6 months’ mark

Ah! It’s been 6 months since I went to get help for my skin. It means I have to let go of the azelaic acid cream and probably switch to benzoyl peroxide for now. When I last saw Marcia on the 11th of December, she told me to gradually reduce my Doxy as well – 100mg on alternate days (because the 50mg tablets are not subsidised and I still have leftover of the 100mg tablets). She also told me that there is about 30% chance that the acne may recur when I stop the antibiotics. It’s not TOO bad a number, right?

Still curious about the late acne onset, I asked Marcia if I should get tested for PCOS – she took the question as me wanting to get it done and handed over the blood test request form to me.

I was prepared to pay for the lab fee since I am not a resident (although I know with my work visa, I am entitled to healthcare here – I wasn’t too sure about lab tests) – but whee! Got my passport, got my work visa slapped on it – got my blood test done for free. I expected to wait for a bit because there were about 3 people in the waiting area but the next thing I know, my name was called! I was slightly nervous (if you know me, you know I don’t do needles+blood well), thinking to myself, “What have I done? Why did I decide this so suddenly? Why did I drive to the lab directly from the surgery??? Why didn’t I think it over before coming here?”

It was all good, albeit I was a bit giggly to hide my nervousness about the needles.

(Side note: Had my first McD’s breakfast that day to replenish my loss )

Skin comparison after the cut – I’ve included older photos from the first skin update. I didn’t imagine it to be that different but looking back, I thought to myself, “WHYYYY did I let myself go out of the house looking like THAT without covering it up?????”

It is a bit difficult to get the same angle/distance/size because I had to take the pictures myself (shy lah to ask flatmate). Timeline for both set of pictures are from the start of treatment, 6 weeks, 14 weeks, 21 weeks and 25 weeks (today).

LEFT SIDE

RIGHT SIDE

Better today, you think?

By the way, I got my blood results back a week after (19th December) – I’ve not seen Marcia to discuss the results but she did scribble a note on the side of my testosterone and SHBG levels.

Probable.
Don’t know if it’s enough to go on Estelle-35ED (which was Marcia’s treatment choice if I tested positive for PCOS). We’ll see – I may book an appointment after my holiday.