Hi! We are the same age with pretty much the same situation! My back was a horrible mess of cysts and all kinds of awful stuff, where my face was more moderate. I don't now if I can help too much but I wanted to say I understand and your not alone, I feel the same way about my skin. I actually took the plunge and am on my second month of accutane. I tried all of those things that you've tried plus a couple other funky ones, and you know what? I did notice that with some of the topicals, after time, they did really start to irritate my skin a lot more, which made the acne worse instead of better. I noticed you didn't mention anything about birth control or other hormone therapies in your post? Do you take BC? For some girls here BC or Spiro works wonders for their acne. It didn't help me significantly but I see some posts from girls with major results.

I get pretty much everything you mentioned though. Its tough going to work as a professional and feeling like you look like your dealing with teen problem. Also I won't take off my sundress/cover up off at the beach because of my back. Just know though that most people are good, and will not give any thought to your acne, and be able to see you for you.

I'm not sure if I am posting in the right place, but here goes. I am at the end of my rope so to speak with my skin. Some background about myself and struggles with acne..I am a 23 (almost 24) year old female that has suffered with breakouts since I was 10. Originally started breaking out monthly, then in high school I started breaking out more often with more whiteheads. Tried a slew of drug store products and prescriptions, finally found a good combo of Klaron lotion and Triaz cleanser that got me completely clear by age 16. This regimen kept me almost 100% clear until around age 20, when I stopped using and started breaking out again. Since then, I have tried Retin A, Differin, Aczone, some other smelly lotion that I can't remember, Clindamycin, Benzclin, and most recently I went to a new derm that seemed very good who put me back on Klaron and a sulfer wash. Since age 20, my breakouts have been a mix of what I consider to be cysts and whiteheads/paupules. Well, the past week or so of using my new regimen, my skin has gotten SO BAD (for me). I am going to include some pics below so you can get an idea. Please excuse the grossness - it is taking a lot for me to post these pics and I will probably delete them once I get some good responses. I typically break out on my forehead and parameters of my face (by my hairline and jawline) but now I am also breaking out on my cheeks and above my lip as you can see in the photos. The breakouts on the sides of my faces look like huge welts.

I don't know where to go from here. I feel (like I am sure many of you have) that NOTHING has been working. I also have a very clean diet. I do not eat many processed foods, I haven't been eating cheese. I try not to eat bread, but I would not say my diet is low carb by any means. My one vice is chocolate. I don't remember the last time I ate at a fast food chain. I exercise about 5 days a week, and run and spin often. I am very active and I guess I consider myself to be a "health nut." I am also a working professional, and it is so embarassing to go to work and have an "adult" job and look like a teen covered in acne. I'm sorry, I just needed to vent. I would just LOVE to be able to go to the beach and not worry about hiding my skin. I would love to go to the gym and not be self concious about not wearing makeup.

 

I do not know what other products to try. I really want to avoid accutane, but does anyone think it might help from the looks of my skin? Over the years, I have developed an allergy to BP, so I cannot try the regimen unfortunately. I personally wonder if my skin on my face is just "allergic" to all these chemicals and products. I also have bacne (how did I get so lucky?), but it is responding very well to the sulfur cleanser. My face on the other hand is not responding well. Do you think I could have some weird issue with my skin being overly sensitive? Should I look for natural alternatives?

Please provide me with any treatment advice you have. I just don't know what to do at this point. I want to stay in my house and not leave. It's sad that I am spending my Friday night freaking out about my skin.

Please help!!!

I know exactly how you feel, and it takes a lot of courage to put pictures up but it does help. I'm in a similar situation to you in that I eat pretty clean and exercise regularly but still break out. It's so frustrating to feel like you're doing everything you can to fix it and they don't stop coming. After trying a bunch of different things I decided to go back on accutane because it was the only thing that gave me long term results and the side effects were mild. I've also simplified what I use on my face which I think is the best way to go. If I were you though, I'd look through the product reviews and pick something that sounds promising then stick with it for at least 8 weeks. There's a ton of info floating around here but you could go crazy if you over think things.

And can't see your whole face but I can tell you're very pretty. Hope this helps. Good luck with everything.

what wash do u use?

u u take dairy,sugar?

are u sure u aint intolerant to gluten/grains/ or any other food like night shade member or nuts etc?

what is ur stress level and sleep time?

u could use a (clindamycin + nicotinamide) gel and also take supplements if u can.

is ur skin oily?

have warm lemon water 1st thing the morning.

and have cinnamon after every mean for sugar spike.

give these 1-2 mnths time.

keep a food diary if needed?

