I'm a 24 year old female and recently within the past 2 months my mouth acne has gotten out of control. I've had acne since I was 13. Back then it was all over my forehead, went to a Dermatologist and everything topical that he prescribed made my face worse / extremely dry. Gave into Pro-Activ and it did wonders for my skin. My skin was not only clear, but it was soft and even had a glow to it. 3 years later it stopped working, probablu because I would skip a day of the regimen every now and then. My forehead became perfectly clear, and then I started breaking out around my mouth / chin / upper lip area mostly... and rarely between my eyebrows. I've been able to control my acne with OTC treatments like Clean & Clear's salicylic acid Spot Treatment, Clean & Clear Dual Action oil-fee Moisturizer, and Clean & Clear gentle cleanser for sensitive skin. I would wash twice a day, day and night. It made my skin dry over the years but the moisturizer really helped. With that regimen I only broke out with 3 pimples per month, normally the week before / during my period. And then maybe a random pimple sometime between cycles. Until the beginning of January...

On January 2, my period ended. That same day I got a random lump / cyst on my right breast. I saw my Gyno and did my yearly check up. Everything was fine and the cyst ended up going away after a week (thank God!). Coincidentally, 2 days before the cyst showed up, that's when my acne began going out of control. Around my mouth, chin, and upper lip. I got 4 at one time, and from then on I would get 1-2 every day. So you can imagine what my mouth area looks like by now, with all the current active acne and scars from the past 2 months of hell. I'm afraid if this keeps going my whole mouth area is just going to be one gigantic scar. It's starting to look like it. It's gotten me so down and depressed. I've literally tried everything. EVERYTHING. And can't seem to get it under control.

I've tried....

- Salicylic Acid

- Benzoyl Peroxide (2.5% and 10%)

- Glycerin exfoliants

- Tea tree oil

- Jojoba pol

- Witch hazel

- Cerave Moisturizing Lotion

- Cutting out dairy, soy, sugar, and gluten

- Eating healthier

- Taking vitamins B5 and Zinc daily

- Drinking a tbsp of Bragg's Apple Cider Vinegar daily

- Drinking a lot of water (as I've been doing for years now)

- Lemon and honey

- Getting 7-9 hours of sleep every night

- Taking it easy at work

- Doing relaxing things

- Washing with cleanser at night, and washing with nothing but water in the morning (lukewarm)

- Exfoliating once a week

- Not washing / using ANYTHING on my face

- Not washing / using ANYTHING on my face but an oil-free fragrance-free moisturizer (cerave)

Right now my current regimen is washing day and night with Nutrogena's Ultra Gentle Cleanser (oil-free, soap-free, and won't clog pores). Then I use Clean & Clear's 10% Benzoyl Peroxide on my active pimples ONLY, nowhere else. Then I put 3-4 drops of organic Jojoba oil into a pump of Cerave Moisturizing Lotion, and moisturize my face.

Ever since my acne has gone into overkill, I noticed that I've been waking up with an oily, flakey face. When I wash, my face gets really dry, even when I wash with just water. After putting moisturizer and jojoba oil, my face is fine. But then it gets oily 2 hours later and throughout the day. I use regular brown paper towels (c-folds) to gently dab really oily areas. After dabbing my face feels dry.

Also, I noticed that on my days off, my face feels more moisturized... But during the days I work longer shifts, my face feels dry but looks oily. And my complexion is bleh. So I thought, maybe it's physical stress that's causing my face to dry out and produce more oil, since I've read that it does that during times of stress. But the thing is that I don't feel stressed, or so I think. None of this is new. I've worked long shifts that've made my face look oily but feel dry for the whole past year, and haven't experienced such a bad breakout until 2 months ago. Same with my diet. I used to eat MUCH MUCH worse when my acne was a lot better... And now all of a sudden it got out of control, and even with a healthier diet change I'm still breaking out way more than I used to. So maybe it has nothing to do with diet? I don't know anymore... All I know is that my life is the same now than it was before. I work maybe 10 more hours a week than before, split between two jobs, but still I don't feel overwhelmed by it. Yeah it can be a little stressful but I personally don't feel overwhelmed. And even on my days off I break out. Even when I'm completely happy, stress-free, and relaxed I break out.

I really don't know what to do anymore. I'm seriously depressed. I haven't seen my friends in a month because I'm embarrassed to show my ugly face to anyone. I work in customer service and it kills me to go to work with my face looking like this. And it makes me sad thinking about what my face is going to look like in another month if it keeps going like this. I went to my Gyno on Thursday and took a hormone test to see if my hormones that are causing this. I've done some research on hormonal imbalances and I have a decent number of symptoms. And my periods have been a week late recently. I'm really hoping it's hormonal. If it's not then idk what the hell is causing my acne to flare up so bad. If my test comes back normal, I'm going to give up and see a Dermatologist for Accutane. I feel like there isn't anything else left for me to do.