Me, My Spots and I Newsbeat Documentaries


Me, My Spots and I

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Hey everyone, so I am Katie Snooks and you can normally find me here.

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I've suffered with acne for the last decade and honestly,

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it has controlled every single aspect of my life from my

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social life, dating, and also my self-confidence.

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I don't feel beautiful at all, my confidence is really low today.

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Until recently I finally had success.

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I have spent the last eight months vlogging my journey taking

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the sometimes controversial drug isotretinoin, more commonly

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The success rate is high but it's also hard to get.

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You can't get it from your GP and it took me a couple of years to get

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I recently finished my treatment and I just uploaded my last skin

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update on my Youtube channel and the transformation in my skin

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So I finally found a drug that cleared my skin but I want to know

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how other people deal with their acne but not just

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the treatments but how they deal with the emotional side,

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the self-confidence and the way you feel about being you.

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Time to catch a train, I'm off to Edinburgh.

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Libby and Lauren are taking me on a night out.

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Libby's tried roaccutane three times without success so now she's trying

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So the first time I went on it, it totally cleared up

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And then it just came back all of it, and I feel like it came

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You so you lived with perfect skin for a whole year?

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I wouldn't say perfect, I still had scarring from obviously

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the spots before but I was happy with my skin and that's

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like the only time in about eight years that I have actually been

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You are trying a new treatment now, can you tell me a bit about that?

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So it's a suction and laser treatment and they go

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around your skin and they suck the bacteria out and zap it

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with a laser to kill any leftover bacteria.

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What's the first step in your make-up regime?

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I always start with covering the majority of the redness with

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"This is BBC Radio 1, Saturday night, this is Danny Howard,

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a big shoutout to the girls getting ready for a massive

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Libby's training to be a beauty therapist and she says nights out

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like this are one of the times she feels most self-conscious

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You feel like the odd one out, like you stick

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Also I feel like sort of through the night

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like your make-up comes off, as well, like it's not as nice

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Do you feel like you completely let go on a night out regardless of how

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you're feeling about yourself at that particular time?

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If I have had enough drink, then yeah, but if I have not..

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I am with my friends and trying to enjoy myself.

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When I have a problem about anything I can always go to them,

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they're so nice about it, I love them.

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Do you feel like Libby at any point gets jealous of you and the friends

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that don't have acne and have never really suffered with it?

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I wouldn't say so, Libby's not like a jealous person,

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I do see she is not confident in her of herself

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Do you think her acne has held her back with dating

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As far as I have known her it's been school since we started there she's,

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I have never known her to have a boyfriend.

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Which is a real shame because there are so many other

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She's had acne the whole time you have known her.

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Never known her without and I just hope something does happen

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for her that she can gain her confidence back.

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She's not really dated many guys since I have been friends with her.

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Do you think that could be because of that?

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If Libby never looked good before she went out she wouldn't go.

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She would be like, I am not going out.

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Do you think her confidence has been affected by having acne?

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Sometimes we have to come in the morning without any make-up

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on and I think Libby is quite self-conscious coming out into

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college with absolutely no make-up on.

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If you are giving someone a facial with great skin

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but you have not great skin, so yeah definitely.

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So, it's been lovely to spend the evening

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with you and after spending the last couple of hours with you and your

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friends I've been thinking are you kind of pinning

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all your hopes on this current treatment that you're on?

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Yeah, I'd say I am just because the amount of money

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I've paid towards it, it's like my own savings

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But if it doesn't work, it doesn't work and I'll try something new.

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Hopefully not as expensive but I have noticed a difference

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in my skin and I have only had two treatments, so fingers crossed.

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It was lovely to meet Libby, but after meeting her it really

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dawned on me just how much she's spending on this acne treatment,

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it's costing her ?600 and that's on top of all the make-up she's

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I can relate to her so much and I really know how it feels

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to pin all your hopes on one acne treatment.

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I've taken one pill so it's kind of the first day but nothing's

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I'm very worried about these big ones all coming at the same time.

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That will be very painful and very unattractive.

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Day 18, I wasn't going to film today because I didn't feel like it

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but I thought I would be completely honest and show you guys.

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My skin hasn't been this bad in a really long time.

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I put so much hope and so much faith into every single thing I tried

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for acne and when things didn't work it just crushed me even more.

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I'm wondering what are the other solutions available

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So I've come to meet one of the UK's leading dermatologists.

