It's only been a few days, but there have been some improvements/changes...

My skin is SUPER soft, it has been more oily, but I cut up some toilet seat covers into small squares and I blot throughout the day.

I was brewing a cyst right on the apple of my cheek that by last night was so inflamed I could see it in my peripheral vision, so I iced it last night and put a dot of Tazorac over it after washing and applying the Ziana. This morning the "cyst" revealed itself to be 5, count 'em 5, pores that came to head AT ONCE, and were easily drained! Never have I ever had a cyst clear out like that ever! I drained it, iced it, and put on some concealer, and I hope it will peel and heal up quickly.

The two big pustules I had on the left side have dried up and died, now just big purple marks. Every other square inch of my face is smooth, and soft, just still covered in red/purple acne scars that I hope and pray will fade with time.

I changed the moisturizer I was using, becuase the Ziana makes me so oily my makeup was literally sliding off my face yesterday. I got Clean and Clear Shine Control with SPF 30, and today has been much better!

It seems there is another little cyst coming up on the right, that I will Taze tonight, and hopefully kill before it gets off the ground.

That's the update for now, pretty impressed for only 3 days of treatment!

Day 6:

So, this new regimen is working very well so far. If I was blind, I wouldn't even know I have acne. The hyperpigmentation marks are still there (obviously), and will be for awhile, so it looks angry and red. But the actual texture is flat, smooth, and soft. The Oiliness went away when I switched to the Clean and Clear Oil Control Moisturizer with SPF. There are a few small spots that are in the process of healing, a mere couple of days after popping up, but with a good full coverage foundation, my face looks flawless.

Can't hide texture, and so to literally have NO bumps anywhere... this is awesome. The Ziana has not dried me out at all, no flaking or peeling, nada. Just soft, lovely skin!

Spent some time out at the lake yesterday, and out on TONS of sunscreen. Luckily I did not burn or anything, but you know how you constantly wipe water off your face? I felt a little raw and sensitive last night when I washed my face, but that resolved by this morning.

Hope the improvements, and lack of side effects/IB continue!

Day 7:

Still getting better by the day.

Yesterday I picked up some of the Kat Von' D Tattoo Foundation, and today is my first time trying it out. It covered EVERYTHING, every mark, my under eye circles, and made my skin perfect. There are 2 small areas (one on each cheek) that are still bumpy- But definitely improved from my whole darned face!

Less oily, or maybe the "matte" properties of the make-up with my oil control moisturizer are doing their thing.. or maybe the retinoid oiliness is improving. Either way, all my make-up is where I put it 6 hours ago, so that's something.

No active pimples at this time. Just a few drying up and dying. Had some flaking/peeling yesterday evening around my mouth, so I slathered on the moisturizer and put the Ziana on an hour or so later, carefully avoiding my mouth/nose area. It's all good today.

Day 19:

No drastic changes/improvements. Still have a bunch of post-acne marks (which is expected), but no active acne, and no brewing spots, which is awesome.

As before, if I couldn't see the purple marks, I would consider myself 95% clear, because my cheeks are so soft and smooth.

They still look like acne riddled mess, so I'm still using full-coverage make-up, and still battling to keep makeup in place in triple-digit heat... but, I know that in the next few months those will fade.

I got the Obagi skin corrector, and it smells really bad.. like burning chemicals, but is the highest rated mark reducer anywhere, so I'm going to try it out. I put it on in the morning with my sunscreen, and in the evenings after the Ziana. No changes yet, but it's only been a couple of weeks.

Day 26:

Had a breakout last week (thanks hormones), but it was relatively minor, and dried up in a couple days. Since this was my first PMS since starting the new regimen, I was curious how bad it would be. Normally I get 3-5 cysts, and a dozen or so pustules that camp out until the next ovulation cycle.., fun times.

This time about 5 pustules popped up on Tuesday, and were drying up by Friday. So pretty good,

Still improving, skin still Looks much worse than it feels. Will be adding some Frankenscense EO to my morning to improve the scarring a bit. Also, switched my moisturizer to Coconut Oil. It works so much better for me than the commercial stuff, and my skin feels much less inflamed, so soft and supple, and no more dry-itchiness from the Ziana.

Still about 90-95% clear acne wise. no improvement on hyperpigmentation.

Today is 4 weeks since starting the medications.

Yesterday, my face turned some kind of corner and I woke up with amazing skin! Literally only a few *tiny* bumps, no brewing acne, no crusty spots, no clogged pores.

I still have *every* acne mark I've ever had, so it still looks like a massive breakout on film (hence no pics), but the normal colored skin is soft, supple, glowing, and my WHOLE face is baby smooth.

I wish I could pass of my acne marks as freckles, then I wouldnt "need" any make up..but freckles don't come in red/purple LOL.

Even so, putting on my makeup this morning was an absolute breeze, and since the oiliness is totally GONE, Its stayed in place for the last 6 hours with no issues, or need to blot!

I think it was the re-introduction of Coconut oil for a moisturizer that did it. I've tried to use it with OCM- total disaster, but I think that was too much. A very teeny tiny amount massaged in twice a day after washing has been a dream! Im also using it on my hair instead of chemical-laden product, and not only is my hair looking and feeling fabulous, but I think NOT having hair product rubbing off on my face is helping as well.

One month- Going better than I dared to hope. Now to see what happens in the next 30 days (hormones be damned)... LOL

Closing in on 5 weeks of treatment and I am very happy with the progress for my acne. I had 3 pimples pop up overnight Saturday, but the ruptured Sunday morning, and are gone by today (tuesday). The healing time on any spots is absolutely incredible!

