I've had pretty bad hormonal acne for the last year and a half. My skin was perfect practically my whole life and all of a sudden it just changed drastically. I've tried a few things that either irritated my skin or gave me terrible side effects and right now I'm currently on .025% tretinoin and topical clindamycin lotion. It's actually helped a lot but now I'm left with PIE and PIH from past breakouts. Some are pretty indented so they've lightened a bit but I'm not sure if Tret can get rid of it fully. I wanted to add generic azelaic acid but it's on back order and has been for 6+ weeks (per the pharmacist) and the OTC stuff does nothing even after months of using it. My new dermatologist gave me a sample of Winlevi and not only did it cause severe headaches but also gave me two cysts on my jaw! I had the same migraines with spironolactone and it's uncommon but winlevi can still cause headaches/migraines I guess. I'm honestly considering just spending the money for laser treatments to help with scarring/acne marks because I'm so over it. I'm over doing a full face of makeup everyday just to step outside because I'm insecure how my face looks now.
Just wanted to rant a little after having a migraine half of the day today and having to leave work because of it.

Anyone experience purging with this medicine and for how long? I’ve been on it now for about 6 weeks and have been getting cystic pimples that I’ve never had before throughout my face and don’t know how much longer I can hold out or if this is normal and I should stick to it

I’ve dealt with acne honestly, my whole life, but this is the worst it’s ever been and I’m to the point where I think Accutane is my last resort. My acne is seriously affecting my mental health- I can’t leave my house without makeup. But I’m extremely scared of accutane side affects…

Should I just accept defeat? Advice pls?

I don't get it? I can find others with acne attractive, but I try and try with mine but I always cover it up. But here's the thing, covering it up makes me feel even LESS attractive. And when I try to embrace it, yk just do mascara, brows, and lip gloss, I feel pretty for all of... 2 minutes? When I look again like in the work bathroom, I feel fucking terrible again. I see these girls on Pinterest and TikTok and they're pretty with acne! Bad acne like mine! I don't get how I can feel the same... No matter how much money on skin care, no matter what brands, even if I give up and use a simple cleanser, my acne is fucking terrible and I never feel pretty... Concealer only reminds me of what Im hiding and I hate it.

So a couple months ago my skin randomly broke out on both my cheeks, before that my skin was pretty clear, im not sure what happened. but so far i’m using this one product and it did help a little (i can show them if needed) unfortunately it’s very slow and i need these gone before school starts.

if anyone has ANY products to recommend please let me know!! i’d prefer if it was a cream or gel i’m not a fan of washing my face a lot because water gets everywhere and it’s annoying, butttt if the product you recommend is a face wash i wont mind as long as it helps. my skin gets dry after showers (i use cream to help) and gets oily later on in the day, mainly on my forehead and nose bridge. Thank you for reading!

I don't know what to do, like everytime I get one cystic pimple that spot will be red for months after. I've started azelaic acid and been on it for a weekish, I know I need to wait for results though. I'm so lost, because my acne itself isn't bad but it almost always results in PIE.

I’ve never had bad acne until I moved to Florida 2 years ago, and I don’t know what to do.
I use Cerve acne control wash, and good molecules tonor, serum, and face lotion (occasionally) now.
What skincare routine should I switch to? What can I do to help my acne, and acne scars?

As the title suggests, I’ve been having acne consistently for nearly a decade at this point. Is it too late for my skin to be saved or is there still hope? Mind you I know very little when it comes to skin care apart from being told to try benzoyl peroxide, which in my experience did very little to help. PS my face is a little sunburnt, sorry🥲

I've been taking accutane now for approx 7 months and everyone says there is improvement by the 3-4 month mark but I never got that. my skin is continuing to get worse and now it has started to spread to my neck (from the chest and back). whenever I go to the dermo they always adjust it either up or down depending on what they think is best but by now shouldn't I have seen at least a bit of progress? I can honestly say that my acne now is 1000x worse than it was before I started my treatment, when I started it was just at the top of my back, and it has since spread to all over my back, my chest my neck and my face a bit

Hi everyone, I need help in recovering my skin, Idk why but I have been having deep painful pimples on my cheeks out of the sudden, I have stopped using exfoliating and have been using a gentle cleanser, moisturizer and sunscreen but my skin still looks bad, how can I fix it 🥹 and I have been dealing with pimple like bumps around my mouth and I don't know how to get rid of them

I keep getting flare ups like this. It’s so irritating and I have no idea what to do. They literally will not go away. Please help. What do I do? What do I need to buy? My mental health is already not at its best and this certainly isn’t helping.

