14 replies to this topic

[Steph1992]

hi guys, so I've been on the regimen for just over 2 months now, and I don't know if i can keep doing the regimen my face has definitively cleared up (i had mild acne around my mouth and forehead) and i now i only get a few pimples around my period.

So although the regimen seems to be doing its job, I dont know how much longer i can handle the flakiness,redness,burning sensation for. My face(especially my cheeks and around my mouth) are so incredibly ithcy that i scratch them basically raw, to the point where i have scabs now. and of course you can imagine the pain that im in when i apply the bp twice a day. i want to cry everytime lol

What im confused about is that the dryness and itchiness is also all over my neck and chest, aswell as my upper arms? and im not quite sure why because i only obviously apply the regimen on my face, so why is it that my chest and arms are reacting?

I'm just at the point where i don't know if having a clear face is worth having blotchy, red, dry, flaky looking face, neck,chest and arms.

SO please, if you have had this problem before or know of a way to help me, please share I'm desperate here, i'm so itchy and dry and i just dread applying the bp because it hurts so much!

any help/info is welcomed!


Oh i forgot to add. here is my daily regimen:

Morning:

- Cleanse in the shower with dans regimen
- Apply finger length of dans BP
- Apply cetaphil moisturizer
(since I usually work during the day i don't use dans moisturizer because its just too oily and impossible to use makeup afterwards lol)

Evening:

- Cleanse in sink/shower
- Apply finger length of dans BP
- Apply dans moisturizer and 5 drops of jojoba oil, at this point i barely even let my skin absorb it, i just let a full layer sit on my face and let time absorb it.

Also I herd AHA helps with dryness? Ive never even herd of AHA before but from what I have read im guessing i would just about die if i put that on my face right now because it would burn so much! does anyone have any advice? would you recommend i try if so where can i buy it?

Thanks again!
Steph

Edited by Steph1992, 05 May 2012 - 11:54 PM.

[arqa22]

get in: http://www.acne.org/...-cured-my-acne/

especially look at the "food-acne" thing and do it! good luck

Edited by arqa22, 06 May 2012 - 02:02 AM.

[xbeautyxxkillzx]

Hi there,

I can totally identify with what you're going through. I have been on the regimen a little over 3 months now and my skin has cleared up nicely, but it is very dry, very itchy, and just irritated overall. I'm not having too much trouble with redness currently, but my skin was pretty red during the first month and a half or so. From everything I have read throughout the message boards and on other websites discussing the side effects of benzoyl peroxide, what we're going through is completely normal. The severity differs from person to person of course, but it seems that these side effects can take a good 5 or 6 months to subside. My neck, chest, and upper arms are itchy as well, and I don't have an explanation for you as to why that is. Somehow the BP must be effecting those areas without being directly applied to them, it is a very potent substance after all. My advice to you and myself based upon what I've read is to stick with it and be patient until our skin finally builds a tolerance to the BP. 5 to 6 months may feel like an eternity, but if that means having clear skin I think it's worth it. I have used AHA on my face and did not notice any significant difference in it helping with the dryness over using any other moisturizer. And yes I know, it burns like hell. This is why I chose to stop using it on my face. If you want to continue using it, I would recommend mixing some of it with your existing moisturizer. I did this for a little while and it reduced the burning sensation quite a bit. One last thing I will share with you is a post by a young woman named Kat who has been a regimen user for 6 years.. she wrote an entire guide to the regimen with all of her personal advice and I found it to be EXTREMELY helpful. Here is the link: http://www.acne.org/...irst-two-posts/

I wish you (and I) the best of luck!

The regimen is not for the feint of heart, that's for sure.

-Ashley

[arqa22]

lol i find it really epic that people actually put all those chemichals on their face and waste so much time, money, energy, both mentaly and physicaly instead of just finding the ROOT CAUSE of the acne.

burning and drying your skin skin like hell? instead of finding what is triggering your acne? it really amazes me, 6 years of this?! wow....

Edited by arqa22, 06 May 2012 - 02:34 AM.

[AyeAye]

Condescending comments such as yours arqa22 are hardly helpful. If you are successful in finding the root cause of peoples acne then you must be quite an exceptional person.

Steph, just some advice from my own experience. I find that the cetaphil moisturiser to be much more moisturising compared to Dan's, however every time I used it, it made my skin burn and become red in all the crease areas (side of nose, where cheeks meet my mouth etc), so perhaps you will have better luck using Dan's moisturiser rather than cetaphil. Its funny how you find you can put makeup over the top of cetaphil and can't over the top of Dan's moisturiser. I found the complete opposite. Its funny how we all have different experiences hey? (incidently, even now after following Dan's regimen for over 9 months, if I occassionally use cetaphil at night time I wake up with a red face).

