Hey fellow sufferers..

I used to monitor/research on these pages for HOURS everyday in my depressed state hiding in my room with the window's drawn and the door shut desperately searching for ANY treatment that might work for ME. I tried a TON of stuff from here, mostly unsucessfully but have now found something that is working GREAT for me, so I thought I owed it to acne.org to share it. It might not work for you, it just HAPPENED to work for me so I felt I should pass it along on the off chance it could help someone else.

My story/status:

I am 22, female. I suffered with moderate acne from the time I was about 13, until 20 with a few clear weeks or months in there with no real pattern as to why it was good some times and bad others. When I was 20 I went on Differin (at the time PRIMARILY for redmarks, though I was still experiencing at least 4 pimples at a time with at least 2 cysts..) from 20 - 21 my skin was the WORST of my life with a TON of cysts everywhere there wasn't any part of my face that wasn't covered in red marks..it was awful.. Since I have switched up my routine my face has taken an extreme 180! When I first changed (for about a month) I got a TON of TINY whiteheads (that looked gross but popped really easy and didn't seem to damage - I was used to DEEP painful ones...) then in the 5 months since then I will get the odd pimple every couple weeks but that's IT and it doesn't last long. I had EXTREME redmarks EVERYWHERE and SUPER DARK and awful (3 indented..) The redmarks are still there but have faded SIGNIFICANTLY, I am no longer embarrassed to be without makeup (i am still hoping they continue to fade QUICK though haha never satisfied..) and even my indented marks look WAY less severe, hardly noticible (they WERE really fresh when I made these changes though, like 2-3weeks).

What I have tried (to see if there is a pattern for you!):

Neutrogena, clean and clear, oxy, etc (all those over the counter cleansers)

Pro Active

Exposed

Clindoxyl Gel (HIGH % of BP with something else...)

Oral antibiotics

Differin

Epiduo

Birth control : tricylcene, diane, yasmin

omega 3 pills and flax

and i'm sure MANY MORE

What is working for ME:

AM:

cleanse with spectro gel

spf lotion (I've been using L'oreal 48hr hydration I really like it, it's not greasy spf 25)

makeup

Take: 1X 10 000iu vit A, 1X 500mg vit C, 1X 200iu vit E

PM:

Exfoliate with st.ives apricot scrub (I mostly do this to make SURE I get all my makeup off)

Cleanse with Spectro gel

Toner (I use just a normal toner, not an acne one - again just to make sure I got all the makeup off)

I mix a SMALL dab of BP lotion (neutrogena persagel - 5%) with 4 drops of rosehips oil and massage that into my face

Take: 1X 200iu vit E, 1X 500mg vit C, 1X 25mg zinc

I take vit C to promote colligen to try to fill indent and help red marks heal, vit E to help skin heal, vit a to reduce oil production, zinc to help reduce oil and help heal. I have found that the rosehips oil does not make me greasy AT ALL and it doesn't clog my pores at all, I actually think it helps the bp to absobe, but I am taking it for it's amazing healing properties - my skin has EARNED the gentil treatment.

Lastly...I know this is the worst thing ever to hear...but PICKING...I NEVER beleived that my acne was made worse by picking...but once my acne all went away I noticed a HUGE difference. Now if I do get a pimple and I pick at it, I notice I will get a few more in the surrounding area! I used to stand infront of the mirror and rip apart my face every night! no WONDER it never healed!

Again, this is just what worked for ME I hope some of you find something in this useful.

As for the dosage of the pills, 10 000iu was the lowest I could find for vit a, and I asked MY dr. about it and she said for ME it was fine - but I know you should be careful especially with vit a and zinc so if you decided to try please be safe!

Good luck to everyone in their struggles!