acne desperation

I have terrible acne on my face, chest, back.

My dermotoligist has given me every treatment she knows of aside from accutane-- which I cant take for medical reasons.

I AM DESPERATE!

Does anybody know of any procedures that might help? whats worked for you?

proactive. It has wroked for me and you will start to see results in about 3 to 4 days. There is also this soap you can buy at wal-mart or target called Pan-Oxyl. It has 10% of benzoil Peroxide and you will also see results pretty quickly too.

I've been using proactiv for about  5 months now. AT first. it was really helping and my skin looked much better, but eventually it stopped being effective.

Have you seen another doctor beside your dermatologist? Tests for any endocrine (hormonal, glandular) problems?

Sometimes it is not only skin deep, I would definitely suggest you should ask for a few tests.

hmm...i have had full endroconological blood work done, but never b/c of acne...thats interesting, i wonder of it would help. what could it be if its not skin deep?

someone told me once that Zinc was the best for Acne and V-8 juice, drink it, do not apply to face.

Well, it could be anything connected to your hormones or metabolism. If you go to acne.org or to any health info site, you will find lots of causes.

By the way: what sort of cosmetics do you cleanse your face/back with? Do you use a moisturiser? Did you find any of the medications you were using more irritating or harsh than the others?

SWEAT! Exercising helps sweat out all the toxins.  I'm sorry girlie :)  That proactive stuff sounds like a great bet too :)

Tanning, in moderation...like everything.  It will help.  BUt thats a decision you have to feel comfortable with.  Dont pick whatever you do...if u do...dont...:)

Can you get on the pill?  Thats the only thing that worked for me... i tried everythin.

Also I wash my face every mornign and night and change my pillowcases alot, Im not sure if this helps, and Im sure you already are washing your face alot...

Try the pill.. they have ones formulated to clear up your face, like Trycyclen..

www.trythistrythat.com

Clearasil (actually whatever's its active ingredient.)  WAsh my face at least twice a day with it.  When certain drier areas of my face get too dry I wash those areas with a gentler soap.

I put antibacterial cream on deep pimples and yes, I do squeeze blackheads and "pus head."  I know it's bad but I can't help it.

If you're a teenager just getting older will help but that's probably not much comfort.

I'm 29, and I still have acne issues.  So I feel your pain!  This is embarrassing to admit - but I used to get blemishes under my arms, all over my scalp, in my ears (ewww!), in addition to on my face and back. 

Yuck - ok, now that I have admitted something I never thought in a million years I would say to anyone but a dermatologist...

I will say that Proactive did not work for me, at all.  Neither did the stuff my crazy dermatologist gave me, either.  I was always meticulous about taking care of my skin, but that only kept me at the status quo, didn't really improve anything. 

What did help was experimenting with foods, finding what triggered it from the inside out.  I basically treated it like an allergy, which for me in many ways it was. 

My #1 trigger seemed to be caffeine.  I had started drinking more than my usual cup of coffee and soda or two per day, and at the same time I noticed an increase in my blemishes.  So, I did an experiement to cut caffeine out for a month and to see what happened.  That was over 1 1/2 years ago now and I have not had caffeine since, and my skin has been so, so much clearer!  And of course now I eat very healthy and drink a lot of water, too.  I now only get up to 3-4 blemishes max on my face each month, usually related to my cycle and hormones, and I don't get them anywhere else.

I don't know if this will help you or not, but for me the topical treatments just didn't cut it, I had to look to my diet.

thanks for all the advice!

Actually, i have tried the pill (made me gain more weight, did nothing for the acne) and clearasil and food experiments, none of which seemed to work.
I have never heard of using v-8, but hey! its worth a shot!
I found that the sweat actually aggravates my skin, probably b/c it clogs up my pores.

People have been telling me since I was 12 that it would clear up as I got older, I'll be 20 soon, and its just as bad as ever!
I just hope that I get rid of it before I get wrinkley, b/c I definitely dont want pimples AND age lines!!

Anyway, what about all those fancy procedures? Does anyone know anything about them? Like all the lasers, etc. I'm willing to try anything!

I don't have any experience with procedures or treatments like that.  But, I do have a question.  How long did you give it when you have tried new things?  I've found my skin takes at least a month, sometimes two to react to a new regimen.  So, if I was trying a different cleanser, or anything, I made sure that I gave it up to two months before I decided it didn't work. 

Just a thought, but if you've been doing that too I think I'm all out of suggestions!

thanks pandajennn.
I find that most of these things work in the begining and then slowly stop being as effective. ill use them as long as they work, and when my acne gets really bad again, ill have to fond something else. and not everything works for that first bit, either.
ITS SO FRUSTRATING!!!