Secondly, I'm a big advocate for AHA+. I started using it at night time when I reached week 5 and I found that it made a huge difference within 2 weeks with dryness and flakiness. The texture of my skin overall became smooth and moisturised. I now use it every night instead of moisturiser (but I slowly built up to this) and I occassionally use it during the day too if I'm lazing around the house and not going out in the sun.

Good luck with it all. This awful period does pass even if it feels like it never will. Hang in there!

[arqa22]

Condescending comments such as yours arqa22 are hardly helpful. If you are successful in finding the root cause of peoples acne then you must be quite an exceptional person.

Steph, just some advice from my own experience. I find that the cetaphil moisturiser to be much more moisturising compared to Dan's, however every time I used it, it made my skin burn and become red in all the crease areas (side of nose, where cheeks meet my mouth etc), so perhaps you will have better luck using Dan's moisturiser rather than cetaphil. Its funny how you find you can put makeup over the top of cetaphil and can't over the top of Dan's moisturiser. I found the complete opposite. Its funny how we all have different experiences hey? (incidently, even now after following Dan's regimen for over 9 months, if I occassionally use cetaphil at night time I wake up with a red face).

Secondly, I'm a big advocate for AHA+. I started using it at night time when I reached week 5 and I found that it made a huge difference within 2 weeks with dryness and flakiness. The texture of my skin overall became smooth and moisturised. I now use it every night instead of moisturiser (but I slowly built up to this) and I occassionally use it during the day too if I'm lazing around the house and not going out in the sun.

Good luck with it all. This awful period does pass even if it feels like it never will. Hang in there!

like you havent seen that every second post i write the same.

avoid:
dairy
gluten
nuts
eggs
soy
corn
critic acid

for 1 month, and i asure you, you will get clear.
AT LEAST TRY, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE.

its M-U-C-H better than putting some crappy chemicals on your face everyday that god knows what's in there. and then what, are you going to use the "regimen" for the rest of your life? yeah sure, im sure when you will be 80 you will be like:"did i use AHA+ today? catabomb moisturiser? did i drink cocont oil? dog pee? BP to destroy my skin? why do i have red face today? ahhhh right i putted too many chemicals on my face yesterday, no big deal!". rather than cutting some foods and clear your face already.

you know what, i would rather be a freak of diet than be a freak of putting chemicals on my face.

but then again.... everyone makes their own choice.

good luck!

Edited by arqa22, 08 May 2012 - 10:07 AM.

[cyyy]

Condescending comments such as yours arqa22 are hardly helpful. If you are successful in finding the root cause of peoples acne then you must be quite an exceptional person.

Steph, just some advice from my own experience. I find that the cetaphil moisturiser to be much more moisturising compared to Dan's, however every time I used it, it made my skin burn and become red in all the crease areas (side of nose, where cheeks meet my mouth etc), so perhaps you will have better luck using Dan's moisturiser rather than cetaphil. Its funny how you find you can put makeup over the top of cetaphil and can't over the top of Dan's moisturiser. I found the complete opposite. Its funny how we all have different experiences hey? (incidently, even now after following Dan's regimen for over 9 months, if I occassionally use cetaphil at night time I wake up with a red face).

Secondly, I'm a big advocate for AHA+. I started using it at night time when I reached week 5 and I found that it made a huge difference within 2 weeks with dryness and flakiness. The texture of my skin overall became smooth and moisturised. I now use it every night instead of moisturiser (but I slowly built up to this) and I occassionally use it during the day too if I'm lazing around the house and not going out in the sun.

Good luck with it all. This awful period does pass even if it feels like it never will. Hang in there!

like you havent seen that every second post i write the same.

avoid:
dairy
gluten
nuts
eggs
soy
corn
critic acid

for 1 month, and i asure you, you will get clear.
AT LEAST TRY, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE.

its M-U-C-H better than putting some crappy chemicals on your face everyday that god knows what's in there. and then what, are you going to use the "regimen" for the rest of your life? yeah sure, im sure when you will be 80 you will be like:"did i use AHA+ today? catabomb moisturiser? did i drink cocont oil? dog pee? BP to destroy my skin? why do i have red face today? ahhhh right i putted too many chemicals on my face yesterday, no big deal!". rather than cutting some foods and clear your face already.

you know what, i would rather be a freak of diet than be a freak of putting chemicals on my face.

but then again.... everyone makes their own choice.

good luck!

