The Acne Thread #2

[angela xx]

thank you arielaine and alexandra!
tan it is! but would i be going too far by asking if it's okay to tan in a bed?

[Alexandra8715]

^I wouldn't use a tanning bed though some doctors would recommend it if you had acne.

[nicholas2505]

Originally Posted by coke

my acne miracle...
i went to the dermatologist and she gave me Doxycyclinemono, an oral antibiotic medication as well as Zoderm cream to use along with it. 3 weeks later, my skin completely cleared up and was not dry like what happens when you take accutane. This worked for my acne but obviously wont for everyone.. but my point is going to the dermo is the best solution.

You're definitely right about that. They know all the new techniques and medication as well as the results because they see so many people day after day.

[Whitelinen]

I have to say I warmly suggest Accutane. I had tried all kinds of creams, washes and milder antibiotics, and nothing worked, maybe just made a few zits vanish. Now my skin is almost normal... I don't wear any make-up on it and have noticed I look like I have concealer on. I think I finally realised that I have normal skin last week... I went to see my gynecologist who had put me on birth control, and she asked whether I need more because my skin is normal. I finally realised my acne had gone... it's funny how you don't notice it. I have used to be a pizza face for many years, and now when I am not I can't understand it.

My acne was the kind that starts immediately when you hit puberty. My father has had a bad case of acne, so I kind of got it from him. Usually if one of the parents has had acne, the risk is a lot higher.

What made my skin clear was not about cleaning with ten different cleansers. This is what cleared my skin:

1. Getting a prescription for Accutane. I took it for around eight months, but then my skin got too irritated and dry, plus the summer (and therefore extra sunlight) was coming and I had to stop. Accutane does not work fast... it leaves doses to your system, and the effect will be there long after you stop taking it. That is why my skin actually recovered after I had stopped taking it. I also got a prescription for birth control pills, which help too.

2. Drinking water and eating fruit. This was before Accutane, when my face was full of blackheads. One summer I started to drink two litres of water a day and eat a lot of fruit, and in two months my blackheads vanished. Most of the used to be on my nose and my forehead, and after this they have never come back.

3. Using only mild cleanser, toner and moisturizer, not anything especially made to "fight acne".

4. Time. As it is likely I got my acne from my father, this might have been a case where time is the best thing to help.

I hope you will find the answers to your skin problems

[Tatika]

Originally Posted by modelbehavior228

I have big zits AND thousands of blackheads

go to www.skintactix.com

its my saving grace, it works- some people here used it after i just kept mentioning it..ask around, check it out, its amazing stuff..

[Tatika]

by the way, a few of you stated you were using skintactix, how is everything going for you guys?

id love to know!!

[laRenta__x0]

Question:
I usually break out right before my period and was wondering if there was anything besides birth control that might help balance my hormones during that time of the month.. (or anytime really lol)

[laurette]

Yesterday I went to the doctor and he told me that he won't prescribe roaccutane unless I take the Pill (it's illegal otherwise). By taking the birth control, my skin would clear up anyway so now I have to go to another doctor.
He prescribed me an antibioticum and a cream with erythromecin, I put it on yesterday and -horray!- my back looks waaaaay better, I was really surprised.

[Whitelinen]

Originally Posted by laurette

Yesterday I went to the doctor and he told me that he won't prescribe roaccutane unless I take the Pill (it's illegal otherwise). By taking the birth control, my skin would clear up anyway so now I have to go to another doctor.
He prescribed me an antibioticum and a cream with erythromecin, I put it on yesterday and -horray!- my back looks waaaaay better, I was really surprised.

Why can't you take the birth control pill? Vitamin A, the main component of Accutane, causes serious damage to unborn babies. That is why it is extremely important to not get pregnant, hence you have to take birth control during the period you are taking Accutane. My Accutane pills even had "forbidden to get pregnant" written in each of the pills. If birth control clears up your skin, why can't you take it? It has a lot of other benefits too, it protects you from cancer and makes your period more regular and easy.

[sharkslayerlola]

hello.. i must share i've tried a lot of stuff. i try proactiv, it helps but if you stop it'll just come back. ultimately its best to see a derma

[Whitelinen]

^ I agree. Has your acne vanished now? What treatment are you using?

[laurette]

WhiteLinen: I am 16 so my mother doesn't want me to take the Pill.
(You should have seen her reaction when she saw me kissing my bf...)
And I do not even want to have sex in a year (or even longer).
Anyways, I am going to make an appointment and get the pill although she doesn't want me to (in Germany I have the right to), I have thought about it and my skin is more important to me than her opinion, she doesn't know how much I suffer from it -although my skin cleared up a lot in the past few days, I don't have to use make up in my face -.
I take a drug (an antibioticum) so I don't want to take it too long.

[Whitelinen]

Originally Posted by laurette

WhiteLinen: I am 16 so my mother doesn't want me to take the Pill.
(You should have seen her reaction when she saw me kissing my bf...)
And I do not even want to have sex in a year (or even longer).
Anyways, I am going to make an appointment and get the pill although she doesn't want me to (in Germany I have the right to), I have thought about it and my skin is more important to me than her opinion, she doesn't know how much I suffer from it -although my skin cleared up a lot in the past few days, I don't have to use make up in my face -.
I take a drug (an antibioticum) so I don't want to take it too long.

I am sixteen too, and I got accutane the first time when I was fourteen. The first time I used the pill I was twelve. I have never had sex nor had a boyfriend. I don't think being on the pill for causes like clearing up your skin has anything related to sex. Couldn't you explain that to your mother? I have been on the pill before because I needed to disable my period from coming while I was on holiday, nothing sex related.

If you want accutane, it is necessarily to take the pill. Your mother should understand that. They don't do it because they believe everyone who's considering on going on accutane is having actively sex, but because they have to be 100% sure the female on accutane won't get pregnant. What if you get raped? You could get pregnant from that. That's why the pill is needed while you are on accutane.

Birth control pills are used widely to other things than birth control these days. Sometimes they are prescribed to ease the pain and heaviness of periods. Sometimes they are presecribed to clear one's skin. Sometime's they are prescribed so one wouldn't have to suffer from periods at the time when one is i.e vacationing in Spain. Birth control pills also lower your risk of cervix cancer. Doesn't your mother think of all this?

Although you can get the pill without your parents approval, I wouldn't be so sure about accutane. Try to get these things solved with your mother first, explain to her why you need them and that they are not per se for birth control.

Besides, why does your mother think you'd be having sex easier if you were on the pill? At least from what I have heard, you should also use a condom, as the pill never covers you from STDs.

[laurette]

^ I already have told my mom everything you listed, but she is kind of narrow-minded when it comes to me.
Your third point (the benefits) is in her eyes nonsense, as the pill enhances the risk of breast cancer.
Oh well, I'll do it anyway *sigh*

[Whitelinen]

Couldn't you ask your dermatologist to talk to your mother?