Your Typical Teenager With Acne- What Ive Found That Works. Rochester, NY

I have been struggling with acne for years and would do anything to get rid of it. I wouldn't consider myself to have severe acne, but to any self-conscious teenager it can ruin your day. I especially struggled being a swimmer because you're so exposed- your makeup comes off in the water and your skin is shown to everyone, there's no way to hide it. Being a college bound senior and athlete, i'm not looking forward to waking up at 5 am to put on makeup before morning practices. Throughout the years I have been on almost every medicine and cream you can imagine. I have very dry pale skin as it is (the chlorine certainly doesn't help) so the creams never worked for me as all they did was make my skin peel. Originally I went to my pediatrician and she prescribed me Minocycline. I was on it for a few months and found that it didn't do much for me, if anything at all. Eventually i decided to go to a dermatologist and she prescribed me Bactrim. Within a few short months my acne was cleared and my skin looked GREAT. However, shortly after I stopped taking it my acne reappeared. I went back to my dermatologist and she prescribed me the same medication. This time around it didn't work as my acne came back in a different form (I have the worst luck). This time however i was getting breakouts on my chin, back and jawline which i never had before. Also, these pimples were larger and more cystic that are very painful and stayed on my skin for weeks. This led my doctor to believe it was hormonal acne and i was prescribed Spironalctone. I started taking this at the very end of November and by the beginning of February I was getting upset because it seemed like it wasn't working. However, about two weeks ago my skin was clearer than it had been in a long time. My back only had a few active spots and my neck and face was completely clear, leaving only scarring. I also increased my prescription to 100 mg instead of 50 which definitely helped. In the beginning of February I had started taking birth control as well which is supposed to help with hormonal acne. More recently my jaw and chin suffered a large breakout. The pimples shrunk very quickly within a day or two and are mostly dry patches now. I'm not entirely convinced Spironalctone is working for me as I did break out again but i am going to continue on it and hope its more controlled. My dermatologist said if my acne is hormonal (i'm going back mid march to determine if it is) then I will likely continue with Spironalctone for a few more years and within months the birth control should help regulate my skin. I was looking to try out Accutane as it sounded like a miracle cure- take it for 6 months and never have acne again. Unfortunately, Accutane does not work for hormonal acne. For now, I will continue on the Spironalctone and keep posting my experience with this pill as I hope it is the one that works. As far as I can tell its starting to kick in and my skin is clearing up and recovering faster. I recommend trying this medication if your doctor thinks you have hormonal acne. If you have any questions more specifically about any of the medications or creams that i've used or about my daily routine and how i manage/cover it up, feel free to ask and I will help you the best I can!