acne trouble.

Alright well I am a 17 year old girl and I have been taking all sorts of acne medication for about 4 years now. I do not have anything severe. No purple or bunching of acne together. Nothing too intense to complain about..but enough to notice.

I have taken this with benzol peroxide and right now I am on a pill sulfamethoxazole and a creme Finacea.

I was told they are pretty powerful..but I have been taking them since January.

And at this point it feels like my skin in immune to it because it isn't working anymore.
My dermatologist said that the next step would probable be accutane although my acne is not that severe.

Does anyone have any suggestions.
I know this is such a specific question and its hard to say things without seeing me or knowing me..its just I don't know if I should take accutane and talk to my doctor about it or wait it out.
I know everything isn't going to be perfect but I don't want to keep on taking pills for like the next 10 years.

thank you!

[loiloi]

Hi. Accutane will only be prescribed if adequate trials of standard treatments (oral antibiotics/topical retinoids) have resulted in failure or relapse.
Have you tried anti-androgens (Spironolactone) and/or Diane35 (a combined contraceptive pill for acne) ?
Accutane has many potential side effects, but that must be balanced against the fact that it is your best hope of a long term remission from acne when standard treatments have failed. It works by shrinking the oil glands in the skin. These grow back very slowly, by which time most patients have outgrown their tendancy for acne. 80% of Accutane patients remain acne free after one course lasting 16-24 weeks.
Eloise.