Have u tried Accutane or Spiro? You have tried everything else!

10 hours ago, Juwalker said:

Have u tried Accutane or Spiro? You have tried everything else!

I have not tried either of those yet. My doctor won't prescribe me Spiro so I've asked for a referral to a dermatologist but the next appointment is about a year away.

I am really considering Accutane but have a history of depression, anxiety and being quite sensitive to medications which is why I have been trying some other approaches but perhaps it's time to think about it!

All the best. Having acne is often a big part if not the entire cause of anxiety and depression, yet the medics argue against accutane for fear of depression!!! A recent derm I spoke to said there was no conclusive evidence though. Spiro works for some too. Let us know how you get on and keep talking in the meantime.

On 8/23/2017 at 4:11 AM, Juwalker said:

All the best. Having acne is often a big part if not the entire cause of anxiety and depression, yet the medics argue against accutane for fear of depression!!! A recent derm I spoke to said there was no conclusive evidence though.  Spiro works for some too. Let us know how you get on and keep talking in the meantime.

Thank you very much Juwalker. If I do decide to go the accutane route, my plan would be to document it here and share my experience with others  Appreciate you responding to my post! 

On August 23, 2017 at 1:42 AM, PerfectlySlytherin said:

I am really considering Accutane but have a history of depression, anxiety and being quite sensitive to medications which is why I have been trying some other approaches but perhaps it's time to think about it!

I've been on accutane twice. Suffered from anxiety and depression afterwards. Results lasted less than a year. It impaired my healing too.

But accutane really cured other people's acne. But there's no 100% guarantee. Not going to take it again tho.

On 8/26/2017 at 4:18 AM, S33kingS0lution said:

I've been on accutane twice. Suffered from anxiety and depression afterwards. Results lasted less than a year. It impaired my healing too.

But accutane really cured other people's acne. But there's no 100% guarantee. Not going to take it again tho.

I am sorry to hear about your experience. This is the exact reason why i am so scared to take it.....I have a feeling my acne is hormonal which is common for relapses. PDT worked really well for me for a couple of years but I have to have 6 treatment at ~$300/ treatment all for it to come back after a few years. Have you found anything that has really worked for you??

4 hours ago, PerfectlySlytherin said:

I am sorry to hear about your experience. This is the exact reason why i am so scared to take it.....I have a feeling my acne is hormonal which is common for relapses. PDT worked really well for me for a couple of years but I have to have 6 treatment at ~$300/ treatment all for it to come back after a few years. Have you found anything that has really worked for you??

I'm trying to heal it naturally as I am already worried of the possible side effects of pills and chemicals.

It's too early to tell but my chest and back is 95% clear. My face is the hardest to clear up. How is your skin now? Any improvements since your original post?

On 8/29/2017 at 0:14 AM, S33kingS0lution said:

I'm trying to heal it naturally as I am already worried of the possible side effects of pills and chemicals.

It's too early to tell but my chest and back is 95% clear. My face is the hardest to clear up. How is your skin now? Any improvements since your original post?

No improvements....I had gone Vegan for 3 months with almost 0 improvements so I am slowly adding some meat back into my diet which hasnt made any difference either.

Right now I was my face with a tea tree oil cleanser, use a vitamin B3 serum followed by a retinol and sunscreen. I take DIM (estroblock), saw palmetto and vitamin D3 and its about the same as the photos above. If I am super consistent, I can get it a bit clearer for about a week and then always have another breakout.

I was considering going to a naturopath to do the hormone saliva testing but its really expensive so I am trying to find other options

Hello,

I'm older, too and have had acne issues for a long time. 

I've tried a lot of stuff and have meditated on acne many times.

Different people may get acne for different reasons but most people with adult acne get it for the same reason.

That reason, in my opinion, is that bacteria are able to penetrate the natural barriers (oil and such) on an afflicted persons face. 