Hi, i just wanna let you know, you are not helpful at all.
ive tried sleeping early, eating healthy, excercising everything. fruits veggies.
it just doesnt help for us to have skin problems
sure you probably dont have any skin problems
but please respect us who do have acne problems.
its not just painful on the outside, its even more painful on the inside.

people who has acne problems they are desparate to do anything to get rid of them.
we have our reasons.
and please please please respect us.
for me, no matter what i eat, what i do, i could never get rid of them
sometimes its just genetic, my brother has the same problem..
ive been using Dans regimen for less than a week it has definitly improved my acne, im happy to say i dont have any zits on my face right now.
its just the blemishes im trying to get rid of.

again, please respect us..

[pulz]

Condescending comments such as yours arqa22 are hardly helpful. If you are successful in finding the root cause of peoples acne then you must be quite an exceptional person.

Steph, just some advice from my own experience. I find that the cetaphil moisturiser to be much more moisturising compared to Dan's, however every time I used it, it made my skin burn and become red in all the crease areas (side of nose, where cheeks meet my mouth etc), so perhaps you will have better luck using Dan's moisturiser rather than cetaphil. Its funny how you find you can put makeup over the top of cetaphil and can't over the top of Dan's moisturiser. I found the complete opposite. Its funny how we all have different experiences hey? (incidently, even now after following Dan's regimen for over 9 months, if I occassionally use cetaphil at night time I wake up with a red face).

Secondly, I'm a big advocate for AHA+. I started using it at night time when I reached week 5 and I found that it made a huge difference within 2 weeks with dryness and flakiness. The texture of my skin overall became smooth and moisturised. I now use it every night instead of moisturiser (but I slowly built up to this) and I occassionally use it during the day too if I'm lazing around the house and not going out in the sun.

Good luck with it all. This awful period does pass even if it feels like it never will. Hang in there!

like you havent seen that every second post i write the same.

avoid:
dairy
gluten
nuts
eggs
soy
corn
critic acid

for 1 month, and i asure you, you will get clear.
AT LEAST TRY, YOU HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE.

its M-U-C-H better than putting some crappy chemicals on your face everyday that god knows what's in there. and then what, are you going to use the "regimen" for the rest of your life? yeah sure, im sure when you will be 80 you will be like:"did i use AHA+ today? catabomb moisturiser? did i drink cocont oil? dog pee? BP to destroy my skin? why do i have red face today? ahhhh right i putted too many chemicals on my face yesterday, no big deal!". rather than cutting some foods and clear your face already.

you know what, i would rather be a freak of diet than be a freak of putting chemicals on my face.

but then again.... everyone makes their own choice.

good luck!

Hi, i just wanna let you know, you are not helpful at all.
ive tried sleeping early, eating healthy, excercising everything. fruits veggies.
it just doesnt help for us to have skin problems
sure you probably dont have any skin problems
but please respect us who do have acne problems.
its not just painful on the outside, its even more painful on the inside.

people who has acne problems they are desparate to do anything to get rid of them.
we have our reasons.
and please please please respect us.
for me, no matter what i eat, what i do, i could never get rid of them
sometimes its just genetic, my brother has the same problem..
ive been using Dans regimen for less than a week it has definitly improved my acne, im happy to say i dont have any zits on my face right now.
its just the blemishes im trying to get rid of.

again, please respect us..

Agree, dieting takes so much more energy than putting the bp on... I rather take 10 a minutes a day to apply all the regimen products than limit my life on what I like to eat. Dieting/eating "healthy" is unhealthy too, you'll notice one day once you've taken it far.
Everybody eats those foods.. Don't blame the food, just deal with the fact that you have acne.

[Steph1992]

Thanks everyone for your advice. Thanks Ashley and AyeAye and ayeaye its weird because for me my face absorbs the cetaphil (i used the facial one) soo much faster then dans moisturizer! His leaves my skin looking greasy (especially when I add the jojoba oil), so ya, its deff interesting to see how eveyone skins is soo different. I use cetaphil during the day and dans moisturizer at night if im not going out.

So what i ended up doing is stopping the regimen for 24 hours. I broke out 3 new pimples, but it was worth it because all the rawness and falkiness has gone down ALOT! actually i dont have anymore raw spots anymore! and now i only apply the bp to my forehead and tzone, as well as around my mouth and chin, That way it takes care of my acne and my dryness.

So thanks everyone !

