Hi... For me yaz and orthocyclen birth control have worked in the past. I'm on yaz and spiro now. Minocycline antibiotics worked well for over 2 years with little side effects. Doxycycline and Oracra made me feel really sick.
Thry will likely try to give you topicals I honestly haven't triedany I've liked at all. I'd say be careful cause they tend to be very harsh on your face. Probably retinoids or antibiotic gel might be helpful but they often give too strong retinoids. Ask for a mild one if you get aretinoid.

Out of all the medication I've taken for my cystic acne, I've found a combination of Duac, Retin-A, and doxycycline to work best. The only time my skin was ever clear was when I was on these medications.

Duac has a combination of benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin in it. Out of all acne medicine I've tried, it has by FAR been my favorite
Retin-A is a retinoid and it promotes faster skin cell turnover. It prevents the buildup of dead skin cells in your pores and really helps prevent acne and wrinkles
Doxycycline is just an antibiotic, I found my body reacted best to this particular one but I imagine any antibiotic would get the job done.

I used the Duac in the morning and Retin-A in the night with the antibiotic and after the initial flare of acne, my skin cleared up so beautifully I hardly even knew who I was lol

the only problem is that it isn't a permanent solution and once you stop treatment, the acne will return worse than beore

11 hours ago, funnyguy69 said:

Out of all the medication I've taken for my cystic acne, I've found a combination of Duac, Retin-A, and doxycycline to work best. The only time my skin was ever clear was when I was on these medications.

Duac has a combination of benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin in it. Out of all acne medicine I've tried, it has by FAR been my favorite
Retin-A is a retinoid and it promotes faster skin cell turnover. It prevents the buildup of dead skin cells in your pores and really helps prevent acne and wrinkles
Doxycycline is just an antibiotic, I found my body reacted best to this particular one but I imagine any antibiotic would get the job done.

I used the Duac in the morning and Retin-A in the night with the antibiotic and after the initial flare of acne, my skin cleared up so beautifully I hardly even knew who I was lol

the only problem is that it isn't a permanent solution and once you stop treatment, the acne will return worse than beore

did you have to stop the topicals too? Or just the antibiotic?

Thanks for the suggestions I will do some research into them.

I have heard that tablets can make the acne worse but right now my skin is terrible. I wear makeup to work ( I know I shouldn't but my skin is so bad) it covers most of my acne but for some reason it emphases the acne on my chin- it seriously looks like a virus.

for anyone also looking for a treatment I would say stay away from tetralysal, my acne started getting progressively worse while I was on it. It was so bad I literally threw it in the bin, my acne started to clear up when I stopped using it.

3 hours ago, snarkygirl said:

15 hours ago, funnyguy69 said:

Out of all the medication I've taken for my cystic acne, I've found a combination of Duac, Retin-A, and doxycycline to work best. The only time my skin was ever clear was when I was on these medications.

Duac has a combination of benzoyl peroxide and clindamycin in it. Out of all acne medicine I've tried, it has by FAR been my favorite
Retin-A is a retinoid and it promotes faster skin cell turnover. It prevents the buildup of dead skin cells in your pores and really helps prevent acne and wrinkles
Doxycycline is just an antibiotic, I found my body reacted best to this particular one but I imagine any antibiotic would get the job done.

I used the Duac in the morning and Retin-A in the night with the antibiotic and after the initial flare of acne, my skin cleared up so beautifully I hardly even knew who I was lol

the only problem is that it isn't a permanent solution and once you stop treatment, the acne will return worse than beore

did you have to stop the topicals too? Or just the antibiotic?

I had to stop all of it because I decided to study abroad for a year and my insurance wouldn't pay for the meds for a year in advance  they never worked the same after that!

3 hours ago, unlovely2011 said:

Hi dramafan, 

Similar to funny guy, I'm only clear when I'm on a topical antibiotic (aczone) and a topical retinoid (tretinoin.) During the initial use of the tretinoin treatment, an oral antibiotic also helps tremendously with the cystic acne in particular. I have closed comedones, inflammatory acne, and cystic acne, and after several months on tretinoin, I see tremendous improvement in all areas. 

Like funny guy said though, you have to keep up with the treatment or risk it returning. For me, I got lazy about a year ago and I was fine for a few months. Then it crept back up slowly, then suddenly I started breaking out badly again. So i'm back on the combination mentioned above, but I will quit the oral antibiotic after 1 month. I'll probably keep using aczone as long as it's needed, and then I'll try to get by with the retinoid only. But I think I'll be on the topical retinoid for the rest of my life. It helps with wrinkles and stuff too, so I ain't complaining'

Hope that helps!

how long do retinoids take to work or get past the irritated stage?

I think I will try something topical depending on my gps recommendation.

Iv read a bit a about antibiotics/contraception and its seems like they work for a short time and then the acne comes back and sometimes worse -so I'm a bit scared to risk it. I've also head there's sometimes side effects like hair loss, fatigue and low moods.

Hi All,

How long does it take for cystic acne medication to start working?

I can't wait until I don't have a thousand tiny bumps ( I may be exaggerating slightly lol) under my chin.

8 hours ago, dramafan0 said:

Hi All,

How long does it take for cystic acne medication to start working?

I can't wait until I don't have a thousand tiny bumps ( I may be exaggerating slightly lol) under my chin.

Rule of thumb for me is about 6 weeks. If a treatment isn't working at all after 6 weeks I usually ditch it. Everyone's skin is differnet though, so you might react slower or faster!

I have been suffering from cystic acne since 3-4 years.I am currently 22 and have tried almost everything (not accutane) I have tried benzoyl peroxide ,salicylic acid,prescription antibiotics and many other products . but the only success I can see coming is from the natural ayurvedic treatment. Trust me this has been the best treatment and its only been 4 weeks and the acne is 75% better ...I did not create an I'd on any forum when I was suffering from severe acne but now coz I want to tell people what actually works .am from India so here the ayurvedic treatments are easily available but the products can be purchased even on the internet . the most beneficial thing has been the divya kantilep..its a face pack that has to be applied overnight...besides I have been given tablets containing natural acne fighting ingredients like neem and turmeric ,these are very safe compared to anything else...and I would request everybody suffering from cystic acne to try it...even if u r considering taking accutane u can give it a try because we all know what havoc acne treatments can bring on our body ...
currently am taking a syrup khadiraristha and four tablets namely arogyavardini,kaishore guggul,neem ghanvatghanvati and kayakalpvati all containing natural ingredients and my acne is 70% better in 4 weeks and I have not experienced any side effects whatsoever