[Andi]

I was kind of in the same shoes. As a teenager I had mostly a bunch of whiteheads, therefore I went on the pill (Diane mite, which is the best for acne. I think you mentioned that you took that one as well but you gained weight on it?) and it gradually got better.
Then after a couple of years I switched pills because my acne was gone, and like 2 years later I suddenly got cystic pimples that left marks that are just now going away 2 years later! And they´re only fading because of Retin-A and chemical peels! It´s so annoying to have those marks, even more annoying than the deep pimples themselves. I always got them on my cheeks, always in similar spots. Nothing over the counter worked, neither did an antibiotic cream I got prescribed. So I went back on Diane mite, the cystic pimples went away and haven´t returned.

I`m glad that you said you´re planning on seeing a dermatologist. In my case I wanted to find something strong that works, since every new cystic pimple left a mark that took months, even years to heal. I didn´t want to waste any time trying all the over the counter products on the market. Cystic acne is the hardest kind of acne to treat I believe...meaning you´ll have to turn to the strong stuff soon in order to prevent permanent scarring or post inflammatory pigmentation.

[itstiffany]

I get them near my nose sometimes (had three in a row on different spots on my nose) and it left a huge scar on my nose.
anyone knows how to get rid of these scars?

[Midnight Blue]

Accutane is the miracle drug, IMO. I took it in my early 20s and it changed my life/saved my face. The side effects can be rough. They were rough for me, but I had a friend who took it and didn't have any problems.

[pinksugar]

well I saw my doc, and she knows that I've had these for almost 10 years now, so she referred me to a derm. The derm isn't free until March though! I'm guessing they'll prescribe roaccutane, but since I'm single I'm a lot less worried about using it.

I figure my doctor wouldn't suggest it unless I'd tried everything else - I asked her if there was anything she could prescribe between what I'd already tried and roaccutane and she said there isn't, so I'm guessing roaccutane is the next step... scary stuff!

[Andi]

well I saw my doc, and she knows that I've had these for almost 10 years now, so she referred me to a derm. The derm isn't free until March though! I'm guessing they'll prescribe roaccutane, but since I'm single I'm a lot less worried about using it.

I figure my doctor wouldn't suggest it unless I'd tried everything else - I asked her if there was anything she could prescribe between what I'd already tried and roaccutane and she said there isn't, so I'm guessing roaccutane is the next step... scary stuff!

wow you have to wait till March? That sucks. I´m so impatient when it comes to doctor´s visits, if I wanna see a doc I wanna see them NOW lol

And yes, any good dermatologist wouldn´t prescribe Accutane/Roaccutane without a good reason. If you´ve tried all the topicals and oral antibiotics that are known to work for most people, there is nothing else you can use/take. Of course there are blue light/laser treatments and all that, but I`m not sure how well that actually works (besides being expensive!). At least Roaccutane has been around for years, and there are hundreds of forum posts on it online, and lots of info to find on how to deal with the side effects (check acne.org if you haven´t already)

To be honest (telling from your pictures) I never thought you had bad skin at all. But maybe you only posted pics on your "good skin" days. I know that´s how I was when I still had acne

[pinksugar]

it's not as bad as a big red pimple, and it's not so obvious in photos, but def is more obvious in real life, since it's a big lump! plus if you DO get it to empty... it's like a litre of gunk, ew.

I've tried the alternative light therapy, and it DID work somewhat, but only the week or 2 weeks after the treatment, and then my skin would get bad again - I didn't want to have to go to the skin specialist every 2 weeks for the rest of my life, you know? boring!

so on that front the roaccutane will be better, if they do actually prescribe that...