Acne medications - my personal review of 10 of them
Benzoyl peroxide + Retinoic Acid
Dose/Duration: Applied AM & PM for over a year
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: No
Side Effects: Dry skin
Effect on acne: Minimal but some
Bottom line: Get some if your acne isn't bad or you want to try something OTC first.
B5
Dose/Duration: 10,000mg /day for 4 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: No
Side Effects: None
Effect on acne: None
Bottom line: Waste of money
Dalacin + Desquam cream
Dose/Duration: Applied AM & PM for ~2 years
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Treatment
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: Dry skin
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: I used this cream when I was younger, a pharmacist made it up for me, it helped some by drying out the applied area.
Pro-Active solutions
Dose/Duration: Applied AM & PM for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: No
Side Effects: Dry skin
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: Only thing I've ever purchased off an infomercial... it dried out the acne, reduced it a little but didn't do a much better job than simple Oxypads and it's much more expensive. Not worth it.
Tetracycline
Dose/Duration: 500mg 2x a day for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: None
Effect on acne: Decrease in acne for 1st month, came back for following 2 months of the treatment until it was discontinued
Bottom line: Waste of time, and not recommended for bodybuilders since its effectiveness is greatly decreased when food is present in the stomach.
Erythromycin
Dose/Duration: 500mg 2x a day for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: Upset stomach after taking it
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: Not much better than Tetracycline, wouldn't recommend it to anyone.
Doxycycline
Dose/Duration: 50mg 3x a day - discontinued within a week
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: Made me severly nausous with or without food
Effect on acne: N/A
Bottom line: Didn't agree with my stomach.
Clindamycin
Dose/Duration: 100mg 3x a day
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: None
Effect on acne: Minimal
Bottom line: Wouldn't do it again or recommend it, very little result.
Minocycline
Dose/Duration: 50mg 3x a day for 3-6 months (in progress)
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: Change in skin pigment, makes my skin appear very red.
Effect on acne: Segnificant so far
Bottom line: I was skeptical after so many other anti-biotics have failed to help me but this one has worked very well so far, my skin is 100% clear at the moment and staying that way. I'm about 4 weeks into the treatment right now, I'm perscribed 3 months worth and the Doc told me I could go 6 months if it works for me. Recommended.
Accutane
Dose/Duration: 60mg /day for 6 months, 70mg /day for 6 months, 20mg /day for 3 months
Preventative/Treatment/Both: Both
Perscription: Yes
Side Effects: Dry skin, cracked/bleeding lips, dry/bleeding nose, dry eyes, severe sensitivity to the sun at high doses, requires monthly blood tests for liver function
Effect on acne: Extremely effective, clears me up with in 1 month and stays that way, a couple months after treatment ends acne often returns but is reduced in severity each time.
Bottom line: Highly recommended to anyone whos tried everything else, but start at a low dose, 70mg was hell for me with the dryness and sun burns, 60mg was tolerable, just finished 20mg a month ago and that was very effective with almost no sides. But its VERY expensive if you do not have a medical plan, I don't know how it works in the states but if you're Canadian its likely it'll be covered, mine was free.