Hey guys!
Call me crazy, but these dermatologists are putting us through mysery only to make themselves rich. I have noticed that before I got obsessed with my acne, it was not that bad actually. I only had a few zits here and there once a month. The more creams and antibiotics they prescribe, the more my skin worsens. Why don't we all try just washing with water for a week and see what happens? I guess, that won't work, since these medications have to be taken for a specific time and we want to see, whether they work or not. Funny thing. My pet also had acne, or whatever it was. My vet prescribed him clyndamicin for two weeks and it cleared him up for about a month and than it came back again. Now I am putting clyndamicin on my face in a cream called benzaclyn. Maybe I should just have taken my pets medication... Oh, well...just trying to make myself feel better. I'm running out of money because of all these prescriptions not even knowing, whether any will ever work. My derm even said. Take minocycline now, but it won't help you. It will just get rid of some bacteria. He did not even check for any bacteria. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........
Im tired with dermatologists/doctors myself. I'm goign to all-natural approach and finding more natural remedies to cure my acne. So far im happy with tee tree oil... it has done more for me than any dermatologist or doctor has with creams/biotics that made me look worse.
i agree with testament...i myself don't particulary care for otc products & dermatologists' recommendations. i've used benzaclin before too as a recommendation but it made me peel so bad i ditched it in the end. it kept my acne stable but by no means did it make it go away. so far, the best cleanser/acne fighter i've ever used is goatmilk soap. the 1st time i used it it evened out my forehead & a lot of the acne on my back. i really can't say what's crap & what's not since i've only been on 1 acne prescription & everyone's different. my mom had it just like i do when she was my age & she's been clear for a long time so i hope mine'll fade in time too.
How true all of this is, obsessing and focusing on acne only makes it SO much worse. Up until the age of 27, I never owned a special facial soap. I never even really washed my face, except when it would get wet in the shower. I would go out drinking, come home and go right to sleep. I would work a 24 hour shift in emergencies at work, and never worried about not being able to wash my face. And through all that, my skin was basically HEALTHY.
Then one time 2 summers ago I got 2 zits...probably just a freak thing. I borrowed a special 'face wash' off my wife-to-be to help blast away the pesky pimples, and it was all down hill from there. I started washing my face 2 or 3 times a day. I worried about everything I ate. I FOCUSED on it, and stopped enjoying other things in life. And through all of this, my acne got worse, much worse. My face was dried out, red, irritated. I went from 2 pimples to CONSTANT breakouts.
I started to sink into frustration and depression. For the life of me I couldn't figure out WHAT I was doing wrong! I drank nothing but water, ate healthy, excercised...all the RIGHT things according to most. My parents, who are in their 50s, still get a zit or two, so I knew heredity was not on my side. But I honestly believed I could get rid of EVERY zit on my face and body. The more focused I became on my own acne the less I realized that almost EVERYONE has SOME acne. Go out anywhere and you will see this...almost everyone has SOME type of skin problems...acne, excema, rosacea, etc Don't use TV and magazines as the comparison, all that crap is airbrushed and makeup'd to death :P Go out and see REAL people.
Starting about 2 months ago I dropped all the stupidity and went back to basics. I wash my body with Aveeno Dry Relief bodywash, use Head&Shoulders on my hair, and now use Cetaphil on my face (and add a little baking soda to it twice a week or so to exfoliate). Since then, my skin is SO much better! I have almost zero body acne (except the occasional tiny ingrown hair on my upper legs), and the pimples I do get on my face are minimal. But, my face is starting to look HEALTHY again, even with the acne!
Using soaps with BP or salicylic acid just BUTCHERED my face. And the Benzamycin and doxycycline my doctor gave me last September made things SO much worse (Benzamycin was HARSH on my sensitive skin).
I am using the 'simpler is gooder' method right now, and my skin is thanking me for it. I have accepted that I will always suffer from acne for the rest of my life. I just saw my father the other day and he had a big pimple on his temple. So I am doomed to deal with this forever...but I am OK with that. It could be worse.
Kev
[This message has been edited by Forcefed4 (edited 03-13-2003).]
Thats just it.I wouldn't be so fucused on my acne if it was a more common thing.But when I go out in public I have a bad habit of looking at other peoples faces just to try to find SOME one else with the same problem I do just to comfort myself.But everywhere I go around here and everyone I see ALL have perfectly flawless faces and beautiful skin and most of the women around here do not wear makeup.If everybody else had lots of zits too I would feel normal and it wouldn't bother me.But for now,I feel like some sick ,gross dirty person with a disease.
Hey Miami, I know what you mean about derms. I feel like my derm doesn't care about actually curing or helping my skin but just scheduling as many appointments as possible to collect my money (or my insurance co's money). I walk into the waiting room and it's like a mill, one in after the other. Then I get into the examination room, he spends 2 minutes with me, tells me to continue with gel and pills, removes some blackheads and that's it.
He's got me coming every 4 weeks. I'm not on accutane, my skin isn't THAT bad, and there is very little change over the course of 4 weeks. I actually asked him if I could come every 2 months and he said no. I mean, I have to take a morning off from work to go there as he doesn't have evening hours. So what I end up doing is scheduling the next appointment for 4 weeks later, then calling and cancelling and making it for when I want to make it.
Acne is the perpetual wheel, it causes stress and stress makes it worse. Lucky people find md's before it gets too bad and keep it simple.
The only thing that ever freed me was the absoluteley god sent accutane, which after one year after treatment gave me perfect and youthful skin, but you almost have to sell your soul these days to find anyone who will put you on it, because of the depression factor. But if you're like me who nothing works for, you have to look at your options and take control of your own treatment. After you've found something that works, a daily regime of three step process that matches your skin is essential for keeping bacteria away, and coping mechanisms for dealing with stress on a daily basis, will keep your skin reactions under control. Hope this helps.
Does anything work? 
I have accepted that I will always suffer from acne for the rest of my life. I just saw my father the other day and he had a big pimple on his temple. So I am doomed to deal with this forever...but I am OK with that. It could be worse. 