That's what causes the clogged pores in adult acne sufferers. The clogging is a reaction to bacterial intrusion. It is the intrusion of bacteria, not hormones, or diet, or oil production, or liver or immune function. Problems in these many areas may contribute to acne but there are plenty of people with such problems without acne.

People can't stop acne with acne killing treatments because the intrusion of bacteria continues even as their treatments slowly kill existing infections.

What you need is a treatment that puts a barrier between your face and the germ filled world.

I use a variation of the acne.org regimen.  I buy the PB from this site, and I use cetaphil daily facial moisturizer with spf 15. I often use warm water alone and no soap at all on my face, but you can use soap if you like. The cheapest soaps have worked fine with the regimen. 

I believe this will clear up your face, PerfectlySlytherin. And after a few months, when it has, you can cut back on the BP a lot as you'll have no acne to kill, just a barrier to maintain.

just my 2 cents.

good luck.

You can try drink prunella Valgaris . It good for acne . I have a lot of acne on my face and it disappeared but still have some acne andwhen I stop drinking it more acne start growing in

I just noticed that you have tried The Regimen.

Maybe try it my way, no soap, 2.5 bp, and cetaphil.

On 9/3/2017 at 8:48 PM, Jng2003x said:

You can try drink prunella Valgaris . It good for acne . I have a lot of acne on my face and it disappeared but still have some  acne and when I stop drinking it more acne start growing in

 I will definitely look this up! Thank you for the suggestion!
 

On 9/3/2017 at 9:22 PM, Gunnar said:

I just noticed that you have tried The Regimen. 

Maybe try it my way, no soap, 2.5 bp, and cetaphil.

 

I will definitely think about doing this...I do find that harsh cleansers make my acne worse so the no soap may be a good idea. 

It's honestly the most frustrating experience of my life so I appreciate all the suggestions. I have been doing my current "regime" for a few months now and it isnt working so perhaps trying the regime again and adding in prunella Valgaris could be my next hopeful attempt!

I did get a dermatologist appointment but the earliest I can get in is January 2018 so I have some more time to consider Accuntane 

Can say sugar or the things that go into stuff like sweets and biscuits definately makes my skin break out.

i had a strict diet that was supposed to be acne friendly,it kind of was and wasnt,i lost 3 st in weight at same time.added fruit and ate a lot of it a day and it made me breakout.so much so i said f it and went back to ny normal duet i gad before + i added all the usual suspect sweet things as i wanted to put my weight back on and only sweet stuff does that for me.

i am avoiding chicken though as i blame that for bad breakouts in past.its somethingbi can deal with.

so i been eating my old habits and sufferung breakouts but not overlt serious but its there and i know its eating sweet stuff so gonna cut down on it a bit,try to regulate it so i can get some weight on my body and gave no breakouts.

dr gave me finacea cream which seems good but i would rather get clear and stay clear and not use it.

personaly i would say your problem lies in your sugar or whatever it is you put inside your body.

if you can take anything from this post and it helps then thats goid but eating my main meals as before my diet isnt breaking me out it would seem its the sweet stuff.

Hey OP, I was on accutane twice and I did NOT have any major problems with it, besides some dry skin. So a lot of people tolerate it really well. However, my acne did come back, although not as bad. That's not to say it will with you, but it is a possibility. I would personally try it anyway just in case you do get permanent or at least long term relief from acne. I think it's definitely worth it.

On a side note, when you said you reduced sugar intake, by how much did you mean? I have long reduced my sugar intake, but it actually took COMPLETELY ELIMINATING any processed sugar PLUS eating "low GI" to have a great effect on my skin. (And adding plant fats like chia or flax with each meal to further slow down glucose spikes.) I just thought it might be worth it for you to try this. I was born with hypoglycemia problems but I never put two and two together until recently. If you have trouble with blood sugars, this may be helpful.

