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I had become tired of the tedious routine and the constant roller coaster of skin irritation from the topical medications.

I also felt like my acne was going into remission because my major trouble areas (chin, forehead, & neck) were staying clear more consistently.

This led me again, as in 2000, to be more outgoing and social which caused me to start frequently missing doses of the minocycline oral antibiotic until I just simply stopped taking them.

My face still felt oily and greasy most of the time, especially in the humid South Florida weather.

Just like in 2000, my social outings increased as my acne decreased and my self esteem skyrocketed. As I'm sure you know, it's very hard for a young adult to maintain any type of rigid schedule. I thought that my years taking of anti-acne antibiotics had finally "cured" me or perhaps that I had outgrown this primarily adolescent condition at the ripe old age of 23.

I couldn't have been more wrong. The antibiotics took months and months of consistent usage to control the billions of bacteria in my body that were responsible for all those pimples that I had suffered through. It took most of 2003 before I began to realize that I wasn't anywhere close to being done with my personal fight against the dreaded "acne vulgaris". It even sounds like the name of a monster in a horror movie. Doesn't it?

In December of 2003, I had a dermatologist appointment that would finally give me the upper hand over those persistent Propionibacterium acnes bacteria that had plagued me for so many years.

Previous Journal Entry # 6 2002          Next Journal Entry # 8 2004
My Skin Pictures 2003
The pictures of my face for 2003 cover January through October. In November, my acne started coming back with a vengeance and I once again began hiding behind the camera. My chin was the first trouble area to begin breaking out with lots of small zits in late October. Then the cystic acne nodules that used to pop up on my neck began to reappear as well. I set an appointment with my usual dermatology clinic for mid December 2003 to see what other anti-acne treatment we could attempt. I wasn't all that optimistic about my situation. I envisioned having to take antibiotic pills twice a day until I was 30 or even older. That doesn't sound so bad, but I was getting sick and tired of dealing with the prescriptions, refills, etc.
Neck & Cheek - January 2003	Forehead - January 2003	Chin & Neck - January 2003
Cheek & Neck - February 2003	Forehead - February 2003	Forehead - March 2003
Cheek & Chin - March 2003	Forehead - April 2003	Chin - April 2003
Forehead - May 2003	Cheek & Neck - May 2003	Forehead - August 2003
Cheek - August 2003	Cheek & Neck - Sept. '03	Forehead - September 2003
Neck - October 2003	Cheek & Neck - October 2003	Chin - October 2003

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