Hey girl. I can totally relate. I used to have flawless skin, an amazing social life, and absolutely everything i coulda wanted. I moved to college and all of a sudden my skin got a pimple every few weeks then more and more and more....by the beginning of october, my skin was covered. I didn't know how to react because I had good skin my whole life...i was terrified id lose all my friends and guys would think i was gross and ugly. i couldn't focus on anything at all. I stopped going to class, stopped going to parties and sorority functions, and eventually I had to come home because of how traumatic it was for me and what it did to my life. So, yes, acne made me drop out of college. I know that sounds extreme, but I just could not handle the fear of people looking at me differently which just cause a ton of depression and a complete loss of self confidence.My derm put me on accutane which is suppose to be a wonder drug for acne. I started in october and as promised clear skin by january so that i would only miss two months of school and be totally fine... well i got to january and my skin was the worst its even been in my life and it still looks the same now even two months later. I haven't seen any improvement. I would not recommend trying antibiotics because they RUIN your gut. They might temporarily clear you.. but you can't stay on them forever and usually when you come off, hell breaks loose on your skin. Accutane has been terrible for me this far, but that is one experience. most people are clear by now so maybe I'm in the minority... i have no idea. My biggest recommendation is to TRY supplements first. If your parents will pay for it, go to a naturopath doctor and have consultation. Theres several you can try in combination that are really safe and if you suspect your hormones are contributing to your acne/stress then get your hormones tested and try supplements such as myoinositol, L-lysine, spearmint, vitamin D3 etc. I wish I had gotten a jumpstart on the natural approach before starting accutane because perhaps I wouldn't have needed to start such a harsh drug had I found a natural alternative first. Also, be as gentle with your skin as you can! I had a really bad picking issue and once my skin got bad i thought washing it 5 times a day would make it better but it made my skin so much worse and spread for sure. If you ever need someone to talk to...you can message me on here. I know it can be so hard to talk about your skin with friends who don't have acne or have clear skin (atleast I felt that way) so if you want to vent or let anything out.. I'm always here:)

Hi there,

First of all, I want to say that as a male college student, I can tell just by your cheeks that you are very beautiful. To add to that, your acne doesn't take away from this at all. Everyone has their own insecurities, and I doubt the fact that you have mild acne even crosses the mind of 99% of the people you interact with daily.

Secondly, I want to share my incredibly positive results that I experienced with antibiotics. It's true, you can't be on oral antibiotics for very long.  I was on doxycycline for over a year during high school, and  I suffered no side effects.  After that year I was completely clear and switched to topical Erythromycin, another antibiotic.  I'm not suggesting you try either of these medicines, I'm just pointing out that everyone has different reactions to different treatments. Keep at it, and dont think that because some treatments didn't work for you, other treatments cannot work.

To sum it up: you look beautiful with or without acne, and don't give up looking for your effective treatment. Good luck, I'm rooting for you!!

Hey guys. I've also been suffering acne for years and I've totally lost self confidence n lost my social life. Basically became a loner. Any of you interested to chat via Facebook about acne?

On 23/02/2017 at 4:12 AM, rbxo said:

My skin was always fairly clear with a few spots here and there. Ever since i moved away for university, my skin started to change. In November Iwoke up one morning and suffered a terrible breakout. Ever since then i have not seen a day where my face does not have a spot. The top two photos are from three weeks ago and the bottom two are from today. I see no progress and wanted to seek for some advice from fellow users as to my options and what I can do to gain confidence in my skin again.

Hi Rbxo, I'm sorry to hear about your problems. I know just how much it can take its toll on self-esteem, and subsequently everything else in your life.

I guess the best way to try to tackle your issue is to find what's actually causing it for you. Off the top of my head: climate, stress, diet, routine... How have these changed? Where did you move from/to? Do you find that you're more stressed now (and before your breakout in November)? Has your diet changed? (Diet probably has the single most significant effect on skin). Are you still getting good amounts of sleep, maintaining a good skincare regimen, etc?

We can address everything that I've mentioned, but I need more info from you. You can go the GP route at any time, however if you can fix it naturally then why not, right? If you do see your GP I would strongly advise against starting on an oral antibiotic. Whilst some people experience minimal adverse effects, others do, and systemic effects are a lot harder to manage. Start with a topical AB.

On 26/03/2017 at 9:26 PM, acnetalk said:

Hey guys. I've also been suffering acne for years and I've totally lost self confidence n lost my social life. Basically became a loner. Any of you interested to chat via Facebook about acne?

Hi acnetalk, I'm happy to chat about your acne if you can give me some more specific info about what's bothering you? You're not alone.

Regards,
Nathan.