Acne for Special Occasions--Doctor Handling

My D had acne that was triggered by hormones (accutane doesn’t work for that). The only thing that worked for her was (in addition to topicals) low dose birth control plus spirinolactone. She tried antibiotics, which often work for the kind of acne she had, but she discovered that she is allergic to that class of antibiotics.

I hope your D finds something that works for her. Acne is such a struggle - my family had it bad as young adults, and my kids inherited it from me.

As an aside, I think accutane is a miracle drug … if it had been around when my older brother struggled with cystic acne, it would have been a life changing thing for him … and two of my brothers + my son took it with great success … but I would never recommend it for moderate symptoms or for a short term fix. It takes several months to work, it has very serious side effects, and it requires blood draws to monitor for side effects.

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