Hi, I am 18 years old and I have struggled with acne on my face, neck, chest, and back for around 4 years now. I've been to 3 dermatologists. The first one prescribed doxycycline, which helped a lot but after a while my acne got worse. So I went back and she prescribed benzoyl peroxide and retin a. This helped again but after a while continued to get worse.

I tried a different dermatologists, and she was kinda a hippie with weird techniques and way too expensive, so I stopped going there.

The third one was recommended by my doctor saying that he is one of the top guys in the acne world. So I went to him and he suggested accutane for how severe acne was and considering all the options I've tried (I tried a bunch of natural and over the counter products too) he said accutane would most likely work. My mom was hesitant about me starting it, since I was 17 at the time she had to consent too. I wanted to start accutane because I just wanted to be clear and didn't think any of the side effects would actually effect me (I was 17 thats how we think). I persuaded my mom, and I started the treatment. I went about a month in and I had to stop because it was messing with my digestive system. That month of accutane was torture! Im a brass player, so dryness 24/7 is my worst nightmare. I drank so much water that I had to run to the bathroom after an hour and a half class, and I was still dry. My skin was definitely LOOKING better, but the way my skin FELT was complete agony. Accutane is truly a last resort.

Now a year later, my acne was getting better when I was at college but during the winter break my acne flared up and its the worst its ever been.The only things I haven't tried that I've found online is acne.org regimen, and cutting out dairy and other things from my diet.