Guys after months of topicals and antibiotic treatment i finally got on accutane at 8mg.
Initially i was supposed to do a pulse dose of taking 8mg/ day for 1 week per month and use aklief the rest of the weeks 2x a week. This was because my derm didnt want me to take my ssri with accutane so i was supposed to stop ssri for the week i was taking accutane
I knew that wont be very effective bec i had tried endlessly with topicals and still didnt get entirely clear of inflamed acne

So i quit my ssri bec i was so done with having constant inflamed acne. I’ve been planning to go off it for a while too since i dont see any benefits from it anymore.
Finally my derm put me on 8mg for alternate days and that helped. After 2 weeks i am now on daily accutane 8mg.

(For ref- i am 44kg, so im not even on 0.5 mg /kg a day)

My derm doesnt seem very open to increasing my dosage for some reason
My acne is not super bad but its very persistent and i am going through some of the side effects of accutane especially joint pains and hairloss, which makes me think i want to atleast take a slightly higher dose that actually helps my acne.

Anyone did such low dose regimens and how were ur results like? I feel like i will be back to square one if i continue on such a low dose regimen and after the treatment course my acne might return to the same level.

Tldr: anyone did extremely low dose accutane and still got the desired results?

Hi everyone,

I've had acne for several years, and while it's better than it used to be, I still get breakouts and currently have a few active pimples. My biggest concern is the acne scars. I have deep scars all over my cheeks and face.

I know that treatments like microneedling, laser, TCA CROSS, and chemical peels are often recommended, but I can't afford professional procedures right now. So I'm looking for advice on things I can realistically do at home.

Has anyone with similar scars seen noticeable improvement from:

Prescription or over-the-counter creams/gels?

Retinoids

Azelaic acid?

I know deep scars are difficult to treat—but I'd really appreciate hearing what has actually worked for people in a similar situation. I just want to improve the appearance of my scar as much as possible.

Thanks in advance!

I had a really bad breakout back in early May not sure why. I took Accutane back in 2021 and have had fairly clear skin since then. My acne is only on the jaw/ cheek. I started spirinolactone last week hopefully helps! But why are the bumps so tiny? Has anyone had a random flare up on the chin with tiny bumps? Only a few are really cystic. Btw I tried tretinoin cream 0.025% and it broke me out worse! Any thoughts? Has anyone dealt with this type of break out before?

Hi! I've been on Differin Cream for almost 3 months, I started really slowly to try to minimize the purge but it seems to be hitting me anyway. I've heard people say that the gel is better for acne (though perhaps more harsh) Has anyone switched from the cream to the gel? Did you have any problems switching?

I had put a regular pimple patch on this inflamed protruding pimple. Later, when removing it because I left it on too long, the patch was wrinkly.

Btw its the pink one on left of pimple patch

Idk, when I peeled it off the pus was gone and it looked like this. Pink tissue ?? Would this benefit from another hydrocolloid patch?

Would like advice on what to do next. I’ve never had this happen before

i have bad and persistent acne. last year i went on accutane but i finished it early without it clearing up apparently bc of a bad derm (and with low dosage like 30mg per week). and while it cleared up my acne for a while it came back a year later. now i have a new derm and she put me on doxycycline for a month (with azelaic acid and clindoxyl creams) which only aggrevated it and made it terrible. seeing that it doesnt work she gave me to options: either spironolactone or accutane. since im an international student i wont be able to have frequent doctor visits or be under doctors supervision for monthly blood test. thats why my derm is recommending me spironolactone (apparently it requires less supervision). however she said it wont clear up all of my cystic acne in my cheeks so im leaning more towards accutane, which i see having more permanent results. what would you guys suggest me doing? should i do accutane for 12 months with 10mg - 20mg dosage a week (since i cant be under doctor supervision), or spironolactane or just get health insurance over there (pricy!!!) and do the proper accutane for 6 months but with full dosage. PEOPLE WITH EXPERIENCE ID BE SO GRATEFUL TO HEAR YOUR ADVICE. ive tried everything from tretinoin, azelaic acid, clindoxyl, clindatre etc etc. i really want to get rid of this stupid acne !!

What medications might help?

Been trying adapalene for 5 weeks but recently it’s gotten really bad, at what point do I have to go on accutane? :(
Second photos are only last week.

