Brittz0rz

I've suffered from adult hormonal cystic acne for the last 7 years, ever since my senior year of college. I've tried absolutely everything: all kinds of topicals, supplements, birth control... nothing worked. For a couple of years, the Acne.org regimen kept me somewhat in check, but I still got big, painful, itchy zits. At one point when I went off the regimen, my face broke out so badly that I went back on the regimen and completely overdid it, far beyond Dan's recommendations. Well, I ended up with an actual chemical burn on my face that caused EXCRUCIATING pain for 3 months. Yes, you heard me. 3 months. And then, the acne started coming back, and I couldn't cover it with makeup. I was mortified. I didn't want to live anymore. I ended up on disability from work due to severe anxiety and depression due to an acne dysmorphia that caused massive breakdowns throughout the day. I couldn't focus on anything. I felt so lost and hopeless, like no doctor would ever help me figure it out, and the pain on top of it was unbearable. I tried to kill myself, it was so bad. Now, in June before the chemical burn happened, a new doctor had started me on 50mg of Spironolactone. I'd been on it for only 2-3 months at the onset of this disaster, so I knew it wasn't likely to be working just yet. I was in agony, constantly praying it would start to work. After around month 3, I asked my doctor to up me to 100, which had about the same results. Finally, in month 7, she agreed to up me to 150mg. Within weeks, I had stopped producing new pimples. I had finally found my magic number. I watched as my face began to clear, and my scars continued to lighten with it. At the same time, my chemical burn had stopped hurting and was starting to show slight improvements. I had already started to get better about my acne dysphoria, but finally seeing the itchy, painful, unsightly problem go away took so much stress and worry off of my mind. I do still get small pimples here and there--even some that are fairly deep, but there are days where I will miss taking my spiro, as well as times I pick at things I shouldn't, so I completely blame those on myself. I do still have some healing to do from the chemical burn as well as some indented scars and hyperpigmentation that has been present for over a year since the initial big breakout, but I've been working on them with a dermaroller and vitamin C serum. Not sure if the roller really does much, but the serum definitely has improved things for me. I highly recommend it as part of anyone's nightly routine. Anyway, it is so much better than it was, if I think about it too much I could cry at the relief. I can scratch my chin mindlessly if it itches, now. I can snuggle up to someone without worrying that their dirt will give me a zit (which didn't turn out to be true, anyway). I can run to the store for something I forgot without feeling like I have to endure a 20-minute makeup routine just to feel okay enough to go. I ABSOLUTELY recommend trying spiro if your acne appears to be hormonal (around the chin and mouth, possibly deep and cystic feeling, painful, spiking at a certain point in your cycle, etc.), and if you're not planning on getting pregnant (it's not good for the baby/pregnancy, as it directly affects the expression of hormones. I was fine with this, as I'm in a lesbian relationship and have no intentions of ever carrying a child via artificial means). It took me about 5 months to find the right dosage with my doctor and see the real results, and trust me, it was HORRIBLE having to wait. But it was so, so worth it. Please try it, please stick to it. It saved my life.

I should note that the reason I went off the Regimen in the first place was due to some dehydration that was going on that no amount of moisturizer would help. I wanted to not only cut out the BP (which my skin was clearly too sensitive for in the long-term), but also cut down the amount of time it took me to get ready for work/bed.