My Acne Journey

Imagine having acne from the moment you’ve experienced puberty. You think, okay once puberty is over these pimples will be gone. Fast forward to late high school and you realized you were definitely wrong. Except now, despite all of the products, regimens, home remedies, and failed dermatologist visits, you’ve started to give up hope.

The initial acne breakouts were sparse and has now blossomed into a wonderful array of consistent cystic acne. This reoccurring issue was definitely taking a toll on your self esteem now as you try to hide behind expensive makeup.

“The makeup is giving you acne, stop using it!” Thank you Nancy, but I’ve had acne well before I started using makeup!

“You don’t take care of yourself!” I workout and eat more fruits and vegetables than you do! The bottom line was that many people had advice, products or regimens they thought I should try. I was hopeful toward getting better skin and was willing to try all of the tips people gave me. The hard part of that was that people who did not know my journey or when it was a tip I have tried before. Or they assumed that I wasn’t consistent. This was very annoying and I actually gave up for a few years.

At the end of middle school, after multiple failed Proactiv attempts, I made a trip to the dermatologist and was prescribed a three step regimen. The products were very harsh and gave me burns and were peeling my skin very much. As a pre-teen going through body changes, this was very detrimental to my self-esteem so I decided to stop using the products. I never thought to report back to the dermatologist and tell her about how harsh the products were. I didn’t even think to go to another dermatologist. I began to use black soap for the acne and toning cream on my blemishes.

The plan didn’t work as there seem to always be a new set of pimples in all areas of my face on top of the oiliness and the bad hyper-pigmentation

. As high school went on, I just began to use makeup to hide the dark marks and use over the counter acne products, because after all I was not in charge of booking doctor appointments and paying for the often expensive products from a dermatologist.

As an adult, I realized that the acne was not going to go away on its own. I then tried to detox and use all natural products as well as follow what YouTubers that cleared their skin did. I had some wins but overall, I had to do a lot to maintain a low level of acne per month but it seemed that was still not enough. So I did some research on accutane and dermatologist I could go to. Accutane is known to be a serious drug that cures acne but has some serious side effects. I felt that I had dealt with this acne and tried so many things over the years that it was time to try it. I ended up going to a dermatologist recommended to me by my sister and cousin. I told him my story and how I wanted to try his plan but how I was really considering taking accutane. He agreed and prescribed me three topical medicines and one antibiotic.

His plan worked and my skin was beautiful after three weeks, but when my menstrual cycle came on the acne came back. And it came back as cystic acne! My visit happened to be the same week this happened and my doctor agreed that I go on accutane. He said that he felt that I had no choice since his original plan did not work. He prescribed accutane, which was a major deal. I have heard and read many reasons why it was not the best thing to do. Some of the side effects are depression, loss of vision, issues with your organs and many more. I was familiar with these side effects because I had been doing research on accutane since high school - though I was hoping my acne would clear up by my young adulthood. When it did not, and the initial plan of antibiotics and topical solutions my dermatologist offered also did not work, I was anxious about the new treatment but excited about the improvement of my skin.

Treatment lasted about 6 months and it was no walk in the park. I had almost immediate facial skin and lip peeling. My eyes were extremely sensitive to the light (natural and artificial). Accutane caused some unpleasant yeast infections, but I was so tired of the acne that I was willing to go through with it. Month after month my skin got better but there still would be small pimples here and there. My dermatologist was perplexed. He initially promised my skin would be better in two months but we were in month 5. He told me accutane is normally prescribed for only 6 months at a time but he would petition for more time if needed. At that point, my vision was very blurry and my lips were pink and glossy from consistent peeling. I was afraid also because newer symptoms began to appear the longer I was on it. For example, after that visit, using the bathroom began to hurt and my voice would get really hoarse or be completely gone. Trust me, you definitely need your voice as a classroom teacher!

I spoke to my doctor and he seemed dismissive at the 6 month checkup. He wrote notes for me to see an eye doctor and sent me on my way to the pharmacy for more accutane. I felt like things were getting dangerous but still followed his order. I went to the pharmacy and to my surprise, I was not allowed to get anymore because my insurance company said it was too dangerous to continue. This was a turning point as to what I should do. After reflecting on my current doctor, I decided to find another one because my acne was gone, but my hyper-pigmentation was still an issue and I felt like continuing accutane was too much for just hyper-pigmentation. I decided to find someone that focused on hyper-pigmentation.

For a few weeks I complained to friends while updating them on my progress. When a friend at work suggested I visit a practice in Miami Shores that specialized in Black and Brown skin. I immediately scheduled an appointment. My excitement grew when I saw many testimonials on social media from customers that had gone to see this doctor. When I went in, I was impressed at how clean and up to this office was compared to the last office and how they had natural /holistic options as well. This doctor gave kudos to my last one for clearing the acne but provided a regimen for the hyper-pigmentation. This office sold their own products so I was definitely going to buy to get to my goal- but the prices were sky high for each product. I sucked it in and gave them my credit card to cover the cost. I felt like I had come too far not to get all the way to clear skin. The products worked really well and cleared all of my dark marks in three weeks. It was a major accomplishment for me and people that knew where my skin once was began to ask me questions on how I cleared my face. All in all, if you feel like your regimen and diet are not fully helping you or helping you fast enough, please consult your doctor for help.