11 replies to this topic

[Lakestone Park]

BackSTORY: I've been on Tazorac for 8 months. I have seen some improvement and benifets from this cream, But i still get 4-8 zits a month depending if i have a good month or not. Although I have seen some benifits such as less flaky skin, i still have not seen the results others have posted.


I have tried Everything you can use before you can take Tazorac. Here are a list of the latest things i have tried in combinations with Tazorac. Antibiotic (only Tetracycline) which gave me a yellow tongue. Cleansers: Neostrata Antibacterial Cleanser, Aveeno Ultra Calming Foam wash, Giovanni Dtox Cleanser with Activated Charcoal/Goji and Acai berry/ and other stuff natural stuff. Moisturizer Peter Thomas Roth Matte 20 spf ( i will never stop using this until i find a better matte moisturizer). I use Triderma Redness relief lotion when i am not outdoors instead of my mouisturizer. And i tried Avene's Cicalfate Restorative Skin Cream (which i just found out has Hydrogenated Vegetable oil in it and I was worried because when i started using this product i have been breaking out more frequently than i have had within these 8 months. So now i have decided to discontinue using it and just stick to triderma and my Roth Moisturizer before i start buying something new.

For medicated CLeansers i have used Cleania or Cleanea (has some sulfacetimide or sulfur stuff in it) (i dont think this ever worked or did any miracle as i always had acne while using this in combination with Tazorac

NOW : I just bought Acne Free- Benzoyl peroxide 2.5% foam wash that has the BP in Micro Form (another Magic TRICK) . In the past i have tried Panoxyl 2.5% BP Cream wash and it broke me out. This Acne Free Foam wash will be the last BP Wash i Do a Trial on. and this is pretty much where i will start doing updates

My Regime will work like this

Masks: for 2-3 days per week i will use one of two masks ( Calcium Bentonite- Aztec Brand) or (Activated Charcoal+ Sulfur 10% - Collective Well Being Detox mask Brand). I have been using the Bentonite Mask for 3 days and it does not dry me out or anything, but i cannot say if i see major improvements , i need more time.


Masks will be done before morning cleansing.

Morning : Cleansers will alternate from Acne-Free 2.5% BP Foaming Wash ( This will be used for 80% of the week for the first week) . Then Follow up with either Triderma Redness Relief Lotion or Peter THomas roth clini-matte all day oil control Spf 20 ( this works for up to 5 hours for me and NOT all day since i sweat a lot and i am extremely oily.)

Night: Aveeno Ultra Calming Cleanser or GIovanni Dtox Purifying Cleanser will be used at night. Then wait for skin to dry fully and apply .05% Tazorac all over my face. 4 times a week i may put on Moisturizer 15 minutes after applying the Tazorac in order to minimize irritation.


These have been 8 months i have been using Tazorac and i will go up to 10 months to see if i will hit a miracle or something, I will go to my dermatologist for a follow to see if i can get some Antibiotics or Finally convince her that i need accutane (BUT I REALLY DONT WANT TO TAKE ACCUTANE because i have an active life that i want to maintain and i dont want to stop exercising because im loosing fat right now and it makes me feel great. So i dont want to risk Joint pain stopping me from exercising).


Anyways Main products here that i will be testing is Tazorac .05% in combination with Acne-Free Foaming Micro-Benzoyl peroxide 2.5%.
And the Medicated sulfur+Activated Charcoal and Calcium Bentonite Masks. Everything else is pretty much a variable and i will stop using my Avene cream as of today.

TOday is the first day i have done this and will report back

[NotMeAtAll]

Good luck. My derm said that you have to have something to kill bacteria to use when you are using Tazorac, so I have been using BPO 2.5% or 5% in the mornings and the Tazorac at night, and it has worked really well. (I have been doing this for four months and am pretty clear, with only a few minor pimples a month.)

[Lakestone Park]

Good luck. My derm said that you have to have something to kill bacteria to use when you are using Tazorac, so I have been using BPO 2.5% or 5% in the mornings and the Tazorac at night, and it has worked really well. (I have been doing this for four months and am pretty clear, with only a few minor pimples a month.)

Thanks , she first had me on CLENIA® (sodium sulfacetamide 10% and sulfur 5%) Foaming Wash which was suppose to kill the bacteria in the morning and the Taz at night (which i thought was ok, and during all the check ups i always never had much of those flare ups (which i hated because she always told me "You look fine " and then a week later i would flare up and she would tell me over the phone to just keep doing what i was doing... but now Clenia has been discontinued and so she told me now to use a BP wash in the mornings. Hopefully this micro Benzoyl peroxide 2.5% foaming wash works.

Supposedly Acne-Free made BP better by stating that
Typical Benzoyl Peroxide molecules are too big to fit into pores. AcneFree's Benzoyl Peroxide is 60x smaller to immediately absorb deep inside pores and kill 99% of acne bacteria on contact.

The Benzoyl peroxide foam smells funny (like medicated oxygen) , but i have to say, it gives the slight stinging of regular Benzoyl peroxide gives, but i dont get the redness regular BP usually gives. It's the best non irritating BP i have used so far. Now if it will show signs of improvement is another thing. I wonder if its the same Micro technology that REtina Micro uses.

but yeah thanks for the feeback .

