It wasn’t until recently that I tried yet another skin doctor here in my relatively new home town of San Francisco. At first they offered the same crap: Accutane (which I feel is not worth the risk), antibiotics, blah, blah, blah. What else you got doc? Then she mentioned something I had never heard of before: Spironolactone. She explained to me that it’s a drug commonly used for lowering blood pressure and eliminating excess water from the body but that it’s also used for acne. Something in its chemistry blocks the oil producing hormone that causes acne. I was immediately skeptical and when she mentioned that I had to get blood testing every three months I ran for the hills, settling on a new topical treatment called Duac.
I started to see results using this new cream, all of the little pimples and white heads that I would get were virtually non existent. However, the cystic ones remained. Cystic is the worst form of acne, if you weren’t aware. They are often very painful and large, leaving nasty scars and indentations in their wrath. They are not fun by any means.
I once again became antsy and even more insecure with my rising scar count. When I looked in the mirror that’s all I saw and was disgusted. I thought about what my Dr. said and went back to talk about the Spironolactone again. She reassured me that many people had seen results with this particular drug and that I should strongly consider it. That night I went home and did some research on the internet and was overwhelmed with the positive responses I was reading. I took my lab work in the next day and got my blood drawn. I was prescribed the drug the following day.
It’s now been three weeks and I’ve already seen a vast improvement in my skin. I almost don’t believe it; I keep maniacally looking at myself in the mirror to make sure I haven’t had a massive break out. I guess that’s part of my problem, though. I need to stay positive! Things are looking good right now and instead of just enjoying it, I’m waiting for the worst. There is no way at this point, to fully qualm my fears of future breakouts considering the struggle I’ve been through in the past. However, I can learn to take things a day at a time. Now, when I find myself stressing out, I recite these words: Breathe. Stay calm. Everything will be okay regardless of whether or not I have a Cover Girl complexion. It could be a lot worse.
My humble advice for anyone who has had similar sufferings: there IS hope. Find what works best for you and run with it. It may not be a perfect solution but nothing in life is perfect. At the end of the day, all that’s in our power is to remain positive and to keep on truckin’.
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