Acne

I third/fourth the witch hazel.

I have found for hormonal acne, depending on what type of skin problems you have, the dermatologist is a great investment. My face has generally been good because I wash it twice a day (neutrogena), use witch hazel as a toner, and have finally found the right moisturizers for my skin (I use light stuff as heavy stuff tends to get me too oily).

When I do get hormonal outbreaks (thanks menopause), I was using tretanoin (retin-A) from my derm, and although it worked, it made my skin quite dry. My mother had severe cystic acne (the kind under the skin), which I tend to get periodically during stress or cyclic changes, and her dermatologist, after extensive testing, gave her a prescription for clindamycin phosphate/benzoyl peroxide cream. On a recent visit I stole a tube and I have to say, the stuff is magic for me.

Note, this is NOT promoting using someone else's stuff, however, since hormones can be genetically linked (i.e., between me and my mom), I wouldn't have recognized how well this worked without trying it. As I don't have frequent breakouts, I never would have switched products. My derm gave me my own prescription.

If you have health care in the US, you can go for a yearly dermatologist appointment for a skin check, and ask for input from the doctor and get a prescription for your face if that is necessary. Shouldn't cost you much, if anything, depending on your plan, as long as it's an annual check. It's well worth taking your clothes off for your doctor to assure you don't have any skin cancer (thanks sun bathing) and getting facial treatment is a bonus!!!

gcconroy29 wrote: »

While I understand your hesitancy to visit a Dermatologist, if you can find a good one, it could really help you. I swore off Derms after my teenage years of very aggressive treatments that seemed worse than the original problem. 20 years later and Accutaine is still ruining my life. Then I had to start going again for annual skin checks for cancer and my acne was still very obvious.

The doctor really understood my problem with aggressive treatments and we've worked on a very sensible treatment that is really just down to a pill a day (specifically for hormonal acne) and spot treatments for breakouts.

Can I ask why Accutane is still ruining your life?

I first saw a Dermatologist at a very young age for acne, I was under 10. I have tried all the meds, all the creams, and all the lotions, all sometimes twice. I've been on Accutane twice. Now at 35 I only really breakout at my TOM or when really stressed, which makes sense with hormone fluctuations.

I always found it interesting that the first thing each new dermatologist (I think I saw 4 over the years, it's covered here in Canada), would assume I was wearing makeup, which I never did - makeup to me is some mascara! Some would immediately jump to a surface cause, and then look for a root cause, and prescribe. It was a major struggle in my life, but truly made me a stronger person. We are our own worst critics, and sometimes others don't even really notice it.

Kfrase83 wrote: »

gcconroy29 wrote: »

While I understand your hesitancy to visit a Dermatologist, if you can find a good one, it could really help you. I swore off Derms after my teenage years of very aggressive treatments that seemed worse than the original problem. 20 years later and Accutaine is still ruining my life. Then I had to start going again for annual skin checks for cancer and my acne was still very obvious.

Can I ask why Accutane is still ruining your life?

I first saw a Dermatologist at a very young age for acne, I was under 10. I have tried all the meds, all the creams, and all the lotions, all sometimes twice. I've been on Accutane twice. Now at 35 I only really breakout at my TOM or when really stressed, which makes sense with hormone fluctuations.

I took Accutane in my early 20's... I did experience the mood swings which were a side effect but didn't tell anyone because it was working so well. It is some powerful stuff so am curious what long-term effects it has had as well. 20+ years later and I rarely get a pimple.

Can I ask why Accutane is still ruining your life?

My hair thinned dramatically when I took it and hasn't ever grown back. To be fair, I had very thick hair to begin with and still have what's considered thick, but I know that my ponytail holders started going one more loop around. I developed arthritis at 19 that was a very rare side affect of the accutane. I still have problems in one of my elbows from it. The depression I suffered while I was on it was very bad, but I was also 18 and away at College and didn't really understand that it wasn't normal.

In the last few years I've developed a lot of stomach problems that seem to be related to accutane. I've had to give up a lot of foods, but I've gotten by with managing that.

And the real kicker. I still have acne, I'm still on topical meds. Oh well, there are worse problems to have. People are suprised by my age and I swear its because of the acne. I always joke that bad skin is the true youth serum.