Why am I still breaking out (I'll be forever grateful if you can figure this out!)?
I'm going crazy trying to figure out why my acne seems to be returning.
Background:
-I'm an 18 year old female
-I've always had moderate acne and recently found out I have PCOS, (1 year ago) so that explains the hormonal acne I was getting. (jawline, under the skin, etc)
-I was put on birth control (about a year ago) and spironolactone (maybe 6 months ago) to control the hormonal aspect of the acne
-I was given benzoyl peroxide face wash, clindamycin topical lotion, and tretinoin (retin a) topical gel (maybe a little less than a year ago)
**My acne cleared after all this!! My skin was wonderful up until now.
Now, for the past few weeks, I've been getting these breakouts. The first was strange..I had symmetrical under the skin acne on either side of my jaw, as well as on the side of my nose. Since then, it's been whiteheads, small pimples on my forehead, near my mouth, and now another under the skin pimple along my jawline.
The only thing I've recently done differently (maybe a little over a month ago) is that I'm taking supplements, mainly Vitamin D3. Now I've read this is supposed to treat acne, not cause it! (although, whats the deal with milk causing acne, which contains vit. d?) The other supplements never used to give me acne so I ruled them out. I also began a multi vitamin with 100% iodine but recently switched (last week) b/c my mom breaks out from iodine so I figured that might not be helping.
The only other thing I'm testing out is chewing gum. I began chewing sugar gum cuz sugar substitutes give me canker sores. Could the sugar be making me break out near my jaw/mouth (even if I chew 1/3 of the stick)? I will keep testing this.
One last idea: Is it true acne meds stop working after a while? If so, is this the case?
Other than this, I've done nothing different. I eat right, I sleep well, I exercise, I drink a decent amount of water, I wash my face twice a day (after working out included), I try not to touch my face.
Sorry this was long, but I really appreciate it if you read this far. One of the best things that happened to me was clear skin, and the thought of having painful acne again makes me want to cry =[
effective weight loss tips?
how many times a week should i work out?
what kind of foods should i eat? (baked, grilled, sauteed, etc)
how often should i weigh myself?
i don't drink 8 glasses of water. instead i drink 2-3 1L bottles of Smart Water a day, is that okay?
Is it safe to drink juice? gatorade? vitamin water?
what key foods should i avoid during a diet?
how long should a diet last?
i feel that the answers to these questions would be my key to help me lose weight that i'd wanna lose.
another thing is, if i monitor my weight by keeping a log of my progress and foods i eat, how do i know the amount of calories i'm intaking?
for example; the foods we eat are normally homecooked so i wouldn't know what the calories of grilled steak, sauteed asparagus, with mashed potatoes and/or green beans is.
does chewing gum satisfy hunger cravings?
i'm quickly trying to get my eating habits back on track as i am going to be going back to school soon and beginning a job. if allowing to splurge, how often should be allowed? i have a thing for caffeine that i've been slowing breaking as well.
thanks for all advice! any extra tips are welcome.