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Hey I'm Ash. Profile Pic Is Mee.

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Hey I'm Ash my acne isn't too bad but I am getting severe mood swings on accutane, please what do I do?

Sunscreen...made My Skin Worse For Past 3 Years

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My experience with sunscreen has not been so great...

I started using sunscreen about three years ago because i heard that sun exposure causes

premature aging and wrinkles.

So every single day since then I have been using sunscreen religiously thinking it is doing good for my skin.

But now I'm starting to doubt sunscreens because my skin was actually nicer before i started using sunscreen.

There were many times i had to quit using sunscreen from certain brands because i was getting acne and dry.

So far the only sunscreen that does not break me out is Olay complete for sensitive skin spf 15 and Mac prep and

prime SPF 50 (This is a primer). Even though they don't break me out I have to use very little in order

for my makeup to look decent.

Also the problem with sunscreen is that my make NEVER looks nice because my skin starts to get oily and dry underneath probably

the ingredients in sunscreen and this never happened back when i didn't wear sunscreen.

I am thinking about just wearing mineral makeup or powder with high SPF instead of using cream or

lotion type sunscreen. Does anybody have problems like me or agree with me?...

I would appreciate for your reply thank you

Sick After First Dose Of 40Mg Accutane?

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I took my first dose of Accutane 40mg (I weigh about 170..so it's a "low" dose) Tuesday night around 8pm with a lot of water and after a big dinner. I also took some fish oil and Vitamin E (as recommended by my dermatologist).

Around 3am Wednesday I woke up feeling very nauseas and vomited. Then I had diarrhea for a few hours. The rest of the day I felt terrible and had a fever of 101. No coughing or runny nose..just a fever and very, very weak with a slight headache.

Today I feel much better. Could this be a result of Accutane? I only took one 40mg pill. I haven't been sick like this in a long, long time. If it is a coincidence it's definitely bad timing. Has anyone here ever experienced something like this?

I noticed that all of my pimples dried up and my lips got slightly chapped this morning (which is good, my face actually looks better). It's as if the side effects are 10x faster with this dose for me. I called my dermatologist and he told me to wait one week and try it again to see if I still experience any problems.

I am an 18 year old male. I really want to stay on Accutane because it obviously helps clear my acne. Maybe switching to 20mg will be better? Should I try it again?

Thank you!

Weird Scab That Wont Go Away

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so i had a big pimple near my lip about a month ago, and when it dried, it created some sort of pinkish mark that eventually scabbed. i have had these kind of scabs before and usually, after they scabbed, the dry skin would peel off by itself after a couple of days and it would heal. what is weird about this one is that everytime the dry skin peeled of by itself, within a couple of days, it would scab again. right now, it has scabbed over around 3 times and it wont heal! i have been putting antibiotic ointment such as neosporin (it helps it scab faster) but it hasnt healed it. it is quite big and looks really ugly. any suggestions of what i should do??

Anyone Had Any Experience With Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid)?

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Hey guys and girls

I have moderate acne I guess mostly on my face with very mild acne on my chest and back, I'm a 21 year old male.

So as you can probably guess I'm trying to clear my acne, I've tried antibiotics, BP, and the usual OTC stuff but the only thing that will happen is my face with dry up really bad even when using a strong moisturiser like double base.

I decided not to go for accutane as I'm not keen on the side effects so started searching for an alternative and came across Vitamin B5.

I read of people taking massive doses, like 10g per day and some suffered from nasty side effects like chronic diarrhea and hair loss so decided to take it easy with 1.5g a day

I've been taking 1.5g a day for 9 days now and within the first 3 days I broke out pretty bad, maybe 8-10 new spots on my face, Since then my skin has just been recovering, I've had 2 new spots in the last 6 days which is pretty good for me and they're really tiny and seem to be very inactive. So I'm hoping that my skin will continue to heal and clear. Fingers crossed.

Other than the B5 I'm taking a multi-Vitamin, drinking about 70 ounces of water a day and just washing twice daily with water.

My diet isn't great for clearing acne as I'm trying to gain weight but it seems to be going ok so far

Oh and one other side effect i've noticed is my pee is like UV Green/yellow.....Weird!

So just looking for other's people's experiences with Vitamin B5

What Is This Brown Spot

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I am on my second month of a very high dose of Accutane, much higher than the first time I did it. Therefore, I am monitoring myself very closely.

I noticed a very light, flat brown mark on the underside of my arm.

It's not a mole. I thought it was a bruise but it's not sore at all. If it doesn't subside, I'll probably ask my Dr. about it at my next appointmetn on the 27th, but that is still two weeks away.

It's really not itchy unless I touch it too much.