I had a very bag breakout when i was 18 and the doctor gave me birth control pills to take and my acnes were gone like in a month. Completely gone.

I forgot the name of the pills I believe it's the green Tricyclene...sth spells like that.

But I'm not a doctor, so don't trust me 100% :)

for me, i started taking yaz (only 2 months) and its just now starting to help with the oilyness.  I also use minocycline (antibiotic) which helps a lot with the big stuff and retin-A which helps with the little stuff.

Endocrine tests can be important b/c several hormonal imbalances can increase androgens in females and therefore acne (and hairyness).  PCOS and CAH are two of the more common hormonal imbalances that can have acne associated with them.  High insulin levels are also correlated with high androgens in women.

Just a thought.  But really, talk to your dr.  A lot of things that dont work on their own might work better if used together.  And different birth controls can have different effects.  For me, a triphasic pill (like ortho tricyclene) is just horrid, but the Yaz (after the first 6 weeks or so of getting used to it) is doing pretty darn well.

Good luck!

I used to have bad acne too.

My mom is one of these people who always falls for silly sales gimmicks, and she always comes at me with all these too-good-to-be-true ads and commercials. Needless to say I roll my eyes and move on.

One day she approached me with a crumpled ad for Proactive. I rolled my eyes. I especially don't like frequent-advertisers, which they are.

So she went and bought some, and because it was there, I decided to try it. What would you know, it worked! Don't get me wrong, I was miserable the first two weeks. My skin burned (really hurt) for like two weeks as all the acne on my face was dying. It was red, inflamed, but in the end no more acne appeared after it.

I would say if you use it, give it a chance. I know people who say it doesn't work for them because it makes it worse, but it did make it worse for two weeks for me while it killed everything. If you stick it out it will help!

Good luck!

PS. after years of use, I only use the repairing lotion as maintenance; I don't need all the other stuff.

PPS. buy it in the mall, not online, because this way you won't get spammed with email or advertisements!

***Edit***

Didn't realize you said you already used it. Are you sure you used it every day, morning and night? Sometimes if I don't do it religiousy it creeps back!

For me it always depends alot on what type of products I was using...sometimes its the opposite of what you would expect. I always assumed that because I had problems with my skin I needed to use harsh products with lots of chemicals. This is NOT the way to go! (IMHO anyways) Our skin was not meant to be bombarded with all sorts of crap in this way - of course it will rebel! Think about it the opposite way - skin is very sensitive - to what you eat and what you put on it. ONLY use products that are non-comedogenic (doesn't clog pores), hyopallergenic and most importantly oil free and FRAGRENCE free (why would you add more oils to your face and body when it makes its own) This is a sneaky one - if it doesnt say oilfree and FRAGRENCE free, hypoallergenic and non-comedogenic on the bottle - it likely isnt. They are hard to find but its possible - and worth it. I don't use anything on my skin that isnt all of these things. All this stuff in your products is only adding to the problem. Don't dry your skin out with harsh acids! Moisturize every day! Religiously!!! It may seem counterproductive - but if you strip your skin of its natural oils it starts to overproduce them to compensate - making the problem worse. Find a nice light moisturizor with sunscreen (no frgrence! it irritates) and use it everyday. And I cannot stress enough the power of exfoliation! Exfoliating every day removes dead skins cells and helps to unclog pores and prevent them from clogging - it also gives you that nice glow! Add a little bit of baking soda once every couple days or so to your face wash for a nice natural exfoliant. Yes - even exfoliate your back. Buy a backscrubber and use it in the shower to scrub your back where you can't reach (this was a large part of my problem). Make sure you drink lots of water as well! Don't go for anything that promotes as the "next best" acne fighter. It likely has too many chemicals and will only "shock" your skin for a few weeks, after which it will go back to how it was - which sounded like it was your problem.

I am not a doctor - I am merely saying what has worked for me after years of experimenting with every product (including pills) on the market. Now, my skin has much improved its look and elasticity,  as well as acne (only once every few months or so I only get one or two now!) My new favorite thing on the planet - tea tree oil. If you have not tried this go and get some NOW!!! (whether in bar or cleanser form up to you) It has saved my skin I would say, singlehandedly! My sister also swears by it, and she had acne much worse then mine. Overall, my advice - stick with a plan of healthy eating (read: no chocolate. Sad I know but it makes me break out everytime - for you it may be something else) and natural products - your skin will respond only to praise - not punishment!

Ack sorry about the long post! Didn't realize I had so much to say on the topic of skin....
But anyways it works! You just have to be patient and religious about it - as annoying as that is!