So Ive had acne since I can remember, about 12 years old. Im a 22 year old female college student and STILL suffering from acne. After having mild/moderate acne and trying a bunch of OTC stuff like proactive, I started seeing a dermatologist when I was 14. At this point I began having moderate cystic breakouts on the chin and cheeks, as well as blackheads and whiteheads. Over the course of seeing 5 dermatologists I had been put on various BP creams, salicylic acid, retin-a, numerous antibiotics, rosacea pills, 2 courses of accutane (neither of which ever actually cleared me up) , bluelight therapy, the oil cleansing method and even changing my diet!. None of these treatments were ever effective enough for me to stay on them. Some showed slight improvement, but then I would end up with another bad breakout. After all of this I ended up with moderate/severe cystic acne, lots of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and a VERY low self esteem.
The last time I have been to the dermatologist was during my most recent course of Accutane, which was 2-3 years ago. The accutane didnt really do much, so I kinda just gave up at that point. I was still experiencing moderate cystic breakouts. Being a college student, my confidence was at all time low, as none of my friends were experiencing anything close to what I was experiencing. Well about 1.5 years ago I got diagnosed with Celiacs. disease. Since then I have been gluten free and saw a major improvement in my skin tone (no more redness, blotchiness, irritation, or inflammation). The cystic acne on my cheeks nearly cleared and I was only experiencing cystic breakouts on my chin and on my lower cheeks and around my mouth. With the newfound discovery of how food can affect our skin as well as many natural remedies, I began researching. Most recently, I cut out dairy, and try to significantly cut back on sugars, carbs, and caffeine. Whenever I eat dairy or gluten (by accident), I get a huge cystic breakout. I also changed my face soap to Dr. Bronners Tea Tree Castile soap (so gentle), and I use a toner made of apple cider vinegar/water. I also use a glycolic acid cream, aloe vera, and sunscreen all to help with the numerous post inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks I have. I take supplements, including a probiotics, niacin, vitamin D, vit A, vit C, selenium, manganese, and zinc. I recently started putting grapeseed oil on my face as a lotion, but Im not sure if its making me break out or not. Anyone have experience with that?
I got really desperate 2 weeks ago and called my gyno who is super awesome. I researched a lot about sprionolactone, realized thats whats left of my acne is probably hormonal and asked him for a script. He started me at 50mg/day, and advised me to go see a derm to monitor this. I have a derm appt next week with a derm Ive never been to but Idk how I feel or what to do. My skin has been up and down since the spiro so I cant exactly tell how its working but I know I should give it time. But I am still feeling hopeless as nothing seems to fully work to clear me up. Once my old acne marks finally start to fade, others pop up. Its a constant cycle.
My confidence is also extremely low. Im CONSTANTLY worried about how my skin looks, how my makeup looks etc.. I have become so obsessed with my makeup, its a sin. Whats making me feel even worse is that I just started dating a guy about 3 months ago. He is really amazing, treats me the way I have always dreamed of being treated. He always tells me im beautiful, with or without makeup, but the worst part is he has never seen my skin without makeup on.I know he can see my cysts under my makeup, but he has no idea of all the red marks on my skin L I was hoping that my skin would start to clear before I really had to show him, but Im afraid that wont be happening.
I dont know what to do from here, I feel disgusting and I am loosing faith that my skin will ever be clear. Please help. ps- sorry for the novel.
hey just wanted to say that i think you will do just great on the spiro. i struggled for 16 years before i finally decided to try spiro. its been over 2 years now and its been the best thing ever for my skin. it will take time to kick (3-6 months or even longer in some cases) so you have to be patient but i really believe this will work for you. its amazing stuff! i know how you feel but it will get better. also if all you have is red marks from the cystic acne consider yourself very lucky. things could be so much worse. just try to stay positive and know that everything will work out. 
Thanks for your replies! Melloman, I have been considering seeing a naturopath, but its so hard to know which direction to go in when there is so much conflicting info on the internet. Ill be sure to check out your page!
& tracey, glad to hear of your success on spiro! I am hopeful it will work, but also scared. I feel like it has to work as ive tried everything else! and you're right, some PIH is not bad compared to other types of scars, so i should be very thankful.
Thanks for the input brightened my day to have some responses!
awe your welcome! just try not to be too hard on yourself. i believe its all going to work out for you. i love estee lauder double wear maximum coverage for covering red marks. its a creamy foundation that is thicker but it covers acne and red marks pretty darn good. ipl is also a good treatment for red marks if they really bother you. sending you hugs!!
I know how you feel about beating down on your self when dating with acne. Listen he's interested in you for you and I'm sure you are beautiful both inside and out. Trust that! And as far as spironolactone I very briefly tried it so cant really judge it. But stick with it so many people rave about it! Good luck to you and keep us all posted.
I completely empathize with you. I'm in the same position but we can't lose faith! Have you tried cutting out refined sugar, grains, and gluten from your diet? What about eggs and dairy? Eggs make me breakout our all over so I don't eat those anymore. It helped before but now I'm on so many supplements and herbal treatments that my acne got worse for a few days and I can't tell what's working and what isn't. It's too soon to judge though, so I'll be sticking with this and keep you posted with news! But I've heard so many doctors swear by the GI diet because it lowers sugar and grain in your diet and focuses on leafy greens, which are known to help with acne anyway. Give it a try?
It's so discouraging because I don't have all this money to be buying gluten-free food and I also have a binge eating disorder so if I don't eat enough I feel deprived and go back to a binge. I have hope for both of us!
