Acne - NLite & skin peels

1 post

I am 29 and have acne since I was 16 and was diagonised with mild PCOS at 23. Have you been tested for PCOS? As it's the leading cause of acne in adult females. Like you I have been on many treatments, including roaccutane, antibiotics and Diannete - which I have been on and off for 8 years. All the doctors I have seen are happy to precribe Dianette to me as it's very good at treating PCOS acne. I have also had the NLite Lazer treatments at the Private Clinic in London this year. After all of the treatments and prescriptions I have taken my acne always come back after I stop, because it's hormonal as there's no quick fix product for PCOS unfortuntately. From all of the above I would say that Dianette defintitely works the best for me, and I wouldn't be comfortable taking long term antibiotics and Roaccutane again. As for the NLite Laser my skin didn't get any clearer afterwards but it did fade some of the older acne scars that I had. I would advise against the N Lite Laser though if you have PCOS as it doesn't work as well as what they say it does and is very expensive. I am currently having peels at The Private Clinic to try to minimise scarring, although it's still early days. I am interested in alternative route and would be interested in hearing from anyone who has had success in diet and exercise changes to reduce acne related to PCOS. So please reply

4 posts

Hello,

I see that there have been many messages posted about Acne. The reason I am posting, is to tell my story and hopefully get some feedback on the NLite laser treatment if anyone has tried it, because I am considering having it.

Ok, where do I start?! I first started getting acne when I was about 13, It started off as just a few spots here and there so I went to the doctors and they subscribed me all the usual things, creams, anti biotics - none of them worked! By the time I was 15 my skin was really bad, they weren't huge red spots but they were all over my face and I became very depressed (especially as I was of that age and got a hard time from people at school because of them!). My parents could see this, and arranged for me to go privately to see a dermatologist (we did this instead of the NHS because I wanted it sorted as soon as possible). She put me onto roacutanne and wow how my life turned around at that point! I didn't really suffer huge side effects from it but I got quite bad ezema which I'd never had before. My skin was fine for about a year and half. They gradually started to come back so I went onto Dianette. I believe that this pill helped me beyond belief to keep the acne under control (I was never completely free of spots but my skin was less greasy, the spots were less painful etc). Anyway! After being on Dianette for 2 years and a half the G.P told me he could no longer pescribe me Dianette because of long term effects. This really distressed me because I knew that Dianette had been my saviour. I am 20 and on cilest and an antibiotic called Tetralsal. I have been on these for about 3 months. I am scared my acne will return worse than ever now I have come off Dianette! I can see that my skin and hair is now greaiser. I am willing to give the antibiotics and this pill a go but I don't want to be on the pill forever. I went to see the Dermatologist threw the NHS in July because I was paranoid about my skin coming off Dianetter, he said I would have to wait and see and that he could not really do anything for me until I had and outbreak. This upset me. I want to go back and see him but this will take months and he seemed against putting me back on Roacctane. I don't expect my parents to pay for me to go privately again as they have done that once before and I am forever grateful to them for that. My mum has suffered from acne all her life and I think she feels guilty. Out of my brother and sister, I seem to be the only one who she has passed it down too.

I am now considering NLite laser treatment or maybe skin peels. I was wondering if anybody had tried these methods and whether they are effective. I also seem to be scarring from the spots that come and go.

I am sorry if this post is somewhat negative. I just need help! People don't seem to take me seriously, they think I am just being vain. I'm not, I have been plagued with acne for so many years now and am affraid it will never go.

Anna