Of course, nothing comes without a price, and over the last couple of weeks I have developed a rash on my upper and center chest area. I thought it was dry skin, or heat rash, or whatever, but it's gotten very red, itchy, and over the weekend started peeling off in sheets so we are pretty sure it is a cumulative reaction to the minocycline. I've started taking OTC Claritin and applying a mix of cortisone and benadryl cream a few times a day. It's helping. My pharmacist is also ordering me a different manufacturer for the Mino, becuase the fillers of medications often cause more reactions than the actual active ingredient so we are trying that before we scrap the mino altogether.

To be honest, if I have to take the Claritin forever, and keep my excellent results with the Mino for my acne I am fine with that, however, allergies increase and expound with continued exposure, so it depends on how likely that will happen in this case if I stay on the Mino or not. A shame too, because it's the first med that ever worked for me

It turns out i do have an intolerance of the minocycline, but thankfully I can manage it with Claritin and benadryl cream as needed, so I can stay on the Mino (since it's working), until/unless the reaction gets worse.

Skin continues to improve every day, if I get a spot (a few a week instead of a few per day), it up and dies within 24 hours and the "scab" barely lives half a day before its peeled off- never to return. Even better, no more new red marks with every blemish.

Just continuing to truck along, my Post-acne marks are improving, although VERY VERY slowly..but there is some indication that these marks just might fade totally someday...hopefully before I die. I am considering a laser treatment this winter to hopefully fade them a bit faster. The Laser didn't work for the Acne, but it just might help with the marks!

Sorry I haven't been here in a while. I moved to CA, and needed no medication or anything and my skin was PERFECT, then I was forced to come  back to AZ and my skin took a dive in the garbage!

Of course, since coming back, my old regimen isn't doing a darned thing, so I saw the derm today.
I'm almost to the cut off age for BCP for acne purposes, so she won't let me take that. My literal last hope is Retin A, Clinda gel, and Spiro. 
The very first regimen I was ever on, that never worked, and did nothing for me.... 

We've figured out that the 6  month chemical menopause they induced in 2010 for my severe hemorrhagic ovarian cysts fixed my ovaries, and totally screwed my hormones, most likely for LIFE. Since you can't take BCP for non-contraceptive reasons (I can't have more kids), then the risks outweigh the benefits, I have literally no more treatment options. The only thing to do is wait for menopause, and then just shrivel up into old age... yay.

Despite changing everything I eat, everything I put on my face, hair, bedding, etc,  carefully checking every single thing that comes in contact with my skin or goes into my body, I will ALWAYS have massive breakouts and will never, ever look in the mirror and not see a monster. Ever. 

Unless of course I move back to CA, or El Nino/global warming makes AZ have some iota of moisture...sigh.

Been fighting this battle for almost 6 SOLID YEARS. And I have officially lost. 

Good luck to everyone else. I hope your journey doesn't end in total failure and self loathing like mine. Now my journey and path is figuring out how to be confident, happy, and feel like a human being, even with disgusting, scarred, ugly, and humiliating skin. 

1 week:
One week on the "new" prescriptions...sort of. I've been taking the Spiro for a week, and using the Retin A. There was a failure at my pharmacy, so I didn't get the clindagel until last night.

In the meantime, I did a very light 20% TCA peel on Tuesday. Peeled like crazy yesterday, and today am down to flakes on my cheeks/jaw. My forehead is still tight and papery and hasn't started flaking yet. The new skin is so smooth and pretty! (Except where there are still cysts/acne)
My derm recommended Jessner peels as well, but at $135 each, every 2 weeks for 6-8 sessions, I noped all over that and bought my own to do at home. I will do my first one of those on the 19th. I just did the TCA to help shed off the majority of the old, nasty skin, and let the retin-a have a fighting chance.

With the Spiro, I take 50mg at bedtime and have had less issues with fatigue and such (since I'm sleeping). The low dose isn't affecting my blood pressures, and while I do go to the bathroom constantly, I'm also drinking tons of water which is always a goal of mine living in the desert and all. No other side effects, although I've heard about period irregularities, I don't have a uterus so I can't speak to that effect.

I currently have on lower face:
10 cysts (not inflamed today since I put the clindagel on last night- but they are also 2 weeks old so, who knows),
5 pustules- starting to dry out today after 6 days
~million milia/clogged pores/closed comedomes- extracted a few last night and immediately covered in clindagel, they did not inflame today like they normally would.

Forehead and upper cheeks/nose are clear.

So far, I can't say how anything is working, although the peels and the clindagel are promising. If I can extract a pimple/blackhead/whitehead and cover it with clindagel so there is no inflamed pimple the next day, it's a start to purging all this crap out of my face.

Update:
I'm still taking the Spiro at bedtime, but upped the dosage to 100mg, and added in Yasmin as I keep having recurrent cysts on my ovaries that need to stop. In the morning I use the Clindagel, and at night the Retinol.

No real side effects- doing fine so far.

No Cysts- haven't had any in a couple months YAY!!
Some pustules that pop up, hang for a bit and then scab over... maybe 4 on my whole face. 2 by my mouth, one on my jaw, and one on my temple, and this weird spot that looks like an indented scab I've had for weeks now and I'm pretty sure is going to turn into an icepick scar, even though the pimple there was pretty minor and ruptured all by itself.
No black heads or white heads ATM.

Still have quite a bit of hyperpigmentation/scars.

All in all, its working. Just being patient and waiting is hard...