Hi everyone.

I haven't visited this site in two years. Before then, I came here everyday as part of my ritualistic and extremely unhealthy obsession with my skin.

I developed mild to bad cystic acne around my mouth when I was 22. Prior to this I had good skin. I still have no idea what triggered the change in my body - hormonal acne runs in my family and I was going through a terrible breakup so stress wasn't helping.

I'm a musician and spend a lot of time in front of crowds with my face fully visible, so this new issue was completely horrifying. I turned inward, became increasingly depressed, and started the most confused spiral down of my life.

Naturally, I looked to the Internet for help and treatment advice. Here's the point of my post:

When I came to this site, the overwhelming opinion about dermatologists is that they provide a false hope and expensive treatments that are inneffective and often exacerbate the problem. So, I never saw a dermatologist. Instead, for two long years, I began to try every single possible homeopathic and dietary remedy. The list includes:

Variety of oil methods

Hydrogen Peroxide

water-only

no wash

Exfoliation

different creams (and I mean everything from walgreens)

vegetarianism

no dairy

no gluten

no sugar

paleo

fasting

different vitamin supplements

no coffee

no alcohol

exercise (mild to excessive)

meditation

prayer

regular sleep schedules

Candida cleanse

And many more, some that are incredibly embarrassing to think about now.

I couldn't find a way to keep the acne at bay and my skin was beginning to scar. Few people here are new to the psychological effects of this shit. I became completely obsessed with my diet, skin, and health. I was totally miserable and totally miserable to be around. I got close to killing myself. I felt I had nothing to live for. I had moved back home with my parents and was totally lost. My mom broke down one day and pleaded with me to talk about it (I had internalized everything). I told her everything I had tried and about my EXTREMELY IRRATIONAL fear/distrust of dermatologists. She screamed in disbelief and made an appointment for the next week.

I went to the U of M dermatologist and he prescribed clindamycin (also known as duac). My active acne went away in less than two weeks. TWO WEEKS. That was two years ago.

I'm aware that this is not completely normal and that some pepole really do have bad experiences with antibiotics... i know that my acne might come back even worse one day... but seeing that doctor saved my life and made it livable again.

I supplement the antibiotic with vitamin D and a dairy-free diet, but I'm 100% sure the topical is the key ingredient to my regimen. I still get zits, but very occasionally and when I do they heal twice as fast and leave less pigmentation.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don't completely rule out dermatologists because of what you read on the internet. Everything is worth trying. If you're worried about the cost, consider the amount you spend on OTC stuff - it's not so different.

Ive waited this long to make this post bc i didnt want to jinx anything or speak to soon, but for me, this works.

Good luck