am feeling down and I am tried of this crap and not sure what I should do!!! Like 17 yeas of struggling with them spots on and off is not enough!

I am in my mid 30's now and will not bore you with all the details of my life story because you can read my other posts in the other forums. So basically what I have been suffering from is what I think mild acne where I would have a few active spots (sometimes as little as 1 or 2) appearing and then taking their time and go away after a while. I never remember having too many active pimples all at once apart from maybe a very few times many years ago when I was younger and trying harsh soaps or other stuff. I have been living with this for so many years and it has had a huge impact on my self-esteem and my life. Sometimes, I feel very depressed to the extent I do not want to go to work or see anyone especially when I have one or two of them red angry inflamed ones which are full of blood and puss and other times things are not so bad to the extent I think I do not have acne and maybe random spots.

In the recent years I have been getting them more frequently in the middle of my forehead. I have even switched to expensive SLS free shampoos for months now. I still get occasional ones on other parts of my face in particular if I try some new face washes (I always choose the gentle ones which are supposedly non-comedogenic). But the area where they hit most is the forehead.

For many years, I put up with it as sometimes it gets better on its own to the extent I doubt maybe they are some occasional spots and not acne but I cannot remember the last time that I lasted a week or so with no active pimples at all.

I was so pissed off with a couple of new red ones on my forehead and went to see my GP in August and he gave me Duac and said to try it for 2 months. I did try it out and was consistent for about 6-7 weeks or so and seemed to be ok but I felt that it contributed to the hyper-pigmentation and visible black marks. In addition, I still had one or two new ones while I was using it. So I cannot be sure whether it did help or the stuff got better on its own. I admit, however, that I liked the feeling of using it otherwise I would have never been consistent with it all those weeks. I am also confused and scared of using washes etc. and never consistent with sticking with any of them because I am not sure it they make things worse. I tried different ones and you can see my other posts.

I had to move from where I used to live and changed my doctor. My skin is oily but lately it became extremely oily especially the hair-scalp and the forehead. Not sure if the amateur weight lifting (no supplements and nothing professional just a few resistance and free weight 4-5 exercises a day 4-5 times a week) for the last two years or so has contributed to the increase in oil production. It surely did not cause it because I have had the oiliness of the face plus the occasional spots for many years even when I did not go to the gym.

A couple of weeks ago, I saw my new doctor and wanted to do something about the oiliness of the skin which I think is the main root of the whole problem. He prescribed me Retin-A 0.01 for the dark spots left from the recent spots which may have been caused by even the Purpose face wash or the Duac gel which I have used in the previous weeks. There was hardly any active spots when I saw him.

Although for many years I resisted the idea of putting chemicals on my face, I started using Retin-A 0.01 for a week now. Not even sure which wash to use with it cause I still could not find a single cleanser that passes the test of not having any of the pore-clogging ingredients namely SLSs and Sodium Chloride. I had some bad experience in the past with some supposedly gentle soaps/ face washes before and that is why for many months sometimes I just washed with warm water.

When I started Retin-A, in the first few days, I washed with just water and then I used Purpose cleanser for a day or two.

I have now an angry spot on my forehead that developed the night before and another small one. Also the dark spots from the recent pimples seem to be a bit more visible than before. Not sure if I made a mistake by using those chemicals or I should stick to them! Also, not sure if I should stick to a cleanser or just wash twice with water on its own like I used to do for many years because I think my skin is kinda sensitive. I am scared of using any moisturizers in case they clog my oily skin.

My self-esteem has been very low for the past few weeks and I feel crap and cannot even concentrate on work or any thing. Not sure if I should continue with these chemicals either as I tried to resist the idea of chemicals for many years and go the point where I was scared of using anything on my face.

I started to eat very healthy diet for the past month or so with many vegetables, fruits, fish and chicken including juicing green vegetables on daily basis. I almost completely removed sugar and diary from my diet for a few weeks now. I am very active and train 5-6 days a week.

I have even decided to start eliminating all foods with high GI index from my diet for a few weeks as well including all types of bread which is usually part of my daily diet. Not sure if diet is to blame in my case but I am desperately trying to put an end to this struggle so I am trying all possible options! Sometimes I even think I do not mind requesting Accutane although my case is not severe but I have had enough and would not mind trying anything to stop it!

So what do you guys recommend? Any suggestions/advice will be highly appreciated.

Thanks in advance