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Adult Acne

By HERWriter Guide March 11, 2011 - 9:00am

Ok, not happy with the fact that I am 41, beginning to see lines around my eyes when I laugh and I STILL have acne! It's not fair to have both!

I use a prescription lotion that works very well for me, as well as a good diet and plenty of fresh water. I also clean and moisturize my face very well, both morning and night.

At this stage, I think this is my routine for life.

What do other adults here do for their adult acne? Do you have tips for us to try or can we help you?

Best,
Susan

By May 22, 2011 - 9:22am

Hi thank god im not my own, im 26 had spots, acene since i was 12 its like part of me now and i hate it, yeah i wear make up, to cover them, its not as bad as it used to be, but im 1 of those people who dont go out the house unless i have make up on im not vain i just feel ugly with out it, it really does my nut in when u get people telling u what u shud and shudnt do as their the people wiv great skin, im on the pill (birth control) called co-cyprindiol apparently its supposed to work i aint seen no difference nothing works, but whats worse aswel is the scars as their just as bad as the acne, ive been to the doctor it does my head in they give me this zinc lotion thing that doesnt work and anti biotics as the lady said b4 she get thrust and so do i but also it mucks up the pill the doctor wont give me anything else, but i have noticed if i get a bad 1 i use quinoderm from boots and its really cheap like £3.00 , but doesnt get rid of them just helps a bad 1, its so depressing i was picked on at school being called pizza face not nice at all, they make u feel ugly i have lernt to deal wiv them alot better now but ive even tried vodka on them, dettle, tcp, a scarer nothing works so i kind get on wiv my life wiv them being their i use garnier daily wash wiv little blue bead in and their moisteriser and toner and my make up but make up i stay away from oil based ones and go for oil free the best one ive tried so far is maxfactor colour adapt make up and a powder the powder i use is rimmel and their quite gud i do try to stay away from heaverly parfumed make up though,
just makes u think were kinda stuck like this, but u never see old people wiv spots do ya mayb then we will b free of them,
thanks for listerning :-)

May 22, 2011 - 9:22am
By March 17, 2011 - 11:41pm

Hi Susan -

I have been dealing with acne for what feels like forEVER and have tried everything under the sun to get rid of it. I am extremely healthy, workout regularly, TRY to drink enough water (that definitely makes a difference, but I am not always good about it). I've done facials, microdermabrasions, the blue light levulan treatments, more facials, been to multiple dermatologists... even have gone to the tanning bed on occassion just to fry my acne for a week or two (which is a horrible choice, I don't recommend that at all). The tanning bed helps for maybe two days but actually makes it worse after those two days pass. I gave up altogether for a while and thought maybe I was doing too much and was just aggravating the situation. I finally took the time to do a bit of research (more than I had been for the past 10 years) and started looking for a good dermatologist to help me finally get rid of this nonsense. Out of all of the things I have tried, these are the few things that I have learned to do or not to do, and what works for me:

