18 replies to this topic

[eaglesjo]

Hello all,

I read a lot of peoples anti-acne logs the past few weeks on here and I would like to now start my own. I have been on ACZONE gel for about 5 months now. In Janurary of this year, my doc prescribed me ACZONE and Differin .03%. After about 3 months of use, I simply could not take the Differin anymore. It made my face red itchy and it kept breaking me out after 3 months. I must confess, I only was spot treating with the Differin. Maybe that is why.?

2 days ago, my doc liked the way my face looked but noticed some barely visable pimples and put me on Differin 0.01% lotion. It is more milder and less harsh. My face was not terrible, but could have been better. She told me its not bad enough for accutane which in a way made me feel good.

So here I go .. I am going to start this journal log as of today. And I hope in 4 months, I can post my last entry and finally say GOODBYE ACNE.


DAY 2:

- my face seems a bit more oily.
- the red marks on my face seem more pronounced.
- aczone really dries up a inflammed pimple. as of right now, it takes about 4 days for an active pimple to be cleared with aczone alone
-after differin lotion is put on, my face does hot and red. but ive read that is normal. not to worried about it, when i wake up, the redness is never there.

not to much else to report on. only the second day with this combo. it helps to write about my experience. in a week or so, ill report back. I AM HOPING TO BE SPARRED OF AN INITIAL BREAKOUT. i have been on 2 different oral antibiotics, duac, differin 0.03% and aczone since november of 2010. i hope anything and everything under my skin has come out since then. how much crap can be under there? we shall see.

until tomorrow.

[eaglesjo]

DAY 9

- minor breakout in lower lip area.
- face seems less oily as opposed to last entry
-facial redness is going down

day 9 on the routine and things seem to be going well. i have a few pimples but i think those were already coming through when i started the differin. i am seeing very small pimples in places i normally dont breakout. (above my eye brows?) i am going to take that as a sign that its working.

i look in the mirror and some days i feel like my face is improving. and other days i look and think, fuck it. this isnt doing anything. when your on a routine like this, its hard to stay motivated. i wish acne would go away as fast as it comes on. oh well. ill continue to keep everyone posted.

eaglesjo

[essex11]

DAY 9

- minor breakout in lower lip area.
- face seems less oily as opposed to last entry
-facial redness is going down

day 9 on the routine and things seem to be going well. i have a few pimples but i think those were already coming through when i started the differin. i am seeing very small pimples in places i normally dont breakout. (above my eye brows?) i am going to take that as a sign that its working.

i look in the mirror and some days i feel like my face is improving. and other days i look and think, fuck it. this isnt doing anything. when your on a routine like this, its hard to stay motivated. i wish acne would go away as fast as it comes on. oh well. ill continue to keep everyone posted.

eaglesjo

Im on Differin aswel. Just the 0.1% one, I have been putting it all over the infected areas. So if ive got a few on my chin I rub it all over my chin. Is this what your doing? Just had the breakout which is horrible!

[eaglesjo]

/quote]
Im on Differin aswel. Just the 0.1% one, I have been putting it all over the infected areas. So if ive got a few on my chin I rub it all over my chin. Is this what your doing? Just had the breakout which is horrible!
[/quote]

hi essex,

i am not using it as a spot treatment. i apply it all over my face. i am only using a very small amount. you don't want to over do it with differin. it will make your skin MUCH worse. how long have you been on it ? i just started noticing some dryness after i get out of the shower. my skin is a bit flaky.

[eaglesjo]

DAY 11

just wanted to do a quick update. everything is still going well. not really noticing any horrible breakouts. a few minor zits in some not unusual places. my neck, temple area, and under jaw-line, I have noticed a few pimples. nothing major. the aczone really dries everything up.

i am noticing dryness in my face. it seems after i get out of the shower, my face is a bit flaky. not much but its expected with the differin. i has to be the differin because i never got that while just using aczone. i don't normally like to use moisturizers because i feel they make my skin WAY to oily and break out me. maybe thats just because i only ever used Cetaphil moisturizer. I switched to Cerave moisturizer. I may only apply every other day depending on how dry my face gets. we will say.

thanks again to everybody reading. post here if your doing the same routine. or with suggest.

eaglesjo

[essex11]

I've been on it 11 days, started to notice dryness but to be expected. Hows iy working for you. If I have spots on my chin i put it all over my chin. is that right?