Thanks for the replies everyone. I just wanted to address some additional questions that you asked, to see if it will help you guys help me.

1. I am taking BCP, and I don't think it has ever helped with my acne. I am on Ocella. When I told my gyno a couple years ago that I thought the BCP was making my acne worse, he said something to the effect that I was the only patient that has ever said that.

2. Right now I am using a a10% sulfacetamide (not sure if I spelled that right) wash. I think it is irritating my skin a little bit, esp because the skin by the corners of my eye are extremely irritated.

3. My skin is oily and sensitive at the same time, which is tough because most products for oily skin are not made for sensitive skin.

4. I am not sure if I am gluten/nut intolerant. I think I might investigate this further - especially for health reasons.

5. I suffer from anxiety, so I would say that I am moderately stressed on a regular basis. I get about 6-8 hours of sleep to night, usually closer to 7-8.

6. I take a multi-vitamin daily.

7. I do wear makeup (as I mentioned) and I have tried many different kinds and have broken out with all of them from high end to drug store, so I do not know if foundation has nothing to do with my breakouts or if it makes everything worse.

It's good to know I'm not alone. And I know this sounds horrible, but at least I can cover the acne up with makeup for work, etc. I just want to see if there is a more holistic approach to skin clearing.

Thank you!

This is my first time on this and your post was the first I have come across. I know exactly how you feel, I'm 21 and thought my war with acne would be over, seems like I'm loosing this battle. I have tried everything you have. Differn made me red and flakly and broke me out more. BP was to drying I as well have very sensitive skin so I need to be careful with harsh chemicals. I tried Lasers, Chemical peels, and all types of expensive creams. They all seem to work at first but I'm not breaking out again and get these little bumps on my for head my chin, my cheeks and my jaw line. I also have very pale skin so the red marks left behind dont help much either. I also say the same thing, my wish is to be able to go on the beach makeup free. Iv heard which hazel as a toner is great for sensitive skin as well as helps with redness and swelling. I always look around me and all i see are people with great skin. For your back I would use the Clinique acne bar. Its great I waxed my back once (stupid) and broke out EVERYWHERE i started using this bar and I cant recall the last time I got a pimple on my back. I'm not sure if this is any help however I know exactly how you feel.

I would recommend to use cerave moisturizing cleanser (white and green bottle) Only at night and dont use a moisturizer or any other type of treatment. Use a water based makeup. This is what worked for me, I had skin worse than yours and I tried everything and I was so depressed. I literally wouldnt go out of my house because I was so embarrassed of my skin and I hated wearing makeup because I felt like a monster. My stepmother is a dermatologist and she suggested that I stop using moisturizers all-together and only wash my face once a day at night. Now, literally the only thing that I let touch my face is the cerave cleanser. It sounded CRAZY at first but as soon as I stopped using all my face products my skin started clearing up within a few days. Now all I have left is some very minor pigmentation that is fading every day. I wish you the best of luck!

I have had issues with BC for the last six months and my dr told me the same thing....that I was the only one who has complained about it and that couldn't be the reason my acne increased. I did go to another dr who confirmed that my androgen based BC had caused an increase in my acne.

Also, I notice if I drink a lot of caffeine I break out on my cheeks and jawline. Do you drink a lot of coffee maybe?

Your skin does not look bad. I used to get huge red cysts on my nose. On the tip and around the sides. About the size of a nickel. They were very painful and would throb and itch. Sometimes they would come to a head and I could pop them but most of the time they would not.

I tried everything. I was about to go on accutane because I didn't know what else to do. My gf begged me not to and about that time I found an acne clinic in my area that cleared my skin in 3-4 months. I spent 10 years going to dermatologists.

So find a local acne clinic in your area or find one that does long distance clients like face reality.

Your acne is a lot similar to mine. I suffer from anxiety too and when I get stressed I tend to break out almost immediately. Stress just causes me to become more oily.

Definitely look into intolerances. I think I have a gluten and dairy intolerance, but I can't stop eating them until I get tested. If you do, the test result will be inconclusive.

Look into the acne.org regimen too. It's great for mild-moderate acne, you just have to soldier through the initial stages (which I didn't manage to do...).

Just know that we're here for you!