Acne + Shame

Yes, acne made me shameful. 3 years ago I had to have 2 surgeries in 1 year. It was a very stressful time in my life. I have always had acne but never as bad as it was 3 years ago. Your body needs sleep, hydration and love. When you do those things (not perfect - perfection doesn't exist) as best you can it shows in your skin. Well, I wasn't sleeping or managing my stress well. I was drinking lots of coffee and my skin was angry with me. I was so uncomfortable with myself. I hated looking in the mirror. It was ugly cystic acne. I was ashamed of being 30 something with acne.

I started researching, reading, searching for something that would help. I ended up going to a dermatologist and getting ACCUTANE. Yep......I started Accutane. It was very expensive and very drying to my skin. At the end of my 5 month treatment my acne got a little better but didn't go away. The more I stressed about the acne the more acne I got.

I started to cut back on the caffeine.I went from 8 cups to 2 and stopped drinking it after 12pm. I started sleeping more. Drinking more water and eating better and my skin got a little better. Fast forward to today. When I don't sleep well and have a stressful situation my skin flares up. I am working on finding a better way to deal with or manage stress. I am working on having a strategy.

Life is full of stress. Traffic, bills, broken acrylic nails, wrinkled clothes, surgery, running out of coffee! I can't be overwhelmed by it. I can do what I can do and trust God to fill in the blanks. Acne is a thing but it's not the only thing. I am beautiful no matter what! I am enough. Thank you friend. Have a blessed day.