you know i think the bumps on my forehead were a fungal thing and the rest of my face had the dermatitis because the nizoral cleared up the forehead super fast and its been fine since. the wash did help clear up my face i just think now its causing acne even though i read online thats an anti-adrogen or something like that. i was on mino years ago and it stained my teeth really bad and had to spend $850 to get them whitened because they got so bad so i wont do that again but i never tried tetracycline. i think i was always nervous about the spiro because my blood pressure runs lower normally and also the initial breakout scares the crap out of me but i guess if i can be on antibiotics for a bit till they kick in then that would be ok. we shall see though i am going to get my food allergy test results on thursday and will find out the results of patch teting on friday and go from there. i would love to be able to get off all meds soon enough and try to figure out a way to balance my hormones naturally but not sure if anything will ever really work. ahhh!!!

so your on spiro now? any side effects at all? dont worry the redness from the dermatitis will fade too!!

Yes I've been on for a couple months. My initial breakout was a few minor bumps here and there nothing major. But I was also o antibiotics. Let me know what your results are! I'm curious. And yeah isn't that' weird how we both got all these different

Bumps? I feel like the effects of dermatitus are much much worse then doctors lead on lol. They deffinetely lead to other problems as well. The lil pin prick red marks r just on my forehead now do hopefully they'll go.

i agree its like the derms downplay it and act like its not a big deal. when my face was covered the one derm said that it wasnt that big of a deal because at least i didnt have cancer. i wanted to smack him!!

Hey Tracy how have you been doing? Any updates? My dermatitis is all gone and my derm Is putting me on accutane starting today she said it'll also help the dermatitis? But I'm not sure. I still have some awesome scars on my forehead haha from that recent outbreak. Did you get rid of your dermatitis too??

hey good to hear from you. so you are done with the spiro then? my dermatitis is gone at least that is why my derm says but now i keep getting cystic acne. i have had 6 cysts in the last 2 weeks (besides regular acne) which is the most i ever had at one time in my life. i went back to the derm to get 4 of them injected and the derm told me to stop the doxy and gave me zithromax to take 3 days a week for 8 weeks and then that is it. she doesnt want me to do antibiotics ever again and i am fine with that. so i got my food allergy results back and am highly allergic to all dairy, wheat, gluten, malt, barley, rye, beef, eggs, pineapple and garlic. processing all that info has been overwhelming and trying to find things i am able to eat is a chore but i am determined to try it out for a month or two to see if it helps my acne. my holistic doctor has me taking enzyme pills at each meal and then will retest me again in 6 months. i just got a celiac test as well as candida too so just awaiting the results. i pray that my diet can help clear me but if not its spiro then the tane. i have been in a bad place the last few weeks so i am just trying to keep it all together. i told my mom if i didnt get red marks or scars i wouldnt care so much about the acne ya know? so when do you start accutane? are you nervous at all? what dosage will you be on? keep me updated and pm me whenever you want. take care and good luck to you! thanks for checking in on me

Yeah lucky us one problem after another huh! I'm taking my first pill in about 20 min! Just made some lovely Mac n cheese to take it with yea I talked it over with the dream and since I've had acne since 14 and really not much improvements ( I'm turning 22 on Sunday) and tried diff topicals and pills she thinks this is the best idea. I'll be only 40 mg a day for 6 months. Kinda scared but soooo done with all this. Since I've been on antibiotics till now hopefully my ib won't be do bad. I also don't want to stay on spiro because I don't want to take it for years and who knows what'll look like after. She also mentioned it helps peri oral dermatitis. I had the ib from spiro nothing too major so well see. And yeah I'm a bit nervous! And yea my forehead has lots of marks let me know how it all works for you and what you decide on! That sucks your allergic to so much maybe it'll clear you up and you can look for ulternstives? And me too with the bad place! My gp wasn't sure what those bumps where and had said they coud be warts! So m pretty relieved to hear its acne. Maybe well both end up on accutane!

yeah tell me about it. sometimes i feel so cursed ya know? it sucks so bad thats for sure. so how did it go with your first dose? you feel ok? i know what you mean about being scared. i had the script for it back in 2005 or 2006 and i decided not to take it because i read too many bad things but you know what my hubby and his brother both took it back in the day and they are fine so i think if i do get offered it again i will probably take it but everybody says to try spiro first. so you didnt like the spiro or it didnt work for you? i know that you are suppossed to give it like 3 months or something. that is good that the accutane will help the dermatitis too. good deal!! my derm is convinced my acne is hormonal so i think she would make me try the spiro first then the accutane. i cant be on any hormonal birth control so i would have to get the copper iud first before i could even attempt to get accutane. its all such an ordeal but i am so happy for you and i know that everything will work out. keep me updated even if you just send me a pm or something every week. i hear ya there its so hard to be positive when you see acne taking over your face and then the scarring and red marks on top of it just makes it almost unbearable. take care and just know that its going to get better now that you are on the accutane!!

