[nevergiveup8]

I always had clear skin growing up. Towards the end of high school, I would sometimes get a small pimple around the time of my period, but I would put spot treatment on it, not pick at it, and it would heal within a few days. My first year of college my skin was the same. I would have the occasional blemish, but nothing major at all. I am going into my junior year of college and I can honestly say my skin has never looked worse. I started getting more blemishes after New Years. I actually got a cyst on the side of my cheek soon after starting the new semester, but I went to my derm, she gave me a cortisone shot, and it shrunk to a small spot within hours and healed completely in less than a week. After spring break, I started to feel self conscious about my body. I knew that my birth control (I have taken Yaz since the end of senior year) made me curvier than I was naturally. I decided to go off of Yaz as soon as I got back from vacation, which was mid-March. Between the time I went off of Yaz and the end of my last semester, I started to get blemishes regularly (especially on my chin and sometimes on my forehead). I figured that my hormones just needed to readjust and my skin was still pretty clear so I continued to stay off of the Yaz. However, in the past two months my skin has turned into a complete wreck. I finally decided to go back on Yaz three and a half weeks ago, but I still look like ****. I have skin colored bumps all over my forehead, big pimples in between my eyebrows and on one side of my chin, blackheads in the creases between my nose and cheeks, and, as of this morning, a small rash of pink colored bumps on the lower part of one of my cheeks. I can't blow dry my hair because I cry the whole time having to look at myself in the mirror. I have been calling in sick from work, blowing off friends, and legitimately been considering suicide. My life was very difficult before, when my skin was nearly perfect. Now I don't want to do anything. I can't get out of bed in the morning, yet I hope and pray for the day when I can enjoy my life again and feel confident with the way I look. Please, if anyone has gone through anything similar or has any advice. Please please please, help me.

[missbelle]

sorry you are feeling so bad!!!

I went through a similar thing in my late teens, although not pill related as it seems yours might be. I can remember how awful it would make me feel & the money I spent on creams & lotions which never seemed to work!

If you haven't already then do talk to your doctor, both about your skin & your low mood/depression. What helped me was a course of antibiotics (Tetracycline), I think I took them about 3 months or so - it never really came back after that - just the odd spot now & then. These days it's not spots I worry about, but wrinkles....

I know how it can make you feel reluctant to socialise, but please don't isolate yourself from your friends because this will only make you feel worse. Whilst I used to feel terrible about my self image when I had acne I have never judged anyone else harshly by the condition of their skin & wouldn't want to be friends with someone who would - perhaps the same is true for you? It's often a case of being as kind to ourselves as we would to others.

[vitaa]

Hi nevergiveup8, I'm in a similar situation in that I sometimes isolate myself from people and other opportunities due to my acne. I don't know too much about how to fix acne though or if this is mostly a hormonal problem for you (due to the birth control)? Anyway, are you taking any steps now to clear up the acne? If so, what exactly? One important thing I remember hearing from somewhere is sleep & making sure you use some kind of treatment before you sleep but also lotion to prevent excessively oily skin that results from dry skin.

Head back to your dermatologist. Acne is something that really can me remedied, but it really helps to have a good dermatologist help solve the puzzle.

My dad had terribly acne; I had terrible acne; my sister had terrible acne; and, two of my sons have had terrible acne. Obviously genetic for us. At least for my sons, there are now much more effective medications to treat and pretty much cure severe acne issues. In their cases, they went through Accutane treatments. It is a very serious medication which requires monthly bloodwork and pregnancy testing (for girls obviously) and I believe two types of contraceptives are required in order for it to be prescribed. (In the early years of Accutane, babies born to women who were on Accutane were often born with severe birth defects. It really is serious business.) The skin gets extremely dry during treatment. Both sons had problems with chapped lips and nose bleeds. Both of my sons had such severe cases that they each had to go through two rounds of treatment for a total of 8 months of medication, but both of them responded beautifully and literally have had no acne issues since. It was a bit of a pain to deal with the bloodwork and side effects during treatment, but the result in the end was well worth it.

Accutane may be much too intense a treatment for what you have, but I mention it to tell you there are good treatments out there, most not nearly as harsh as Accutane. Over the counter stuff just doesn't seem to do the trick most of the time. Rather than continue to suffer over this, make an appointment with your dermatologist again and see what she can do to help alleviate the problem. Be proactive in getting medical care for this medical condition. There is just no need to give this the power to stop your love for living. This is treatable, and you don't have to wait until somewhere down the road your body finally shapes up and stops doing this; your body can be prompted in the right direction with proper medical treatment. Good luck to you.

[namaste13]

oh gosh, acne was my worst enemy in high school. whatever i did it never went away. i tried spa treatments, drug-store treatments, and dermatologist treatments. what helped alot for me was being on birth control [lo loestrin fe] and using this product to get rid of the scarring: roc retinol correction deep wrinkle night cream. [dont be intimidated by "wrinkle" it works on scarring]

after the nightly application of this cream, i'd wait 10 minutes and them a little moisturizer after. weekly, or whenever i needed an extra boost, i'd use a mask--like queen helene mask that you can buy in a drug store. this regimen helped my skin A LOT.

having a lot of acne made me feel so self conscious and even made me not want a boyfriend. i believed that when you had a boyfriend he would have to see you without makeup at one point...and that scared me because i knew how many blemishes i was covering up. i feel your pain hun. don't worry getting rid of acne takes time. best of luck to you!

[Indie'sOK]

I'm currently taking Yaz for my skin and it works great. I'd recommend a consultation with a good dermatologist and possibly a gynecologist for the hormone problem. Switching back and forth between taking the Pill and not taking it will only make the problem worse.

[rainboots87]

I'd be careful with the Yaz, personally. I always had mild acne and went on Yaz a few years ago to regulate my heavy periods. I was on it less than 2 months and it gave me horrible cystic acne including on my cheeks where I NEVER broke out before, among many other awful side effects. As I said, I was on it less than 2 months and I continued to get painful cystic acne for several months afterward and dealt with the scarring for a couple years. It's mostly better now, but there are still some scars. I'd just be cautious considering your acne showed up when you stopped it, which suggests that its effect on your hormones may be partially to blame. Either way, I agree with seeing a dermatologist and I definitely understand how you feel!