Hi there,

I'm a 26 year old female with constant breakouts. I don't by any means have severe acne, i would say it is mild. But i have constant clogged pores, and blackheads and breakouts that make me extremely self conscious at my age. I have been using retin-A for about 2 years at night along with aczone. Dont really think it did much for me to be honest. I've also tried creams like Tazorac and Finacea gel. I use tretonin a few times a week at night and aczone in the mornings. I went to the derm the other day and she prescribed me acticlate 150mg once a day for 3 months. She said if i feel my skin is clear in a month to take it every other day. What are the long term side effects of this? Im really against the idea of taking medicine but my skin is at a stand still and dont know what else to do. I;m also doing facials/extractions/microbrasion and peels every 2 weeks with the derm for the first 2 months, then once a month.

I've also just started a new birth control this past sunday - sprintec. to see if it helps.

Any thoughts/advice? Will the acticlate help long term with the breakouts? What will happen when i stop taking it? Will the breakouts just come back?

Advice?!