Yeah I had spiro for 3 months and I was suffering the ib and when I went to my derm Wednesday, I thought she was gonna give me stuff for whatever had been on my forehead! Lol. But she offered me accutane as I'd tried so many things for years and still had it. I figured if I'm gonna suffer an ib, might as well be done with the whole thing! I don't wanna rely on spiro cause maybe when I want kids it'll all come back. And I have oily skin so my derm thinks accutane will help. You know I try not to read the horror stories anymore because it'll psych you out lol. I asked my derm about the moremserious side effects and she told me its mostly people that have it in their history. And I'm tired of dealing with these dang acne! Lol and my first dose went fine no problems! definitely give it a go if spiro dont work for you. I am on ortho tri cylin for years but I still break out and it's always in clusterssss especially on my cheeks I'm not too worried for the ib from accutane cuz I just had it for spro n both the pharmacist and my derm said its about the sane. Except I've been on spiro for 3 months and still getting it!!!! Accutane is supposed to ony be 2 weeks I will for sure keep you updated!

hello again! ok i was wondering how long you were on the spiro and yeah i agree if 3 months into it and you are still breaking out then its definiltey not working. my derm keeps saying my acne is hormomal but i dont know only because i get it all the time now not just before my period but i guess she said its because its on the lower part of my face. i am getting cysts in odd places though that i dont normally ever break out in like 2 around my nose and one on my chin. i have scarring on my chin so i dont normally ever get breakouts there anymore so this is all very odd. then again using that nizoral shampoo on my face for 2 months and not being able to exfoliate couldnt have been good for it either. so we shall see i really dont want to go the spiro route because its really just a band aid for the problem and then what happens when i go off it ya know? my derm said they would only keep me on it for a year which to me is a waste because who wants to have good skin for a year if it works then go back to crappy skin again ya know? my skin is oily too so i would love the accutane just to cut down on that let alone the cystic acne. i usually blot my face numerous times throughout the day which is annoying especially after not using really any moisturizer. hey i was on ortho for years too and it made my skin so much worse. i never realized it was the birth control doing it until i stopped taking it and cleared up for 2 years only to have the acne return. not sure why it came back though. i hate birth control but really wish i could be on it now just to get the accutane. the thought of an iud freaks me out for some reason. i read way too much stuff on the internet that i scare myself out of so many things. i agree i wouldnt worry too much about the accutane and i think since you are on 40mg a day that you probably wont even get the bad side effects. my hubby was eventually pulled off of it when he was younger i guess because his bloodwork came back high for his liver but i think he had at least 5 months in and his skin is still great to this day. he will be 39 and when he does get a breakout its very short and goes away quickly. he even squeezes all his zits and her barely ever gets red marks let alone scars so i think this is going to work reallly well for you. the only side effect he got was chapped lips that would sometimes bleed that is it. lol the ib from spiro and accutane scares the crap out of me but if i start the spiro soon then i will still be on my antibiotics so hopefully it will help with that. this diet just needs to kick in and start clearing my skin already -ha ha!!

Yeah that's why I quit spiro it's a bandaid. I'm not too worried, but on that note I was on antibiotics the whole time on spiro and I still got a crappy ib lol. That's why I'd rather go thru accutane it's more of a "cure". And if it helps with our dermatitis I feel great lol the way I look at it is.. On spiro ill still need acne meds which will irritate my dermatitis. If i go thru accutane , chances are slim that I'll need them again. That's jut how in looking at it. I tried dieting last year with green tea and all egg whites spinach Etc. it was so hard cause I manage a breakfast restaurant lol. But it didn't help me and I couldn't resist I only did it for 5-6 months. Accutane is supposed. To be great fit oily skin which Is why I'm pretty happy. I'd go on a birth control if I where you just because the time spiro will take to work you'll almost be done accutane lol. But that's just my two cents. I'm fed up with covering uglys as I call them up lol. I'll let you know how my course is going since we have similar situations except I get more big red swollen bumps then cysts. I'm 22 & I don't really have any medical problems. My derm said if you've suffered for many years clearly your not going to out gro acne... And I know it'll get worse since I can't use my damn acne meds! I tried putting my old Acne prescribed cream (clindoxyl) on a few bumps last week and I got a few lol bumps which I knew would turn into dermatitis! So can't use topicals no more what about you? Have you tried your old acne meds?

that is so very true about what you said about spiro and the accutane. so how is it going for you? any breakouts at all? yeah this diet thing sucks and i can tell you since i took out everything i am suppossedly allergic to, my face has been even worse. i went to an acupuncterist on saturday and the lady said that if its really the food that the diet will start to clear my skin in 3 weeks so we shall see. i hear ya there if the accutane helps with the oily skin that would be so great because my face is like a freaking oil slick half the time. it never used to be this oily until the last year. so annoying!

i hear ya there i am so sick of trying to cover up this crap and cysts are like impossible to cover anyway. i hate them so much. i wouldnt mind it as much if i got regular acne only because the cysts are just so painful. i swear i live off aleve lately. ugh! that is true about not outgrowing acne and i am glad you are on the accutane because when i was your age i always thought my acne would go away when i got older and now i wish i would have done something when i was younger because you heal so much quicker when you are younger.

yeah i use my benzaclin on the spots and around my jawline which seems to be where i am breaking out lately and it works ok but not as good as it used to unfortunately. i started using a mandelic acid cleanser so i am hoping it helps to clear up some of this mess while i figure out what to do. i just wish it didnt take so long to get the accutane because my appointment with the gyno isnt until jan 7th then i have to make an appointment for the actual iud and then i need to get the bloodwork and have a negative pregnancy test too -blah! how long did it take you to get the accutane.