Again, I really dont' think this is anything to worry about but I just didn't know if it could be a reaction to the meds...or perhaps just a rash of sorts.

It's about the size around of a pencil eraser.

Help With Retin A - Skincare?

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Ok, I'm appealing for some help with Retin A! I first started using Retin A 0.01% around 17 months ago, and 6 months later bumped it up to 0.025% gel, which finally did something! I still use it (my skin is far from perfect!), and find that if I stop my pores become unbearably large, my spot begin to return and my skin just looks dull!

For over a year, I used the Rein A in conjunction with Clinique Anti-Blemish Clarifying Lotion, (Salicylic acid), though recently my skin started to become quite dry, probably due to the high alcohol content in the Clinique. I've recently been trying a Clarins Alcohol Free toner, but it doesn't make my skin feel as 'clean' as the Clinique one, and the spots around my chin are getting worse - today I have 4 surfacing/in full bloom, which is really frustrating!

Could I go back to using the Clinique toner do you think? Or should I avoid it due to the alcohol in it? In the insert in my Retin A box it says to avoid alcohol products, and Google tells me not to use salicylic acid with Retin A, but the Clinique Saleswoman consulted Clinique guidelines and told me it was safe!

HELP!!!!

Sorry for the long winded post!!



Current Regime (if it helps anybody!):

AM

Cleanse with Clinique Liquid Facial Soap - OIly skin formula
Clarins Toner for Oily Skin
Clarins Hydraquench Cream Gel/ Clarins Ultra Matte Rebalancing Lotion/ Clinique Moisturising Gel
Clinique SuperCity Block SPF40

PM

Cleanse with Clinique Liquid Facial Soap - OIly skin formula
Clarins Toner for Oily Skin
Clarins Lotus Treatment Oil
Retin A gel 0.025%
Sudocrem on any spots!

Feeling Defeated!

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I've had acne for about 2 years now. It started during my junior year of highschool, and now it is getting significantly worse during my senior year -_-
It reaaaally gets me down. I rarely go out anymore on the weekends, and if i do go out I HAVE to wear tons of foundation. I hate foundation -_- I TRY so hard to make my skin look presentable, and everyone still picks on me. I get shit from my family, because they say I'm too dramatic, then I get shit from my school everytime I'm not there. and yet, I still manage to get through the day!
No one seems to understand how difficult it is to look at myself everyday and be completely disgusted by my skin. ... and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Currently I have a huge open "wound" on my chin.. because I popped a huge zit there last friday...
It's really frustrating me. My mom expects me to go to school no matter what, but this is just devestating.
I've been putting polysporin on it constantly, as well as aloe vera... but the center doesn't seem to be healing. It's a oval shaped open scab/wound...and it's pissing me off. I can't cover it because the skin isn't healed, so the concealer doesn't stick!! Do you think I'm being unreasonable, asking my mom to let me stay home for a few days to let it heal?? Going to school and covering it with 1000 pounds of foundation is NOT helping.. and no one seems to sympathize with me.
I realize its just school... but I still want to make a good impression... and showing up with a red oozing open wound on my face is not attractive.
UGGGHHH!! Can we just fast forward this week... and possibly the next. .depending on how long it takes for this bitch to heal.

New Combination Treatment For Acne Scars.

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My name is Mark Taylor. I am a board certified dermatologist and owner of the largest dedicated cosmetic laser center in the world. I have been treating acne scars for the past 20 years. We have developed a new combined technique for treating acne scars. This combination treatment includes tumescent anesthetia combined with extensive subcision using a custom tool and Fraxel Repair Laser. pitted scars are punched out and the margins of box scars are flattened with a CO2/erbium laser. This gives amazing results in a single treatment. A blending laser peel or TCA peel is use to blend the whole treatment together to give and even appearance. I have treated over 100 patients to date. Recovery time is 10 to 14 days.



This is a before and after a single treatment.

Mark B. Taylor, MD - gatewaylasercenter.com

Yaz Help!

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I started YAZ about three months ago just for the sake of birth control. PERFECT skin prior to YAZ. Now, since I've been on, my skin has broken out all around my lip and chin area. Even some on my cheeks. In addition, I've been extremely depressed/moody (skin breaking out is not helping those factors). Well, I've decided to quit the pill. Mid pack, I called my gyno she said sometimes people have adverse reactions to pills. Just wondering if anyone went through something similar. Extremely frustrating! Any imput would help. Thanks ladies.

Liquid Nitrogen?

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Hi y'all,

I (girl, aged 18) have been suffering from acne for a long period: acne slowly started to run when I was 11, and from the age of 13 my face (and back) were even excessively covered with spots.
Sadly, I have to deal with a genetic form of acne. I got the gene from my dad, whose active acne calmed when he was in his early 20s. His acne was very extreme.

