Sooooo discouraged

amigagirl · 11-22-2008, 04:15 PM

I was sitting here almost in tears today about the state of my skin.
I have not been diagnosed with PCOS, although I've had my hormones tested twice and an ultrasound.
I have had bad skin since my teenage years (I'm now 34) and it has always affected my face, chest and back. I am only clear on birth control, and now since switching BCP I am still not even clear this time.
I have tried everything to clear this up, both internall and externally. I was laughing at my list although it is really not funny at all!~

To date, I've tried:
-every over the counter slop and goop marketed to us poor unfortunate souls (salacylic acid, benzol peroxide, Proactive, etc.)
-dermatologist prescribed slop and goop
-weekly glycolic peels ( I do a 30% peel at home)
-apple cider vinegar and baking soda (not together) this is the one thing that actually worked really well for a while but it just stinks like h*** and you and your house smells funky for a while!)
-drinking apple cider vinegar daily (felt great but no help for my acne)
-drinking enormous amounts of green tea and wiping the tea bag on my skin after
-using fresh urine for a bit with no real improvements
-sitting in sea salt baths for an hour every night (really really time consuming
-Saw Palmetto
-Progestone cream (which made it way worse)
-drinking crazy amounts of water
-Seabuckthorn products
-Vitamins called "Perfect Skin", Omega 3s plus all those other vitamins I was told contribute to acne
-lemon juice
-the Dermawand (bought in a weak moment from an infomercial after a crying fit!)
-and a 3 day cleanse of apples, water and enemas which was supposed to flush all the toxins that cause acne out of me... needless to say I am still here!

I'm sure I'm forgetting something in the past 20 years but this is ridiculous! I want to go off BCP again to TTC but the thought of big cyctic acne and feeling like garbage about how I look is stressing me out.

Is there really no way that we can balance our hormones naturally or get rid of excess hormones so that our skin isn't like this? I know that there are a lot of worse things to have, but it just never ends and it gets so disheartening to see this every day of my life.. and stop doing things I want to do or wear things I want to wear, because my skin takes a liking to whatever androgens I have in my body!

Sorry for my rant, I am having a bad day! If anyone has anything that they know that works that is not on my list, I'd love to hear about it and add it to the list! :-)

buzz_eee@hotmail.com · 11-22-2008, 10:26 PM

It sounds like you have tried everything but have you tried Murad? It's a little expensive but did start clearing up my cysts around my jaw and neck. Anything I've tried has taken a couple of weeks to start working, but I felt like things were better within a couple of days. I like Retin A too once you get through the initial dry/peeling phase but it cant be used if you are pregnant or trying. Aveeno lotion works well in combo with the retin A, I just like it because it flattens out any old scars and good for lines too. Also, I was told to STOP using exfoliating scrubs (I wanted to scrub all of the junk off of my face!) and once I stopped with that my skin started clearing up.

amigagirl · 11-25-2008, 07:57 PM

Thanks for the response. I have not tried Murad actually so maybe I'll give it a go and see what happens. I believe that acne needs to be fought from the inside out if it's related to excess androgens... I just find it hard to believe that they can't really find a cure for acne... they can clone goats but can't stop zits! lol :-)

~*~TammyLynn~*~ · 11-25-2008, 08:40 PM

Have you tried antibiotics? I know my cousin was given antibiotics when her skin was breaking out. I mean the kind you take, not topical ones.

I've had success with Pan-Oxyl. It's cleared up my skin without drying it out. Other products would dry my skin out and make it worse. You can get it at drugstores and maybe Wal-Mart?

Eva37 · 11-26-2008, 07:20 AM

i had a really bad outbreak of acne a few months back, and my gp gave me anti biotics orally(erithromisin) , and an anti biotic cream to put on my face too.(zeneryt)

amigagirl · 11-26-2008, 10:27 AM

Thanks again for the responses... I did try antibiotics both topical and pills a while back when I didn't know about antibiotics... they didn't do much for me and now that I'm older I am not a big believer in them for long term use for anything. I forgot to add those to my list!

TakeThisPCOS · 11-26-2008, 12:54 PM

I used to have very bad acne - on face, chest, back and upper arms. Started going to derm when I was 9 years old! I did the whole antibiotics and topical goop, but nothing cleared it up. Finally, when I was 15, my derm convinced my mom that I should go on Accutane. Within just a few weeks of starting it my back, chest and arms cleared up. I actually had regular skin like normal people! I rarely get any zits on those areas anymore, and only one or two a month on my face. Now, accutane is a very strong drug, and you have to do drug tests every 2 weeks while on it, and you can't under any circumstances get pregnant due to an awful birth defect it causes, but it's the strongest thing out there and really does work.

jenn86 · 11-29-2008, 02:56 AM

ive been on accutane 4 months w/ no improvement, just worse..... ugh nothing helps

smiley_ca1 · 11-30-2008, 01:06 AM

I had really really bad cystic acne on my back, chest, and arms. I'd never go out in public. My list was as long as yours with some things added like the antibiotics like erythromycin and all the other ~cins... NONE of those worked. Topicals, NOTHING. Never tried the urine, never heard of it before. In my teens I went on Accutane for short sessions. I did the blood work every month. It is to test your Kidney/Liver function as that's what organ the drug stresses most. It took 3 rounds to clear everything up (this was over a few years). Up until then, I'd never had acne on my face, but I could never go swimming without a shirt on, etc. Then I went on the BCP (diane-35) for the acne and BC. I never knew how well it was surpressing the acne until I came off it to TTC. Thankfully, I have no chest-ne or back-ne, but I do have acne on my face. I have more scars there than pimples currently, so I am trying proactive.

I believe that without Accutane, I'd still be with the major cystic acne today. Now, I can't wear bikini's b/c of the strech marks from my twins, but at least I can show my chest and back which have very little scaring surprisingly.

If you haven't tried it, please do. And if your's is as bad as mine was, then it may take more than one round. But it is highly contraindicated for pregnancy. So you need to be VERY sure you will not get pregnant while on it. But it did/does not have any lasting effects as my two kids are perfectly normal and healthy.

I empathize with you as I still know what it's like to have acne in our 30's! I hope you find something that works for YOU!