Like Dan, I only ever took quite a low dose of accutane. I can't remember but I think I actually just took 20mg a day.

It worked perfectly at the time, totally clearing my acne, which was moderate in nature (no cysts, but it covered my face apart from my forehead).

Shortly after finishing my 4 month course of accutane, my acne returned, although in a much less aggressive form. I guessed it wasn't bad enough to require further accutane treatment, and researched for other "cures". I found Dan's regimen, and started buying lots of little oxy on-the-spot tubes of benzoyl peroxide.

This was well over 6 years ago, and I have applied the regimen almost every day since then, although obviously moved onto his fantastic acne.org products. It clears my face up very well, although I do still get the odd spot. Right now I seem to have quite a few actually - not sure why.

I guess I should be more grateful that I have a solution, and I am very happy that I can control the acne. However, I'm just so fed up of having to go through this routine. It's a bit of a handicap. It takes a good 10 or 15 minutes to apply, and people always think I'm a bit weird the way I spend so long in the bathroom and can't just go to bed without having to apply all these magic potions to my face. If I go travelling (which I like to do regularly), it's really difficult to do the regimen when you're in some dodgy hostel in south American or Thailand or somewhere, when there's often no mirror of proper facilities. I still seem to ruin a lot of clothes too. Even though I am really careful about washing my hand after I've applied the BP, it just seems to end up in some places. Collars get bleached, and so do some trousers round the pockets. I also think the stuff is making my crow's feet and laughter lines by the mouth worse.

It's really awkward when I start a relationship with a new girlfriend and I have to explain about the regimen. And I find that if I let hair get in my face, that can break me out, so I end up having to explain that I can't kiss with her hair touching too much of my skin.

I just want to be free of this thing. I'm almost 30 and I'm still getting acne. I really thought this would have ended by now.

So I'm considering stopping the regimen and seeing how bad my acne flares up. If it is more than I can bear (which I can pretty much guarantee it will be), I think I'm going to try and get another course of accutane.

I realise this sounds like a moan, and maybe everyone's just going to say stop whinging (and give me this ) and be grateful that you can be clear. Anyway i thought I'd see what people thought, and if anyone else feels this way too after being on the regimen for a long time.

This post has been edited by Davey Boy: Oct 21 2009, 01:00 PM

Have you tried to come off the regimen before? Maybe it won't return... Or maybe you could just do it in the morning.

I've been on the regimen for only 6 weeks, I can't imagine what it would feel like after 6 years! 6 years of the regimen = approx 540 hours (15 per day). The regimen usually takes 1.5 hours of my day...

Do what you gotta do. You already know the Regimen works for you, so it's not like a new person wanting to know if the Regimen is worth the hassle. You know what it's like to deal with acne on a daily basis, as well as what it's like to deal with a skincare regimen on a daily basis. And you already know that your skin responds well to Accutane. Just keep in mind that, as you already know, Accutane isn't always a permanent fix.

Good luck with your decision! I know it isn't always easy. I've been there as well and decided I just didn't want to go through Accutane again. Personal choice.

Thanks for the replies.

Accutane didn't really give me very bad side effects. I just had chapped lips and dry eyes, which I could easily put up with for a few months again.

The main thing that puts me off is that it is unknown what harm accutane really does to our bodies. But then do we really know what long term BP regimen does to our bodies?

I also think there is a chance that my very oily skin is responsible for the hair loss that I am starting to suffer from. I am receding a fair amount at the front, and I get very oily there.

I just don't think I took quite enough accutane the first time around, and my oil glands are still too "active".

Yeah, in fact it's actually nearly 7 years!

I tend to do just do it at night now, as then I don't have to worry about it bleaching my clothes so much.

I will come off and see what happens. Don't think it will be pretty...

Maybe just a thought something is triggering the acne without you realising and the regimen is stopping it. Like a product or food/type of food (gluten/dairy)

Try and identify what that something is? Im not sure.

Good luck

try vitamins and nutrition and exercise and water and fruits and veggies. For some people diet and nutriotion works and for others harsh chemicals. I use both personally with great results. Ive been on the regimen for 7 yrs and had to go off the regimen for to months due to being in jail and my face literally blew up..im still trying to clear it lol, but its working! Just like I knew it would, and just like you know it works too..so atleast you got that

well i can relate. i hate having to wake up at four ten in the morning to do the regimen. i leave my house at six thirty. thats qbout two hours every morning i could be spending sleeping....

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/Diet-isn-...ne-t222897.html

Check that out. It's worth a shot. I'm going to try it soon.

I've done a candida diet before, for 2 months. Don't remember it making any difference to my skin.

