Hi all, so let me give you a quick overview of my acne timeline.
I'm a senior (17 y/o male) in high school right now, and I haven't really dealt with severe acne so far (knock on wood).
But in the summer of 2014, I had a horrible flareup of acne throughout my T-zone. I'm not sure what triggered it, but I got clusters of whiteheads and large cysts between my eyebrows, nose, and chin area. I was in China at the time, and my dermatologist speculated that since it was so hot and polluted out there, the trigger was the environment. Anyways, he put me on minocycline 100g, sodium sulfacetamide wash, clindamycin gel, and retin a 0.025-0.05% for about 16 weeks. I cleared up really well, and my skin was pretty much flawless.
From 2015-2016, I didn't need to continue any treatment, and went an entire school year without it. At the beginning of my senior year, I had minor acne flareup between my eyebrows, nose, and forehead. My skin was also getting extremely oily, so i visited my derm for the first time in a year. This time he prescribed me Differin, minocycline, 75g, and clindamycin gel. I've been on differin for 12 weeks, and have shown no improvement. In fact, my skin has been destroyed since I started. I initially thought this was just a really bad Initial breakout, but that isn't the case. I have a ton of new cysts and red marks and am contemplating quitting this whole regime. My skin has gotten 10x more oily since I began this treatment and my skin just doesn't feel healthy. I missed a day of treatment last week and decided to just not use anything for the remainder of the week, and my skin has felt incredibly healthy and not tight. The oiliness has subsided a good amount, and the inflammation seems to be going down. My dermatologist told me to stick with the treatment, but I don't know if I should even bother considering he told me, "your acne will be gone in a month" when i first started. Three months later, my skin is just terrible.
Should I quit this whole differin regime and just wash my face twice a day and moisturize, or stick with my dermatologist's advice? Thanks!
From my own experience.
I've only ever had acne in my t zone. I started getting pimples in grade 9 and got them regularly in my t zone until I was 20. I'm now 22. I went to the derm when I was 17 because I was too smart for my age. At 17 I already understood that 90% of dermatologists will try to shove something down your throat and on your face for a fix. I also understood how many people were having trouble with topical and oral acne solutions (including but not only accutane). The derm prescribed me monocycline and retina a. I kept the perscription in my cupboard for an entire year before I threw it out. I read all the side effects of these drugs and couldn't buy into the whole antibiotic for acne world. I'm 22 now and have had no acne since my teen years. My acne was definitely hormonal (I'm a dude), because as soon as my hair growth thickened on my face and high cheek hair started growing, I stopped getting acne. I get the odd blackhead or zit but they go away within a week and they are months apart. I'm so thankful I didn't listen to my derm. Don't get me wrong, dermatologists are educated doctors, but acne itself is still undiscovered, so even doctors are playing catch up to the (disease,virus,gene,allergy,irritation).