I have always suffered from acne. Before i started the treatment with prednisone, i had mild acne on my face and back. After around 7 months of taking high doses of prednisone my face ended up looking horrible, and not only my face, i also got acne on my chest, soulders, arms and neck. So i really feel sad about this, what worries me mainly is of course the pain, but i do feel ashamed about my arms, people look at them all surprised because of the terrible acne i have on them. It is still a bit hot where i live, but i decide to stop wearing sleeveless tops because of this.

I went to see a dermatologist and she recommended i take one out of two treatments:

1. Racoutane, a retinoid, which apparently is very effective. but i have heard that it is potentially dangerous for the liver and for so many things. Some people even beleive it can be related to some autoimmune disease. I really don't want to find out and have my health problems worsen. So i discartted this.
2. The second option she gave me was hormonal treatment. I have always been irregular with my menstrual period and i suffer from polycystic ovary. A gynechologist once told me this could be solved by taking hormones. The dermatologist said it would not only help the polycystic ovary, but also my skin. So this option sounded better.

After that i went to the GNC and i asked the guy there if they carried anything for acne, i meant topycal, but he started telling me i should take selenium and folic acid supplements, according to him acne is caused by the lack of these vitamins... So then i come to the forum and Mrs D tells me prednisone depletes some vitamins (among which are Bs and Selenium), so i made a connection there, and i kind of made a relation between vitamin deplation and prednisone. I came to the web and started looking for articles that explained why prednisone caused acne, but didn't find any. Today my period started and i am supposed to start with the hormone treatment today, but i am wondering if this is unecessary and i could be benefited from the vitamins. I am a little reluctant to taking the hormonal treatment because i beleive i am already giving my body a lot. Do you think i could possibly have my acne improved my taking supplements or you beleive i should give the hormonal treatment a try?

Thank you!!

By the way, i forgot to say this, sorry for posting this that is off topic, but i think you can help me here.

One of the main staple treatments used for it is hormones most often in the form of birth-control pills. There are some new ones out that are used to especially treat acne, etc.

With the PCOS you have a hormonal imbalance to begin with...along with insulin resistance if I remember correctly. I have a daughter with PCOS. Seems to be hereditary as her aunt (my late husband's youngest sister, has it also).

PS: Of course the vitamins can't hurt and may even make a huge difference for you. What do you have to lose? BTW, my daughter with PCOS has always had problems with Acne.

is complex. There is a PCOS board I'd suggest you visit.

Acne from PCOS is typically due to imbalance of hormones and androgen.
http://forums.obgyn.net/pcos/
The forum there is a little hard to navigate, but there are many responses there that discuss the various treatment interventions.

I had PCOS, and it affected my ability to have children. I managed one
pregnancy, and this was before PCOS was understood. I never had acne from it, but I did have other problems.
PCOS is a somewhat beyond this board. There are many other good sites on
the net if you google it.

I think you need a good endocrinologist (hormone specialist) with the complex effects that Prednisone caused for you.

Flax oil, and evening primrose may help with the acne. Low EFA status is typically common in acne. Low Folic acid and zinc as well.
I would caution you against retinol drugs as treatment. They work on the acne but disrupt your EFA metabolism terribly. The tradeoff is worse than with Prednisone. Triglycerides go dangerously high, and the brain is depleted of DHA which is a vital EFA, and depression results. Accutane in USA it is called and has been under scrutiny for years here. It is a very dangerous drug IMO.
This is a list of side effects possible for Accutane (retinol)
It can cause Guillain-Barre syndrome and neuropathy:
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/328/7455/1537

This drug affects fat metabolism, and destroys nerve sheaths esp in the eye, but also elsewhere in the brain.
I'd stay away from it, as you already have nerve problems.

Accutane is the cause according to many people on the dry eye board that I frequent. They took Accutane for acne and wound up with dry eye that has altered their life too.

Billye

Thank you all, be sure i won't take that horrible drug.

Hi Monica:

I might be thrashed severely for posting this, but maybe this might help you...

I am also on Prednisone and have to deal with skin problems too, especially bad and very painful in the scalp sometimes. I have no idea why it causes acne, but wonder if the hormone connection could be a possibility. When it comes out on my face, it just sits there red and VERY sore.

I am on Doxycycline nearly all of the time, and also oral Nystatin. The antibiotic helps keep the skin and GI problems down, the oral Nystatin helps keep down candida in the GI tract, from too many antibiotics and also too much Prednisone...

I almost hate to post this, since long term antibiotics are not ideal to be on. I have been on PLENTY of others. This though also seems to have some effect on on my ability to reduce my Prednisone. I can only hope that I am not killing my liver...

I think my Dermatologist put me on this first, but I cannot remember.

Cathie

Cathie thank you for your info. I think i am going to wait a little longer and see if acne jus goes away. I also think prednisone has some effect on hormones, since it also makes body hair grow. I was on antibiotics for almost a year (tetracycline), they didn't help much. Besides the neuro told me it is not a good idea to take antibiotics if you just been put IVIG. He said i could get a urinary infection. I have no idea why but that's what he said. i think the hormone approach is bette (taking contraceptives). What do you think?

Jeez... After reading the side effects above, I wonder if there is anything these days that is safe to take...

I don't know about the contraceptives and their effects on acne or the safety of the types that would be prescribed for this. I have not taken any hormones of any type for several years. I know that long term antibiotics are not good, but this was the only thing that helped with the acne.

It is really embarrassing to have acne when you are postmenopausal...

Cathie

Hi Cathie:

I only had acne once in my life, and I did the most stupid thing ever known to man. I was 14, a freshman in high school and I had on stupid pimple on my face. What did I do?? I went and bought Clearsil.. Do they still make this stuff??

It came in two varieties. One was clear, and one was flesh colored to cover the pimple. Well, I stupidly bought the flesh colored one. Let's say I had a small pimple on Monday. Started the Clearasil. On Tuesday, the pimple got bigger, I put some more Clearsil on. Kept doing that for 3 days. By Friday, the pimple was the size of a half dollar and was so apparent, I just kept putting more Clearsil on it. What the heck did I know?

I was sitting in class when the nun looked at my face and sent me to see the school nurse. I had no idea why she did this. I walked in and she looked at me and said 'Oh my god, what have you done?" I said 'what are you talking about??" she said 'You have a first degree burn on your face". (Now we are talking over 45 years ago, so she might have said 3rd degree burn, I have no idea". All I know is I was sent immediatly home with some salve and told "NEVER USE CLEARASIL AGAIN".

I had actually burned my face.

jeezz. The stuff we do at 14!!!

(sorry to hijack this, won't do it again)

Uff, fortunately that tihng is not sold anymore Melody (at least not here). Otherwise i may have used it, i hae tried almost everything for acne.... but i has been clearing a bit, i guess it is just a matter of time.