- Senior Prom 2010 -
My skin was great up until I started college. In high school (roughly 4 years ago) I never washed my face unless I was in the shower and like many girls my age I didn't have a solid skincare routine. Once my skin started acting up I realized that my normal way of doing things wasn't working so I tried incorporating a few more products.
Luckily, I didn't waste my time and money for very long. At this point I would say I had mild acne and I quickly got tired of searching the drugstore shelves for that miracle product that would be my cure all. On top of that realization acne ran in my family. My mom had struggled with it in her 20's and instead of waiting for things to get worse I decided to talk to her about visiting a dermatologist as a preventative measure. It took a little convincing but ultimately I made an appointment and was excited to finally have some answers! Little did I know it was going to take some time to get me on the right medication.
At my first appointment the doctor put me on Minocycline as well as a topical lotion I barely remember. I was on two pills everyday and would take one in the morning and one at night for three months. This is the amount of time it would take to see if the medicine was making a difference. It didn't end up doing much for me- I remember referring to it as almost a roller coaster as far as my skin went. I would have slightly clearer days and slightly more blemished days but nothing too extreme.
When I went back after the trial period I wasn't completely satisfied with the way my skin was looking so my doctor recommended Accutane. This is where the story gets a little dicey because even though that might have been the answer (my mom had great success with it in her past) I wasn't so sure. If you aren't familiar with Accutane it is a very strong acne medication that requires many steps and has countless side effects ranging from very dry skin to more serious reactions. There were endless problems with getting me on the actual medication and after a while so much was going wrong that I truly felt like I wasn't meant to be on it.
From there I wanted a second opinion. I ended up visiting another dermatologist in the same practice that was located closer to me. At my first appointment he immediately prescribed me Retin-A as well as Spironolactone. This combo was definitely a doubled edged sword. I fell in love with my Retin-A and after getting over the dreaded pealing phase of the first few months I really owe my skins evenness and clarity to this product. As for the Spironolactone it was a NIGHTMARE... Of course I had to stick it out for the three month trial period but my skin flared up like crazy (refer to the first picture in the collage below). This was the worst my skin had/has ever been and I would say by this point it was considered moderate acne. Not only did my skin look bad, it felt terrible. It wasn't just red, uneven and unattractive it was sore and uncomfortable. This is the point where I fell in love with the idea of taking great care of my skin. All I wanted was my skin to be healthy. Sure, the red bumps were a hit to my confidence but my skin hurting every night when my face touched my pillow was even more annoying.
Now don't worry there is a happy ending and it is what I'm about to share with you! After finishing out those terrible three months I went back wanting change! Thankfully this time around he found the perfect solution which for me which was continuing the Retin-A and combining my current Spironolactone with guess what... Minocycline!
This is currently the combination I am on and it is working perfectly. I take one Minocycline in the morning, two Spironolactone around lunch, and one more Minocycline before bed and my skin has been consistently normal for going on two years. Notice how I say "normal" and not "clear". As far as I'm concerned nobody will ever have perfect skin even someone like me who is on medication to keep it blemish free! I still breakout occasionally and even scar from it but it's no where near as bad as it once was.
Don't worry we are almost done with this long story! Getting the breakouts under control was only part of the solution, the other part was getting the hyper pigmentation evened out. This is where my beloved Retina-A comes in. It works wonders by exfoliating your skin at a very fast rate and even though that can be annoying in the beginning it pays off like crazy once your skin gets used to it. It has improved my acne scarring by 300% or more in the past two years. You have to stick with this product though because the best results are seen after 12+ months.
The photo you see below represents the progress of my skin from July 2012 to February 2013. The first picture shows you the aftermath of being on the Spironolactone and from there I got on my current medication so it started getting better. Also, I took all of these with my Macbook's webcam so please excuse the quality!
Today, I am just getting to the point where I feel comfortable going out without foundation or concealer. My skin is radiant and smooth but still shows signs of where the scars used to be. Will it ever be perfect? Probably not but I am extremely happy with how far it has come.
Keep in mind that this is solely my story- what worked for me may not work for you. I just wanted to share my experience to give you hope if you are currently struggling with your skin. Your perfect answer is out there it just may take awhile to find it.
If you have ANY questions about anything mentioned in this post please don't hesitate to ask!
Love, Lacey
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