So far, so good breakout wise! I have a couple really small white head like pimples, but I'm not sure if I can attribute that to Accutane or my time of the month. I hear ya on the diet thing....last year I was CONVINCED it was because of the food I consumed, that I only drank water & green tea. As well as I ate egg whites, turkey bacon, and pretty much nothing that wasnt "healthy" for like 6 months.. Not only did it NOT help my acne, but I was sooo moody from depriving myself. I work in a restaurant so seeing that food come out was a killer lol. But I dont think my acne is caused by food as its always stayed the same. When I was so depressed about the dermatitis I ate two black forest cakes in a week and not a single pimple formed. Well if it doesnt clear in 3 weeks, I'd deffinetely consider Accutane. I know Spiro might be "Safer", but it will be a pill you take for who knows how long. And sometimes I feel like that's just as bad. And I hope it helps with the oily skin! I cant stand oily skin lol. Makes Acne much worse

And I didnt really have to wait much, maybe 4 days. I live in Vancouver Canada, so we dont have ipledge here. And my derm gave me my prescription the same day and I just had to wait till she called me with my bloodwork being ok.

Maybe you could have your bloodwork done the day before or a few days before your appointment so they have the results?

Im not sure how it works where you are

I hope you get it if you decide to go for it! I feel like its a big relief. There is hope.

hello again. how is your face doing today? how is the accutane treating you any side effects yet? i hope that it goes easy for you. you know with you mentioning diet i think it can help some people but not everybody. i have been avoiding all the items i am supposedly allergic to and my face has been the worst it ever has been. i am giving this new diet 1 more week and then i am saying screw it and allowing myself wheat and cheese every few days. i have been so cranky too and its makes me so darn miserable to see everybody eat so much good food all the time while i sit in the corner and eat a freaking salad. grrr! i have lost weight too and dont want to lose anymore either. my derm is having me start the 25mg of spiro tonight and then we will go from there. she said if i am ok on that dosage they can increase it to 50mg a day. she has no problem giving me accutane once i get an iud but she wanted me to try this first in case it works and for now i will do that. i will give it a month and then if its no better try the accutane. i am not going to screw around with waiting months and months for this stuff to work but i do believe mine is hormonal because i get it on the lower half of my face and this month it got really bad before my tom. so we shall see i just pray this works even if it gives me a good year that will help with helping my face heal and then if i need to do accutane then i will but i just pray i wont have to go that route. i am just scared of the accutane because i am getting older now and scar so much easier than when i was younger. i should have done it when i was in my 20's for sure. that is awesome that you didnt have to wait to start and thats even better that you have no ipledge there either. its so annoying and hard to get here its like you gotta get bloodwork then have a negative pregnancy test and then i think they still make you wait a month or something like that. its almost like they make it so hard to get that you dont want to bother taking it. blah!

anyway i hope you are clearing up really well now and that things get better for you. i feel like 2013 is going to be a much better year.

Yeah diet didn't work for me. To be honest I'm kinda glad because I don't want to limit myself or be scared to eat what I want. So far I'm ok, initial breakout has started on my lower cheeks. Not big ones but lots of white head like eruptions. Maybe 9? And the top of my cheeks are getting like... Gritty. I think the crap is getting pushed out

I'd deffinetly try the accutane... I didn't even notice anything my first month on spiro. It was the second month my face got ugly. I took my 8th pill today. Dry lips, peeling nose and so thirsty. Actually my face is a bit "pink". But I heard accutane makes your face a bit red while on it.

I feel like ...taking this is as close as a cure.... And everything else you will be taking for years. So if she's ok with it I'd totally go with it

yeah i agree with you on the diet thing because my skin has been the worst when i am eating the best. ugh its all so strange to me! so how is your skin today are you still breaking out? i hope that your skin gets better soon!! i want to take the accutane so bad but from what i read on the ipledge site i gotta have 2 negative pregnancy tests so it will take a while before i can get it. i am going to see a new derm on wednesday and ask her more about it and then we will go from there. i think i could get the one pregnancy test done on Wednesday with the blood work and then i would have a month to get an iud and then start the tane. i really want this spiro to start working but i figure i will get everything started with the accutane and if by chance the spiro works then i can just stop the process at any time. so have you experienced any other side effects? thats probably not too bad if your skin gets a bit red while taking the accutane because then the red marks will just blend on in. lol unless you dont get any red marks. i get them from most of my cysts and i freaking hate them they are so hard to cover with makeup. my derm wants me to use 0.25% tretinonin cream but i hate that stuff it makes me peel like crazy!

Yeah I would do that! Then your only a bit behind me my breakouts are weird. Like hard white head things but I'm still breaking out ( I don't have red marks just scars on my forehead and my cheeks.

Hopefully you'll get it soon if you have your tests done you could be on it in a month ))) I hope it all works out for you!