So Ive had acne since I can remember, about 12 years old. Im a 22 year old female college student and STILL suffering from acne. After having mild/moderate acne and trying a bunch of OTC stuff like proactive, I started seeing a dermatologist when I was 14. At this point I began having moderate cystic breakouts on the chin and cheeks, as well as blackheads and whiteheads. Over the course of seeing 5 dermatologists I had been put on various BP creams, salicylic acid, retin-a, numerous antibiotics, rosacea pills, 2 courses of accutane (neither of which ever actually cleared me up) , bluelight therapy, the oil cleansing method and even changing my diet!. None of these treatments were ever effective enough for me to stay on them. Some showed slight improvement, but then I would end up with another bad breakout. After all of this I ended up with moderate/severe cystic acne, lots of post inflammatory hyperpigmentation, and a VERY low self esteem.
The last time I have been to the dermatologist was during my most recent course of Accutane, which was 2-3 years ago. The accutane didnt really do much, so I kinda just gave up at that point. I was still experiencing moderate cystic breakouts. Being a college student, my confidence was at all time low, as none of my friends were experiencing anything close to what I was experiencing. Well about 1.5 years ago I got diagnosed with Celiacs. disease. Since then I have been gluten free and saw a major improvement in my skin tone (no more redness, blotchiness, irritation, or inflammation). The cystic acne on my cheeks nearly cleared and I was only experiencing cystic breakouts on my chin and on my lower cheeks and around my mouth. With the newfound discovery of how food can affect our skin as well as many natural remedies, I began researching. Most recently, I cut out dairy, and try to significantly cut back on sugars, carbs, and caffeine. Whenever I eat dairy or gluten (by accident), I get a huge cystic breakout. I also changed my face soap to Dr. Bronners Tea Tree Castile soap (so gentle), and I use a toner made of apple cider vinegar/water. I also use a glycolic acid cream, aloe vera, and sunscreen all to help with the numerous post inflammatory hyperpigmentation marks I have. I take supplements, including a probiotics, niacin, vitamin D, vit A, vit C, selenium, manganese, and zinc. I recently started putting grapeseed oil on my face as a lotion, but Im not sure if its making me break out or not. Anyone have experience with that?
I got really desperate 2 weeks ago and called my gyno who is super awesome. I researched a lot about sprionolactone, realized thats whats left of my acne is probably hormonal and asked him for a script. He started me at 50mg/day, and advised me to go see a derm to monitor this. I have a derm appt next week with a derm Ive never been to but Idk how I feel or what to do. My skin has been up and down since the spiro so I cant exactly tell how its working but I know I should give it time. But I am still feeling hopeless as nothing seems to fully work to clear me up. Once my old acne marks finally start to fade, others pop up. Its a constant cycle.
My confidence is also extremely low. Im CONSTANTLY worried about how my skin looks, how my makeup looks etc.. I have become so obsessed with my makeup, its a sin. Whats making me feel even worse is that I just started dating a guy about 3 months ago. He is really amazing, treats me the way I have always dreamed of being treated. He always tells me im beautiful, with or without makeup, but the worst part is he has never seen my skin without makeup on.I know he can see my cysts under my makeup, but he has no idea of all the red marks on my skin L I was hoping that my skin would start to clear before I really had to show him, but Im afraid that wont be happening.
I dont know what to do from here, I feel disgusting and I am loosing faith that my skin will ever be clear. Please help. ps- sorry for the novel.
This is why I say GPs and Dermatologists know little about anything. They just cycle treatments. In fact, since we know our own skin better than them, we're more qualified to treat our own acne as a result.
How you considered cortisol as a contributor? Since you're evidently stressed out about spots and have done for a long time, being anxious and stress is a known cause for breakouts. Cortisol is released under stressed and can effect hormones and skin condition.
Silly question but have you tried the pill?
Thanks for your uplifting words Krissy990
UnF_ospreys11- yes I am currently gluten free for 1.5 years and dairy free for 4 months (with occasional slip ups with the dairy). I really only use agave or honey and try not to use it often! I actually have never considered if eggs are breaking me out so thanks for the suggestion. I believe that a diet without gluten and dairy can significantly help. Keep me posted on your progress and good luck!
White Collar Crime- im sure cortisol contributes to my acne, but its difficult to keep stress levels down sometimes. I do yoga and meditate, but sometimes the stress of a breakout and school can be overwhelming. And yes I have tried the pill. Am currently on NuvaRing but never really had any great results from pill forms either.
Update*- today marks 1 month on Spiro 50mg and my skin is looking pretty decent. Ive had some breakouts in the past few weeks but they quickly came to surface and didn't last long at all. Have some minor healing breakouts but currently only 1 new cyst.
Update*
Finally saw a new derm again last week... She thinks spiro is great and since im already on it and showing results, she agreed to keep me on it but raise the dosage to 100mg/day. I'm a bit nervous as I don't want to experience another initial breakout (it was pretty painful cysts) but I do see how clear spiro can make me and I have hope!!
One thing that was weird was that my derm implied she would only need to be keeping me on this for a few months-1 yr. I've read women being on spiro for 5, 10, 15 years even! I asked her why she would plan on taking me off within a year, and she said you don't want to stay on a medication too long. I am not sure i understand her logic, as spironolactone is a fairly safe medication to take, and many people with high blood pressure, PCOS, take it daily for years. Might consider visiting a different derm in that office to see what they say...... anyone else ever wean off spiro with success?