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21 years with acne

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 03/26/2016 7:26 am

I'm 34 and I've been suffering with acne for 21 years! It gets better and worse in cycles. Normally, I have maybe a week of "okay" skin, not counting my hyperpigmentation pockmarks and constant blackheads, then the rest of the month, it's at least 2 cystic bumps, along with 2-5 whiteheads a day. I hate looking in the mirror and I cake on the makeup when I have to face the world. It's gotten real old. 

When i get depressed about my acne, or when I'm researching a new, "miracle", I always end up on acne.org. So, I thought I'd finally make an account and write a post, to hopefully make another sufferer feel like they're not alone, or to give insight on all of my trial and errors...

...Just an like a lot of you on this site, I've tried everything under the sun to heal my face. Well, except for accutane. A derm suggested, a few times that I use it, but the first time was 4 months before my wedding and another time was when I was planning on starting a family. I'm scared of it, to be honest. The birth defects, the gastrointestinal stuff... and I'm just scared. But, lately I've been contemplating and researching it again. 

Things I've tried:
I've tried vitamins (most recently, niacin and Ceylon cinnamon), exfoliants, high end creams and washes, dan's regimen, antibiotics, prescription creams, essential oils, oil cleansing and things from my kitchen cabinets. I'm sure there are more I'm forgetting. 

My most recent things are/were tretinoin cream (again), which I used religiously for the last 6 months and my face has been in a constant state of purge, if that's a real thing. I've also cut out dairy completely and I avoid anything with the ingredient, guar gum, like the plague, as my face itches and erupts within hours of ingesting  (so delicious brand uses guar gum and it's in brands of hummus). I'm also taking Ceylon cinnamon capsules after lunch and dinner (something to do with insulin/blood sugar? I need to read more about it to tell more about it, really. I literally jump at acne fighting ideas these days... Anything to help with acne at this point!). 

I have been washing my face with Dr, Bronners Castile soap, mixed with activated charcoal, tone with diluted ACV and moisturize with a tiny amount of organic grapeseed and organic castor oil (50/50 mix).

The last few nights though, after washing and using the ACV toner, I've put RAW honey on my face, like a mask, for an hour and it seems to have calmed my face down a bit (but I don't get my hopes up on things like this for the log term). Instead of washing it off completely, I've been rubbing it around with wet fingers and patting dry, so a small layer will stay on all night. yesterday morning, I did the raw honey mask again (along with the night before) and didn't wash it off completely, to kind of create a barrier between my skin and makeup. Not sure if it did anything, but as I type this, I have raw honey on my face and I'm trying it again. It still seems to be calming my skin and I haven't touched the tretinoin, or moisturizer, except to moisturize under my eyes, since 3 nights ago. 

i was going to attach pictures just *in case* the most recent thing I'm doing works, but I can't upload for some reason. I just want someone, "in my shoes" to read this and relate, so I'll downsize pics of my face and try again later. :)  

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 03/27/2016 6:02 am

The image I tried to upload

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(@scarred-angel)

Posted : 03/27/2016 4:38 pm

I'm sorry your going thru it like so many of us here . Thank you for sharing your story I took accutane and it worked wonders I was also very scared I did however. Take it after my children were born because of the and all the horrible stories You read ibelieve the drug is safe when under a Drs care and being extremely careful and taking very good care of yourself .i do wish I took it sooner before my scarring I do get a cyst once in a while but nothing like before .best of luck

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 03/31/2016 2:43 pm

Thank you for your reply and for the input about accutane! The next time I go see my doctor, I'm going to talk about accutane again.

iam tired of suffering and I believe my husband and I are done having kids, so lately I've been leaning more towards accutane.

I keep weighing the pros and cons though...I know 2 people who are on their 2nd round of accutane because their 1st round only worked for a few years, so I'm scared of that happening to me. Another thing stopping me is the cost, but like you said about wishing you were on accutane sooner, to skip all the scarring... I know I have irreversible damage to my skin and I think I should do what I can to pay for something to clear me up, or I will just keep getting more scars. I honestly don't know how much it will cost, or if my insurance will cover it, since our deductible is so very high. But, to live with clear skin and to have skin that's not oily, would be so amazing. Gah!

Side note:
someone I'm friends with on Facebook sells some kind of skincare product and she posted a ridiculous before/after picture...

The before was a picture of a girl with pitted skin from acne, labeled, "large pores", then the after was a picture of supposedly the same girl, with perfect skin, labeled, "this will shrink pores"! F**k that fake ad! That infuriated me almost as much as people telling me to just use proactive...

on a positive note, I came across a youtuber, who is a gorgeous model, withacne and she goes without makeup on YouTube. It's something I could never do and I think she is so positive about it. It makes me feellike I'm not a freak.Cassandra Bankson is her name... Look her up, she's amazing!

