My thoughts:
Money: It's left me poor.
Time: It's left me tired.

I'm 33 and have had acne since I was 10. I got chicken pox in 5th grade and when I got better I had bumps on my face that never went away. Turned out they were my first pimples, and it was all downhill from there. I had severe acne from 13 into my twenties when I did two courses of accutane. Since then it's been mild to moderate but never clear.

Insurance does not cover a lot of things. It didn't cover accutane when I first did it because it was a newer treatment. That first course of accutane cost me over $1500 total.

Antibiotic treatment for years--I'm positive this has something to do with why I now have fibromyalgia and a chronic vaginal condition called Desquamative Inflammatory Vaginosis.

Name an acne treatment, prescription or otherwise. I've done IT ALL. And I give every new regimen a fair shake, six months minimum to see how my body responds.

I do not touch sugar and haven't for years(which gets much easier after a while). I've tried gluten free, dairy free, etc, all for at least six months. I still break out. I take all the supplements daily and have never missed a day.

My acne is hormonal. I haven't found anything that could trick my hormones well enough to "cure" my acne. Birth control helped slightly, but I still broke out once a month along the chin and jawline.

I started retin-a a month ago and have started to clear up a bit, but I swear my skin is a lot oilier now. I'm starting spironolactone this week and just praying to God it works.

So that's my take. I hope to hear everyone else's!

Funny that you mentioned the chicken pox... when I broke out for the first time, I was 10 and my mom had me stay home from school because she thought I had the chickenpox! Turns out it was just my first bout with acne that would last a lifetime.

Wow, all those diet changes to no avail? That just sucks. I do believe acne can be hormonal, and for women, yes, the spiro blocks some of the androgens (male hormones) but aren't there plenty of men who have those hormones that don't break out? I'm just not getting it. The spironolactone will help considerably with the oil, taking it twice a day is kind of a pain but I suppose to many people, it's well worth it. An ARNP at my OB/GYN prescribed mine and I believe I was taking 100 mg twice a day. She retired and my regular family physician was very hesitant on prescribing my spiro, she would only give me a 25 mg dose. I think you will be happy with the spiro.