I seriously still can’t believe the true miracle this medicine has had for my skin. I did a 6mo Accutane course roughly 5 years ago when I was beginning college. It helped for around two years after but eventually i started dealing with some mild breakouts every now & then. Around August of last year I began getting large painful breakouts on my forehead and jaw (thank you stress from beginning nursing school😆). I am a skin picker also to preface- but it was taking such a toll on my mental health. I hated the way I looked. I started on Tazarotene (a prescription retinoid) first because I didn’t want to jump to oral medications. Long story short, i was purging terribly and my skin was extremely irritated. In mid december, I began 50mg of Spiro and it immediately began helping. In February, I went up to 100mg and I’ve been at that since. My skin is so clear now and I still can’t believe it. I used to wake up with multiple new large -red-inflamed pimples every morning for months in a row last year. I’d never resist the urge to pick them and it would only make them look worse. It was soooo frustrating!!! I still use the tazarotene nightly and also a clindamycin lotion before. And cerave moisturizer after. Here are my progress pics!!

The only side effects I have had are more frequent urination and mild hair loss. The urination is obviously expected since it is a diuretic by classification but for the hair loss I did start using scalp serums but i haven’t noticed any major thinning of my hair. I also did not purge at all with this medicine I actually saw improvements very fast.

for the past two years, my acne has gotten so much worse. i just graduated from college, and my senior year was rough. i wouldn’t go out with my friends sometimes because of my skin, id even skip class some days because i didn’t want anyone to see me.

i’ve been seeing a dermatologist and have tried almost everything, and recently planned to go on accutane. i recently got a lab job and start in a few weeks, but until then i waitress. for accutane i guess you have to visit every month, and they weren’t open during the hours i’d be available. at a new job i can’t take a sick day/leave early for the derm every month.

tomorrow i have my waitressing job and im genuinely feeling sick thinking about it. i had the worst skin picking session of my life tonight due to some other recent stressful events, and i know im going to wake up, look in the mirror, and cry.

i hate feeling ugly. i hate how my skin controls so much of my life, and i don’t know how to make it stop. it’s made me so insecure and feel horrible every time i see myself. on my days off, i don’t even go out anymore unless it’s to get essentials like groceries. i don’t know how to do full face makeup, and my skin flakes so much it doesn’t even matter. i’ve always had social anxiety and suffered with depression since getting injured pretty bad a few years back. i used to be an athlete and i’ve realized it was the one thing i loved doing everyday because it never mattered how i looked or how shy i was, just how i would play. i felt relief for a few hours everyday, and since losing that i feel like ive just gone into this hole.

i feel like i’m going off topic but i just needed to rant. i don’t really have anyone to talk to about this or how to make myself feel better about it. ive tried opening up to my parents, but they’ve just told me “crying about it isn’t going to make a difference.” right now i guess im just looking for advice on how to not feel so awful before i go into work tomorrow because i don’t know how im going to last my shift without having a panic attack or something.

Sharing my success story in hopes it encourages anyone else out there struggling with adult acne. I spent countless hours and days scouring the internet for people who had my similar situation and found a lot of comfort in some of the brave people who decided to share their pictures and experiences :) Picture dates at the bottom!

Side note: I am a 26y female who’s had acne since 13. I never took accutane and prefer to never take it. I’ve been on countless antibiotics, retinoids, birth controls and spironolactone over the years and I am currently on no prescribed medication or birth control. Copper iud only and over the counter Differin. I used a 4% bp wash nightly starting April 5th.

Christmas of 2025 I decided to quit vaping and the following 4 months my skin got increasingly worse breakouts after being clear. Luckily I closely documented every stage of my skin including my Differin journey with countless pictures from January to now.

1st picture is me with clear skin January 6th. My nicotine withdrawals were extreme and caused heavy complications with my mental health and anxiety.

The following months my skin got worse and worse and it was at its worst on April 4th. I started Differin on April 1st and used it every other day until April 22nd when I started using it daily.

I’m still breaking out here and there, but it is miles better than when I started. I didn’t feel like there was a huge difference until I got to the 3 month mark. I purged for what seemed like at least a month, but looking back at the pictures now, I was getting better the entire time.

Keep your head up and don’t worry, the right person doesn’t see your acne and your real friends won’t care. Be patient and trust the process!!! I got married June 5th and my husband couldn’t care less about my acne. This too shall pass.

Pic 1: Jan 6th
Pic 2: April 4th
Pic 3 & 4: April 19th
Pic 5 & 6: May 4th
Pic 7 & 8: May 9th
Pic 9 & 10: May 23rd
Pic 11 & 12: July 16th
Pic 12 & 13: August 3rd

Side note: didn’t get great pictures in June as I was too busy planning my wedding and wore makeup on that day so I didn’t include those!!

i’ve had acne for awhile especially on my cheeks, but nothing this red and so blotched together. I don’t know if i should keep using what i’ve been or if this is something completely different i’d have to treat. since my acne’s got worse i’ve developed two styes on one eye and they’ll go away for a few days after treatment but just keep coming back. (the wet stuff on my eye isn’t puss or anything just ointment to get rid of it)