With my last post, I forgot to highlight that these meds don't go well with alcohol. So, today (1-9-14) is day 1 without alcohol, which will also benefit my waistline. ;) Plus, I'd believe my skin will clear up a bit on its own just because I'm not drinking. Not that I drink heavily, but I enjoy beer and good food. When I'm working out, I don't feel so guilty about it. But who am I kidding? I know in order to be the ME I want to be (physically, mentally, and emotionally), cutting alcohol intake won't hurt me (or anyone for that matter).
I'm guessing since tomorrow is Friday, I will want a beer. This could be more challenging than I think, but I'm all in. My overall health and my poor slaughtered (w/acne) face deserve the opportunity. I'll try to blog about it, if I can. School starts next week, so I won't make any promises.
BUT THIS IS MY OFFICIAL ATTEMPT AT 30 DAYS WITHOUT ALCOHOL. Let's see how twitchy (and bitter) I get. (Ha)
HERE SHE GOES...
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Damn ALL the adult acne...
So, over the past year or so, my facial complexion has decided to go haywire. I was beyond blessed with a good 8-10 years of "porcelain" skin complexion with maybe a few pimples MAX during that time of the month. I never knew hormones could change so much and take my face on a 180 turn. There have been times when I've counted more than 15 pimples, which is HORRIFYING on such a fair toned (aka pale-ass-white) complexion. This has been happening for longer than I can remember. It's a bitch because ya can't go out in public looking like this, but covering it in makeup only makes it harder to heal. I literally can't look people in the eye because I couldn't dare have them see the marks all over my skin. Initially, the clusters of redness and DAMN sore pimples began around my sideburn areas. Enough where I could cover most of it with my hair and feel a wee-bit better. Anyway...
Four months ago, when I started going back to the gym, I had high hopes this would work itself out. Cutting out Diet Pepsi was HUGE, and my increased water intake would surely clear this crud up fast. EIGHTY plus ounces of water a day, or so, and nothing. Course, I'm still giving myself fair reign at food for the most part, but I make much better choices. I also haven't cut back my weekly beers (which I should do, anyway). Beer cannot be a helpful factor in curing acne. In fact, it likely contributes to the misery. Damn you, beer! Why do you have to be so good? Ugh - I sound like a dude.
Anyway, four months into working out and eating (mostly) better, and my complexion appears to be getting worse. AWESOME-SAUCE. (I say that sarcasticly, because all I really want to do is scream at my face and tell all the zits to f*** off.)
Prior to going to the doctor two days ago, I tried numerous things such as: frequently washing my pillow cases, switching to mineral makeup, using a different cleanser, toner, and day/night moisturizers, washing my face with different temperatures, sleeping with my hands away from my face, actively trying not to EVER touch my face, etc. I think I mostly just pissed it off. Never in my life have I dealt with this, and WHY AT ALMOST 30?? Frack, man.
So, I realized this was having an effect on my self-esteem and confidence. This shit is making me depressed. My face thinks I'm a teenager, but my body is approaching 30. I am still single, and likely will stay that way if I can't get this taken care of. It's hard to find a mate when you can't look at someone. Odd, I know. Regardless of dating status, this is making me crazy. I get sad and pissed every time I look in the mirror. Hey look, A NEW FUCKING ZIT (or 3). Where the crap did THOSE come from, and why aren't they paying rent to take up that much space? Ugh.
