When I graduated college and entered true adulthood, I thought that my acne days were over. Unfortunately, and little did I know that my acne was far from being gone. Between the stress of not being able to find a job and my lack of health insurance causing me to forgo birth control which had helped regulate my hormones since I was 18, my acne took a turn for the worst. So, there I was going on 23 and battling self-consciousness as blemishes and pimples awkwardly covered my face in areas impossible to cover up (in addition to enduring the painful ovarian cysts that immediately returned when birth control was no longer an option for me). I always struggled with my childish look and was worried no one would take me seriously, especially in the professional world and now especially with acne. I went through college listening to comments about how I looked 16 (now that I've crossed over into the "going on 30" age, I would kill to look like I did then!), and it wasn't long before I got my college degree that my braces finally came off. I went through my acne spurts in high school where some days/weeks were better/worse than others (and let's not forget the breakouts that always accompany that dreaded time of the month!), but I was very fortunate that my acne was mild and typically hormone-driven. Bad acne was difficult to deal with as an adult, and I can't even imagine how hard it must have been for the teenagers who suffered from it in high school when kids are cruel and expectations are high.
Anyway, almost a year after I graduated when I was made a full-time employee where I work now and was given health benefits, I immediately sought out a lady doctor and got back on birth control. I'm not sure if it had to do with my year-long hiatus from it and/or post-college hormone changes, but I ended up having to switch a few times before I found one I liked. My awful ovarian cysts finally subsided (thank GOD!), but unfortunately my acne did not clear up. After this, I decided to visit a dermatologist. Dr. Dickerson (who is AMAZING) first tried me on an oral antibiotic called monodox (doxycycline) as well as a prescription acne cream. I didn't have high hopes for the acne cream because they have NEVER worked on my skin, and just as I expected, it dried my face out and made the breakouts worse. After upping the dose of the antibiotic and still seeing no results, we cut that out of my daily regimen and finally found my miracle medicine: spironolactone!
So, in my unprofessional and pseudo-scientific description, spironolactone is an inhibitor of the hormone androgen which is produced in the ovaries and converted into estrogen (in men, androgen is the sex hormone that "plays a role in male traits and productivity"). Overproduction of androgen in women can cause acne, which is why the antiandrogen spironolactone can help decrease and clear acne breakouts. A friend of mine who tried spironolactone didn't see any results, but I was very fortunate that it worked! Since then, I've been on the 50 mg pill once nightly, and aside from my 28th-day-breakout, I rarely have any acne hiccups. I will say, however, that the rare occasion when I forget to take it results in an almost immediate breakout. But I guess that just means the medicine is working!
Spironolactone may or may not work for others like it has for me, but it has been such a life-changer and confidence-booster and I wanted to share my miracle drug. Being a young adult while striving to be healthy, look good, do well and have your colleagues and superiors take you seriously is a hard task, but having clear skin can give you the extra boost of confidence you need to strut your stuff and succeed in life. Society expects women to look a certain way, but when we're honest with ourselves, we also know that our outer beauty can most definitely make us feel better inside, even if it is subjective to our own reflections.
I also want to make a point of saying that the right makeup has played a role in my skin's comeback as well. Up until recently, I used store-bought makeup (aka Covergirl, Maybelline, Revlon...) and I assumed that "good" makeup was too expensive to afford. I was wrong. For the Clinique products I now use, I probably spend between $5 and $15 more per item than I did at Walmart. This slight increase in price, however, gets me more bang for my buck (ex: my Clinique foundation lasts a LOT longer than my Covergirl foundation ever did) AND it's better for my skin. My new makeup even feels lighter, which common sense can tell us is a good thing considering we don't want our skin being bogged down by heavy chemicals. Who wants wrinkles anyway? I sure don't!
And lastly, I'll admit that I've been guilty of not properly washing my face or taking my makeup off before bed. I always thought of it as an added chore, and aside from using soap & water in the shower, my makeup was never truly cleaned free. So, I got me a bottle of Clinique Take the Day Off Makeup Remover, and Dr. Dickerson gave me samples of Cetaphil Dermacontrol Oil Control Foam Wash to last a freakin lifetime (not really... but she did give me a LOT), and I've kept a pretty good record of keeping a pretty clean face!
Hopefully you didn't go a quarter of your life before realizing these simple girl rules, but remember.. it's never too late to start healthy habits!
