I’m joking, no I’m actually serious.
I have suffered from acne since the age of 13. It’s probably been one of them the hardest things I have had to battle and overcome. Acne is something that’s always frowned upon, people start to question you and what you are doing ‘wrong’ it’s so hard to deal with something you have NO control over.
I tried everything and when I mean everything, I mean absolutely EVERY DAMN THING. I started to eat clean, drink water constantly, cut out rubbish and bad foods and fizzy pop. The water helped but my acne was always hormonal and still is. I was offered the drug Accutane (Roaccutane) as some may know it as. I was aged 17 and offered that drug to help with my acne. At that time I refused as I was genuinely too scared to take something that has a lot of side effects and if I could go back and change my decision I wouldn’t. At the age of 16+ your hormones are all over the place, you are at school and you just want to be accepted, which is something that can cause you to feel alone and isolated. That’s why a drug at that age is definitely a no no and I wouldn’t recommend anyone to take it until you are at a suitable age to deal with your emotions to a certain extent and to differentiate between the drug changing your emotions and hormonal balance and you, yourself.
My acne was pretty bad, it started all over my forehead and starting to spread down to my cheeks and chin. It was pretty painful, I tried a lot of home remedies and creams/masks but nothing helped me. At the age of 23 I decided to finally give Accutane a go. I was so scared but I knew I had to do it. It was taking over my life, I wouldn’t open the door without a full face of makeup. I wouldn’t go out without makeup on. Before I decided to go for the treatment I promised myself I would at least stop wearing makeup for a period of time to see how I cope. So I did it, for a year I stopped wearing makeup outside and inside the house. I only wore makeup on special occasions and it genuinely boosted my confidence a lot. For someone who loves makeup and wore it whenever she possibly could, I couldn’t have felt happier. I was makeup free and I felt much better within myself and my confidence was at an all time high. I thought people would treat me differently without makeup and I assumed people would think I’m ugly. But at first I did get a few people look at me weirdly, but after a while I got used to it and so did everyone else. I became less reliant on makeup and more reliant on myself and my healthy state of mind.
Being 23, armed with a lot of wisdom and maturity (I hope lol). I decided to go ahead and get a GP referral for Accutane. I went in without makeup and was seen by a consultant and a student nurse. I was sceptical about trying the treatment and asked questions about how it can affect your mental health and how you should be careful and always be monitored on the drug.
I was told I will need to have a six month course of the drug for it to work on me. This is when my whole skin care changed completely.
Until the next post,
WITHLOVEMONA 