20 and above Females with moderate acne cysts.

LkK2507 · 12-01-2004, 04:40 PM

OK, I have been going all over this board trying to find girls that have acne like mine who are about my age. I am 23 now with moderate (but annoying and ugly!) cystic acne. or atleast most my lesions are that. Now when I say cysts I dont really mean really huge ones. they stick and stuff and some are deeper than others. they are smaller "around" than say a writing pen cap end. lol if that illustrates well. Some have a white spot I can gently pop, others don’ when I look up acne all I see is the clustered kind that is all over peoples jaw line and cheeks. I dont have that. mine are randomly everywhere, mainly my T zone,. I get an occasional small zit in my cheek or cyst on my temple (that started within the last 2 or 3 yrs. It started when I was mabe about 16 and it was very mild. I got cysts though. Just 1 or 2 here and there. Not bad. Now I can get up to like mmm 5 at a time and have just started seeing mild scaring on my fourhead and temples. Before it would just leave a dark spot that would leave eventually bad ones mabe taking months. That didn’t bother me! Dark spots that go away I can handle. Actual scars no. I think I have been careless with picking though.

I guess I just want to talk to anyone who’s breakout seem about the same as mine to see if the pattern is about the same, how is scaring for you? what helped, what doesn’t? so on…

What have I tried? Well, antibiotics (didn’t work that good and caused me other problems) I don’t think that is good for you. Lots of topicals, BP, SA, sulfur (still use cause it atleast helps) tretinoin, differin, and NOW Im on Orth Tri Cyclen Lo (don’t think its working seeing I had the worse break out ive ever had here recently. Been on it month and ½. Anyway Im going to try diet now. Im hoping diet can help cysts

LAST concern. SCARING… Every website I read the say cysts are the most severe scaring types of acne lesions bla bla, well yeah they are deep and they hurt but Ive not really had a huge problem with scars till just a few minor ones now. Dark spots is about it. Im scared that Im in for a rude awakening and someday they will start to scar me for life. I now you skin as you get a lot doesn’t heal and handle things as well but hopefully I will have grown out of this to some degree. I may have it for life because my mom has really oily skin and gave it to me apparently. She got cysts and still gets one here and there in her late 40s. she said Im worse than she was at her age and that upsets me L But mabe if Im dealing with them now I wont have them as long as her J she has a few scars on her outer nose under her eyes. I don’t get them there that much and don’t have any scars there. I know this is long but I just wanted to see what kinda response I could get.

Thanks!

annafcolbrie · 12-01-2004, 06:06 PM

I'm 25 and would say that I have moderate ( sometimes more severe ) acne with cysts like you. I don't have the clustered kind either. I mostly break out on my cheeks, (not close to the nose but closer to my ears and down toward my jaw), my jawline and sometimes my chin. The cysts usually turn up on my jawline or cheeks. I do have some scaring from cysts along my jawline and a ton of red spots left from old breakouts.

I don't get a lot of cysts anymore since cutting down on dairy. I used to drink milk with meals, now I don't drink milk at all and I only use it in cooking sometimes. I am hopefull that more dietary changes would help my acne.

I was on minocycline for 3 months. It helped a lot but didn't completely clear me. I won't go on it again because I want to stay away from antibiotics. I did get sick a lot at the end of my treatment and for months after stopping minocycline. Bacterial infection, bronchitis, vaginal infection and eye infection. I don't know for sure that the antibiotics had anything to do with it but I rarely get sick otherwise so I'm thinking it caused an imbalance.
Right now I'm on Ortho tri-cyclen, which was started in anticipation of going on accutane. I just changed my mind a day before starting treatment. I'm still taking the bc-pills because I'm not sure if I could stop in the middle of the month. I may even continue taking them to see if they help. My oiliness has been reduced dramatically but I'm having a pretty bad breakout on my neck which is new since starting bc-pills. Maybe it's just an initial breakout.

It sounds like your body is good at healing itself. Hopefully you won't get a lot of scars.

Anna

Katrinamp · 12-01-2004, 06:34 PM

I am 25 now. At age 23, I started getting bad cystic acne in the same exact areas of the face as you two do. Although I always had acne, it just got much much worse over these past 2 years. It is somewhat attributed to stress (changing from college to real work and real life!) but I finally realized the change was mostly a direct result of the birth control I was on (Orthocyclyn). For some reason, that stuff just made it worse. After trying many things, I can finally say that my skin is the clearest it has been in months. I attribute 100% of my success from these boards and the ideas I have gotten from them. I switched to Yasmin, which is the major help. I also switched face cleaner to the Aurmore indian soap that I use twice a day, washing with my fingers only (don't scrub cysts with a washrag- I finally realized how worse that was making them and how much longer it took them to heal!). I take 200 mg of Alpha Lipoic acid a day to prevent future red marks and keep down inflamations. I continue to use differin gel at night along with Oil of Olay Total Effects moisturizer (with anti-inflammatory properties and many good vitamins for acne-prone skin).
I don't know if this will help you, but since our acne is similiar, it is likely that yours is hormone related. I have heard nothing good about orthocyclin-lo for acne prone skin. For one reason, that is because it is low in estrogen and is not anti-androgen.

Good luck and keep in touch with what works for you!

BJM04 · 12-01-2004, 07:17 PM

I'am 32 yrs old and still break out..I wouldnt say it's cystic acne...just typical pimples..more in the t zone area...I tried the ortho tri cyclen birth control pill and my skin broke out way worse..I gave it like 4 mos nd stopped..I'm currently using Klaron a topical medication from my doctor..seems ot be working slowing..I also ahve dark spots from old pimples...picking is my down fall....

LkK2507 · 12-01-2004, 09:21 PM

Thank you all for your responses and I hope to hear more. I feel like my acne is so unique. I think Im going to quit Ortho Lo its not made me much better if not worse. can it do that? make me worse? do you think I will get even worse when I stop?? I wonder if i should try regular Ortho?

Dairy huh,, I drink a ton of milk as Ive always been told its good for me and I love it. I could cut it out though. Ive been trying to drink alot of water lately...

My life has been stressfull the past year due to some events, job change, relationships you name it, not to mention I am a HUGE worrier. I love this board but sometimes I wonder if Im just stressing myself out just getting on here way too much. I just want to Trust God and take the best care of my skin as I can but Im still trying to find the right method. I think I may be setting up a derm appointment here with a different derm that doesnt just want to perscrib me antibiotics...

Thanks girls