Hi everyone,
just wanted to see if I could get some input from you.
I 'm a 27 year old female, and all through puberty I have had horrible acne. This was eventually treated with a couple of cycles of klinotab (minocyclin). Ever since I was about 19 years old I've been practically acne-free, with the odd breakout during that time of the month.
In january I found out I'm allergic to quite a lot of foods (including gluten, eggs, mushrooms, lactose,...) and I've been off those foods since then. I've also been off birthcontrol (Yasmin) since December or something.
Since about two-three weeks ago, my skin has become very bad. I'm getting a lot of pimples, especially on my chin and cheeks, and some of them are very painful. Also, the ones on my chin never really seem to come to a head.
I have tried benzoyl peroxide, salycilic acid, tea tree oil... nothing seems to help. I really don't know what to do, and this is really getting me down... I've been acne-free for such a long time, I really don't want to go through all that again, and I hope I won't have to go back on antibiotics.
I've included a picture so you know what I'm talking about (I seem very white because I've got a very light layer of sudocrem on, this seems to help calm things down...)
Thanks for your input!
It may not be severe, but I can understand how you feel after a whole 8-9 years of not having acne and then suddenly breaking out. You should probably consider taking the same approach you did before or resuming the birth control (which is most likely the reason you're breaking out again).
Hope things work out for you, all this time acne-free you deserve to continue with such success.
Hi
What worked for me was using the acne fighting products on my trouble zones even when my skin is clear. In the past, I only used them on my current acne, but (due to excessive dryness) wouldn't use it once the spots appeared to start clearing up. Once I started using the products twice a day regardless of whether I had acne there or not, I stopped getting spots (and my main concern was chin acne that never comes to a head!).
Also, I believe Yasmin is prescribed to many women to cure acne, so this is possibly why you are breaking out now.
Thank you LewisS and mayplesyrupmama,
It's true, the acne might not be that severe, but to me it gets me in a panic after having suffered from such severe acne for so many years.
I have an appointment with a dermatologist today. My back has broken out as well. I used to have bacne during my teen-years as well, but only on my shoulders. It's now all over my back.
I actually only started taking Yasmin after I was already clear. But if that's what would do the trick, then I'd go back on it. I just wonder if this means that when I want to start having children in the close future, that means I'll just have to suffer acne as well 
We'll see what the dermatologist says today and I'll report back 
Thanks!
So I just got back from the dermatologist. I told her about my history, she took a look at my back and face, and she immediately knew what was going on.
She said my back was in a pretty rough state (I didn't know this, it's hard to see your own back!), and the acne would only continue to get worse.
She said the acne is definitely hormonal, and has come back because I stopped taking the pill. She told me I need to go back on antibiotics and then go back on the pill. She also said that if I wanted to get pregnant, I would have to take the acne with it. Joy!
So, starting today I'm doing 1 pill per day, for two months, of Klinotab (minocyclin 100mg). Then after that I'm going back on the pill.
Let's see.
Just a quick update: Been taking 100 mg of Minocyclin a day for two weeks now. I don't have any new breakouts in my face (just one new pimple), and of my back I'm not sure, but I think it's slowly starting to clear up... * sigh of relief * Sucks that I have to go back on the pill though
Hey guys, just an update. Been on the minocyclin for about three weeks now. And my acne is now worse than ever. I woke up this morning to an immense breakout. See the picture attached. It's mainly on the right side of my face, as where previously I would break out on the left side.
I'm a teacher, I stan din front of people every day, and I have a wedding to go to next week. But now I feel more like hiding in a cave somewhere...
Sorry you've broken out. I took lymecycline (similar to minocycline) for 8 weeks at the beginning of the year and it worked great - not one blemish in 8 weeks, but obviously it doesn't work for everyone. Have you used a new product that maybe caused a reaction? Are you using any medicine topically, if not maybe you could try? Did you say already that you are dairy and wheat free? Sorry, I'm all questions and no answers!
Oh it's just great to have someone to talk to about this... so many people react saying things like "oh you're an adult, you surely can deal with this' or 'nobody will notice, really',... whatever, it's just nice to have people here who understand
I went to the derm today, she was quite shocked as she didn't expect me to break out while on the mino. She's switching antibiotics to lymecyclin 
) Also, I have to alternate triacneal and differin cream every other night.
It's so frustrating! I didn't think I would have to go through all this ever again! :-/
Oh and yes, I'm wheat-free but not dairy-free I'm afraid. I do have lactase-pills that I take whenever I have dairy as I'm lactose-intolerant. This has never been an issue for my skin though. Or not as far as I know.
I've had mild/very mild acne for most of my adult life but it has been worse the last few years (possibly caused from the pill - the type I take is known to make some people's skin worse) but I had a horrendous breakout starting in about November of last year. I struggled for a few months then went to see the doctor who put me on the lymecycline. Like I said, it cleared my skin, but the acne returned when I stopped taking the meds. I did quite a bit of trial and error but I now believe my breakouts to be dairy related. On a whim, I decided to try almond milk (having already eliminated most other dairy) as I was still drinking a tiny bit every morning with my cereal. It came as quite a shock, but I haven't had any new spots since (I had been getting cystic acne on one side of my chin) and its been 6 weeks. The longest I went without a new spot before quitting milk was 8 days; it can't be just a coincidence.
Wow! It's great that you found the cause then! Did you get your allergies tested?
I tried to go all vegan, but I just love cheese too much... so I'm hoping the lactase pills can counteract the effects of dairy. Your story reminds me of that of amodelrecommends (Ruth Crilly), she got really bad sudden breakouts as well that turned out to be dairy-related.
Maybe I should get off dairy again... couldn't hurt I guess.
I haven't gone dairy-free, I've just stopped using milk in my morning cereal and stopped eating yogurt (which I had been eating quite a bit of during the time I was really breaking out). I still eat cheese, butter, cream, use milk in cooking and have the occasional cappuccino, though with all these combined I still have a fairly low-dairy diet. I don't think I have an allergy, but maybe I just need to limit my intake?
Also - I have read that the lower fat varieties of milk and dairy products seem to have a worse effect on acne than the high fat ones - I always ate low-fat yogurt! So much for trying to be healthy!
I had very bad acne back then when i was like 14 years old. And after all that i've tried, i don't know if it's just me but i don't really see the difference on my acne when i don't eat eggs, milk etc that much.. So after that i went to dermatologist and she gave me creams and also i don't want to try any make up for my face like powder foundation etc and just trying eyeliner and now i rarely use make up on my face just some stuffs on my eyes and i wash my face 3 times a day and i use the creams daily and i see a veryy good results on my acne they rarely breaks out but i still have some scars on my cheeks.. When i first when to my doctor she gave me some creams. For morning and evening I got a cream named "niacef" which has nicotinamide and a cream which has clindamycin
Clindamycin phospate 1,2% and tretinoin as my night cream and a cream that i use if i have some acne bumps and it contains benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin phospate*