- a few dermatologists have told me to stay away from any facial products (cleansers, makeup or moisturizers) that have lavender in it. I was using an organic cleanser that had lavender in it, once I stopped using that I did notice a difference.
- I have had a few dermatologists and esteticians tell me to change my pillowcase regularly (multiple times a week) and my washcloth daily. I bought a few packs of the tiny little baby washcloths that are really soft. I only use them on my face and I use a fresh clean one every time I wash my face. I really think that made a difference. When you hang a wet washcloth to dry the bacteria just goes to town on that thing.
- Drinking enough water and getting enough sleep makes a big difference to me.
- Omega-3 supplements really make a huge difference for me. But that's just me, I'm not sure how it would effect different skin types. I take 1200mg twice a day with food. It's like a slight moisturizer from the inside out. It helps with chapped lips too.
- I have tried a few different kinds of Retinol-A and Retin-A creams. Retinol-A is over-the-counter. Retin-A is the prescription stuff. I have found that Atralin gel (NOT the generic kind, tretinoin) works REALLY well. It has a little bit of moisturizer in it, while the rest of the retin-A creams that I've tried do not (like the generic kind). If you put just a small bit of the Atralin gel on at night, then put a light moisturizer on top of it, it works really well. It's also a GREAT antiaging cream, it really will get rid of those little lines around your eyes and laugh lines. It's amazing stuff.
- I've tried EVERY cleanser and moisturizer that exists. From the stuff you get at the grocery store to the stuff that costs $100 a bottle from a spa and lasts only a week. The BEST stuff I have found that a doctor recommended to me is called CeraVe. You can get it at drug stores mostly. It's about $12-$15 per bottle. It is AMAZING. I use the foaming facial cleanser, but there are a few other options to pick from. I also use the CeraVe moisturizing lotion PM at night on top of my Atralin gel. It's a very light cleanser and moisturizer but you can tell it works really well. I was hesitant to use it because I thought I already had a cleanser and moisturizer that worked well for me but my doctor gave me a few samples and insisted that I try it. I am so glad I came across this stuff.
- to try and really get rid of everything I decided to try a round of pills to see if it would do any good. I've avoided antibiotics and any other pill to treat it until now. After trying a few different types of antibiotics and talking to a few different doctors about it, it SEEMS to me like the antibiotics are not very useful if your acne is hormonal acne. The antibiotics will get rid of it while you are on the medication, but it will come back relatively soon after stopping the antibiotics. And I hate antibiotics because I am VERY prone to getting yeast infections when I take them. So I also take diflucan while on the antibiotics. If it is hormonal acne, I've been told the best three options for that are birth control pills, accutane or aldactone. I was on birth control for a good 12 years and decided to go off of it, it wasn't really doing that much for my acne and I just wanted to stop taking the birth control pill. I started taking aldactone a few months ago and am not sure I want to stay on it. It has worked fairly well, but it's actually a blood pressure medication when taken at higher doses. I already have low blood pressure so it makes me feel a little dizzy. It's also a diuretic, so I'm seriously dehydrated while on it. I don't think it's possible to drink any more water than I am and it still doesn't seem like enough (I live in Arizona so I know that doesn't help). I don't like being on it. It's not worth the little effect it has had so far. I have heard a number of people who have been on it for 2 years or more say they are very happy with it, but I really don't like it. And I definitely don't want to be taking a drug like that for that long. I actually went to a specialist at Mayo Clinic today about getting rid of some cysts (totally unrelated issue, but he was a gynocolgist so was very familiar with hormonal acne) and he recommended I stop taking the aldactone and just go back on the birth control. He said he really isn't a fan of the aldactone. So I think I'm going to stop taking it. But it is an option.
- the accutane I think is the last resort option. I thought it had been taken off of the market but I found out recently that only the brand name drug was taken off, the generic is still available. It's a pretty serious drug but is pretty much the only guaranteed thing that will get rid of your acne for good. The main reason it was taken off of the market was because it causes SEVERE birth defects in unborn babies or kills them. The drug company was spending too much money dealing with lawsuits. It's SERIOUS stuff if you get pregnant while you are on it. The dermatologist gave me a booklet about it and they basically require you to be on two types of birth control while on the drug just as a precaution. Your OBGyn has to sign a bunch of paperwork saying you are on birth control before the dermatologist will prescribe it to you. They only give you one month supply at a time and you have to go in every month for a refill and get blood work done and take a pregnancy test. I'm not sure what the effect is on men who take it. You are prescribed the accutane for about 4-6 months. It's a little scary to me, so I don't know that I want to deal with the risks. But a very close friend of mine took it for 4 months and said it was well worth it. She has not had a sign of a single pimple since. But she said it was horrible to be on the accutane. It gave her cold sores, made her gums bleed, she had nose bleeds all the time, it just was not fun to be on. But I guess it could be worth only 4 months of misery to get rid of a lifetime of acne. Obviously that's a personal preference depending on your situation.
- I think my multivitamin helps. I sometimes forget to refill my bottle for a week or two after its gone, and I have noticed I break out more when I am not taking my multivitamins.
- I have heard multiple times not to use powder makeup. I can't get away from using powder though, so that's a tough one for me. I hate the cream base makeup that people use. It's all too thick for me. But either way, mineral makeup is a great route to take but it is pretty expensive.

This is a long reply but considering all of the things I have tried to get rid of my acne, it's actually a pretty short list :) I am really happy with the direction my skin is going in, and I think the biggest difference at this point has been the Atralin cream and the CeraVe cleanser. I noticed quite a difference with those. People have pointed out how great my skin looks lately, which is so nice to hear.

Best of luck

March 17, 2011 - 11:41pm

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