Steph Klassen of Winkler, a 29-year-old wife and mother of two, has been struggling with a severe case of acne since September.

"Growing up I never had acne, I never had any issues at all until 5 years ago," she said. "It's not something you expect to have to deal with when you're, like, thirty."

Her first case of serious acne occurred when she was 25 years old and pregnant. The cystic acne became infected and resulted in sepsis, a life-threatening complication of an infection. Klassen was admitted to the ICU to recover. Several days later, however, she lost the baby she'd been carrying for 18 weeks.

Klassen currently shares her story on Instagram, where she opens up about her skin issues, anxiety, depression and Type 1 diabetes.

"Every day my email, my Instagram, and my Facebook messenger fills up," Klassen said. "I have to check them every day. If I don't, I would be hundreds of messages behind."

The messages she receives come from people offering advice, products, or stories of their own.

"It sucks that other people have had to go through this too, but it's comforting to know that someone else knows exactly how I feel," she said.

"Now I have people coming up to me, they're like, 'You're famous.'... I don't know if I want to be famous for this, but ya I guess it's out there now."

Klassen says she experienced her first case of severe acne 5 years ago when she was pregnant, but not again until September of this year

Sharing your life on social media can have its downsides, Klassen said, but negative feedback has been minimal. However, she sometimes does receive unsolicited medical advice.

"There's lots of people out there who are apparently doctors," she explained. "They apparently know exactly how to fix it."

On the plus side, Klassen said social media has been a good way to explain her skin condition and her feelings about it.

"It was easier to share my feelings on there than it was in person," she said. "For the first bit I didn't really go anywhere because, I mean, people don't know so they stare."

The platform also connected her with people who were going through the same thing. Klassen recalled teenage girls telling her they felt inspired not to wear make-up to cover up acne after looking at her posts.

Another positive aspect of having an online presence is seeing her 11-year-old son get excited about seeing her face online.

"He thought that was funny," Klassen said.

Currently, Klassen's doctor is treating her acne with Isotretinoin. "I'm on Accutane. It's not Accutane anymore, that's not what they call it, but it's the same thing," she explained.

Unfortunately, Klassen said her doctors haven't been able to give a reason behind the acne.

"I don't know if it's just lingering stuff, like hormonal-wise from 5 years ago, I don't know."

"The side effects are horrible," Klassen added, explaining that the original purpose of Accutane was to treat certain types of cancer.

Klassen is currenly taking a strong medication called Isotretinoin, which is sometimes used to treat certain cancers

Klassen will be on this medication for 4 more months, and she has been told her skin may completely clear in about a month from now. Until the treatments are finished Klassen needs regular blood tests to check for liver damage from the medication.

"Everyone who's been on it keeps telling me to be patient," she said. "It's hard to be patient though."

Along with Accutane, Klassen is using hormone-balancing capsules and cream, iodine drops, essential oils and turmeric supplements. She also follows an anti-inflammatory diet.

At one point Klassen said the cysts were so deep they hit nerve endings on her face. She had to cut her food into small pieces in order to eat.

"It felt like little lightning bolts shooting across my face," she said, noting it was one of the most painful things she's experienced.

Right now Klassen feels she can see the light at the end of the tunnel, adding that some days are better than others. The help of her friends, family, and supporters is important to her during the harder times.

"Especially when I'm having a really bad day, to be able to open my inbox and see that, ya I'm definitely not alone."

Klassen's main message about her journey is that women shouldn't be afraid to walk in public with their face the way it is.

"Your skin doesn't define your beauty," she said.