What to do??

[emmfoster]

I'm a 14 year old female.. I started first breaking out when I was in Gr. 4, and am currently 15 years old in Gr. 10.. My acne throughout the years has not gotten better but worse at a standpoint.. I've tried almost every drug store medication, like spectro jel etc. Everything that's recommended from my doctor or anything for different types of skin. But i've made sure to use it over a course of time so that my skin doesn't suffer from that. Just recently my doctor put me on accutane and it was the worse four months of my life! Not only did it cause vomiting, dizziness, dry lips, dry skin and all those other side affects.. But I reacted badly to it and my skin appeared to be allergic, because all the acne underneath my skin that the accutane brought out swelled, turned into scabs and bled. Some scarred. So now i'm faced with that. Eventually the accutane did it's job to an okay degree. My skin looked better than it ever had in my life. But now it's returned to normal. My skin has always reacted to food, no matter what doctors say. My skin could look great for one point and then I drink chocolate milk and it takes a month to return back to normal! I normally have big pores, redness on my cheeks and dont often get many big zites but I can't small ones everywhere. Mostly my cheeks and forehead.. Ever since I took the accutane if I get a zit now and touch it or use anything to get rid of it it scares my face.

I'm out of answers.. And would appreciate any help!

Thanks so much!  

[loiloi]

Hi. There is a good chance you will outgrow your acne. In the meantime, there are lots of things which will help.
Have you tried the oral contraceptive pill? Acne is often hormonal and taking a pill such as Ortho tri-cyclen (Cilest) or Diane35 (Dianette) can really help.
Accutane results in a long term remission from acne after one course in 80% of patients. 20% of patients (inlcuding myself) need two or three courses.
What are results like with topical retinoids? Differin is very effective (especially when used in conjunction with oral antibiotics such as Oxytetracycline) and is generally well tolerated. To rebalance sensitive when using topical retinoids I recommend skincare by La Roche-Posay. They also make a very good camoflague foundation which will not irritate acneic skin.
Eloise.