Frustration!!!

Okay. I am very frustrated now, because my acne is coming back, and my skin has once again become very oily. I am limited in how I can treat my acne, because for one, I no longer have any health insurance, and Accutane is very expensive. I am also very allergic to benzoyl peroxide, which is one of the main active ingredients in a lot of acne medications, including Proactiv. I have been on a lot of antibiotics in the past for my acne, and that is not good to take such potent antibiotics for long periods of time.

Since my acne has been coming back recently, I have been trying to fight it with some generic acne face wash containing triclosan, as well as some samples I still have of Retin-A Micro. But now I have noticed that I might be developing an allergy to either the Retin-A Micro or the acne wash, or both, because now my face has become painful with a stinging, burning sensation and a red rash whenever I use either product, but especially the Retin-A. Last night I only used the face wash, and when I woke up this morning, I had some facial swelling, especially noticeable in my eyelids, nose, lips, and cheeks. I am so frustrated, because I am 25 years old, and I have been struggling with an acne problem since I was 17. I also get a flaky, red, painful rash in the folds of my nose on both sides on occasion. Why can't I just get rid of this stupid problem?!

I have been off of Accutane now for almost three months, and I just wanted to say that I am very pleased with the results. Accutane is not for everybody, so just make sure you do your research first. For me, I am so glad I did it. The side effects are pretty awful, and the legal part of it is a total pain to deal with, and depending on your insurance, it can be expensive, but now those things are done and over with for me. Some of the side effects that I had, were: extreme dryness of every part of the body, inside and out. That alone can cause many unpleasant side effects, some of which I do not even want to mention. Some of that included dry eyes, dry nasal passages, dry lips, dry skin, dry hair, dry nails, dry mucous membranes, everything. One of the other side effects I had was that the muscle or tendon or whatever in the back of my calves became extremely tight, so that if I sat down for a few minutes, I had a lot of pain and difficulty walking for the first 10-30 seconds, because the back of my calf was so tight, I couldn't even flex my foot to stand up or walk very easily. But after I started walking, it would wear off again. I did feel like I had some depression, but that could have been more from my life situation at the time than from the Accutane. I had to take fish oil supplements because the Accutane gave me high cholesterol, lipids, and triglycerides, and the fish oil helped a lot. I can't remember my other side effects that I may have had, but those are the ones I can remember. So my word of advice is do your research first, and MAKE SURE THAT NO MATTER WHAT, YOU DO NOT BECOME PREGNANT DURING OR FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH AFTER TREATMENT. Unfortunately with Accutane, there is no room for mistakes. You have to use at least two forms of birth control at ALL times, including a hormonal form of birth control, and a barrier form of birth control.

If you are considering Accutane, weigh the pros and cons first, and good luck with your decision. I hope my experience helps provide some insight.