Skin Help

[kak125]

Thanks again everyone for all of the responses. I think after hearing all of your input that I am going to beg the doctor for accutane. I really dont think that the minocycline is doing much for me and this is my second time taking it. I would rather just do the accutane and get over it allready.

I can post a picture of me without makeup but I wont be able to do it until tonight when I get home. I am sure many of you will think that my skin is not that bad but I think what bothers me is that my skin will be fairly clear and then I will have 2-3 big zits which hang around for weeks at a time. I notice that around my period my chin breaks out like crazy. It really drives me nuts and I figure that I should really do something about this because it is just getting too expensive for all these products that really dont even work.

I have heard that there is a generic form of accutane that can be used. My husband took it about 14 years ago and said that it was really cheap. I am just having a hard time getting a doctor to give it to me. I have been to about 3 different derms and they all say that they can get me clear without it but nothing really works.

Yeah I am thinking that sugar might be contributing to my breakouts. I try not to eat as much of it but I like a cookie every so often. When I was on atkins I was eating no sugar (well nothing with added sugar to it) and mostly protein, vegetables and fruit. I was drinking only soy milk and eating low carb bread if I ever ate it. I was also eating more fat which I think also makes a difference. I drink beer once a week and I always wonder if that does anything to my skin?

[sara1998]

Originally Posted by amber

/\
I'm suprised your derm said those were a waste of time. Did your derm give you peels after every cycle of Accutane that you took? I mean, you have to have strong exfoliation after it. Let me ask you this - is your derm the one who will be doing the laser peel? Is it the most expensive treatment?
Just Dermabrasion (not micro) is thousands of dollars and months in recovery.
I'm confused, Maria, tell me more.

People with nice skin don't realize how debilitating acne can be to someone's self esteem. Also some people think that people with acne don't clean themselves enough, or something.
I just wanted to say that. It's really affected people in my family.

Derm said for me it would be a waste of time, because of the severity of my scars. Dermabrasion takes too long to heal, and lazer is safer and has a quicker healing time. Dermabrasion is also less effective for deep scars, from my understanding. He would not be the one doing the lazer peel. It would be a different doctor. I've been to three different derms each time I took Accutain (2 within the same office) and none of them gave me peels afterwords. I remember you and I having this conversation before... he told me to wait to have a peel done for at least 6 months so my skin sensitivity is back to normal.

You are right: people with nice skin don't realize how debilitating acne can be. You never fully recover from it. I recently saw a couple of pictures of myself when I was about 15, (there's not many) and my skin was so bad, I cried when I saw them. I think now that my skin is clear, I didn't remember how bad it really was.

[amber]

Thanks, Maria. I know they said six months, but even for a light peel? fruit acid? I guess so...I guess that's what you meant. Wow.
do you have the wide scars from cystic acne? You know, they're kind of shallow but big around in circumference? I just have some really enlarged, slightly scarred pores, and deep - I don't think even the laser or dermabrasion helps that much.
That's going to be so cool when you get it.
Don't cry!!! I used to cry when I had it. Thank goodness my face wasn't too bad.

[jannieC]

I don't want to come off as melodramatic, but I think it's fair to say that I made some really poor "relationship" choices because of my insecurity relating to my skin. Even though I didn't have what's considered severe acne, it felt severe to me. I tried so many different treatments, that I honestly felt that nothing would ever work.

Accutane is really serious, kak125. You have to be on two forms of birth control and I even had to sign a form that said I would terminate a pregnancy, if I became pregnant while on Accutane. Your cholesterol levels can skyrocket on Accutane, so you have to go weekly to have your blood drawn. I had really good medical insurance at the time, but I think it costs around $300/month. I would have gladly paid it out of pocket if I hadn't had the insurance, though.

Amber- back to me now. So, I have very minimal scarring. Do you think a fruit acid peel would do anything for that or would I have to go a bit stronger?

[kak125]

Yeah, I heard about how you have to be on two forms of birth control and it works out great that now I currently am. I figure that now is the best time to take care of this problem. I have hoped for years that it would go away but it hasnt and I dont know if it ever will without going on accutane. This was my last resort and I am just hoping now that I can talk my derm into giving it to me.

So as far as expense, does the insurance not cover the visits to get blood drawn because from what i heard the generic of accutane would be about $20 for me due to my copay. At this point though I really dont even care how much it cost. I have to pay $300 to get my teeth whitenened from being on the mino so I am willing to pay any amount to get clear skin and not be so consumed by it. I would like to walk around without a ton of makeup on and concealer and always being worried about how bad my skin looks. I am sure it looks worse to me than everybody else but when your face is a mess you are constantly thinking that everyone is looking at you and thinking how terrible you look.

[The Tower]

When I saw this thread I thought it was a request to Paula....

[strandinthewind]

Originally Posted by The Tower

When I saw this thread I thought it was a request to Paula....

Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

great minds think alike

[The Tower]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

great minds think alike

You got that right, sistah!

My brain can't see Paula's screen name as anything but "Skin".

[amber]

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

Me too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

great minds think alike

or...minds that think alike are retarded...

I always think skin, too, but I recognized there was no C in the thread title.

I love people who know me, I can tease them.

Tow - did you see my amazing astrology thing?!

[amber]

Originally Posted by jannieC

I don't want to come off as melodramatic, but I think it's fair to say that I made some really poor "relationship" choices because of my insecurity relating to my skin. Even though I didn't have what's considered severe acne, it felt severe to me. I tried so many different treatments, that I honestly felt that nothing would ever work.

