10 replies to this topic

[Juncus]

Hi all,

I am a long time acne sufferer - I'm 26 now and have struggled with it since I was about 13. When I was younger I had cystic acne, and as I got older that seemed to fade away with the help of Bactrim and Differin gel.

My skin was pretty good for a couple of years, but in the last year or so I have developed a terrible problem with closed comedones. I would say I have probably close to 100 little closed comedones sprinkled on my cheeks and mouth/chin area. When I wash my face it's like running my hands over tiny little pebbles. My forehead is as clear as a bell, oddly enough.

Anyhow, my doctor put me back on Differin. I have read a few threads about closed comedonal acne but I guess I was hoping for some personal input. I am on Differin 0.1% and I use it morning and night. I've been on it for about 20 days now. I've had a lot of breaking out - red, angry looking pimples that seem to heal up relatively quickly, but I haven't seen any real difference in the comedonal acne.

Has anyone used differin for comedonal acne? How long before you saw results? I am considering asking my derm for a stronger strength of the dif gel - my skin is absolutely not sensitive and I have a wedding coming up in 2 months and I'd like to be relatively clear for it!

Thank you.

Edited by Juncus, 16 June 2011 - 08:39 AM.

[gtturbo2]

im nearly 29 , I would like to know this also, ive just started a course of differin .1 and an ultra low dose of acctuane.

Started a week ago and so far a few of the clogs have become small inflamed pimples, nothing else has really changed except my face feels a bit raw and dry or when i go work super oily.

Im gonna start getting some of mine extracted.

[Juncus]

I'm half tempted to ask my doctor if she'd be willing to put me on a low dose of accutane, but I have read on this board that accutane isn't so great for comedonal acne so who knows!

I've been on Differin .1% for about a month now and my skin is... strange. I have weird, painful cyst-like pimples on my jawline and some strange ones on the sides of my cheeks. I haven't broken out like this since I was in high school. Hopefully it calms down soon. Every day I wake up with at least 2 new pimples, and they are taking FOREVER to go away.

[wicky]

how are the clogged pores on the differin though?

[Crystal841]

Ok, so I really don't want to discourage anyone, but I went on differin for comedonal acne, and itgot absolutely nothing but worse... all it did was increase cell turnover, exposing the sebum, leading to infection. I am currently on accutane now. Sorry its not more positive

[wicky]

thank you for the reply..i really want a low dose accutane but i've heard it doesnt really work for this type of non inflamed acne...i felt like when i tried differin all it did was dry the area and the plug out and left the plug still there...right i have 5 plugs all along the right side of my mouth down toward my chin and i cant get them out..Ive tried and they wont budge so there they sit and now i have to wait for the cut that i made from trying to get them out heal...I just dont know what to do about these...at least pimples will eventually go away, these never do they just fester in the pore and sit there looking at you every time you wash...

crystal what have you experience with the accutane so far? Did you have an IB with such a low dose?

[Crystal841]

thank you for the reply..i really want a low dose accutane but i've heard it doesnt really work for this type of non inflamed acne...i felt like when i tried differin all it did was dry the area and the plug out and left the plug still there...right i have 5 plugs all along the right side of my mouth down toward my chin and i cant get them out..Ive tried and they wont budge so there they sit and now i have to wait for the cut that i made from trying to get them out heal...I just dont know what to do about these...at least pimples will eventually go away, these never do they just fester in the pore and sit there looking at you every time you wash...

crystal what have you experience with the accutane so far? Did you have an IB with such a low dose?

Yes I had an IB, about ten or so days in, and it continued for about a month. Just solid breaking out, tho it became less and less. I am no longer breaking out anymore, and my clogged pores are clearing out. I still have some, but I swear I had 100s prior to starting. I did not notice any difference w/ clogged pores until I had been on 40mg for over a week. Now they either dry up, or work their way to the surface and brush away.

[1Question]

Differin helped me a lot, you just got to stick with it,it can take awhile to really kick in.

[atrovirens]

This is the OP, for some reason the username Juncus disappeared so I had to create a new un!

Well, it's been about 2 months since I started differin 0.1% and Bactrim.

My skin is a lot worse. I have lots of red pimples around my mouth and jawline (I never had this before starting) and my comedonal acne is probably... worse, I'd say. Just bumps everywhere, particularly on my left cheek. The pimples on my jawline take FOREVER to heal - I have some that are probably 3 weeks old. They are very deep under the skin.

I'm going to see the derm again when I go home and see what she has to say. I'm pretty bummed, because my brother gets married in about 2 weeks and I look like a 13 year old kid with hormonal acne.

Oh well! I'm going to stick with what I'm doing for now until I see my derm again.

Edited by atrovirens, 22 July 2011 - 09:45 AM.

[Evelynne Smith]

I tried differin for about 3 months and while it did slow down my acne, in the end my face got progressively worse. I don't remember it doing anything for closed comedones. In the end, my face was extremely dry and in not so great condition. If you're going to a wedding, I suggest trying something that won't make your face dry and flaky.

[atrovirens]

Surprisingly it has not made my face dry and flaky - I have really oily skin and it is SUPER humid here, so I'm either oily or sweaty all the time.

My problem isn't dry skin - it's the breakouts! I just scratched my chin and felt a huge lump on it, which can only mean another pimple is coming in. It wasn't there 3 hours ago. Oh well.

I never wear make up, but I'll definitely be wearing it for the wedding.