[eaglesjo]

DAY 14

well its been 2 weeks on differin lotion and things haven't been bad. i am expecting things to get a bit worse as ive heard week2-6 are the worst. we will see.

since ive been on differin ive noticed my face has been drier. for 2 days (day 8 and 9) i put on cerave moisturizer at night before differin. that cut down on the dryness in my face so i may continue to do that as needed. ive been breaking out probably a bit more than normal. especially in places i have not broken out in a while. the aczone seems to take care of that.

theres a lot of red marks on my face. ive noticed my face has a redder tint to it which kind of sucks. i am going to assume thats the differin again. overall the past two weeks have not been bad at all. i have some good days as well as bad. not much else to report.

talk to you soon.

[eaglesjo]

hello all,

i guess today is DAY 16 and things are going really well. the past 2 days I would say have been really good days. I hope this continues. i have woken up to NO new pimples, just existing ones that are going down noticeably everyday. theres still a lot to be done but ill tell you what, i am getting major confidence back.

anyways, i was on my laptop today and found a picture of myself from January 2011. This was about the time when I had completely broken out BIG TIME. so in 6 months, theres been a huge difference. i wish it wouldn't have taken so long, at least i am at this point.

between those 6 months, I had been on Aczone, Differin .03% and Solodyn from January - March. Solodyn prescription ran out and I never renewed and I stopped using Differin .03% because it burned and itched. So from March to June, I had been using just Aczone (& cleansers) only. And obviously as you know, I added Differin .01% lotion 2 weeks ago.

questions/comments -- dont be afraid to ask!
eaglesjo

[eaglesjo]

DAY 21

these weeks actually seem to be going by surprisingly fast. felt like i just started the differin. there is really not much else to report. i have noticed that i tend to not get to many whiteheads anymore. i was used to having about 2 or 3 whiteheads, usually around my lips area, but i am not getting those any more. definitely a plus!

i still have red inflamed red pimples though. they go away within 3 or 4 days but it seems like a few more pop up when the old go away. i know it is still very early yet to judge whether or not this has worked. i really do believe it is going to work though. time will tell. the 8th week would be at the end of July/early August -- waiting for then as that is when Ive read I should start seeing results.

sorry, this log is kinda boring. these first 3 weeks haven't been overally exciting..more to come. thanks for reading.

eaglesjo

[eaglesjo]

can anyone tell me if these are normal results for differin ? is it safe to say its working based off my observation/picture. maybe theres not enough time. any advice is appreciated

[eaglesjo]

DAY 22

no sooner did i say that i wasnt getting to many whiteheads, i wake up this morning with 4 whiteheads around my lip/mouth area.

fuck. my. life.

[essex11]

The difference in those pictures are amazing! With my differin I seem to get a few whiteheads. If there are big pimples they get bigger then go down. I have also had clusters or spots around my chin/lip area. So I think thats where it effects it most.

[eaglesjo]

The difference in those pictures are amazing! With my differin I seem to get a few whiteheads. If there are big pimples they get bigger then go down. I have also had clusters or spots around my chin/lip area. So I think thats where it effects it most.

thank you! feels good to read that. thats exactly how mine was..i would get like spots or like u said clusters of red pimples..usually on my chin or on the sides of my mouth..i freakin looked like the joker from batman. how is differin going for you ?

wanted to give a quick update on DAY 23

- my chin got MUCH worse since Monday. i broke out big time, although i cant say i didnt see it coming. i noticed last week, started seeing pimples from under the skin starting to surface. (they werent noticeable at the time) maybe be the initial breakout ? sucks because last week was a pretty good week for me. and then like that, i broke out like crazy
- filled 3 prescriptions yesterday. all i had was small sample tubes of the differin and aczone. i got those filled and ALSO got SOLODYN filled as well. (30 day supply) When i noticed these pimples coming i thought about filling it but decided to wait. but after yesterday, i decided to fill it. i was prescribed solodyn before and it drastically reduced my acne along with aczone and differin. im hoping it dosent cause any problems. we will see. ill keep everyone posted
- aside from my broken out chin, the rest of my face isnt bad. my forehead is lookin really good. my cheek are okk. a few dark red marks, nothing major. my skin feels soft. i am wondering .. i dipped a few times this weekend. i dont normally but this weekend i did a few times. do you think theres any relation? definately dont think im gunna do that again until this shit is cleared up. i seem to think that the dip may have caused this breakout

thanks everyone
eaglesjo

[essex11]

The differin is going ok, think i'm past the initial outbreak phase. I think in a few weeks it will start working really well. I've been on it for 3 weeks already.