[clambak3]

I hate everything on Dan's regimen though I tried desperately to love it all..

BP is a hell of a thing, and though it's only 2.5% it feels like you're burning your skin with absolutely no benefits. Seems silly to be so gentle to your skin and then continue to apply the god awful benzoyl peroxide to your face. I personally hate it and it made me break out more than I have ever in my 10 years of having acne and I was very consistent and diligent with the regimen for yes only a month but the worst month of my life.

My face is typically so oily and I have far from sensitive skin and it just ruined my face and life to put BP on.

Great if it works for you but no thanks I'd rather have soft, smooth skin that doesn't feel like I belong in the movie the Mask with how tight it makes my face feel. I'd prefer more natural stuff too arqa22.

And honestly acne isn't all just outside treatment. Though everyone on this forum should already know that. You need to be healthy in order to have healthy skin. Everyone needs to find out their triggers for acne and figure out how to stop them and what treatments work for them.

I know for most we don't stay consistent in our diet plans and that is a major flaw. Exercising and eating right may not completely get rid of acne but it is a necessary foundation to reach better skin. Continuing to eat unhealthy foods obviously can only do harm.

[xKiLLaBoix]

I'm starting to think the BP isn't worth it as well.

I don't even have any redness or itching, but still my skin feels so tight I feel like an 80 year old woman with a ton of work done.

On a side note, you're extremely cute!

Come to London Ontario and be my baby cakes.

[Steph1992]

I'm starting to think the BP isn't worth it as well.

I don't even have any redness or itching, but still my skin feels so tight I feel like an 80 year old woman with a ton of work done.

On a side note, you're extremely cute!

Come to London Ontario and be my baby cakes.

Lol

How long have you been on the regimen for? because since my 24hr break from the regimen i have almost no flakes, no rawness. Its still a bit itchy here and there but maybe just try applying it only to the areas that you need? it helped me alot!

[xKiLLaBoix]

I'm starting to think the BP isn't worth it as well.

I don't even have any redness or itching, but still my skin feels so tight I feel like an 80 year old woman with a ton of work done.

On a side note, you're extremely cute!

Come to London Ontario and be my baby cakes.

Lol

How long have you been on the regimen for? because since my 24hr break from the regimen i have almost no flakes, no rawness. Its still a bit itchy here and there but maybe just try applying it only to the areas that you need? it helped me alot!

I was on it for about 2 years, had no acne at all. Went off of it, and next thing you know lot's of ance. I really believe your skin gets dependant on the BP.. it's so horrible. Anyways my baby cakes ( girl friend ) of 2 years dumped my ass last month. So I went back on the regimen a month ago to get a new baby cakes ( you, that's where you come in). My skin has cleared up again, but jesus it isn't worth it. You can't even notice it on my face, but it's sooo painful.


Mod edit - please abide by board rules

[wombat666]

I really don't know about the dependency thing. In my situation, I was going full throttle on the Regimen for almost a year (meaning 2 pumps day and night and all that jazz) but eventually, once the majority of my acne had been eradicated, I stopped being so serious and loosened up a LOT (meaning almost no cleanser, BP maybe once every two or three days)... and I stayed more or less acne-free. It was only when I went off the Regimen completely that my acne started coming back, but it was no worse than during the pre-BP days.

So the point is, after you've been on the Regimen for a while, you will probably be fine with using a lot less. It's not going to be endless pain, just gotta stick it out during the first couple months / half-year or so. Then you can lower the dosages to find what works for you.

[melissa6980]

I think it's a good idea to try the anti-inflammatory (low glycemic, dairy free) diet for a while to see if it helps. Even if diet isn't enough to totally clear you, it might help in conjunction with other treatments. I would just go slow with the bp. If it's too much, just scale back a little. It seems like all the stories I hear about people quitting bp and their skin freaking out occur when bp is abruptly stopped after using it for quite some time, especially if there is no other acne treatment plan in place after stopping bp. If anyone is considering getting off bp, might be best to try weaning off gradually.

Also, for some of my pimples, I can just spot treat with bp when they break through and stop them in their tracks so they stay very tiny and go away fast. This is what I do for the half of my face that doesn't break out much. That way I can just use bp regularly on my acne prone areas and spot treat the occasional pimple on the less acne prone, less annoying parts of my face. So, when you're scaling back on bp and have a little flare up, spot treating any blemishes with bp twice a day might help the breakout stay small. Dan also mentions using his AHA moisturizer as a spot treatment after the skin has adjusted to bp. I haven't tried that, that might help too.