14th January 2005
[QUOTE]... And of course I won't touch my face, I'm trying to work on that. I'm doing a very good job, I just hope I can keep it up.Some are better at that than others. I was/am the worst. Probably having an OCD/ADD personality doesn't help. The only thing that allowed me to stop picking was having nothing to pick.
When I was 49 a dermatologist put me on spironolactone, aka aldactone. It has a variety of effects, and is use for different things, one being acne because it blocks male hormone. (It also decreases facial hair.) For more than 30 years I had tried nearly every acne treatment, both over-the-counter and prescribed, including topical and oral antibiotics, retin-A, glycolic acid, benzoil peroxide etc. I would never have guessed that a hormone blocker was all I needed. Germs were not really the issue after all.
My middle daughter, on the other hand, who has skin like mine and had also used a lot of antibiotics, found relief with the one medication I didn't try: Accutane. I always thought my acne wasn't "bad enough" to use it. But chronic acne is always "bad enough." She's very happy with the result. But it is a heavy duty chemical to put into your body.
You have to be on the pill or post-menapausal or have had a hysterectomy to have either of these prescribed.
My oldest daughter used topical and oral antibiotics for a few years, and has now "out grown" it. But it took about 10 years.
I'm sure your dermatologist will be up on the latest developments.
Everyone here: I am totally empathetic and think you should avail yourselves of whatever works best for each of you.
When I was 49 a dermatologist put me on spironolactone, aka aldactone. It has a variety of effects, and is use for different things, one being acne because it blocks male hormone. (It also decreases facial hair.) For more than 30 years I had tried nearly every acne treatment, both over-the-counter and prescribed, including topical and oral antibiotics, retin-A, glycolic acid, benzoil peroxide etc. I would never have guessed that a hormone blocker was all I needed. Germs were not really the issue after all.
My middle daughter, on the other hand, who has skin like mine and had also used a lot of antibiotics, found relief with the one medication I didn't try: Accutane. I always thought my acne wasn't "bad enough" to use it. But chronic acne is always "bad enough." She's very happy with the result. But it is a heavy duty chemical to put into your body.
You have to be on the pill or post-menapausal or have had a hysterectomy to have either of these prescribed.
My oldest daughter used topical and oral antibiotics for a few years, and has now "out grown" it. But it took about 10 years.
I'm sure your dermatologist will be up on the latest developments.
Everyone here: I am totally empathetic and think you should avail yourselves of whatever works best for each of you.