Hello, I'm currently 19 years old and I first started developing acne when I was 8. During these past 11 years, I've tried countless products to rid myself of the skin disorder: Proactiv(did absolutely nothing), every nutrogena product, oxy products, Mary K. products, Clinique products, clear skin products, clean and clear products, clearasil products, Doxycyline(sp?), epiduo, etc...
Nothing worked. When I was in in elementary school, none of the other students around me had acne. I wasn't overweight, I didn't have glasses at that time, and I didn't have braces, but I still got made fun of for my acne. They thought I was weird, gross, and didn't know how to take care of my skin. Regardless of everything I would use, I would wash my face twice or three times a day, use whatever regiment the current products would tell me to use, but more just kept coming back.
Eventually, by the time I was in middle school, a few more of my friends started getting acne as well, but I'd already accumulated several years of it, and they cluttered my cheeks, chin, forehead, nose, neck, chest, back and shoulders.
When I entered high school as a freshmen, my old friends with acne had theirs cleared by the products I'd previously used, but now there were a bit more people with my condition (due to the larger student population). At this point, I was fed up with my acne, and my dermatologist gave me accutaine. That got rid of my back anc chest acne completely, but it only surpressed the bumps on my face. Ever since then, I've had these small red, blotchy scars that are smooth as silk, but covered my face horribly. product after product promised to get rid of them, but everything I tried didn't work.
I went through 3 dermatologists at this point, and the 3rd suggested I use a product called EpiDuo, promising clear skin in around 4 weeks. 6 months went by, and my face stung, itched, burned and created a butterfly shaped reddness across my nose that stretched from cheek to cheek. WIthin the redness were small, rash-like bumbs that were completely different from any acne I'd had.
After looking up this description online, I found it was a sure sign of rosacea. Reading into it, it states that if you have rosacea, you should not use benzoyl peroxide. 'Oh great' I thought, 'every product I've ever used had that'
Feeling jacked for my money and time, I was skeptic about everything all of my dermatologists told me--seeing as how none of them that saw the butterfly on my face said a word about rosacea. when I asked about it they said, 'oh, you can't have that, only people in their 30s get that'.
Now, I'm 19, and taking the Murad skin complex thing. I've been using it for 4 months now and I am happy to finally see results in the 11 years I've been fighting this, but it said it would take 1 month, not 4 months... Is there something I could be doing to help speed up the process? I wanted to get rid of my acne by the time I was 20, but it seems like that won't happen now...
I don't want to keep feeling ugly with this acne until I'm in my 30s like my mom had to do... Is there anything at all I can do?