So I'm a new user here, but unfortunately not new to the world of acne. From the age of eleven I have been plagued with incredibly oily skin, and the subsequent acne caused by it. From the age of eleven to just after sixteen I went through a range of different treatments, culminating in a six month course of accutane in the form of isotretinoin.

I thought this was my saviour, and it was, for about six months. After that, the oiliness returned with a vengance. Within a month it had gotten to the stage where I could no longer use makeup or my typical hair products because makeup would be off within an hour and hair products made my hair look permanently wet. The acne that I had at that point stopped when I stopped wearing makeup, so I just dealt with it and hoped I would outgrow it. However, this is no longer the case.

I now have a combination of closed comedones on my forehead and the side of my face, with several other forms of active acne both on my face and back. However, the real issue is the acne I have on my scalp, with more deep rooted pimples there causing pain when washing and brushing. This is having a massive effect on my confidence, so I'm going to the doctor on Tuesday to see about it.

The concern I have is when I was at dermatology they said I would have to restart the treatments from the beginning, working the way up to isotretinoin again if need be. However, I had pretty bad reactions to the other treatments, but at the time I was so desperate that I never went to the doctor with the side effects I was experiencing. I have extremely sensitive skin, so any form of topical cream used made my skin flake and caused incredible redness. In terms of changing my birth control, I suffer with issues seperate to acne, which only the form of birth control I am now have had any effect to fix. As well as this, while on oral antibiotics I spent most mornings with unbearable nausea. Now I'm at university I can't miss that many classes. The only medication I've had no effects from, other than minor lip dryness was the accutane.

Because I never mentioned this at the time, I'm afraid I'll have to retry all of the treatments that made my skin peel and everything, because it'll look like I'm lying to skip straight to more serious treatment. Alternatively, if there are any other remedies you can suggest I'll be eternally grateful, I know it can be difficult and may need to go through at least one step to show how bad it is