T-zone Acne

Hi everyone! I'm almost 20 years old and I've been battling with acne since I was 13. Over these past 7 years, I've tried every (and I mean every) acne system on the market. Proactiv, Neutrogena, Clean&Clear, Murad, Zenmed even prescription medications such as Minocycline, tazorac, and birth control. NOTHING WORKED! And on top of it, from being a habitual "picker," I have some gnarly scars from my acne.

My acne has only been concentrated on my forehead and mouth area. I don't think I've ever even had a pimple on my cheek, but I've always had oily skin in my t-zone. To be honest, my acne would be considered "mild" but to me, it is a real problem. It has really put a damper on my social life and I am super self-conscience about my skin. I really just want it all to go away!

Recently, my mom started using one of my old topical prescriptions for her pimples, Retin-a Micro. She suggested that I try it out. It's only been 4 days now that I've been using it and I don't know how to feel about it yet. It's made my skin very very sensitive, and my face is very dry and has started peeling in my acne prone areas. Of all the comments on the internet I've read about Retin-a, this is a normal thing. I have been seeing a slight signs of the medication working, but the dryness is really bothering me.

I guess my questions are... Should I continue using the Retin-a, and if so, what is a good moisturizer? Also, what is the best daily regimen for my type of acne?

Thanks for reading everyone! and Thanks for the replies in advanced!  

[loiloi]

Use a bland cleanser and moiturizer whilst using Retin-a, I recommend La Roche-Posay or Cetaphil. Apply Retin-a a few times a week and gradually build up to using every night.
If this does not help (and considering that you have tried birth control and oral antibiotics) ask your doctor about Oral Isotretinoin "Accutane".
Eloise.

[kkjones]

Thanks Eloise! It looks like you know a lot about skin care seeing that you've posted a lot of great tips on other threads.

Now, about Accutane :/ I went through the first month of "getting ready" for Accutane, but backed out at the last minute. I have heard a lot of horror stories and even my close cousin went through a cycle and it made her skin much, much worse. I didn't want to go through that. On top of that, I heard that they are trying to pull it off the market (or so the news says here in California) because if its issues with the liver. Anyways, I was a little too scared to go on Accutane.

I just wondering though, I have some prety bad acne scars from the picking that to this day I can't stop. What kinds of treatments can you suggest about "fixing" my scars?