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[1day@atime]

It's been exactly 5 weeks since I started using the Regimen. My skin is looking remarkably clearer. However, the first four weeks were a challenge for me. I dealt with severe dryness, swelling, redness and breakouts. I don't think I would have stuck with it, if it wasn't for the "What to Expect ", and "Biggest Mistakes" pages, where Dan lists what happens each week when starting the Regimen.

I want to echo Dan's advice, to follow the Regimen precisely and stick with it. Here are some details of what I experienced week-by-week this first month using the Regimen (note: I used only the products from Daniel Kern's line: Acne.org cleanser, treatment, moisturizer, AHA+, jojoba oil):

Week 1: breakouts worsened. I had a lot of whiteheads on my chin and around my mouth especially. I didn't pick at them because I did not want the breakouts to increase. The BP felt tingly, but did not burn. My face did feel itchy the first couple of days. There was one night I had a difficult time sleeping because it itched so bad.

Week 2 and 3: My face got really really red. It looked like I had a sunburn, except for the circles around my eyes where I didn't apply BP. Any kind of sun exposure even for a couple of minutes increased the redness. So I bought a couple of big hats. Sun is not my friend right now! My face also looked fatter because it was swollen from using the BP. This didn't alarm me because I've used two other topical creams prescribed by my dermatologists in the past that caused my face to swell the first couple of weeks using it. My face was also very very dry. I figured out that I needed to use more than two pumps of moisturizer and more jojoba oil. I doubled the dosage and spot-treated dry spots during the day. This has worked really well for me. Dryness is still present, but tolerable.

Week 4: Swelling and redness is gone! Thank God! Dark spots are present from old acne (even though I didn't pick at it...bummer) but breakouts are very light, if any. When pimples do arise, I spot treat it right away with the AHA+ on top of the BP. My biggest breakout this week was just five pimples that popped up two days before my period, but now they're gone. I am still using double the amount of moisturizer and jojoba oil on my face to control dryness. Since things are going as promised, I started taking a high quality fish oil (2 tablets) and chelated zinc (80 mg) daily.

Week 5: Swelling and redness is still gone. Dark spots are still visible (I read that it may take 8 months to 2 years but they will dissipate over time), and I have just a small blemish by my lip and that is it. A holistic pharmacist that I buy my supplements from told me it takes about a month for the zinc and fish oil to start kicking into effect. I will continue taking 80 mg zinc and high quality fish oil daily. Also, I do not use any dairy products. I stopped over a year ago. If you want to read more about how dairy is connected to acne, please go to Dave's blog and read under "Dairy".

Let me know if you have any questions.

[Brandy]

Thanks for posting your detailed experience. I'm sure that it will be helpful for others who are just starting out. The first few months can definitely be frustrating and feel like a roller coaster ride, but if people will just hang in there it usually improves by month three.

Congrats on your good results so far!

[SnoopyisAj]

Thanks for the post,
im on week 2 right now and my acne seems to be going away in a period of days and I can't even feel the dryness, I believe that patience is a big factor of this regimen gl and i hope the regimen keeps working for you