Last summer I wrote about my battle with cystic acne. Ever since being pregnant with John it seemed my hormones had gone haywire, particularly in regards to my skin. I just lived with it for 3 years, expecting it would get better eventually. It never did. In fact, when I wrote about it earlier this year, it was the worst it had ever been, with 5+ painful, swollen lumps on my face at any given time. Not only were they horrible to look at & incredibly painful, they also affected my confidence more than you could imagine.
It was time for change. Three years of hiding my face away, avoiding baby groups dreading family gatherings & only going places we needed to day to day (with a fringe & scarf in tow) had to end. I'd tried all the solutions & remedies you could think of; tea tree oil, apple cider vinegar, breast milk, any lotion or potion that claimed to clear skin... I then took myself off to the doctors with little hope of a solution due to still breastfeeding & knowing there was few treatments available due to this.
Thankfully the doctor I met was fantastic & very understanding. She prescribed two creams for me to try: Acnecide & Stiemycin and advised me to try them for 6 weeks then come back if there was no improvement. Not expecting much, I was pleasantly surprised when I found many of the awful cysts were slowly clearing up with no more rearing their ugly heads. However after the 6 weeks I still had many existing cysts and booked a return appointment for a couple of weeks later.
Once again my doctor was extremely helpful & suggested trying a oral antibiotic this time. I was apprehensive at first, wondering if I'd be reliant on them for the rest of my life. She reassured me that my acne did appear to be purely hormonal, given that before babies I would only get one cyst, once a month, and because if this, once we finished breastfeeding there's no reason why things wouldn't return to normal, and at that stage we could also try a contraceptive pill to help too.
With a prescription for Erythromycin, I set off hopeful that one day my face wouldn't resemble the Rocky Mountains. Within days of starting the antibiotics - alongside continuing the Acnecide & Stiemycin - my period also [coincidentally] returned, which could well contribute to the great results I had from these magic little pills. Within a few weeks of taking the antibiotics & my face calming down with a more normal hormone routine, the cysts had gone(!!). I kept thinking it was a fluke, a case of shock to my skin, that they'd be back once my body got used to the antibiotics... But 4 months on and my skin is still 100% cyst free. Not only that but blackheads are minimal and I've only had a handful of whiteheads too.
One thing that is still stubborn though is the scarring. The thing about cystic acne us that it's lingering. Once the cysts have gone, you're still left with a juicy big scar which hangs around for months. It's not something that antibiotics will cure, in fact, I think the only thing that would help other than time is a dermatologist - which I don't have a spare £150 to see - is time. So time it is. I have re-hauled my products though, wanting something more natural given I was using a cocktail of medicines directly onto my skin as it was. Right now I'm using the St Ives Daily Microdermabrasion Scrub to help keep my skin clean & polished (hopefully helping with the scarring in the process) alongside Pure Argan Oil, which I'd originally bought for my hair but love so much I use it on my face everyday, on top of the Stiemycin. I'll often slather some coconut oil over my chops too before bed if I'm in need of a bit more moisture.
Future wise, over Christmas I became rubbish at taking my Erythromycin antibiotics (mainly because you're meant to take them on an empty stomach - at Christmas...c'mon!) and I've been pleasantly surprised to find I've not broken out in hundreds of cysts. In fact, my face is still looking rather lovely! I'm considering ditching the Erythromycin all together and just sticking with the Stiemycin and seeing how we go. I've also stopped the Acnecide recently as I was getting fed up with bleached towels & t-shirts but given that it's designed to help with blackheads & whiteheads (which I never had many of) so I've not seen a difference following this.
What I will say though is if you too are suffering with cystic acne and finding that nothing is helping, go see your doctor. I was so reluctant to see mine, expecting a, "sorry there's nothing we can do," but after 3 years of damaging my confidence, I've never felt so comfortable in my own skin. I even wear makeup again now which I never would before as I felt it highlighted my spots as opposed to hiding them. I do regret not seeking advice before as I think I could have probably enjoyed baby groups & such a lot more if I hadn't been so self-conscious about my face but it's time now to make up for lost time.
Oh wow, what a great improvement! You must be so much happier! x
ReplyDeleteThanks, Donna. It really has made me much more confident. I still can't believe I lived with it for so long. xo
ReplyDeleteOh wow your skin looks amazing now! I had cystic acne while pregnant with Aidan and although it's cleared up since (so far) I still have terrible scars but I do see them beginning to fade. Will definitely be keeping note of this post incase they should ever erupt again :) xx
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