READ MY JOURNEY WITH ACNE AND THE FAGRON GENETIC TESTING
I just turned 13 ( Teenager at last ) and I have suffered with acne since I was 10. It started off with just a few little spots on my face which was okay but then as I got older they started to become worse. I was beginning to feel really conscious of this especially now as I was going into high school.
My mum was able to give me lots of skin care products that contained ingredients such as salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. I would use this every day as instructed but It really made no difference to me and My mum said it was the best products to use and to stick with it. She told me to continue every day using a wash, scrub and some oil pads to start with but they made my skin very dry. She told me this was normal and would get better but I hated the redness which I thought made the spots look worse but I kept with it every day.
I was using the products along with some topical antibiotics but nothing was working and even my mum was baffled and I could see she was getting upset and trying everything possible to help me. She kept saying this will work but I never believed her as this was getting worse with every new prescription or treatment.
My mum would ask how my skin was every day. ( This annoyed me but I know she was helping me). I then was placed on numerous antibiotics such as lymecycline, doxycycline, erythromycin, topical duac and lots of others but nothing was working. It was becoming very frustrating as they were now large cysts. I would go into my Mums clinic and Maja would give me some nice acne facials and squeeze out some of the pustules ( I didn’t know what they were called). So pustules it was. I was getting so many now it was horrible. The facials helped a little but only for a short time.
I had been on oral antibiotics for a year from the age of 12 and tried them all for around 4 months each time. My mum does dermatology and skin clinics on certain conditions especially acne so I knew she was giving me the best possible help. We talked about roaccutane now as the last treatment to try to clear the acne. My mum explained all about the treatment and its side effects. We made an appointement to see a private Dermatologist who agreed that the acne was severe enough to start and we were prescribed a course of roaccutance.
At first it become much worse and I was told by mum that this was called purging and it is the best medication for me but I was feeling like it was the worst treatment ever. Then gradually after 4 months it just started to clear up and I am at 5 months now and we are almost clear. I went to see my Dermatologist 2 weeks ago and had a lengthy discussion about staying on for another 3 months to make sure we get it all clear. I have some small scarring and purple pigment which we can clear in time but its getting better every day. .
The Fagron Test-I wish I knew about this when I was 12 and it would have most likely saved me a whole year of horrible severe acne. A test I hope can help people like me not have to suffer so much knowing what was to work and what wouldn’t work. Every single treatment I had taken was one that states on my report that would not work. How amazing was this.
My mum carries out Fagron Genetic Testing in her clinic for hair loss and also one of them is for acne. I took the test and it was a simple buccal swab that is placed in the cheeks and tongue for 10 seconds. This was sent away to the genetic testing lab and I waited 2 weeks for the results.
I received a 58 page report on what treatments worked for me and what wouldn’t based on my genetics. My report if I have completed the year before could have saved me time knowing I needed to go straight onto roaccutance and could have also prevented some scarring. I wasted a whole year trying medications that would not work based on my genetics and DNA but we did not have the test then.
This was my grade of acne from Fagron but also the Dermatologist who I am seeing every 2 months.
I was able to cut out whey protein which was just a little part of the steps I was taking to see if my acne would clear up. I also limit dairy very much but glad to say I was never much into dairy.
My mum has been amazing and has a diary of my skin and keeps me on track. Although she always asks me every day and it’s kind of annoying, I know she is only looking out for me. My mum went through the same as me from the same age but was much more severe which resulted in scarring so I know she doesn’t want this to happen for me either.
I was lucky that I was started on roaccutance 4 months previous to the Fargon test as the report states that I should be commended this immediately . I also did not know that I do not carry protective alleles within the TLR4 gene, which is involved in the response to bacteria implicated in the acne and I am at very high risk if acne conglobata. This is a very severe acne. I don’t know what this is but my Mum explained this to me. She also thinks she does not have this protective gene as her acne was severe and she still gets spots.
I am also at high risk of that purple kind of pigmentation and scarring but this is now reducing. This is all detailed in the report. My mum is able to explain the terminology to me and I really understand and follow the recommendations.
I am sharing my report with you below to see how amazing this has been to me. My mum is able to help teenagers as well as adults suffering from Acne and prescribe the correct medication according to the report. She also will refer her patients who need roaccutane to a consultant dermatologist which she did with myself. I hope you like my journey and I will do another BLOG when I have completed my full course.
Thanks for reading.