[eaglesjo]

The differin is going ok, think i'm past the initial outbreak phase. I think in a few weeks it will start working really well. I've been on it for 3 weeks already.

yes same..we must have started about the same time.

[eaglesjo]

DAY 28

Hi everybody! 4 weeks on this regiment and .... things are going well. The past couple days have been really good. i have been putting on cerave moisturizer as needed, maybe every 3 days. the dryness in my face is gone.

my pimples are reducing. (fingers crossed) the breakout from last week is recovering well. marks are fading, faster than i thought.

i had a mark on the side of my face for about 6 months. the redness never seemed to fade. i put a small amount of differin on the spot the other night and rubbed it in and the next day a pimple surfaced. after i popped it and put aczone on it, it was gone. now the redness from the original mark is fading..very happy about that.

i will definitely post pictures sometime in august. there should be a difference. thanks for reading!

DAY 28

Hi everybody! 4 weeks on this regiment and .... things are going well. The past couple days have been really good. i have been putting on cerave moisturizer as needed, maybe every 3 days. the dryness in my face is gone.

my pimples are reducing. (fingers crossed) the breakout from last week is recovering well. marks are fading, faster than i thought.

i had a mark on the side of my face for about 6 months. the redness never seemed to fade. i put a small amount of differin on the spot the other night and rubbed it in and the next day a pimple surfaced. after i popped it and put aczone on it, it was gone. now the redness from the original mark is fading..very happy about that.

i will definitely post pictures sometime in august. there should be a difference. thanks for reading!

[essex11]

Hey.

Any ideas why it says to stay off of sunbeds and out of the sun with differin.I went to spain and didn't have a bad reaction with it at all in the sun. So I'm thinking of going on the sunbeds because I like being a bit tanned.

[eaglesjo]

Hey.

Any ideas why it says to stay off of sunbeds and out of the sun with differin.I went to spain and didn't have a bad reaction with it at all in the sun. So I'm thinking of going on the sunbeds because I like being a bit tanned.

differin really exposes your pores while your on it. since it cleans them from the inside out, your pores become even more vulnerable to the suns UV rays. thats why they reccomend wearing sunscreen before you go out. i put differin on at night and when i wake up, i take a shower so i dont put sunscreen on because i feel its not really necessary for me. BUT i would think if you are wearing it in the morning and then going outside, its probably a good idea to wear some.

[eaglesjo]

DAY 39

sorry for not updating last Monday. I am at the beach this week and it has been difficult for me to get internet. but i have some time now, so I wanted to write in the log.

i think the beach is helping my face. every year my family goes to the beach, i generally notice an improvement in the way my face looks. ive researched ocean water and its relation to acne and i think it really does help my face.

i kind of broke out the first couple days while at the beach. i noticed whiteheads popping up all over. im going to say it was the sunscreen. i think it clogged my pores a bit. the first few days while i was here, i didnt go into the ocean. i just sat in the sand and tanned a bit and then went up to the pool/hottub. yesterday, i went in the ocean for a pretty lengthy time and i really noticed a difference when i got back. the somewhat large red pimples on my face shrinked significantly in size. the sun also helped my face as well. i have 1 more day which ill go in the ocean again and see what else it does and update next week.

im hoping that this helps the stubborn areas of my face that was resisting my topical treatments. one thing i have noticed is the dryness in my face..it definitely dried my face out a bit so ill have to put on the cerave moisturizer.

thats about it for the week. i really hope this week at the beach will give my skin a boost. like i said, generally every year, i notice an improvement in my face when i come home from the beach. i am hoping this year will be no different. i am wondering if there would be a way to add salt water to my regimen. maybe like once a week or something ? does anyone know a good way to make a replica ocean water mix. obviously its salt water but can i use table salt? or is there some special salt i should buy. just wondering, if anyone could help, that would be great.

talk to you all in a few,
eaglesjo