I tried a lot of creams and oils, really numerous options (too many to mention them all), also benzyl peroxide, I went to a skin care specialist and she gave me stuff for at home, and once per 2 weeks she treated my skin and squeezed the pimples. It got a little better, but eventually, always new inflammations appeared up, and they keep lasting on my skin as an old, red "carpet" (if you know what I mean with that)... Maybe that is the thing that I hate the most about my acne: when I have spots, they never really disappear. I may use some oils for it, and then the inflammations simmer down, but you can still see old, red-coloured rests, rooted into my skin. It becomes part of the skin tissue, like a "flat" form of foggy, ancient acne. Get what I mean with that? This type really seems to never disappear. Every pimple leaves its mark. Gah, I'm fed up with my abundance of heritages!

Over the last years, I got more and more (white marks) scars from past acne, especially on back, although my scars are not severe like some people have. I also have large pores, especially on my nose. At the moment, my forehead is free from active acne, but my skin structure is still harmed (miniscule "holes") because of the spots that plagued it in past. My neck is the place I get affected the most. I regularly have bigger cysts there.

At the moment, I've been through 5 sessions of microdermabrasion + ALA-PDT (laser) (from October '11-February '12). It's not really cheap to say the least, and to be honest, I was hoping for better progress. I'm overly fed up with my acne. My face has been spotty for over 5 years now. I really don't know anyone else (from school or whatever) in my area, with a similar form of acne. I have always been the worst.

Okay, what's next?? I'm thinking of something more radical. I want a very effective strategy to destroy my facial + back acne in little time (as fast as possible). Something that LITERALLY "cuts" it. Creams and lasers that have an indirect curing method, simply don't work for me: they improve the cure of inflammations, but my skin still looks bad, as the acne stays as a rest form. And it doesn't remove scars.
I know that there are lasers that work with "skin layers". They do what I want: they literally remove affected skin. BUT for such, it is a necessity that your acne is completely inactive: no more inflammations. With me, that is impossible, 'cause my acne is an endless flow of new and new pimples/cysts.

I feel extremely hopeless about this. What is my outlook with acne? It affects my whole life.

So far this story. What I found, was a small amount of information about LIQUID NITROGEN for curing acne. This stuff is immediately, after touching your skin, doing its job: it removes the skin. (Which needs a healing period, of course!) And it works for BOTH fresh pimples and old scars. Even any acne form in between. That sounds very interesting to me and I want to seriously consider this. Although, in my country, there's not an institute for this type of acne treatment. And there's still a lot I wanna know (couldn't find much info). Same goes for experiences.

Also, I'm a bit in doubt about the safety, 'cause it seems tricky to me... I mean, I have experience with liquid nitrogen from doctor, to remove a wart (when I was very young), so I know that it freezes your skin and it's an irreversible process.

- How to bring it onto your skin? For how long? And what is a common dosage?
- How to make sure that you don't remove "too much" of your skin? I mainly want to use it for my neck area, where old acne has widely rooted, but also my shoulders, and other parts of the face. This means that I don't want to mark single spots, but I need to spread the nitrogen over wider areas.
- What happens during the process? What can you notice?
- What does your skin look like afterwards?? Is it a deep wound, which needs a lot of time to heal? And is it a risky thing with healing? I'm afraid that it might make sense for pigment, or that it even brings scars, any kind of damage. I just want a smooth, normal looking skin, with a normal strucure, like anyone else has.
- Any side effects? Risks that are worth mentioning?
- How do I get it??? Is it possible for doing at home (with my mom as assistant, for example?)? Can't find any institutes...

Any suggestion, idea or experience is welcome, I'd really appreciate it. Also, I'd like to see before and after pics (if available).
Oh and if anything isn't clear to you, don't hesitate to ask for further explanation, I know that I use a LOT of words, LOL.

Thanks for reading my thread!!

Accutane End Of Month 3 Starting Month 4

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hey guys im on 80mg of accutane and have been on it for nearly 4 months, i havnt seen any improvements, its probably worse than before, my confidence in this miricle drug is fading and i feel like i will never get rid of acne i have 38 days left of accutane and i dont know if its going to get better, sometimes it will seem to heal and then the next day i wake up....BAM 10 new big cysts all over my face i dont know what to do, i tried allot of topical creams and lotions while on this drug but have found everything makes my skin peel of and flake everywhere and this means i have to sit in my house covered in moisturiser for 4 days to let it heal, i spend allot of my time sat in my room cause of this i stared using honey, it went well for 3 days then once again broke out on the 4th morning and i need HELLLLLLPPPPP, ENCOURAGEMENT, ANYTHING :'(

hate this sooooo much

So Fed Up (Very Long Post)

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Hello to whoever (if anyone) is reading this.