Eating like that for the rest of my life would be a massive hassle anyway, far more so than the regimen! God that would be awful having to be limited in what you eat like that.

2 months may not be enough time, but fair play managing to go at least that long.

And yeah the hassle would be enormous, but you can transition into a paleo diet after it's done. The paleo "diet" (I prefer to think of it as an approach to nutrition) is absolutely brilliant, I love it, and I'd do it regardless of whether it effected acne or appearance.

Hey, wait a minute. Nothing about the Regimen should take you 2 hours every morning. What are you doing?
At best when someone adds the Regimen to their daily routine, it should only add about 20-30 mins max, assuming most everyone is going to be washing their face and/or showering every morning anyway. The only additional things are the application time for the bp and moisturizer and the wait times. And I always recommend not sitting around waiting during those waiting times, make use of them and do things you normally would do such as get dressed, fix your hair, prepare and eat breakfast, etc. People can easily fit the Regimen into their daily life if they think of it as fitting it in rather than finding extra time for it.

Davey,

I am almost in the same situation as you. While my friends in middle/high school were dealing with their breakouts, I was mostly unaffected. I remembered getting a few (1 or 2) on my butt cheeks and back but only every few months and it never really bothered me unless I was sitting or lying on the problem area. I had more facial pimples during my senior year, but again it never caused too much problem, one or two in the t-zone. Nevertheless, I consider myself pretty fortunate during my teen years.

It wasn't until I started college did I start breaking out. I am now 25 and still have more pimples than I should at this age. I've tried anti-biotics medication to topical treatment. While I had the best result with anti-biotics, like you, I am afraid that it will produce more harm than the vanity treatment it provides. Currently, I am using the left over proactive treatment from over 1 year ago. I see some results of less breaking out, it's not completely clearing my face.

It's been 7 years now since I started really getting pimples and like you I am tired of applying all this treatment to my face. To some degree, I feel emasculated by this skin disorder, having to spent time in front of the mirror as long as most girls. Funny thing is, my two sisters never really had any acne problems. My mom also claims that she never had acne. Looking at my cohorts, I see only clear skin, rarely do I see anyone of my age or older having severe acne problem. I too, like you wonder when it will go away permanently.

Ps. I just received my 3 bottle's of Dan's regiment. You mentioned that you had the pockets on your trousers bleached, how did you managed to do that?

RJ

This post has been edited by RJ85: Oct 30 2009, 02:10 PM

Hi RJ. Yes, we are very similar then as my acne didn't start until I went to college (university).

It's a bit of a handicap this regimen, and I really would like to put acne behind me for good and move on. As you get older, you end up with less and less time anway, and spending so long rubbing cream on my face morning and night is something I could truely do without.

I stopped the regimen last night and have taken photos of my skin (very clear). I will continue to refrain from the regimen for at least a month and see how my skin reacts. I am confident that I will get a face full of spots, although they will not be big and inflammed as I have never suffered from cyctic acne and since accutane the spots I get are relatively small.

I will report back with results in a while!

My current routine involves two salicylic acid washes a day (morning and after workout), moisturizing with two drops of tea tree oil added after each face wash (so 3X a day), and BP only at night. I'm reducing the amount of BP I use. It's working pretty well for me so far and takes much less time than rubbing BP in twice a day.

BTW, BP shouldn't affect the crow's feet around your eyes since you shouldn't be putting it there.

I know, but in tjhe early days I used to get a bit there by accident, and even recently I have occasionally since I often watch something on my computer whilst I do it since staring at a mirror is so boring

I guess it's where I touch my face unknowingly, and then get something out of my pockets.

Wow, this is really strange.

I quit the regimen a week ago now, and my face has never been clearer! The outbreak that I was anticipating cetainly hasn't struck yet.

Now, I can only put this down to 2 things:

1) A week is not long enough to wait, and in the next few days my face is going to erupt.

or,

2) I know longer get acne, unless I irritate my skin which the regimen has been doing. If this is the case then I feel like a mug, as I have been doing the regimen for 7 years and I will never know how many of those I didn't need to be doing it! On the other hand, I will be delighted that I no longer get acne!

I shall continue to refrain from the regimen and see what happens.

Continue to keep us posted, Davey. I'm hoping you are no longer acne prone, but from what we've seen the acne usually begins to return within a month or two after stopping whichever medication you were using. I hope this isn't the case for you though. Good luck!!

10 days without BP and still my skin is better than whilst using BP

This is quite peculiar. I think I'm going to find it hard to handle if I find out that for the last few years I have been going through the regimen every day just to make my skin worse! Oh why didn't I come off it before to check??!