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I met Libby a few days ago and she's tried roaccutane three times and it

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hasn't worked for her and now she's paying her own money for a new light

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therapy treatment which she's kind of pinning all her last hopes on.

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I was wondering if there are any other treatments left available

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I wouldn't say there's anything imminent that's going to topple

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roaccutane off its perch but there are particularly

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light-based treatments now that seem to be gaining more evidence

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For Libby, I think getting support from consultant dermatologists,

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either privately, if it's not possible, because the NHS

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is so burdened, would probably at least make her feel more

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So I've just finished my course of roaccutane

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before I started I was googling it and researching it an awful lot.

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There are a lot of kind of controversial things about

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Well, roaccutane is an extremely strong

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medication for acne, and acne is not a life-threatening disease.

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So it's always a matter of balancing up the

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pros and cons, but it doesn't come without risks and it's understanding

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the risks, informing the patients of the risks so they can

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make their own decision, but it can be extremely

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effective for people who have severe and/or stubborn acne.

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It's understanding what the risks are.

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Someone who knows all about those risks is Jessica.

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I'm off to third wheel her date night with boyfriend Brendan.

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Jess hasn't used roaccutane because she's been diagnosed with

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Dermatologists say the side-effects range from dry lips to,

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much more rarely, kidney damage and even mental health problems.

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We met at my dad and my stepmum's wedding.

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So I'm 22 now, so kind of all started when I was about 12.

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I'd get, like, really bad whiteheads on

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my face and my friends were like, let me pop your spot and I'd be like

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And I think forget, like, the physical side of

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Kind of worse on my shoulders but it does go down my

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back as well, and I like to call it bacne.

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See, they don't look too inflamed at the moment.

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It looks like scarring, but it has been worse in the past?

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How about when you first met, was that kind of awkward?

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I think I was a bit embarrassed, and especially

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I kind of, like, made a joke out of it but I think it was...

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And do you have any ways in particular to make yourself feel

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better whilst you're, like, really suffering with acne?

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Just, like, having somebody, having your friends

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and family and just know that they're always there.

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None of my friends, my family, my boyfriend,

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So spending time with them, and I just

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make sure that I use, like, a moisturiser.

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So, I just wanted to talk a little bit about how, kind of,

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Jessica's acne has affected your relationship at all?

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She does have low confidence sometimes, especially

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when wearing tops where her back's revealed, because she feels quite

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Has it ever, like, caused any friction in your

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relationship, her low self-confidence, because of her

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I've always been able to kind of notice when Jess has been quite

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So when she's been quite quiet or quite upset,

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I've approached her and spoken to her about it.

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It was really lovely to meet Jessica last night,

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and although she is feeling confident and happy

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concerned because I know from experience that if you have acne,

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it's always there in the back of your mind, no matter how many

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kind of smiles you can put on for the

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Supposed to be going out tonight and now I just don't...

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Not only is it breaking out, it's also so itchy and

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It becomes really infuriating and frustrating when girls with clear

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skin on social media, especially some of the ones I follow on Twitter

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and Snapchat, they're like, oh, I've got a spot,

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And they've got the tiniest, tiniest little spot you can't even see.

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I've got something going on with my eyes,

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It makes me want to gouge my eyes out.

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She got in touch with us about her acne.

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She's suffered with it for an awful long time.

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And we're also going to be meeting her son

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I'm unsure about how much he's going to talk to

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us about it, but let's go and have a chat.

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So your mum got in touch with us about her acne.

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I mean I think it's quite good that you're doing a

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documentary, because everyone can understand what it's like.

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Almost everyone has or suffers with acne at

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But when you're going through it kind of

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almost feels like you're the only one.

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I look at myself in a mirror and think, yeah, this is worse

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Because I don't really see, I don't look at other people

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specifically, I kind of just criticise myself for it.

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You sometimes wear make-up to cover your acne, can you tell me a bit

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about that? It comes as a bit of a shock at first, people are like, are

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you wearing make-up? Then everybody realises, what is the difference?

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All the girls in my year slather themselves in make-up as soon as

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they get a spot, at this stage I was, I think everyone could

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empathise with me and see why I was doing this, because I was in such a

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bad point. It made you feel better? It did. I covered it up, when I

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looked in error I did not look atrocious, I looked normal. Do you

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have any pictures, would you me having a look?

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George is 15 and it takes him real guts to show me these pictures.