All i can say is diet wise like a ladt posted ealier,you realy got to reduce what it is you eat that inflames your skin causing acne if you dont you will still break out which basicly makes eating for your acne a waste of time.ontop that,dieting can make you sensitive to things your skin would have been ok with adding further complications.

now i am eating as normal as i originaly did for over 2 weeks now and it took around 10 days for my skin to break out but its clearing and my body is use to the stuff i am stuffing my face with but i still get a little bit of acne here and there.

all in all eating for my skin made me lose nearly 3st and i still broke out especialy to fruit,if i had carried on i would have lost more weight and it realy us a pain in ass finding out what you can and cant eat.i am putting my weight on and just dont realy care about what i am eating and just getting same breakouts.

so no difference.

Wow you did try a lot! I remember one post here something to do with your blood type. It may help you determine what food you must eat or is compatible with your blood type or something like that.

On 9/14/2017 at 5:27 AM, DrW said:

Hi  I have signed up to this website in order to offer advice to those suffering with adult acne. Unlike you OP I did not suffer when I was a teenager - always had 'perfect skin'. However, around 7 years ago in my early 30s I, all of a sudden, developed adult acne OUT OF NOWHERE!! I went to the Gp after a couple of months when I realised these spots were not going away no matter what I did. I was prescribed Duac and I literally used that for about 6 years straight. I found it kinda controlled the spots a little but I was still having major breakouts which the duac just would not touch. I, of course, researched and then tried various treatments I found on the internet i.e. aspirin masks, tomatoes, potatoes, microdermabrasion etc etc everything I could apply to my skin I tried.
Then about 6 months ago I went to the doctor about something unrelated and he was looking at my skin (even using copious amounts of make up would not disguise the horrid lumps and bumps on my face) and then he looked  at my notes and noticed I was a long time user of Duac. He asked how it was working for me, I said it was ok but I felt all it did was get rid of the spots faster; it didn't actually stop them from forming. He then asked me if I would like to try an antibiotic which was proving to be successful in 'curing' acne. I was like 'ummm YEAH!!!!!!'. He then prescribed me Lymecycline. It was only when I took the prescription to the chemist and they then handed over 3 months worth of the stuff that I started wondering whether I really wanted to take antibiotics for 3 months and possibly longer. This made me REALLY research acne and what causes it. And it is due to this research that I have cured ( yes, cured) my acne. My research consisted of academic, peer reviewed journal articles rather than just forums, although they were really helpful too . What I discovered is that there are different forms of acne and most people have these differing types and so need to treat each mutation at the same time. Basically I take 2 capsules of oregano oil per day (this works on any infection in the gut which may cause acne), I also wash my face with head and shoulders 3 times a week ( it contains zinc which combats acne which develops in the hair follicle) I also use glycolic acid every night to stop dead skin getting trapped in my pores, and twice a week I use a microdermabrasion treatment on my face. I still have scars and hyperpigmentation but I am working on that with dermarolling and continued use of acid treatments. Honestly people, it is time we took control and stopped relying on the big pharma companies to offer cures - they don't want a cure because acne keeps them in business, natural treatments are the way to go! 
If you have any questions - please ask  

Really interesting post. I have used head and shoulders on my face before as homemade mod to of the regemin, and it really beats redness and makes skin look bright. Never thought it might be an acne fighter.

You make me want to try a new approach. 

Thanks

I been taking flucloxacillin on 2 occassions over the past month as i got follicullitis.

the dr gave me a 7 day course and first was 250mg 4x daily.it managed to nearly wipe it out but my tabs ran out,i went to dr again after a week,this time a different dr gave me flucloxacillin 500mg 4x daily and same thing happened,it nearly erradicated it but my tabs ran out so am now waiting to go again on monday,this time i will be sure to complain more and get a longer course.

something i have noticed and others have said,my face looks different and smoother,its because the inflammation that was in my face due to the bacteria in my skin had died and all the puffiness and spots that were waiting to happen had gone.

so if you can try anti biotic get some from your dr,how long yoyr face will hold out for if it gets rid or helps with inflammation i dont know but yes,its worth a shot.i think personaly,if your not allergic to penacillin it will help a lot with your active stuff and get rud of inflammation by ridding your face of bacteria.

also if you can get some,finacea,get some finacea cream from the dr,its only available on prescription,use that after washing in morning and when you go to bed,use it only on spots,not all over and be carefull to go sparingly as its strong,its acidic if i am not wrong so good at killing spots/bacteria.

so anti biotics and finacea!

