MaskedOne

An update: after going to my dermatologist for the THIRD time since Monday, she has bumped the Spironolactone to 75mg. I've had EIGHT injections in the last five days. This is by far the most I've e...

it's so interesting how differently we all react to birth control pills. My very non-scientific thought is age may have a lot to do with it. I wouldn't think that, but after getting cystic acne at a...

My apologies whoarthou1! I wrongly assumed that women were ones who got upset about dark eye circles! I don't know if this will make you feel better, but I've very rarely noticed dark circles on men ...

I would strongly advise trying only one thing at a time. If you don't see results after 6 months, then add to or change your plan. You are absolutely right on with this. I tried changing BCPs and a...

The last couple days have not been good. I've tried to "not care," I've tried saying, "F--- it, this is who I am," but it's hard to do that every. single. day. Every day is a fight and having the ene...

Another virtual hug here too I'm sorry you are feeling this way. I can certainly relate. I have dark circles under my eyes too; I've have them for years. I would be GLAD to only have that to deal wi...

When I typically get cortisone injection for cysts, the result has been great. However, I had a few injections this week and I don't know why I'm having this reaction! I could see and feel two cysts...

Thanks again to you both. I went to the derm yesterday morning, AGAIN, to get more injections. We discussed dosages and my derm recommended staying at 50mg for another 6 weeks (!) to give my body t...

Yeah, I'm impatient in general, which doesn't serve me well here. I kept track of my breakouts last time I was Spiro and it was the two-month mark I saw a real improvement. I saw my derm this morning...

Ha, thank you LikeMoonlight and Paigems When I looked at my calendar to see when I started, I couldn't believe it was two weeks ago! It feels like it's been months! When I took last fall, it took a...

So I started 25mg of Spiro two weeks ago with 200mg of Doxycycline. I'm STILL GETTING CYSTS I'm so upset and trying so hard not to cry. I'm taking Seasonale as my BC pills, but maybe that's wrong. ...

I've been back on Spiro for 2 weeks now (25mg/day). I've noticed some improvement, but I'm beinhg more cautions this time around as much as it pains me to see new breakouts Last time, I went from 2...

Mikito, I certainly understand what you're saying. The FDA is not a 100% guarantee for accuracy. However, I would rather have some oversight than none. I thought long and hard about taking both Spi...

Have to weigh in where I see people talking about inhibiting the conversion of testosterone to DHT. For many people this is the answer, but it is risky. A minority of people develop side effects that ...

How can a disease that is not terminal, non life-threatening, and doesn't make you sick, be absolutely devastating and life-crippling at the same time??? Is it me? Am I not strong enough? Do I not ha...

I feel horrible today. I try to not let it bring me down, but you can't hide your face. Another cyst. A big red angry cyst reminding me how ugly I am and how people will see the cyst and not me. I ...

Chiming in to share my experience with Doxy. My derm prescribed in last year and I started off with 100mg, 2x/day for two weeks. Then dropped to 100mg/day for the next 30 days. She said she didn't w...

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Wow. There are so many stories I can relate to in this thread! I, too, have/had an eating disorder and acne is one of my triggers. Once it's starts getting bad (e.g., cysts), I'm done. I have no ap...

Bumping up to re-ask the question... has anyone taken Saw Palmetto for at least one month? What was the dose? I had been taking Spiro (50 - 75mg), and it worked wonderfully but I ended up with painfu...

So sorry to hear some of your experiences, Opalfine. Teenagers can be so cruel. I was also called ugly (in front of entire class), and made fun of throughout middle school and high school. I also fel...

This is an interesting question. Had you asked this years ago, I would have said absolutely I DO NOT talk about this with friends. I would talk to my mom and that's about it. As a teenager plagued wi...

Thanks, Tim714, for your response. It's so frustrating when you've been through treatments and acne has been "in remission" for years - other than some minor breakouts - and comes back and you have Z...

I come here hoping to find people who understand how upsetting this can be. I've lurked on the boards for awhile when my acne was bad, then it got better, and now it's taken a turn for the worse. My ...