I've had acne since 4th grade as well, and am now a 1st-yr college girl. I've finally been able to go to the doctor and afford medicine. It's sitting still in its bag because I was prescribe the birth control pill and I have to wait for my period to come (only time i'll ever want it to come!). I'm hoping it will at least help some, because I have it on my face, chest and back. I don't remember a time without acne, which totally sucks. It's affected my social life so much since I feel so ugly, especially with this huge pimple there on my chin, the side of my nose or the middle of my forehead! I think that if it's lasted this long for you, you probably do need to see a doctor or dermatologist. With insurance, my prescription is only $20 for a 3-month supply... If it works, it'll be so much cheaper than trying all of these creams and washes and everything else! Your problem is probably with the bacterium propionibacterium acnes, as mine probably is. Simple creams and washes may help, but not indefinitely or completely. You should get an antibiotic, such as the othotricyclenlo I was prescribed. Worse to worse, without insurance it's only about $50. Since you're basically wasting your money on stuff that doesn't work, wouldn't it be better to spend just a little more on stuff that would?

:cry: I feel your pain, well not as much as I used to at least :wink:

you can get some good acne info at: noixia.Com the girl they show had pretty bad acne but it seemed to work for her.

Read the articles first though, you might not need tospend any money at all.

Proactiv works wonders! Give it a try... It worked on me

I developed acne in the 5th grade, which progressively got worse and by the seventh grade it was severe. I learned that non-prescription stuff was not going to work for me. None of it worked and I tried it all, Oxy, Clearasil, Benzol Peroxide 5% etc, special systems, special face cleansers...the doctor prescribed me some benzol peroxide...didn't work...tricyclen worked for a bit then stopped...bencamizyn worked for a great period of time...then it stopped...birth control pills worked quite well and then my acne came back...so I went to a dermatologist and I took Accutane...(also when you take accutane they sometimes give you this awesome stuff for chapped lips and it poofs them up...anyway...it seemed to be the answers to my prayers, nothing had worked better, my skin was so clear and I thought it would be for life...then a year later my skin broke out again...never as severe...did birth control again...it worked but I got severe depression (possibly due to the accutane) and I was taking Diane 35 which could cause depression...so I stopped that and a dermatologist recommended using Retisol-A in the morning...and clindoxyl at night, my skin was gorgeous but I did not have insurance at the time so it was getting quite costly...I started using 10% benzol peroxide which the doctor can prescibe...it's around $16 Canadian I think but then I stopped getting prescriptions and used 5% for about two years now my face has decided to betray me again and I have to go back to the doctor or dermatologist. I am going to ask for Tazarotene!!! I have been using makeup a long time and I just found out certain ingredients do cause aging, wrinkling, brown spots...even ones that are supposedly supposed to get rid of aging...a fact no one seems informed of but it you look thoroughly on the internet you can find information about that. Anyway for a lack of money I would recommend 10% benzoyl peroxide from your doctor...it does dry out your skin so I put a non-clogdemic moisturizer in the morning and at night before putting it on your medication on and a gentle cleaner like cetaphil is probably best, certain foaming agents in wash products can cause aging and make sure you research the products of anything you put on your face to check if they cause aging, or are banned in other countries like Europe for causing cancer, etc. Good luck!

For the person who asked about Differin for the acne my brother had, which was the same as mine it wasn't working...him and I tried proactiv to no avail either...I think he is using Clindoxyl/Benzamicin (that's what I read on the bottle which confuses me because they are two different but similar medictions) now and his skin looks beautiful.

I was 23 with pretty bad acne, I finally went to see the doctor and ask him if he could help cause it was getting frustrated anyways, here were my problems....

I tried the diet thing, although omitting fatty food (greasy foods) helped take away SOME of the severity it was still there

It didnt go away until my doctor prescribed me accutane, on top of the accutane I was using pro-activ which didnt do much, so I got stevemycin sp?

I started of with mino-cyclin (tetracycline) which made me sick and then went to accutane, which did the job. Now after three months it started to come back, now I am on birth control and havent had a break out for awhile, so between washing my face, moisturizing my face and taking birth control, I have been clean, although accutane took off the worst of it..

What I found that helps
-Avoiding greasy food(you can eat it but broil it, steam it, cook it in the oven, greasy food once in awhile wont hurt)
-Hormones for woman, alot of us break out right before our period at least alot of people I know, the pill helps
-Never wear make-up when working out (usually oil free or the ones that dont clog pores) if you do wear make-up
-Stress- can be a big factor therefore relaxing helps
-Oily skin, the problem with oily skin is that if you dry it out, it produces more oil, so when you wask your face Always use moisturizer
-Try different products, I found exfoliation washes and face masks work really good as well

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