Annoyed with cyst acne!

EnviroMegan · 11-08-2002, 12:13 AM

I have cyst acne on my face all the time, between my mouth and my chin. It's so frustrating, there's nothing i can do to get rid of it.

I know you all have talked about this a thousand times before, but could you give me your advice here? I'm 23 years old, finishing up grad school and starting job interviews very soon. I don't want to look like a pimply teenager while trying my hardest to look professional!

I have heard of the saw palmetto thing, does this work at all? Where would you find it? Are there any medications that work on cyst acne? (I feel that cyst acne is different from regular acne, because my Noxema-type stuff does nothing to help this!)

Please share any insights. Thanks.

Mathisk · 11-08-2002, 03:23 PM

I suffer from cystic acne/cyclical for most of my adult life. Tetracyline clears me up completely ( an antibiotic)
Aldactone cleared me up completely ( reduces male hormones)

Some people dont want to take anything internally so there are a lot of topical meds you can get from a dermatologist.

You are young so I want to share some advice: The only thing I regret ( i am 43 now) is that for approx. 5-7 years i took nothing for my acne. Those are the years that I got some scarring from it and I ended up seeing a plastic surgeon and having revision surgery. I would not have had to do that if I had kept up with my derm and stayed on some type of meds, be it pills or creams.

Karri · 12-07-2002, 11:23 AM

I suffered with cystic acne too. I think it started in my early 20's. I am much better now though with the help of aldactone. I've been on it for about a year and a half. This is the only thing I've found that helped. Over the counter meds either did nothing for it or dried everything but the cysts out! Now I get a couple of these nasty things on my jawline around period time, but compared to what it used to be, I can handle it. I agree with Mathisk though, and suggest doing something now. I'm nearly 33 and those ten years of not knowing what to do about it have left me with scars that I see everyday. Best of luck to you! Karri

Florette · 12-07-2002, 11:04 PM

Karri

What dosage of aldactone are you on?

Karri · 12-08-2002, 04:56 PM

Florette, I'm taking 100mg/day of the aldactone. I'm also taking 1500mg of met/day.

mix · 12-08-2002, 05:37 PM

don't know if you want to go the bcp route, but yasmin seems to be helping with mine. i expect the saw palmetto, green tea and all the other stuff i shove down my throat helps too (see below).

you can get saw palmetto from GNC shops. the saw palmetto they sell is standardised, meaning that the right amount and the right bits of the plants are used.

:)

dreamy28 · 12-08-2002, 05:48 PM

Dear EnviroMegan:

Before I was "truly" diagnosed with PCOS I had really bad acne along my jawline and all over my chin. I went to a dermatologist for the acne not knowing pcos was causing it and she put me on a pill called "Diane -35" which is actually a birth control pill. After about two to three months of taking the Diane -35, my acne was completely gone except for a floater on my cheek or forehead every once in a while.

The only problem was that the Diane -35 caused me to have morning sickness and bad mood swings so eventually I went off of it. My gp now gives me "Differin" Gel or Cream. I am in Toronto, Ontario Canada and it costs $45 canadian for a 45 g tube of differin at the pharmacy. I put a thin layer of the differin over my entire face (aside from my eye area) every night after washing my face thoroughly. It is the only prescription topical treatment I have found to work. (I tried tetracycline but I kept getting yeast infections). Also, I wash my face religiously three times a day as well. I NEVER skip a wash even if I am tired as I know my face will break out. I am also on 25 mgs of Aldactone now (just started it last month) and I have found that the acne on my back is starting to clear up alot more.

I've also ordered "Serious Skin Care" products from the shopping channel here in Canada - I think they are also on the US shopping channel too. The have two products that I've tried and really like and seem to work for me especially if I get a really bad cyst-like pimple on my jaw line. One is called "dry-lo" and the other is "oil control moisturizer".

Also, my dermatologist told me that it is best not to rest your face on your hands, especially when you have a cystic breakout and she told me to always be concious of that and if I tended to still rest my chin on my hands then to wash my hands with acne wash several times a day which I think has helped me to some extent.

Good luck and let me know how you're doing!

Mazlynn · 12-12-2002, 06:06 PM

Huh - I never thought of using the acne wash on hands. I've always been somewhat bemused by my inverse acne pattern - instead of the typical "T-zone" acne, I have it on my cheeks and jawline. I noticed one day that the way I normally rest my head in my hands completely covers my acne areas, and was probably a partial cause, so I've been trying to keep from doing that. It's so hard to break a habit you're not really consious of doing though! (As I just realized that I was resting my head exactly that way as I was re-reading this... ooops!) Thanks for the great advice.

Maureen77 · 12-13-2002, 02:51 AM

I have tried everything! Benzoil peroxide, Differin, REtinA, and antibiotics which screwed up my digestion, etc. Serious Skin Care, and Proactiv which both made me a dried out red beet. Glycolic peels.

Some things kind of worked but I still would get cystic acne right around AF, 2 big lumps every month that would take until next month to go down, then I was left with red marks for many more months after that. So maddening. The time I spent slapping on foundation! (This was when my AF was regular but I was not ovulating and collecting cysts on my ovaries.)

I lost weight, I controlled my insulin, my skin sort of got a little better. Maybe 1 lump a month. Oh great, sure, that's better. Ya right.

It wasn't until the saw palmetto that I cleared up COMPLETELY. And no more oily skin and oily/dandruff scalp either. I haven't loved my skin since I was age 9 and didn't even know I had skin.

It's fresh and not red at all. My pores have shrunk. Ok, maybe I get like one little whitehead a month, really! For me, the answer was controlling the active testosterone with the saw palm.

(Mazlynn - actually chin and jawline acne is the classic sign of hormonal acne. )

miranda1977 · 01-03-2003, 02:01 AM

I get those nasty cystic pimples as well. And I know what you mean by them being embarassing in a professional sense - sometimes mine can be so bad I want to go home from the office.

Anyway, here's my wisdom from year's of battling:
- Diane 35 helped a bit, but not a lot
- currently on aldactone, and slowly upping the dose from 50mg a day, so we'll see how that goes.
- Doryx skin tablets (prescription low-dose antibiotics) worked well. Took them for like 5 years in high school.

But my big other tip I swear by is ZINC tablets. If I'm taking zinc, my skin is usually great. When I run out or stop, it's crap. My little brother does the same thing and absolutely swears by it.

Also, I've found evening primrose oil tablets to be really helpful in terms of the clarity and quality of skin (ie smaller pores, less redness). Vitamin E capsules are also useful.

When it comes to skin care products, I'm not convinced that any REALLY help. I've just changed from clinique to Body Shop products and I'm finding them equally as good although they are cheaper. One product that is great though is Estee Lauder's Idealist skin refinisher. It is a brilliant product and makes my skin feel really smooth - but it is really expensive. I've only ever had samples, but if I had the cash, I'd get some.

Hope this helps.

Miranda