On 9/14/2017 at 7:27 AM, DrW said:

Hi  I have signed up to this website in order to offer advice to those suffering with adult acne. Unlike you OP I did not suffer when I was a teenager - always had 'perfect skin'. However, around 7 years ago in my early 30s I, all of a sudden, developed adult acne OUT OF NOWHERE!! I went to the Gp after a couple of months when I realised these spots were not going away no matter what I did. I was prescribed Duac and I literally used that for about 6 years straight. I found it kinda controlled the spots a little but I was still having major breakouts which the duac just would not touch. I, of course, researched and then tried various treatments I found on the internet i.e. aspirin masks, tomatoes, potatoes, microdermabrasion etc etc everything I could apply to my skin I tried.
Then about 6 months ago I went to the doctor about something unrelated and he was looking at my skin (even using copious amounts of make up would not disguise the horrid lumps and bumps on my face) and then he looked  at my notes and noticed I was a long time user of Duac. He asked how it was working for me, I said it was ok but I felt all it did was get rid of the spots faster; it didn't actually stop them from forming. He then asked me if I would like to try an antibiotic which was proving to be successful in 'curing' acne. I was like 'ummm YEAH!!!!!!'. He then prescribed me Lymecycline. It was only when I took the prescription to the chemist and they then handed over 3 months worth of the stuff that I started wondering whether I really wanted to take antibiotics for 3 months and possibly longer. This made me REALLY research acne and what causes it. And it is due to this research that I have cured ( yes, cured) my acne. My research consisted of academic, peer reviewed journal articles rather than just forums, although they were really helpful too . What I discovered is that there are different forms of acne and most people have these differing types and so need to treat each mutation at the same time. Basically I take 2 capsules of oregano oil per day (this works on any infection in the gut which may cause acne), I also wash my face with head and shoulders 3 times a week ( it contains zinc which combats acne which develops in the hair follicle) I also use glycolic acid every night to stop dead skin getting trapped in my pores, and twice a week I use a microdermabrasion treatment on my face. I still have scars and hyperpigmentation but I am working on that with dermarolling and continued use of acid treatments. Honestly people, it is time we took control and stopped relying on the big pharma companies to offer cures - they don't want a cure because acne keeps them in business, natural treatments are the way to go! 
If you have any questions - please ask  

What brand of oregano oil do you use?
 

Wow you really have tried everything. If your face cleared while on bc, it may be your hormones. I can't handle bc either. I use evening primrose oil for cystic acne along with probiotics. But you might want to consult with your doctor since your body is sensitive.

Some people just just shed more skin than others which calls for more exfoliating however tea tree oil can be very drying. If you are drying out your face, your glands will cause more oil to produce only making your acne worse.

Try a mild cleanser like cetaphil with with a daily exfoliant. Wash twice a day but only exfoliate once. Tone your skin. Super important. I use jojoba oil for moisture since it mimics sebum.

Maybe find a holistic treatment. Your face is trying to tell you there's something going on internally.

Goid luck to you. I know the struggle.

I know this is out of topic but I didn't pay too much attention to Cetaphil's ingredients until recently (I remembered as @Esti720mentioned it above). When I think of a mild cleanser, first thing that comes into my mind is Cetaphil but now I don't know. It makes me think twice because it has parabens.

Anyway, keep us posted about any of your progress @PerfectlySlytherin .

Recently moved to new state and started getting acne despite the regimen.

that's why I'be been looking at this site.

tried lotsa stuff like when I was a kid. Nothing was helping. Derms no help.

started washing my face with distilled water and doing a light regimen again.

totally cleared up.

was the water. Heavily treated here and surface water, too.

try distilled water for a while and light regimen. If works, try filtered.