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Acne after Prednisone?

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Posted 2/21/2009 10:32 PM (GMT 0)
I was on Prednisone for about 4 months.  I took my last pill right around Jan. 31.  Since then I have had terrible acne on my face and I can't seems to get rid of it.  Much of it is cystic acne (under the skin) and it hurts.  It is mostly on my chin and at the top of the bridge of my nose.  Is this from being off the Pred?  I've never had an outbreak like this and it just won't go away!  Has anyone else experienced this?

TIA!

Tiggertenn

Posted 2/21/2009 11:23 PM (GMT 0)

I had exactly the same and my skin is still damaged and still breaking out every little now and then. It is frustrating and annoying, I know. Strangely, I had the nicest skin on Pred and was thinking what all this talk about acne while on Pred is about ... . I quit Pred two months ago if I am not mistaken. I don't think anymore that 6-MP is giving me acne, because the bad skin started after I was off Pred and I still take 6-MP.

Hopefully it will clear up for you soon.

Posted 2/22/2009 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
I had bad acne after I quit taking pred. I had the acne for a month and was only on pred for 3 weeks. At first I thought the acne was from the sulfasalazine because I started it as I quit taking pred. How do you start getting acne when your off the pred, that what I'd like to know.
Posted 2/22/2009 4:28 AM (GMT 0)
I've been on prednisone for almost two years and am just now getting off of it b/c I took the cure route for the UC. Tomorrow is my last day to take it (YEA!!!!!!!!) and just a few days ago I noticed a roughness to my skin and today I have red blotchiness and little under the skin pimples!!! What the hell?!

For some reason I thought prednisone brought on acne while it was being taken, never have I heard of post-prednisone acne. I'm irritated...and I look nasty. I guess I'll just moisturize like crazy and pack on the blimish concealer.

I'm sorry you're going through the same thing...I was going to post about this very same topic, so I was pleasantly surprised to read yours. Just not pleasantly surprised that you are suffering too.

I hope yours goes away quickly!!!
Posted 2/22/2009 11:42 AM (GMT 0)
hey guys, I have been off and on pred for the past 3 years and I always have the same problem with breakouts after getting off it. It is my understanding that you skin clears up while you are on Pred as it is essentially and anti-inflammatory drug, which is why it is so effective in clearing up the UC (in my case anyway). the problem is it is a very strong drug, which is why you have to taper off, and I believe the body gets a sort of dependency to it, so that when you get off it, it takes a while for your body to readjust. in this time the skin breaks out and you go a little backwards with the UC, but you also lose the "bloatiness" that you get in the face too.

I find it takes about a month for everything to normalise again after getting off the pred.

just remember that everybody reacts differently to different drugs. This is my experience with this particular one, so it may be different for you.'

Dan.
Posted 2/22/2009 12:28 PM (GMT 0)
I have the same problem with prednisone, I get very sore skin and nasty under the skin acne too....which wont disappear, so they lowered my dose of pred and prescribed doxycycline for my skin...helps lots so works well..but you need to take care in the sun with doxy.....im now taking 6mp and doxycycline so i have to steer clear of the sunshine
Posted 2/22/2009 2:42 PM (GMT 0)

Thanks for the replies everyone!  The last time I took Pred I was on it for 3 months and this didn't happen...so I wasn't sure what was going on.  I hope everyone's face clears up soon, I'm a fifth grade teacher and for the past month I've been getting comments from the kids like:

Do you use ProActive?

What happened to your face?

Aren't you too old for pimples?

Oh those kids say the darndest things! turn So, this can't go away fast enough...

Thanks again for the help!

Tiggertenn

Posted 2/22/2009 4:50 PM (GMT 0)
I often get cystic acne that takes a very long time to heal... I have recently realized that Vitamin C is essential for tissue repair and healthy skin. Since we likely don't absorb it properly, I have started taking 500 mg supplements everyday and it seems to be clearing my skin up nicely :)
Posted 2/23/2009 12:53 AM (GMT 0)
Did anyone find that they got really dry skin as well as the acne? Behind my ears and my armpits started itching like mad just after I stopped and now I've got annoying acne and it's like arrrg...stupid drugs.
Posted 2/23/2009 3:56 AM (GMT 0)
I ended up with some scarring and pitting after my long term use of prednisone, I think this is the side effect I hate most, because now that I am off it, it still stays with me.If anyone

has any ideas on lessening the scarring or pitting, let me know.

