UPDATE to a post made about acne…

I made a post back in November 2007 about how I couldn’t find a good dermatologist. I just realized that I never updated this post.

About 2 months after I wrote that post about how I couldn’t find a good dermatologist in the D.M.V., I found one! Her name is Dr. McKinley-Grant and she works at the Georgetown Hospital. I really do like her and she’s very attentive and asks A LOT of questions about your skin.

Just wanted to update that post.

Been kinda of busy with work and other life stuff, but I’ll try to make a point to post AT LEAST once a week from now on……

Until then, SMOOCHES!

Acne – Different Causes, Different Solutions

A while back, some ladies on an area email list discussed adult acne, etc. I suffered from acne from the time I was 12 until I was 25. My acne was from an elevated hormone level (DHEA).

Well, I found my BAD ACNE picture from January 1996. This picture has not been retouched or anything. This was the SIDE of my face and part of the reason why I didn’t like to take pictures at that point in my life. This was the WORST that my acne had ever gotten (it was getting worse and worse, every year since I was 12).

Before you think it, YES, I took Accutane. STAY AWAY from that stuff. To this day, I promise you that IT (Accutane) is the reason why I have ulcerative colitis, to this day! I NEVER had stomach issues until I took this medicine in 1991/1992 time frame. There is NO acne in the world, that bad, that I’d advise someone to take that crap. No, I am not a doctor, but I have been through every antibiotic, topcial and oral medication known to man (pre 1997) for acne!

Back to the message at hand, since no of the prior methods of getting rid of my acne worked with other doctors (I was on antibiotics, topical creams that BURNED my face (Retin-A, Differin, etc.), most of my life), my dermatologist knew that it had to be something internal. She did a blood panel and found out that I had an elevated hormone level (DHEA). She put me spironolactone/aldactone and birth control pills.

When DHEA is elevated in WOMEN, it can cause acne around the jawline and neck. When it’s TOO high (which wasn’t the case with me), women’s voices drop, and they develop chest hair and facial hair.

Spironolactone/aldactone LOWERS DHEA levels. Doctors give it people who’ve had congestive heart failure and high blood pressure, BUT, they also give it to men who’ve had sex changes and want to be women.

Within 2 weeks, my face stopped breaking out, but the scars were still there. I used alpha hydroxy wash and moisturizer to fade the scars. That took about a year to fade. Mind you, this treatment was given to me in the fall of 1997…..

Now, I use Peter Thomas Roth products to maintain my skin. Yes, I am still on the medications and will have to be until I get married and decide to conceive children.

I found an UP CLOSE picture of my face (from late 2004….)….no makeup.
I writing this to say everyone that suffers from adult acne does not suffer from it for the same reasons. Not everyone’s “cure” is the same……(allergies, hormones, etc.). I say go see a dermatologist to find out WHY your face is breaking out and don’t just go through a lot of over the counter stuff that could possibly do long term damage to your skin (burns, etc.).

I have yet to find a dermatologist in the MD/DC/VA that gives the same treatment (NO LIE)! I go back to my dermatologist in NC every 6 months. SAD, but true.