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(@delovely)

Posted : 03/31/2016 3:45 pm

Your story sounds almost identical to mine! 24 years with acne for me, and my skin looked pretty similar to yours too. The only thing that put acne in remission for me was the Acne.Org Regimen. I don't need the products anymore (acne resolved in my late 30s) but I still believe in the process...my son is doing the Regimen now and just recently got clear of his cystic acne. Hoping he won't need to use topicals as long as I would have needed to, had I discovered the Regimen years earlier, but at least we have a solution that works and he can enjoy clear skin until his symptoms naturally subside.

Sounds like you've tried a lot...don't give up the fight or the search for your clear-skin solution! :)

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 04/05/2016 8:02 am

I am happy to report that I've been sticking to washing with Castile soap, using an ACV toner, taking Ceylon cinnamon supplements after big meals and using a raw honey mask, but I also added calamine lotion to the mix, with good results. After I rinse off the honey, I smear calamine all over my face and go to bed. In the morning, I wake up, wash, then use a thin layer of calamine under light makeup. If I have time, I do the honey mask before the calamine in the morning. The calamine seems to be really helping, but I can see that it may be drying, so I may add a tiny bit of my grapeseed/castor oil mix to it.

Ive been using the honey for a week and a half and the calamine for just 3 days. The honey definitely calms active bumps, but adding the calamine dries the cysts and brings stubborn zits to a head. Yes, I usually pop and pick those, but I'm trying hard to break that habit.

DeLovely,I'm so glad the regimen worked for you! Unfortunately, it didn't work for me and I believe it's because my skin developed an allergy to bp, after I over used it for so long. More than 10 years ago, I used to smear the white clearasil, mixed with the tinted clearasil all over my face, kind of as makeup and it kept me basically clear for about 2 years (The active ingredient is bp). But, as time went on, it stopped working and I noticed my skin was aging, after using it so much, so I stopped using it. I think I tried proactive *again*, after that and it was just a joke. Again.

A few years later, I tried dan's regimen, with high hopes and I was in aw at how much he genuinely cares about acne sufferers, by starting acne.org and sharing what helped him. But, my skin just kept breaking out and I eventually had to stop using his regimen. To this day, I still can't use bp without it breaking me out and making active pimples angry. The same happens with salicylic acid and I feel like the retin-a sort of did the same, although I still stuck it out for 8 gruesome months.

My skin could simply have aversions to chemicals in general.

I wanted to to upload a picture, but I still have major hyperpigmentation going on, so in pictures it doesn't look like much improvement has happened. I'm going to keep going with this routine and post another, in a week, or so.

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 04/06/2016 1:27 pm

Ugh, I just figured out Dr. Bronner's Castile soap is on the bad list of acne washes. I thought it was doing me good, since it doesn't have detergents in it...

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(@key100)

Posted : 04/06/2016 6:44 pm

On 3/27/2016 at 7:02 AM, Acnehatersince95 said:

The image I tried to upload yesterday. image.thumb.jpeg.0a9a0b705b974e7ace0d5e8

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(@key100)

Posted : 04/06/2016 6:46 pm

I hate what you are going through but don't worry cause you're beautiful regardless. I hope your mindset changes with love and encouragement.

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 04/07/2016 6:12 am

Thank you so much for your kind words. 

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(@key100)

Posted : 04/07/2016 4:28 pm

You're very welcome.

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(@ec95)

Posted : 04/08/2016 10:43 pm

I think birth control could be something you could give a look at I know girls who have gone on it and had great results for their acne.

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(@acnehatersince95)

Posted : 07/26/2016 7:41 am

Thanks again to everyone for the kind words and suggestions. I was in a bad spot when I originally posted almost 5 months ago and it was nice to have encouragement.

I logged in today to compare my original picture with how I look now and there's been a huge improvement!

i ditched everything I was doing when I originally posted because I wasn't seeing improvement. I tried other things before this regimen, but my oily skin just seemed to create buildup and breakouts, especially at the time of year with extreme humidity.

Along with the regimen beliw, I take 20 drops of burdock root tincture 2-3 times a day. It's a blood cleanser and a lover supporter. I was doing this starting 1 month before starting this cleansing regimen.

Currently, I wipe my face with pure, cold pressed, organic grapeseed oil and a tissue to clean off my makeup. Then, I get in the shower and let the hot water run on my face (no washcloth, like with traditional oil cleansing). When I dry off from my shower, I gently wipe my face with my dry bath towel. Then, I take a cotton round and get any excess makeup and oil off with Dickinson's brand witch hazel. I've been doing this for a month and I've seen great improvement! My skin is still oily, but this really seems to take care of the build up. I don't use a moisturizer and this combo does not dry out my skin at all.

Ive tried an off brand witch hazel before, years ago, but it was a huge disaster. Also, a few weeks before trying Dickinson's, I tried Thayers rose petal witch hazel. It was nice, but it was too moisturizing and caused oil build up, even though, at that time, I was not using the grapeseed oil, until the end of my Thayers trial. I feel like it's something I could use in the winter months though.

I'm going to attach a picture of how my skin looks now. I still have hyperpigmentation, but only 2 semi-active bumps along my jaw, vs. like 15 actives all over, like in the before picture. I used the same window light during the same time of day and the same side of my face, to make the photo accurate.

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