Not too long ago I set out on a completely organic & natural route to fighting acne. Well I can confirm that it is total bullshit and all the organic rose petals in the world are not going to fix my manky face.
I've suffered with bad skin for a little over 10 years. After 2 years of crying and spending a fortune on Clean & Clear, my mam brought me to the doctor to be assessed when I was about 15. We tried the usual topical treatments with no luck before I finally went on antibiotics for 6 weeks if I remember correctly. They worked & cleared up my skin & I've been taking the pill every since to keep it at bay. I'd get the odd break out & flare up every few months or so but apart from them my skin was reasonably OK. However, in September 2010 I figured that I was a grown up now and surely I'd grown out of my acne by now - well boy was I wrong. I stopped taking the pill and after 2 weeks my skin flared up so badly that my relatives commented on it. 1.5 years later & I'm still trying to get over that. After changing my pill 3 times since then (and cursing every second of it) I'm back on the antibiotics for 3 months.
Many people confuse Acne and spots. So I feel the need to clear that up as I've had my fair share of "don't eat chocolate," "Keep it natural - don't pump your body with that shit" and "wash your face with baking soda." All of that is complete shite.
There are 2 types of Acne:
- Acne Vulgaris: This is an inflammatory skin disease caused by enlarged or overactive sebaceous glands, due to testosterone levels. It is not contagious nor is it caused by external factors such as stress, diet, exercise or washing habits. It is purely caused by hormonal factors. Due to a higher testosterone level, the bacterial cells in the skin multiply as a faster rate & cause an inflammatory skin infection right in the lower layers of the dermis. The overactive sebaceous glands can then become blocked and then rise to the top layer of the skin where they appears as spots, cysts, papules, pustules, comedones or seborrhea. Your skin typically takes on a red pigmented colour.
- Acne Rosacea: This is better know as Middle Aged Acne. It is triggered by stress or hormonal changes, particularly around menopause. It is recognised as shiny skin due to oedema or fluid retention behind skin. I'm not middle aged so I don't know much about this but I believe that it is very painful.
Now I have what is considered in medical terms as mild-moderate acne. It is not so severe that I can't leave the house, but is harsh enough to cause long term scarring, lowered self esteem and painful skin. So now that I know the root cause, I know that it can't be fixed with Proactiv (which I've tried - Quinoderm the Irish version).
I'm taking Tetracycline 300mg for the root bacterial cause of acne, Duac Topical Ointment for the actual spots and the pill for the hormone side of things. It's been about 10 days and I've done a lovely U-Turn and can't leave the house. There have been so many side effects!!
Side Effect #1: Photosensitivity. Now I thought this meant that lights would appear brighter. It actually means that if you stick your head out the widow for 15 seconds you'll get sunburned. I walked to the shop on Saturday (Paddy's Day) and came back in tears, blisters and a swollen face. I looked like a burn victim. It was red when I fist got in the door but got steadily worse as the day went on. The chemist gave be burn cream for babies!! The swelling has since gone down but my face is so raw, red and painful - not to mention ITCHY!!!! My skin is quite literally flaking and falling off - GROSS. I assume this is supposed to happen as I'll essentially grow new skin.. Like an acid peel!
Side Effect #2: The reason I didn't get the antibiotics a year ago is for a very girl-specific reason - thrush. Luckily this hasn't affected me so far, but I've run out of natural yogurt and I can't leave my house until after dark (vampire) - you can see my predicament. 3 month of anti-biotics - it's going to get me at some point and I'm probably going to die when that happens!
Side Effect #3: No dairy. Calcium inhibits the absorption of Tetracycline and must be avoided. Do you have any idea how many dairy substitutes there are without calcium - NONE!!! It is really difficult to avoid calcium!!
Side Effect #4: Washing Powder: I'm now also allergic to my washing powder which is Fairy and supposed to be used for babies! I'm sorry if you meet me somewhere and I smell - I'm trying to wash my clothes but it hurts!
Side effect #5: You hair and nails get really really dry and break - you're basically putting a halt to all oil production in your body so on one hand you don't have to wash your hair every day, but on the other it's going to fall out. That said - COCONUT OIL! Amazing stuff. I was absolutely desperate to find something for my hair when I remember Jenna Marpels made a video about the wonders of Coconut Oil. It's true! My hair is silky smooth :)
Side Effect #6: This is probably the worst one for me - all make up burns my skin :( Like proper burns it - even the water based stuff & the natural moussey stuff from Lush. I tred to put on a face for Paddy's Night in Helen's but I had to leave after 2 hours because I was on fire! I don't know if my make up class is going to work out if people can't work on me.
So despite the horrible side effects, I have noticed an improvement. All my spots have dried up and fecked off and I'm left with the deep rooted red pigmentation marks underneath the skin... as well as my skin falling off of course. I can cover them up with make up when my skin grows back. However, as soon as the spots went away I really noticed the scarring that's been left behind after 10 years of acne. I never realised it was that bad before. Hopefully when my skin heals a bit I can keep getting the micro needling and I can say good bye to my scars! Ha, here's hoping!
On a separate note I need models for my make up case studies. Any volunteers for next weekend or this evening? You can laugh at my face!!
Oh my god, you poor thing. I don't have acne, but recently my skin's gotten hypersensitive. Everything I used to use, now destroys my skin! I bought loads of Vichy and La Roche Posay stuff - they're AMAZING. Really do what the bottles claim. They worked for a friend of mine with acne, too. So if you need nice skincare stuff after all this, maybe give them a try :)
ReplyDeleteOh ouchies - maybe it's just an Irish changing of the seasons thing so! It's really good to know that the Vichy and La Roche Posay do what they say on the tin as I'm going to need some good stuff in 3months :) Bizarrely enough a few people in work said to me today that their dads/friends/brothers/cats get really sensitive skin around this time of year so maybe there's some thought there. Thanks for the recommendations though - I do appreciate them. All the bottles look exactly the same to me & they all claim to do the same things.
ReplyDeleteI was in work when I saw this and popped down to the chemist to buy some vichy or La Roche - we've a very fancy chemist on Barrow St! The lady was *horrified* that someone in her chemist had recommended that I buy with Vichy NormaDerm (Cleansers etc for Problem Skin) as they would destroy my skin - which they definitely helped with. She said the Vichy & La Roche stuff would be too strong for me while I'm on the antibotics and gave me this Eau Thermale Avéne cream which is hydrating cream specifically for folks like me suffering from the side effects of acne treatments. I then got this water spray stuff by the same company to spray my face with ever hour for instant moisture. One of the make up tutors on my course actually recommended it last week & it's only 4yoyos :)
Good luck with the sensitivity - hopefully it'll be cleared up by the time the summer sun (hopefully) comes around :)