Battling Adult Acne, In My Late 20’s

If you are, or you have been an acne sufferer - welcome! I’m so grateful to say that I have had clear skin for about 3 months, and it has been absolute bliss. It was not an easy journey to get to this point, but I’m so glad I’m here. I really wanted to share the process I went through, incase it’s something you are going through too.

Full disclaimer, I am in no way a medical professional, I am purely sharing my experience. As always, please seek assistance from a professional if you are experiencing any symptoms.

Let me start from the start…

About 3 years ago I made the decision to see a naturopath, my main goal being to reduce anxiety through hormone support. We did a number of tests, worked through a number of things, and balanced out my hormones (over many many months). It got to a point where things were definitely improved but not ideally where they could be. After being informed on some important facts about the pill (I had been on it for 10 years), I made the decision to trial coming off it. It’s something I had tried in the past, but the result was a flare up of acne as bad as my teenage years, so I went straight back on it. This time I was going off it with a professional by my side, someone who could assist my body in handling the change.

So I’m off the pill, taking supplements to support my body, but it’s been 3 months and I haven’t had a period yet. This is completely normal by the way, I was told it can take up to 6 months to get your period back post-pill. But, my acne was getting worse by the week, and there is a history of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) on my Dad’s side of the family. So we did some investigating, with the assistance of my GP & gynaecologist, and discovered I did in fact have PCOS. It’s something that I had the symptoms for in my early teens, but my doctor at the time put me on the pill and it all magically all went away - the pill can be a suppressant for PCOS. My teenage symptoms included excruciatingly painful periods, irregularity, loss of my period at times, and acne.

The next step with my naturopath was to assist my body into a happy, balanced hormonal state, while living with PCOS. A huge part of this process for me was reducing anxiety & stress, as this was discovered to be my trigger - when my body is balanced and calm, PCOS is a non-issue for me. We thankfully got me to a place where I didn’t need supplement support, the only lingering symptom at that point was acne. If anything, it was still getting worse. I decided to give my body a breather, I had done a tonne of work over the past 2 years, and was hopeful that my skin would settle in time. Unfortunately, improvements never lasted, and when it was bad again it was really bad. So I decided to level it up and go to a skin specialist.

I returned to my GP for some advice and a referral for a dermatologist. To be honest, I had been putting this off for a while because I was expecting the next step to be medication, and I was feeling nervous about the potential side effects of acne medications. But when I had tried everything else, and my self esteem was in the bin, I knew it was time to do whatever it took. If you’ve ever tried to get into a dermatologist, you know it takes months, so while I waited out the waitlist my doctor prescribed me Doxycycline & Epiduo to see if that would help in the meantime. Unfortunately, neither of those helped, but I eventually made it into an appointment with the dermatologist. She took one look at my skin, and instantly said I needed to go on Roaccutane. So that’s exactly what I did.

It’s now month 6 of being on Roaccutane, and it’s been very manageable. I know some people have a particularly unpleasant experience with it, but my main side effects have been dry & sensitive skin, dry lips, some nose irritation / dryness, and longer than usual healing. And one very positive side effect - I don’t have to wash my hair nearly as often! There are also a few things I stopped / adjusted: reduced my alcohol consumption, stopped waxing, brow lamination, and micro needling, and removed all actives & exfoliation from my skincare routine (I’ll include my current skincare routine below), and we also have to be extremely careful that I didn’t get pregnant (the medication is extremely damaging to a foetus).

I saw my dermatologist this week, and we have lowered my dose, and I only need to be on it for another 3 months (I was expecting another 6 months) - very excited! The hope is that it’s worked for good, and that I won’t have any severe acne issues again, and therefore won’t ever have to go on Roaccutane again - fingers crossed!! It is very possible to get the occasional spot, but I shouldn’t ever end up back where I was.

I’ve had a lot of people ask me if I wish I had just gone straight to Roaccutane years ago, or gone back on the pill, and my answer is no. Every body is different, but for me, finding and resolving the issues in my body first was an extremely important step. I could have removed the acne sooner, but without it I may never have done the work to get my PCOS under control. I also have people ask me if I would have gone on the pill, after knowing what I know now, and my answer is yes! While I likely would have come off it earlier, having something to take away all of that pain, uncertainty & acne during my teen years (it’s already tough enough, and there are already enough changes happening in our bodies then), was so needed too. Saying that, I do wish I had been informed more thoroughly about what it meant to be on the pill, what it was doing to my body and my cycle, and also to have had a diagnosis way back then.

I’m here to tell you that adult acne is SO awful, the way people regularly point it out and ask you questions about it, makes dealing with it a million times worse (for me at least). I highly recommend seeking advice from the experts if it’s something you’re struggling with, and especially if it’s effecting your confidence or happiness. BUT a huge reminder that no skin is perfect, we are human after all, so please please remember to avoid the comparison game and know that there are so many others going through the exact same thing. I’ve got your girl, and if you ever want to chat about it I’m here for you.