Hey guys I'm new. I've had pimles since middle school and around my sophomore year of high school I developed skin picking disorder which made it worse. In the years since then it's gotten progressively worse. I recently graduated high school and now can't find a single clear spot on my face. I also get painful cysts on the lower part of my face. My back and shoulders are spotless, though. My misery is that I can't figure out what's causing my acne. I'm doing everything I possibly could. Despite that, it just keeps getting worse and worse... I look around at others my age and their skin is fine. It's frustrating to say the least. I suspect it must be my hormones, but why would there be something wrong with my hormones? I got my bloodwork done and everything came back normal. I avoid foods that mess with hormones like dairy and soy.
I tried spironolactone for a month; it got rid of my cysts but every other kind of pimple remained.
Don't despair. What other treatments have you tried? Have you tried over the counter topical products? Are you still picking your pimples? You obviously know that is not a good thing. What happened when you stopped spironolactone? Why did you only do it a month? Were there any other side effects?
There may be nothing "wrong" with you but you may just be, like a huge portion of the population either genetically prone to acne (thanks mom and dad) or you could be experiencing hormonal acne. Regardless, it does indeed suck. Most people on this site have been there or are still there so we feel your pain. Tell us what else you have tried and we will all help you out.