Anonymous wrote:Avi clear costed 2500.00 out of pocket. It cleared about 65% of DS acne. We decided to go ahead as he was not a candidate for accutane. It does not happen overnight, there is a purge time, and now we are at almost his 6th month mark. There has been a significant decreased in oil production.

Anonymous wrote:These people posting about Proactiv are obviously not familiar with cystic acne. Proactiv is for people who get occasional superficial zits.

I’m sorry your son is dealing with this OP. I did two rounds of accutane as a teen and then needed it again in my twenties. My face is scarred from acne. My daughter has had positive results with Winlevi, although her acne isn’t cystic.

Best of luck to you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD has had success using a B5 supplement daily. It took about a month, but her skin cleared up quite well. She has also started to add chikory root to her diet (inulin). Apparently it's a prebiotic that is good for gut health and therefore skin

This is OP. Thanks for all of the support and ideas. DS is going to do two more months of accutane at a low dose, and the derm does not want him to go beyond that (8 months total).

To the above poster, why does B5 help acne? Also DS has been taking a high quality refrigerated probiotic for years, and the whole time he has been on accutane we bumped it to two capsules a day since accutane can mess with the gut. This does not seem to have any effect on his acne.

He’s tried cutting dairy before and it hasn’t made a difference in his acne. He hasn’t tried cutting sugar but as a teen it is hard to get him to commit to large diet changes unless “required” (like an allergy).

My understanding is that B5 reduces/thins the oils that the sebaceous glands produce (which are what clogs the pores). The chicory root is actually a prebiotic which gives the probiotic something to feed on.

I buy the Now brand of Pantothenic Acid and Swanson Inulin on Amazon. The inulin, I mix with a Activia yogurt each morning. We also cut down on dairy and started using silk pillowcases that I change frequently. It has been a life changer

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Accurate does not address the root cause of acne. First thing, eliminate all seed oils from his diet. All. Of. Them. Seed oils are in everything that is processed and almost all fast and restaurant food.
Second, decrease or eliminate oxalate in his diet. For the Live of God, don’t let him have spinach or almond milk, those two are among the highest in oxalate.
Third, consider a an aminos based diet.

Try these three things for one week, your son will see results.

I’m sure spinach is a major cause of acne.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD has had success using a B5 supplement daily. It took about a month, but her skin cleared up quite well. She has also started to add chikory root to her diet (inulin). Apparently it's a prebiotic that is good for gut health and therefore skin

This is OP. Thanks for all of the support and ideas. DS is going to do two more months of accutane at a low dose, and the derm does not want him to go beyond that (8 months total).

To the above poster, why does B5 help acne? Also DS has been taking a high quality refrigerated probiotic for years, and the whole time he has been on accutane we bumped it to two capsules a day since accutane can mess with the gut. This does not seem to have any effect on his acne.

He’s tried cutting dairy before and it hasn’t made a difference in his acne. He hasn’t tried cutting sugar but as a teen it is hard to get him to commit to large diet changes unless “required” (like an allergy).

My understanding is that B5 reduces/thins the oils that the sebaceous glands produce (which are what clogs the pores). The chicory root is actually a prebiotic which gives the probiotic something to feed on.

Anonymous wrote:My DC is currently on accutane and will be on it at least 8 months. We are on month 7. We are going to Tamjidi Skin Institute. I know people are saying it's toxic, but acne was impacting my kid's mental health. If you want to try lasers, which does work IMO, I recommend Nova Medical Skin Care in Falls Church. Dr. Sheik is amazing. Her prices are also reasonable.

Anonymous wrote:Accurate does not address the root cause of acne. First thing, eliminate all seed oils from his diet. All. Of. Them. Seed oils are in everything that is processed and almost all fast and restaurant food.
Second, decrease or eliminate oxalate in his diet. For the Live of God, don’t let him have spinach or almond milk, those two are among the highest in oxalate.
Third, consider a an aminos based diet.

Try these three things for one week, your son will see results.

Anonymous wrote:Stating the number of months on accutane isn’t a way to compare with what others are doing, because the cummulative dose is what matters - as said upthread, some doctors prescribe a course of treatment low and slow and others do shorter and higher, usually depending on how the patient tolerates side effects. For those saying that their child is on accutane 8-9 months, are they exceeding the “suggested” cummulative dose? My understanding is that is necessary sometimes- perhaps in the case of OP’s teen.

Anonymous wrote:I took accutane back in the day and it eventually worked for me. My current derm office has a skin spa attached to it and I was able to get medical facials approved by my insurance and I think it cut down on scarring that I had leftover from the acne. I wonder if that in conjunction with the accutane might get better results for your son because the medical facials are supposed to cut down on red spots as well as reduce scarring. I saw lots of teens with acne in the waiting room for the facials. And a friend of mine with significant cystic acne responded well to the medical facials.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if they put males on spirolactin. But it is considered another effective treatment due to higher testosterone levels (maybe just in females) it can be taken forever with regular blood monitoring (every three months).

they emphatically do not - but there is a $500 / tube topical version of this same drug that is new and created essentially for males. Spironolactone messes with the male endocrine systems so it's a no-go

I'm a woman who takes Spiro and I have never had regular blood monitoring, even when I first started it years ago. I have blood work done once a year as part of an annual physical but that's it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not sure if they put males on spirolactin. But it is considered another effective treatment due to higher testosterone levels (maybe just in females) it can be taken forever with regular blood monitoring (every three months).

they emphatically do not - but there is a $500 / tube topical version of this same drug that is new and created essentially for males. Spironolactone messes with the male endocrine systems so it's a no-go

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD has had success using a B5 supplement daily. It took about a month, but her skin cleared up quite well. She has also started to add chikory root to her diet (inulin). Apparently it's a prebiotic that is good for gut health and therefore skin

This is OP. Thanks for all of the support and ideas. DS is going to do two more months of accutane at a low dose, and the derm does not want him to go beyond that (8 months total).

To the above poster, why does B5 help acne? Also DS has been taking a high quality refrigerated probiotic for years, and the whole time he has been on accutane we bumped it to two capsules a day since accutane can mess with the gut. This does not seem to have any effect on his acne.

He’s tried cutting dairy before and it hasn’t made a difference in his acne. He hasn’t tried cutting sugar but as a teen it is hard to get him to commit to large diet changes unless “required” (like an allergy).