Charlotte, 30, is a Mental Health Nurse from Shropshire

Charlotte says:

“I remember the first time I realised I had something more than just teenage spots was when I was working in my first job at a high street jewellers when I was 17. There was a lot of pressure to look good as all the glam girls from my home town worked there.

I was at the counter and someone said, ‘what’s that bruise on your cheek?’

At this stage I didn’t know what it was. It just felt very sore and more like a big lump. I didn’t know then what I was in for as this was my first outbreak of cystic acne.

 

From that point on my nightmare began. I kept piling on more and more foundation while my mum and family were buying every remedy they could find to try and help my skin. NOTHING worked and my skin was getting worse and worse. At the age when you should be exploring who you are and what image you wanted to nurture, I was crying in toilets avoiding nights out and feeling like I was disgusting.

I was referred to a demonologist after I was hospitalised and put on IV antibiotics because one of my cysts had burst and gone septic. 

I have never been so unwell, both physically and mentally. On my 20th birthday I remember going to see my friends at Nando’s with a cannula still in my arm from the hospital because I had to go back in for more treatment the next day.

After being hospitalised I was put on acne medicationcombined with steroids, this course lasted four months and it worked, but the side effects were horrific.

While on these medications I lost a huge amount of weight and ended up weighing just 42kg. I don’t know if it was the actual medications themselves or the fact that they made me feel constantly anxious when I was on them that caused me to lose so much weight.

I would also get the most horrendous nose bleeds from my skin being so dry that would last half an hour at a time. My eye sight got so bad I now have to wear glasses.

Coming off the medication was scary. I didn’t believe that my skin was suddenly healed and I was right as the cysts soon returned.

I had regular cystic outbreaks and I tried everything from courses of antibiotics to topical treatments.  I’ve tried various exercise regimes, dietary changes and I’ve used every holy grail product out there but unfortunately my acne survived it all.

The more I think about it I realise that my skin has caused me a huge amount of depression and anxiety for years. It’s the fact that nothing seems to work for long, it makes you feel completely helpless.

My acne has had a drastic effect on my confidence, socially, at my work and also in my relationships.

I’m single now, but I was in an on/off relationship for seven years. The relationship was massively affected by my skin and lack of self-esteem. I would be in moods if I woke up with bad skin and I’d just want to hide in bed despite us having plans to do things.

Seeing my ex-partner liking Instagram models photos or friends’ photos who had flawless skin probably affected me more than it should have and caused arguments because I didn’t feel good enough for him. Even though he was really supportive of me and told me how beautiful I was. He’d always be willing to help me in trying to find new products to try for my skin.

I would dream of the day I could get out of bed ten minutes before I had to leave and not have to spend an hour doing my make to just get enough confidence to leave the house. Or being able to just go round to see him without feeling I needed to dress up to compensate for my awful skin.

Evetually I couldn't batre the state of my skin any more so I went on anoter course of acne medication which lasted two months. 

I had finally broken up with my partner and so when I mentioned to my dermatologist that I was feeling a bit low he immediately took me off my 20mg dose. 

Shortly after I was offered anti-depressants by my GP when I made an appointment at 8am after a night shift at work. I was crying and begging him to give me a solution for the pain I was in due to a vicious cystic acne outbreak. The cysts had given me a week of sleepless nights. I work full time in an acute mental health setting and I get a bit of verbal abuse about my skin from patients. It seems to be what people notice first about me which can make my job harder if I feel knocked down.

I felt drained and desperate, but anti-depressants were not the answer for me and made me re-assess the path I was going down with all these medications.

 With few other options from my doctor left for me to try, I decided I needed to find an alternative solution for my skin other than medications as it was really effecting my mental health.

I first found Clarol Silver Serum on Instagram when looking at peoples’ improvements from acne after coming off acne medications and what had helped them.

The reviews seemed very genuine and there were a lot of them, so with a degree of scepticism I decided to order some.

I was very shocked if I’m honest that a product containing no medicated ingredients at all would help my skin in any way. So imagine my disbelief when I discovered that this modest silver cream was the only thing that has ever worked on improving my acne without the use of strong medication.

Since using the silver serum twice a day for about six weeks my active acne stopped, which gave my skin time to heal and the redness to settle down. 

It took around four weeks for me to see any improvemts and for my skin to start calming down. But this is nothing compared to the years I've been trying to improve the condition of my skin. 

It's been three months since I began using Silver Serum and its longest period I’ve gone without a cystic outbreak while being off medications since I first developed cystic acne. My skin feels softer and generally much healthier. I feel completely elated, its hard to describe the sense of relief. I still wake up every moring and check my skin and I still can't get over the sense of wonder I feel when I see its still clear. 

I still suffer from chronic lack of confidence although I’m gradually feeling more positive. This is something that will hopefully continue with further improvement with my skin. But its not easy healing the physical or emotional scars from having cystic acne.

I’m hopeful that the serum will control my acne long enough so I can begin on my next journey, which will be for laser treatment for my acne scars. I can’t have it if I’ve got active acne but with the way things are going, I hope that I’ll be able begin a course soon.”