My Acne Journey (*seeking help*)

If you think you might be able to help me, please take your time to read and do so (would be greatly appreciated!).

So I first started getting facial acne a few months after turning 13, mainly on my temples. After my mom got me a cleanser, my skin improved a bit, so I didn't worry about it that much. For the rest of that year my skin was never anything I needed to worry about that much (although I thought it was worse at the time, looking back, my skin was practically clear then).

At 14 my skin was still very clear, though slowly I started to develop more and more acne. Towards the end of that specific year was when I started to worry about my skin (although, once again, looking back, my skin was very clear compared to now). I used skincare from brands such as CeraVe, La Roche-Posay, and Cetaphil. Also, somewhere around this time, as my skin got worse, I used some stronger, acne-specific skincare in an effort to clear my skin. At one point I remember I was using a salicylic acid cleanser, on top of a benzoyl peroxide cream, etc. It just made my skin worse, and when I realised this, I stopped using all of it.

Mid 2024, when I was 15, my skin really started to flare up. I experienced acne on my forehead, then around my mouth, and slowly just throughout my face in general. It was also around this time when I switched to using Korean skincare, though that didn't make a dent in curing my acne. My doctor prescribed me topical tretinoin gel (Acnatac), and after using that for a while, I realised it didn't work. Eventually, I went to see a dermatologist.

The dermatologist asked me about all of the skincare which I've previously used, had a closer look at my skin, then prescribed me an oral antibiotic called Erythromycin (interestingly, he took no interest in my diet and lifestyle). I took that for a few months, leading into 2025, and surprisingly, my skin finally cleared up. Turns out, I got overexcited, because my acne simply just came back, now around my mouth, chin, and cheeks, but not on my forehead at least. I've booked once again to see my dermatologist, but since that appointment was made months in advance, I took advice from online and in the meantime tried fixing my diet; I cut out anything I deemed 'processed', stopped cooking with seed oils, tried including lots of animal proteins and fruit, and consumed carbs as clean as I could manage (such as sourdough bread).

Now, that brings me to where I am now. Fixing my eating habits hasn't worked as effectively as I'd have hoped, skincare barely makes a difference, and the antibiotic which was supposed to clear my skin simply suppressed it for a few months. That's why I'm writing this. Please, if you've experienced acne as extensive as this, advice would be much appreciated. At this stage, once I see my dermatologist, I plan on starting taking another, stronger medication, which will hopefully be the thing the clears my skin up, permanently this time. If all else fails, I think I'll start taking isotretinoin.

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