Acne meds?

[kernelmom3]

DS (15 yr old) never had ANY pimples, acne, etc. until he started Prednisone. He was started on 60 mg and immediately started getting BAD acne on his face, chest, and back. By bad I mean inflammatory/cystic acne. I'm thinking it's a combo of the Prednisone, finally getting normal growth and hormones/puberty finally catching up. He has finally tapered down from 60 mg to 5 mg daily and he'll be off totally in 2 weeks (crossing fingers) but the acne hasn't gotten much better. He started using Clindamycin gel twice a day but it hasn't done much. His GP says next step is antibiotic but I don't want to cause problems with his GI tract now that we're finally getting it under control (knock wood). Anyone here take meds/creams/gels for cystic acne that help and don't cause GI issues?

 

[Catherine]

Look at the topic antibotics first.

 

[crohnsinct]

BTDT There area ton of natural remedies touted on the internet also. My daughter had good luck with Aloe products, coconut oil, just plain old upping her water intake etc. WE tried to stay away from systemic antibiotics as much as possible. We did however do creams.

 

[my little penguin]

Plus once he is off pred for a bit -the acne should get better if it is pred induced
I would try to get to a dermo

 

[Sascot]

We just went through this. My son had terrible acne - cysts, bleeding, lots of spots. He is doing well Crohns wise so I was terrified to give him the antibiotics.
One of the lovely people on this forum suggested Cetaphil cleansing lotion which I gave a try. What a difference - he still has quite a few spots but it isn't inflamed any more, hardly any cysts and very little bleeding now. So glad to have avoided the antibiotics. Worth a try, it took about 2 weeks to start working. I put it all over the spots before his shower then he just rinses it off.

 

[Mehita]

My son has been washing with Cetaphil every night, coconut oil for moisture, and then spot treats the big ones with tea tree oil. It has done wonders. He doesn't have cystic acne though, so this regime might not work for your son.

Another boy in our town struggled with cystic acne from taking pred for his Crohn's but once he stopped the pred, he cleared up.