------------------------------------------

yuckygut

diagnosed 1998 

now off prednisone and colazal

drink 1 Haldi daily to remain in remission

 

Posted 2/23/2009 3:58 AM (GMT 0)
I got acne about 2 weeks after starting pred this last itme. I've been off pred for a little over a month now and It's still there. It's actually a little worse than when I was on pred.
Posted 2/23/2009 4:35 PM (GMT 0)
yuckygut, you might want to try something called Bio Oil.
Posted 2/24/2009 6:22 AM (GMT 0)
thanks mythmoon, I will check it out right now

yuckygut
Posted 12/3/2010 11:55 AM (GMT 0)
tetracycline or any other cycline antibiotic will make this go away.
Posted 12/3/2010 12:44 PM (GMT 0)
YES - I got bacne the last two prednisone flares. Takes a while to get out of your system. Then I began clearing up until I started taking soy lecithin and when I stopped that it began to clear again.
Posted 12/4/2010 9:52 AM (GMT 0)
I used to have very severe acne--boils on top of huge patches of red that had clear liquid underneath. None of the doctors had ever seen anything like it before. And I too got the "What's wrong with your face?" comment a lot.

Here are my suggestions:

Retin-A helps with scaring.

Change your pillow cases every day and wash them in hot water. Otherwise, you will be sleeping in bacteria. What good is it to use medicine to kill the bacteria only to sleep in it for some eight hours every night?

Keep the area as dry and cool as possible.

Don't take antibiotics. I did, and now I have IBD. Not just that, but antibiotics damage the liver, and a damaged liver exacerbates acne. It's a never ending cycle. My acne was actually at its worst in my 30s, more than a decade after I started using antibiotics.

Benzoid peroxide (not the best for UC, but much better than antibiotics).

Acne medication that contains some form of acid.
Posted 12/4/2010 8:50 PM (GMT 0)
I had a terrible time with this after I started tapering prednisone. I tried all the over the counter products to no avail so I went to a dermatologist who perscribed me epi-duo. This helped, but barely. He wanted to give me antibiotics but it's true that they can put you in a flare if you have UC. He tried to tell me that it was safe, but dermatologists do not treat our disease so I used my best judgment and refused to take them for this annoying, but cosmetic issue. It finally cleared up after about 2 months of being pred-free. I still have scars, but I just got an industrial strength make-up to cover it up. I hate pred, but it could be worse!!!
Posted 12/4/2010 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
Had the same thing happen before too but it went away after 6months.
Posted 12/5/2010 7:53 PM (GMT 0)

~:*OneLove*:~ said...
I went to a dermatologist who perscribed me epi-duo. This helped, but barely. He wanted to give me antibiotics but it's true that they can put you in a flare if you have UC. He tried to tell me that it was safe, but dermatologists do not treat our disease so I used my best judgment and refused to take them for this annoying, but cosmetic issue.

Yes. Doctors have been prescribing me antibiotics for my acne since I was a teen. I'm now 49. Even when I tell them I have UC and antibiotics can put me in a flare, they try to convince me to at least use a topical antibiotic. The safest topical antibiotic triggered a flare for me, and yet my dermatologist still wanted me to keep using it. Apparently, her measure of success is how my skin looks, not how my colon looks.
Posted 12/6/2010 3:03 AM (GMT 0)
I'd suggest going to a good dermatologist and telling him/her about the prednisone. I had some dermatological issues from stopping cortisone and it turned out that it was something called perioral dermatitis. It went away but it wasn't really acne, although it looked just like it. It felt prickly and was lots of red bumps on my chin and around my mouth. Really attractive! Each day was an adventure just wondering what it would look like. If you google it, don't freak because the pictures are horrendous and it says stuff like it will never get better, etc etc. That's just bunk. Mine was mild and went away in about a month or so.

But the first dermatologist I went to didn't know what it was. The second said was from discontinuing steroids and he gave me a couple creams (elidel, metrolotion) that did the trick.

Could be that. I'd check it out with a dermatologist rather than treating it like acne, just in case it's not. :)
Posted 3/1/2013 7:24 PM (GMT 0)
I have 1month 1/2 to go and I have white bumps like pimples around my mouth the T area very oily. And my hair is oily my face is like a moon and gain 7pounds. I don't know what to do with the white bumps on my face. I don't want to go to a dermatology because I live in Ireland and is expensive so anyone knows over the counter? I hope my one kidney gets better.
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