I am pretty sure my acne trigger is my menstrual cycle. About a week before my period starts, I get very bad breakouts - massive pustules all over my face, blackheads and small raised bumps. This continues during my period, and then for a week after that it all comes back again. I am of Indian descent and it looks awful. I try leaving my acne alone and not picking at it/squeezing, but my skin is so sensitive that even the slightest touch when washing my face causes the pustules to break and scar. PIH is slowly taking over my face to the point where I'm not even sure what my 'normal' skin tone is anymore, and it's horrible and black and I hate it.

I can't even look people in the eye when talking to them, and I've cancelled going out with friends countless amounts of times because of my disgusting skin. I don't have it as bad as other people, I know that, but I'm fed up of looking at myself in the mirror and seeing pus and black marks all over my face. I cry everyday because of my acne - even when it 'clears' (it usually comes back), I'm left with marks that are so hard to cover up with make up, and then bam, it's the week before my period and all hell breaks loose on my skin. It's a vicious cycle and after every period, my skin gets worse and worse. I've lost all confidence in myself, and everyone around me seems to have near perfect skin. It makes me so angry when my friends complain about getting one red spot. One spot? I would kill for that. No one else I know has it this bad and I feel disgusting. I don't feel comfortable in my own skin and I'm starting university soon. How am I going to socialise and make friends when I have acne?

I just don't know what to do anymore. I barely drink water and I'm going to try drinking 2 litres a day to see if it makes any difference. I'm sceptical but I'm desperate. I've started using lemon juice and bio-oil on my PIH too - again, I don't think it'll do anything, but I have nothing to lose now. I just want my old, almost perfect skin back. It never used to be this bad, it's only during the past two years where it has gotten worse. I was looking at my Year 11 prom photos and I had one red zit and that's it, no PIH or pus or bumps. Why is this happening? I feel useless and I'm giving up on everything. My acne is stopping me from being myself, I've become reserved and self-hating. I don't want to do this anymore.

I wanted to get that off my chest because I have never told anyone this in real life. I hate acne, it is ruining my life and my skin.

Need Help- Pimples Leave Brown Mark In Their Place When Gone

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Hi guys:

I'm 33 and still get the occasional pimples, mainly when I eat fried or oily foods. Anyhow, up until a few months ago, whenever a pimple went away, that was the end of the story, no trace on my face that it existed. However, starting 3-4 months ago, all of the pimple I've had since left a brownish round mark on my face when they went away. At first I thought they were just temporary marks, but after 3 months and still not seeing the earliest one dissipate, I'm starting to get worried. Can anyone else relate, and any suggestions on how to get rid of these marks safely?


Thanks,

I Give Up On Accutane (40 Mg) - 63 Days In (2 Months)

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**I'm not saying I'm going to stop taking Accutane. I'm saying that I give up on it doing any good for me and actually clearing my face. Essentially, I'm taking it for no reason since it doesn't work**

I have been on Accutane for 63 days now and it hasn't done anything whatsoever. The only thing it has really done is give me dry lips and make my skin dry (especially my nose). Don't get me wrong, I'm happy my nose is dry now and there isn't a crap load of oil all over it like there used to be pre Accutane. Another thing it's done is stopped the breakouts on my forehead and my chin (and nose). I have dead skin on my forehead (from the past where small pimples were) at the moment because I pick (when I used to not EVER pick). I pick out of frustration. It's a bad habit, but I get frustrated (angry/depressed) really easily.

The main thing Accutane has not helped is the PIH (Post Inflammatory Hyperpigmentation) on my cheeks. If anything, it's made my PIH even WORSE. My PIH on my cheeks has been there for at least two years and it hasn't gotten any better. I thought Accutane would for sure clear it up but it hasn't. My cheeks are definitely the worst spots on my face and they look like shit. If my cheeks would actually clear up, my acne would go from being moderate to mild-mildly moderate.

If you're wondering if I have any body acne, I don't any longer. I used to have it on my back, chest, shoulders, arms, and neck. My back is now clear, along with my chest, shoulders, and neck. I'll occasionally get small pimples on the back of my neck. My body acne was already going away pre Accutane, so I don't think that Accutane helped that in any way.

Anyways, my point is that Accutane just isn't working for me. If anyone has any encouraging stories or would just like to share their experiences, please do so. I'm just sick of being miserable and not being able to live my life because of acne. It's like acne has taken me and my life hostage for the past 3 years and I want to be FREE from it's control.

Thanks for reading.