There are Drugs to Fix Acne! What!?!?

I got a bad case of acne not too long after I got glasses. So if you get the picture, they were glasses in the late 80's that covered half of my face while magnifying my acne problem. My glasses were big until I got contacts at 14. Many of you know what I'm talking about because you had the giant clown glasses that magnified your acne too. I digress...not really those glasses were traumatic.

Anyways back to acne. I tried everything over the counter treatment from Stridex pads to tinted creams to help cover them up. I tried cutting out cheese, and chocolate and everything else the beauty magazines said caused acne. That's when I discovered that they were all full of baloney. Because I still had a problem and I didn't have my favorite comfort foods. So not only was looking at my face causing misery, I had nothing to superficially treat that misery.

After I was allowed to start wearing makeup, I found that liquid foundations and bases and concealers just seemed to draw more attention to the problem rather than hide them. Maybe it was all in my head but to me it was the absolute worst problem in the world. Thinking back, I know I didn't have the worst case of my classmates, but again I was the center of my own world so I had the worst problem EVER!!!

So I found a liquid to powder makeup that I liked and seemed to not overly draw attention to my problem. I believe this was my freshman year in high school, so I'd suffered for more than 3 years by that time. So this makeup had Noxzema in it. Turns out, I'm allergic to Noxzema. I got a rash on my face mostly around my mouth. So I went to the doctor and was referred to a dermatologist. This was where I was about to learn my lesson.

You might think the dermatologist would tell me that there are drugs to clear up acne, but he didn't. I'm guessing that the rash was bad enough to minimize the acne problem. So he gave me a prescription for tetracycline and sent me on my way. Well it worked. And I noticed that as long as I was on it my acne seemed to be cleared up too!! What you mean there's a miracle cure for zits?!?!! What The!!!!! why didn't I know about this before???? Who knew??? Was there this big conspiracy to keep this from me?!?!?!

Needless to say I went back to my doctor and told him my revelation and asked for drugs. And he obliged. That pretty much got me through high school and college. I finally outgrew it more or less. I still have a problem now and then, but nothing like I had back then so I can handle it. After I got on drugs I found out some of my other classmates had been on drugs almost from the minute they got their first zit because their parents took them straight to the doctor so they could avoid the awkwardness of being a pizza face along with the big clown glasses. And for some braces too. I guess I should look on the bright side, I didn't have braces. But I always thought they were cool back then. All the cool kids had braces. Not me. Sigh. I guess I can remember wanting glasses before I got them. But I never ever once said to myself "I'd like a nasty bad case of acne all over the place!! All the cool kids have it. I want it too!!!" Never once did that thought cross my mind.

I had a hard time looking boys I had crushes on in the eye because I assumed all they saw was the infestation on my face. How could they not? That's all I saw!! Oh and the cute girls with clear skin bitching about their one or two zits that they got once a month in the bathroom mirror to you. How rude were they?!?! Thank God for drugs!!! While I still had an awkward high school life, it wasn't so much due to the incessant outbreak on my face. I'm over it now. But you can bet if we have kids I'll take them to the doctor as soon as we see a problem. They'll probably not inherit my bad skin though and will have perfectly clear skin, and I will grow to resent them rather than live vicariously through them. So they're destined to be screwed up and they aren't even born. So they don't need the burden of acne to top it off.