Accutane is really serious, kak125. You have to be on two forms of birth control and I even had to sign a form that said I would terminate a pregnancy, if I became pregnant while on Accutane. Your cholesterol levels can skyrocket on Accutane, so you have to go weekly to have your blood drawn. I had really good medical insurance at the time, but I think it costs around $300/month. I would have gladly paid it out of pocket if I hadn't had the insurance, though.

Amber- back to me now. So, I have very minimal scarring. Do you think a fruit acid peel would do anything for that or would I have to go a bit stronger?

Hmmm....I never got my blood drawn, and never heard about the cholesterol thing. God, I was like a fricking test subject!!
I don't really think the fruit peels' purpose is to dramatically help scarring quickly, directly. What the peels do is they get rid of your dead skin layers, which brings out your new skin and promotes your skin to "grow" therefore replenishing itself with non scarred layers. So, if you think about how scars fade over time because of skin renewal and turnover making the scar better over time, it's kind of like that. So I think if you really, really want to heal some scars, something more dramatic that takes off lots of layers of your skin at once (like dermabrasion or laser) - with that you will have removed so much old skin, and the new healing skin is from such a deep "layer", that the result will be more dramatic from just the one treatment.
The peels are a slower less invasive process - so your skin will definitely look better, and mine definitely looks smoother and more even - but it's not like plastic surgery skin grafts or anything. It so far has made my pores look less bumpy - but the pores are still large and deep....I'll know more after my super peel and microdermabrasion.
But again, your skin will look better, I just don't know what kind of dramatic change you are expecting. I love mine - but from what I've read about my particular skin/pore problem, it will be hard to correct, so my expectations for the treatments I am getting are pretty realistic. Worth the money to me, and I'm hella, hella poor.
Does that make sense? Was that helpful? That's how the lady explained it to me, more or less.
I also found quite a bit of info online about the differences b/t microdermabrasion, dermabrasion, and laser treatments.

[sara1998]

Originally Posted by amber

Hmmm....I never got my blood drawn, and never heard about the cholesterol thing. God, I was like a fricking test subject!!

Really? Jesus, that was a big pain in my ass the whole time. I had the blood drawn once a month. I hated it with a passion.

[amber]

Originally Posted by sara1998

Really? Jesus, that was a big pain in my ass the whole time. I had the blood drawn once a month. I hated it with a passion.

maybe I forgot...

[kak125]

So anyway, I just wanted to update all of you on whats going on. I went to my derm on saturday and asked her for accutane and she wanted to do some tests first so she told me to go to the hospital and get my testosterone and other levels checked and I also had to do a 24 hour urine sample. That was not fun but at least that part is over.
So she told me to stop taking the mino which was fine because I pretty much stopped taking it anyway and to start taking 500mg of amoxicillin 2x a day. I have never heard of this but she said this works well. So I have to take this for a month until I see her on April 8th. At that point, if my skin is not any better and my levels are fine then she will give me the accutane. I didnt even realize that you have to register to get on accutane.
So for all of you that have been on this before do you have to go to the hospital and get blood work before they fill your script? If so that wont be a problem but what I wonder is if I go the same day that I get the script, how long will it take them to get the results and fill it?
I was hoping to get on accutane by mid april and hopefully have clear skin by end of summer.

[Mad4stevie]

I have suffered from adult acne for years and feel like I have tried every product known to man. My bathroom looks like a CVS or a clinique counter. I am a tried and true "product whore".

And then I found the products from Philosophy . . . and the rest is history. I have NEVER found anything better in terms of skin care, body care or makeup. RUN, don't walk, to the website www.philosophy.com

Here is the kit that I bought to start things off:

http://www.philosophy.com/web/store/...-1_25768_24024

There are also many different skincare kits, depending on what products you want. I would suggest getting one so you can sample a bunch of products at one time.

http://www.philosophy.com/web/store/..._N_24011_23503

My skin is remarkably clear and super smooth, which has never happened before I found the products at philosophy. They sell a kit called "Makeup optional skin", which is really true!

They offer specials on QVC, and you can also get them at www.drugstore.com. Drugstore.com sometimes gives you a "free" gift when you order a philosophy product from them.

My favorites: microdelivery peel (at home microdermabrasion that really works!), purity cleanser, hope in a jar and the adult acne spot medicine.

As for manual exfoliators, I prefer the scrub that clinique sells. That I have had for years and works way, way better than the St. Ives that I used to try. I do still use the St. Ives as a body scrub.

The best thing about these products is that they last a long time. You don't need to use a large amount of product.

Give it a try!

[jannieC]

Originally Posted by kak125

So anyway, I just wanted to update all of you on whats going on. I went to my derm on saturday and asked her for accutane and she wanted to do some tests first so she told me to go to the hospital and get my testosterone and other levels checked and I also had to do a 24 hour urine sample. That was not fun but at least that part is over.
So she told me to stop taking the mino which was fine because I pretty much stopped taking it anyway and to start taking 500mg of amoxicillin 2x a day. I have never heard of this but she said this works well. So I have to take this for a month until I see her on April 8th. At that point, if my skin is not any better and my levels are fine then she will give me the accutane. I didnt even realize that you have to register to get on accutane.
So for all of you that have been on this before do you have to go to the hospital and get blood work before they fill your script? If so that wont be a problem but what I wonder is if I go the same day that I get the script, how long will it take them to get the results and fill it?
I was hoping to get on accutane by mid april and hopefully have clear skin by end of summer.

I had to jump through many hoops before I could start the medicine. They have to be this careful- it's a very strong and controversial medicine.