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These back on holiday. As you can see, I look pretty bad. That is not

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at my worst. He is now on roaccutane butchering the camera photos up when

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he was not is a step too far. -- but sharing the camera photos. It looks

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really painful, your entire face is covered with quite big... It was

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quite bad, it was not just on my face, it was my back, my neck.

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Getting to sleep was a struggle. I would have to deal with my face in

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the day and my back at night. I'm sorry to say this but it also... It

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almost makes you look like a different person because the cysts

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are so big they kind of distort your face. I was quite swollen as well.

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Thank you so much for sharing me these pictures and board talking to

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me today, you are super in inspiring. I thought me and George

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had a unique story, we both have acne, we both have acne, we're both

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on roaccutane. The bias is showing the world has acne at its worst is

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too much for George, his mother has had decades to grow in confidence.

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Oh, my gosh! That was pretty much rock bottom. That was horrendous.

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How did... When you woke up every day, what did... Literally every

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time I looked in the mirror it changed, it was like it was moving

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around. It got worse and worse. When George was nearing the age when you

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started to get it, were you worried? I always said as soon as they got

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spots they would go to the doctors. Did it make you feel guilty? No,

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just sad. I can feel guilty, I have done nothing wrong but I feel sad, I

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feel for George that he has had to go through this and he has dealt

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with it really, really well. He is a very resilient kids.

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Seeing acne that bad has really touched a nerve. I can remember

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exactly how I used to feel when mine was that bad and it just isn't fair.

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You just want someone that you feel like you can turn to land will have

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answers for you. But obviously it does not happen with everyone. I was

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lucky enough to have found a dermatologist I could connect with.

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It got me thinking about Jessica, she has not really nailed any

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solutions despite putting on a brave face, so I have decided to put into

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each with a doctor. -- put her in touch with. I thought I would tell

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you a bit about myself. I am 22, I have had acne for about ten years

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now. I saw a dermatologist and was offered roaccutane but we decided it

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was not the best thing for me, so I was wondering if there were any

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alternatives. Every patient is different, I am meeting you for the

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first time but roaccutane may be a treatment option for someone with

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your skin type, but it is not just your skin, it is the emotional side

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and anxiety. There are lots of options. Do you think there will

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ever be a cure for acne? In many patients, roaccutane or isotretinoin

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can cure the acne, turn it off and it does not come back, but not all.

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We always live in hope of a cure. I have heard things about diet, skin

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care, that that affects acne. Is there any truth behind that? Whether

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or not one develops acne is pretty much genetically determined, but

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there are outside factors. Stress can trigger it, you need strategies

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to manage it so that you feel happy that it is acceptable and you are

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coping with the condition rather than its ruining your life. Thank

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you for talking to me. That is what it is all about. You

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finding ways to deal with and cope with the acne, rather than its

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controlling every aspect of your life. Somehow you have to finds a

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way to stay positive. I am really, really happy

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with how my skin's looking. For the first time in a real long

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time I am just using like a stick concealer foundation which I've

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never been able to do before because my skin's

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always been so blemished. Still really happy

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with it apart from this, Today is my last ever

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day of roaccutane. I am the happiest I've

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ever been within myself for a really long time,

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like ten since since I have had acne and I couldn't be happier,

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yeah, this is my skin, But the up with thing I've

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learned is that your skin So whatever stage of your acne

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journey you are on, you have got I am a keen photographer, it is for

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my degree is in. I wanted to do something to help the people I have

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met feel better. What were your thoughts about chatting to doctor

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Tamara? I feel more confident about talking to my doctor about seeing a

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dermatologist, she put my mind at rest and I might go on Rocky Tain.

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It is good you spoke to her, you have not spoken to anybody about

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your acne for awhile. About four years, it was nice for her to put my

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mind at rest. Cute! Big smile. Do you guys have one

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thing that you would say this one suffering with acne? Go to the

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doctor, if the doctor does not give you the answer you want, go to

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another and keep asking, as for a referral to the dermatologist if the

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medication is not working. You are never alone, there is always yells

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out there suffering, try to find someone to talk to, even if they do

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not have acne. Don't pick your spots, it leaves you

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with so many scars. Every time I get a new spot, I don't judge. Locale

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beautiful that is. Thanks. Do you like it? Yes.

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It has been amazing to meet so many inspiring people along this acne

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journey, who all have great ways of dealing with their acne to make

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themselves feel better. You can talk to your doctor and see what

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treatments are available, you can visit a dermatologist, listen to

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their advice and take it in because they are the experts. Whatever stage

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of your acne journey, there are still ways to feel great about

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yourself.

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