Five Long Years

I started middle school in 2005 as a sixth grader. Along with changes in schools, friends, and interests, middle school aged kids have changes physiologically; basically they hit puberty. For me puberty meant acne. Bad acne.

It didn't really bother me at first because I figured I'd grow out of it. I didn't fathom that it could be something I'd be dealing with five years later.

I started with Noxema like my siblings, I moved on to medicated wipes and flip flopped between cleansers as each one didn't give me the results I wanted, and by the middle of seventh grade I realized the problem was bigger. Through middle school I tried every "three step program" there was; wash, astringent, moisturizer. AnceFree, Proactive, Clean and Clear - literally everything in the stores.

Eighth grade is when my mom decided we needed to get doctors involved. It was that she was embarrassed to have a constantly acne ridden pre-teen, she didn't want me to be upset and because I'm not much of a talker she thought that maybe I just didn't want to speak up, which was basically me problem.

We started out with my pediatrician. He gave me a topical, which never showed any improvement at all. A couple months later her gave me another without any results. Next, in the summer of my eighth grade year, I visited a dermetologist. He supplied me with another topical and by mid-ninth grade year after a series of failed oral antibiotics and more topicals my dermatologist decided Accutane would be my best bet. I'll explain why that didn't work for me in a different post.

After my failed Accutane experience I went to a MinuteClinic that was advertising a topical treatment I'd never heard of - Retin-A. I was put on a low dosage and nothing changed in my acne.

The next step of my journey took me to a anti-aging center. Honestly, I believe this place has helped me the most. My current doctor is the first doctor I've ever had that actually tells me whats going on, what to expect, and what my next step is. He taught me what acne is and gave me a better understanding of my condition. He gave me a free month supply of a high dosage of the Retin-A, almost like a topic Accutane. It actually began to work. My cystic acne really cleared up and I saw a huge improvement overall. The only downfall was that I got oilier skin and its always so red. Recently, my cystic acne has returned and I'm beginning to feel like this will never get better.

My next option is going to be the PDT treatment (http://www.totaldermatology.com/photoacne.php). I am having it done next week and this blog is basically going to keep everyone updated on my treatment. I realized that this is an opportunity to help other get real information from a real patient. I hope it will help someone.