My 8.5 year battle continues..
My acne is hormonal. When I got on birth control I was 16 and it helped clear up my face a lot but never completely. I got off b.c. 7 years later and my face went crazy. I've never really responded well to topicals, as my face usually never got better nor worse based solely on topicals, leading me as well as my dermatologist to believe my acne is 100% hormonal.
A year and a half ago I was put on 50mg spironolactone once a day. Well my skin got better after about 3 months of usage. Not completely clear but better. It's not been a year and a few months later and my skin has been giving me problems again. I break out on my chin, around my mouth and next to my nose right under my eyes, but never only nose. Also in the past 6-8 weeks my forehead has been breaking out SEVERELY, but they aren't whiteheads, just bumps.
I should add that in February my derm added 100mg minicycline 2x a day to my regimen as well. I haven't noticed much difference... I've noticed my skin will clear up for 4-5 days then break out again.
Needless to say, I'm frustrated yet AGAIN! I'm trying to decide if I should give the antibiotic longer to work or if I should go see a new deem that I can get birth control from, and just start taking bc again with the spiro. I have had stomach issues in the past (possible ulcer) so I'm aware that my intestinal issues could be causing or at least contributing to my acne.
I would love some thoughts and advice.
Hey!
Some acne treatments take about 3 months to show some improvement, Plus it is good to give some time to your body get used to a treatment before changing it because it could make your body a little bit crazy to understand what is going on, though when we're desperate to get rid of acne/prevent breakouts, it's just complicated to keep calm.
I don't use antibiotics so I can't help you about it. But what helped me to reduce at least the size of my pimples is diet, cutting off dairy (eggs and coffee) made a great difference on my skin. Have you ever tried it? Here they're explaining it: http://www.huffingto...a_b_822163.html
That's all I have to say.
Bye! Hope you find an effective treatment very soon.
Hi I wanted to add my support for vitex! I have not seen a lot of posts about it on Acne.org and I wanted to get a conversation going since I truly believe in it. I've been using vitex for the last six months and it has worked well for me. At first I was very skeptical. I'm NOT someone who takes all kinds of vitamins at all but a friend of mine suggested this since it worked for her. According to my doctors I could either go on Diane BC or accutane. Both of those were options I desperately did not want to try so I gave Vitex a go. I've been taking one pill a day regularly (except for July when I went on vacation, and moved cities). So in short, I like it, it works and I recommend it as worth trying. I'm going to go into detail about it below just for the benefit of whoever wants more info 
My kind of acne: My hormones have been tested and found to be only slightly out of whack according to my doc. He was ready with a BC rx but I was not! My acne was severe a year ago and with the help of medical topicals and cleansers I was able to get it in check (not cleared). Even after my acne was in check I still had a bad breakout before my period every month (papules, pustules, inflamation, redness, etc). It would take forever to 'recover' from the breakout. Then right when my skin recovered from that breakout the process started all over again. Sound familiar?
Vitex is not the kind of thing that works really fast. I'd say into the 2nd month I noticed a change. The change was that my monthly breakout was not so severe. Instead of several pimples I might get one or two of the non-inflamed variety. These healed and went away instead of staying and inviting friends. Since then I've had months when I didn't break out at all. Like I said, my acne was not severe when I started using vitex but if yours is I would use vitex in conjunction with whatever topical your doctor might suggest. For my part I am thankful to have found an alternative to birth control or accutane.
p.s. Vitex got me interested in other natural skincare options. Check my profile blog to read about what I've tried that works and see pictures.
All the best,
Viv
I am experiencing EVERYTHING YOU ARE. Down to being on BC since I was 16, (I am almost 24), and went off bc 3 months ago. I am taking Spiro too! 25mg a day for 2 months, and bumped up to 50mg 3 weeks ago. And experience EXACTLY what you said. Have you found any relief yet!?? Let me know!!
I am experiencing EVERYTHING YOU ARE. Down to being on BC since I was 16, (I am almost 24), and went off bc 3 months ago. I am taking Spiro too! 25mg a day for 2 months, and bumped up to 50mg 3 weeks ago. And experience EXACTLY what you said. Have you found any relief yet!?? Let me know!!
I have not had any luck. I was moved to 100mg of Spiro in May and noticed no change. I was also getting 2 periods a month because of the Spiro, so I was put on birth control as well. I tried this combo for 6 months and didn't see much of a difference as far as my face or getting 2 periods a month. I stopped taking Spiro and my face hasn't really gotten any worse. It's still the same cycle, I've always had. I break out on my chin with a couple of cysts near my period, and I will also get a couple of small inflamed pimples on my chin that have pus in the middle. My forehead is horrible broken out almost always with tiny bumps that aren't whiteheads or blackheads. I'll get a few on my forehead that are a little bigger than the others and they are painful but do not ever form into anything. I also break out next to my nose and slightly in my nasolabial folds.
I'm currently taking Tri-Sprintec birth control and washing my face with Noble Zinc Soap and that is all. I really am lost as to how to control my acne better......nothing seems to help or give me relief. I've read that it could be folliculitis, dermatitis, and a billion other things...who knows. It's hopeless at this point 