My kid had pretty bad acne on the upper chest and back. The dermatologist prescribed a regimen that includes a cleanser in the AM (I unfortunately don't remember exactly what it is) and benzoyl peroxide wash in the evening every day, and Retin-A (tretinoin) three times per week plus a short course of oral antibiotics. It's been a little over a month so far, and it's working really well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13yo DS is not responding to otc options and I want to get ahead of it before it becomes too serious. He has an appointment with the doc next week but was wondering what is out there that works. I took accutane in my late teens and I’m not sure if it still had those awful side effects and don’t feel comfortable with this just yet.

That's how my 15yr. old started 2 years ago. Terrible acne and nothing worked. 4 months ago he was finally put on Accutane, no side effects except dry lips. He drinks lots of water.

He has cystic acne and some scaring but he's not hiding his face with his hoddies anymore!

Exact same story here.

How long does it take? My DD is 7 weeks in and frankly it looks worse now. And she still picks her skin...

We're on month 4 (60mg.) now and yes, it got worse before it got better, He recently stopped having new breakouts. His chest is clean and back is almost all gone.

He's so happy. He was in so much pain, mentally and physically. He's 15yrs. old.

Besides dry lips, he's now having some sore muscles, lower back and legs...but that could also be from sitting on the computer all day long and then playing soccer.

Still a happy boy!

OP, has your son tried Retin-A yet? Azelex? Your post mentions OTC, but in the US Retin-A and 20% Azelex (azelaic acid) are by prescription only. The Retin-A gel worked really well for me when I was younger.
There are a whole slew of non-anti-biotic retinoids that can be tried before Accutane.

Hi, OP. I posted earlier about a daughter who used Accutane. But she was 15 almost 16 when she started, so older than your kid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:13yo DS is not responding to otc options and I want to get ahead of it before it becomes too serious. He has an appointment with the doc next week but was wondering what is out there that works. I took accutane in my late teens and I’m not sure if it still had those awful side effects and don’t feel comfortable with this just yet.

That's how my 15yr. old started 2 years ago. Terrible acne and nothing worked. 4 months ago he was finally put on Accutane, no side effects except dry lips. He drinks lots of water.

He has cystic acne and some scaring but he's not hiding his face with his hoddies anymore!

Exact same story here.

How long does it take? My DD is 7 weeks in and frankly it looks worse now. And she still picks her skin...

My ds is 15 yrs old. He just started month 4 of accutane, like PP his dr increased the dose to 60mg at month 3 and that is when he started seeing results. He still has a lot of acne but it is so much better. His skin looked awful for months 1 and 2 and he developed a lot of scarring because the accutane hadn’t kicked in yet but he had to be off all face creams, minocyclin, etc once he went on accutane (actually the minocyclin had to even stop a month prior to accutane use).

My 16-year-old had very very bad cystic acne. He did Epiduo forte and one other topical medication that seem to help a lot. We never went to Accutane because as he got older the cystic acne seem to stop. He’s now left with some scars but no new breakouts. We were never going to be able to use Accutane as he’s on other medication for which is not a good idea to mix. My 13-year-old currently uses a prescription Clindomyosin. She is allergic to benzoyl peroxide and Clindomyosin so far is the only thing that is working for her. She also uses a cleanser that is benzoyl peroxide free and a moisturizer from the Laroche Posey line. Her acne is not cystic though.

Isolaz ...two treatments in and vast improvement in 14 year old’s acne. Wish we’d done it earlier. The Clindomaycin alone wasn’t enough. We know two families with teens who tried to commit suicide on Accutane (depression is a side effect) and DH refuses to go that route