Two days ago, I caved and went to the doctor. With the semester approaching next week, and the forced face-to-face necessity of going to class, I had to do something to put a stop to this. Dr. G wasn't available, so I saw another doc. He more or less said it's adult acne. (Yeah, I knew that!) What I didn't know was that it's also called Rosacea. The red spots clustered around my sideburn/upper cheek areas appeared to be a light form of Rosacea pics I found online. After looking at some of those, I'm blessed mine hasn't gotten that bad. I pray it never does. Anyway, so the doc prescribes me with Deoxycycline (high powered antibiotic) to kill the bacteria causing the acne from the inside, while applying the topical gel called Metrogel to the face twice a day. This gave me hope. I just want relief, and somewhat clear skin again. I know I lead a stressful life, but this shit makes it all the more stressful and it's just one thing I don't need on my plate. Turns out rosacea doesn't have a cure, but the symptoms are treatable. Let's pray it doesn't last long, and these meds work. The defeating part of all of this is both the doc and the pharmacist told me it could take 1-3 months before the meds really work and I see improvement. They also said "it could get worse before it gets better." How the hell do people wait months of using the gel and taking antibiotics just to pray for results?
I started to get truly defeated on day 1 of the meds. Doc said to take with food, but not foods high in calcium, protein, and metals (like iron). Pharmacist tells me to try to take this medication on an empty stomach because it won't absorb correctly if not. I was instructed that my daily breakfast banana would be fine because it's high in Potassium, which is good apparently. The next morning, I eat about 70% of a banana and down about 16oz of water with my first 100mg deoxy pill. No more than about 45 minutes, I was puking outside the door of my car and leading a trail of puke to my front door. I puked for a good 20 minutes in the bathroom, and ended up pulling some weird muscles in my back. I couldn't believe how violent that was. To top it off, I'd only had a banana, so my body was turning itself inside-out trying to come up with stuff to throw up. Dry heaves are so awful. Lesson learned...? EAT WITH WAY MORE FOOD NEXT TIME. To be honest, I wanted to say "screw it" right then, but I'm desperate for this to work.
That day, I went back to the pharmacist for my special-ordered Metrogel and told her about my toilet-hovering morning and she suggested maybe I take it 15 minutes after dinner each night. That way my stomach is fully coated with other stuff and the pill can't murder my insides again (hopefully). Apparently, foods can leach the antibiotic from fully absorbing into the body. I'm thinking a little bit is better than nothing, and NOT turning into the puking queen of Zitville would be awesome. Just doesn't sound appealing, ya know?
So, today I decided to take the pill about 15 minutes after dinner. It's been almost a full 2 hours, and I feel fine....just tired. Apparently, laying down within 1-1.5 hours of this medicine is also bad news bears, so I'm sitting up writing this in hopes of not screwing up any more esophagial lining this week. Puking is no bueno.
I am truly hoping for these meds to work, and for my face to clear up at least 50%. A handful of zits is plenty to stress about, but when your complexion has declared full-on war, it's an unbelievable self-esteem suck. Keeping my fingers crossed that this $1000 set of prescriptions (thankfully only $130 with insurance) actually works.
On a side note, I also purchased Proactiv Toner as my next trial stage if nothing else works. Please God let something work.
And hormones....you can just calm the f*** down right meow.
....'Til next time, folks.
Four months ago, when I started going back to the gym, I had high hopes this would work itself out. Cutting out Diet Pepsi was HUGE, and my increased water intake would surely clear this crud up fast. EIGHTY plus ounces of water a day, or so, and nothing. Course, I'm still giving myself fair reign at food for the most part, but I make much better choices. I also haven't cut back my weekly beers (which I should do, anyway). Beer cannot be a helpful factor in curing acne. In fact, it likely contributes to the misery. Damn you, beer! Why do you have to be so good? Ugh - I sound like a dude.
Anyway, four months into working out and eating (mostly) better, and my complexion appears to be getting worse. AWESOME-SAUCE. (I say that sarcasticly, because all I really want to do is scream at my face and tell all the zits to f*** off.)
Prior to going to the doctor two days ago, I tried numerous things such as: frequently washing my pillow cases, switching to mineral makeup, using a different cleanser, toner, and day/night moisturizers, washing my face with different temperatures, sleeping with my hands away from my face, actively trying not to EVER touch my face, etc. I think I mostly just pissed it off. Never in my life have I dealt with this, and WHY AT ALMOST 30?? Frack, man.
