I am I'm 20 female and have moderate acne cysts for years now. That really affects me mentally and I became very depressed. I was recommended to try accutane, but I decided that it is not worth it of the side effect. Is this wrong decision?
I agree with you that Accutane really isn’t worth the side effects. I am also 20 and have moderate to severe acne cysts; my face rarely gets a whitehead or two a week, but my jaw line are constantly broken out. I have been taking B5 since March and it has sort of helped. I’m considering Accutane, at a really low dose for my back and neck. I used to be on antibiotics but got sick of taking them and after I went off them, it was like BAM it just hit me hard. So I think I might change up my antibiotic …I don’t know. I’m going to go to the derm and figure it out.
I understand exactly what you're going through. I wanted to exhaust all of possibilites before using Accutane. I did some research and found out that other people with acne cysts are using Spironolactone. This drug works by curbing extra testosterone in women and therefore stopping the overproduction of oil that can cause the cysts. I was skeptical at first, but I decided to give it a try. I had my family doctor verify that the drug was used to occasionally treat acne. He decided it would be fine and made sure my kidneys were functioning correctly before prescribing it. I've taken it for over 6 months now (25mg/3 times a day with food). It took a month to really notice a difference, but when I finally did it was amazing. No dry skin and none of the initial big breakouts to clear up the skin like with other medications. I used to have really oily skin on my face and back. Now the oil is gone and I haven't had a cyst since. I get tiny pimples occasionally right before my period, but there really not noticeable. Hope this helps!