So, I realized this was having an effect on my self-esteem and confidence. This shit is making me depressed. My face thinks I'm a teenager, but my body is approaching 30. I am still single, and likely will stay that way if I can't get this taken care of. It's hard to find a mate when you can't look at someone. Odd, I know. Regardless of dating status, this is making me crazy. I get sad and pissed every time I look in the mirror. Hey look, A NEW FUCKING ZIT (or 3). Where the crap did THOSE come from, and why aren't they paying rent to take up that much space? Ugh.
Two days ago, I caved and went to the doctor. With the semester approaching next week, and the forced face-to-face necessity of going to class, I had to do something to put a stop to this. Dr. G wasn't available, so I saw another doc. He more or less said it's adult acne. (Yeah, I knew that!) What I didn't know was that it's also called Rosacea. The red spots clustered around my sideburn/upper cheek areas appeared to be a light form of Rosacea pics I found online. After looking at some of those, I'm blessed mine hasn't gotten that bad. I pray it never does. Anyway, so the doc prescribes me with Deoxycycline (high powered antibiotic) to kill the bacteria causing the acne from the inside, while applying the topical gel called Metrogel to the face twice a day. This gave me hope. I just want relief, and somewhat clear skin again. I know I lead a stressful life, but this shit makes it all the more stressful and it's just one thing I don't need on my plate. Turns out rosacea doesn't have a cure, but the symptoms are treatable. Let's pray it doesn't last long, and these meds work. The defeating part of all of this is both the doc and the pharmacist told me it could take 1-3 months before the meds really work and I see improvement. They also said "it could get worse before it gets better." How the hell do people wait months of using the gel and taking antibiotics just to pray for results?
I started to get truly defeated on day 1 of the meds. Doc said to take with food, but not foods high in calcium, protein, and metals (like iron). Pharmacist tells me to try to take this medication on an empty stomach because it won't absorb correctly if not. I was instructed that my daily breakfast banana would be fine because it's high in Potassium, which is good apparently. The next morning, I eat about 70% of a banana and down about 16oz of water with my first 100mg deoxy pill. No more than about 45 minutes, I was puking outside the door of my car and leading a trail of puke to my front door. I puked for a good 20 minutes in the bathroom, and ended up pulling some weird muscles in my back. I couldn't believe how violent that was. To top it off, I'd only had a banana, so my body was turning itself inside-out trying to come up with stuff to throw up. Dry heaves are so awful. Lesson learned...? EAT WITH WAY MORE FOOD NEXT TIME. To be honest, I wanted to say "screw it" right then, but I'm desperate for this to work.
That day, I went back to the pharmacist for my special-ordered Metrogel and told her about my toilet-hovering morning and she suggested maybe I take it 15 minutes after dinner each night. That way my stomach is fully coated with other stuff and the pill can't murder my insides again (hopefully). Apparently, foods can leach the antibiotic from fully absorbing into the body. I'm thinking a little bit is better than nothing, and NOT turning into the puking queen of Zitville would be awesome. Just doesn't sound appealing, ya know?
So, today I decided to take the pill about 15 minutes after dinner. It's been almost a full 2 hours, and I feel fine....just tired. Apparently, laying down within 1-1.5 hours of this medicine is also bad news bears, so I'm sitting up writing this in hopes of not screwing up any more esophagial lining this week. Puking is no bueno.
I am truly hoping for these meds to work, and for my face to clear up at least 50%. A handful of zits is plenty to stress about, but when your complexion has declared full-on war, it's an unbelievable self-esteem suck. Keeping my fingers crossed that this $1000 set of prescriptions (thankfully only $130 with insurance) actually works.
On a side note, I also purchased Proactiv Toner as my next trial stage if nothing else works. Please God let something work.
And hormones....you can just calm the f*** down right meow.
....'Til next time, folks.
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