[NotMeAtAll]

Good luck. After 4 months of Tazorac, I still have 1-2 papules at most times, so my doctor switched me to Retin-A Micro .1%. We'll see if that helps.

[Lakestone Park]

UPDATE: #1

Thanks for sharing..hmmmm THe thing is I've already used REtin-A micro so i dont think she would put me on that, at this point it's putting me on tazorac .1% with antibiotics or Accutane, i really just broke out these past two weeks, Im actually worst than when i posted this topic...

Ok im doing BP 2.5% wash in the morning (i used my sulfur mask 3 times last week) and it was not bad in redness but i did get two huge ones near the corner of my eye on both sides of my eyes...i didnt wear any sunglasses or anything,,,i usually get these symmetrical zits (one zit on each side on almost the exact area....but i dont use anything on my face ever, other than this medication)

OK I've been using Tazorac as well every night. Im breaking out on my back as well, I REALLY THINK ITS THE HEAT...Its been an from 88-95 degrees where i live for the past 2 weeks and its the worst break outs i've had since when i was not on Tazorac.

My Pores are huge...i dont know what it is in my skin that wont let the creams do their thing, i mean both the bp and Tazorac easily can get into my pores (kinda sad, but no excuses for these creams not working on my skin)

Moisturizer is Peter thomas Roth Medi-Matte...good stuff.

Overall , its been a bad week, But i like my sulfur mask better than my bentonite mask...so for this week i will use more often...almost everyday...you know what...everyday...because it makes my skin look soft and dry, something i almost never see with my oily skin.

[Lakestone Park]

Update#2...OK its only been a couple of hours after my first update, but today i woke up with 3 new medium sized zits on my face, pretty much seem too look like 3 small cysts without white heads. on my left side of my face...This could be due to the fact that I have had my worst acne while using Benzoyl Peroxide cleansers. I'm trying to get my dermatologist to move the appointment to this following week, hopefully someone cancelled their appointment with her not much else to say. She's the one who talked me out of Accutane.


But this new flare up has to do with the heat because its not just my face its my back and chest that have gone crazy too. Nothing in my diet is new. It has to be the heat.

[Lakestone Park]

I JUST READ Tazorac's full information and Trials and they say that .05% of Tazarotene Tazorac Cream is only meant to treat Plaque psoriasis.

The Trial for Acne was done with .1% on all the patients.
I've been using ..05% without my dermatologist ever boosting it up to .1% and even when i told her i wasnt getting full results. :/ i suspect now she will use an excuse to boost it up to .1% and now see what happens. I've been wanting to get on Accutane since June 2011. Im guessing its going to take 2 years for me to get on accutane now.

[Lakestone Park]

UPdate 3

iM DOING MUCH WORSE, i SEEM TO HAVE broken OUT REALLY BAD AND THE BACTERIA, SOMEHOW, EVEN WHILE USING bENZOYL pEROXIDE (WHICH CLAIMS TO KILL 99.9 % OF aCNE bACTERIA ON cONTACT),

iM REALLY JUST COUNTING THE DAYS WHERE MY dERM SEES ME AND SAYS o shiP WHAT THE FUQ HAPPENED TO YOU...

i WASNT EVEN THIS BAD IN 2 YEARS NOW, eITHER IT WAS THE HEAT OR THIS NEW bp WITH tAZORAC REGIMEN SHE PUT ME ON.

[Lakestone Park]

Update 4: The big breakouts kinda subsided, I went to the derm told to that i needed to be on Antibiotics <.< >.> and i was kinda mad cause i have already been on antibiotics and off of them, and the acne always comes back. She now told me either Retin-A micro .1% or Tazorac .1% with the antibiotics....I dont like her anymore.

[NotMeAtAll]

I don't do antibiotics because they always stop working and I don't like messing with my bacterial flora. Good luck.

[Lakestone Park]

Update: Although i have been unable to purchase a tube of .1% tazorac cream ($460 cost). I was put on minocycline 75mg 2x a day. At first i didnt see any results...it was at 1 month and 3 weeks to be exact where i saw some sort of change. But on 2 months and 1 week...BOOOM my acne on face completely stopped (no new pimples), my shoulders have stopped as well. I've always responded well to mino. Although my Dermatologist has now put me on 1 pill per day, i am a little scared she just wants me to use it for 2 more months and boom my acne comes back again. She's not really the best derm (SINCE I TOLD HER SINCE THE VERY BEGGINNING WHAT HAS WORKED AND WASTED 1.5 years trying new stuff that never worked. THen she finally said ok to the Antibiotics.) Some derms don't understand quality of life issues that people with acne have. I wish Patients could be able to choose from treatment options instead of waiting for dermatologists to finally be "convinced" that i need antibiotics. Benzoyl i have now realized breaks me out more- PERIOD no discussion and doubt on that anymore- clindamycin causes me to be red and my derm says that's contradictory to what we are trying to accomplish which i agree and am now on Sulfacetamide lotion. Benzoyl and Clinda used to burn me, Sulfacetamide doesnt even burn at all, its like putting water lotion on. Anyway's clinically speaking - Using .05% Tazorac and 75mg 2x a day of Minocycline has been a cinical success on me , Im a male 24 , with oily skin type. Used to have Moderate to Moderately Severe acne on Back and Face. I have 2 things to add. The best cleanser is Pevonia rs2 cleanser...as well as i have been using Nia24 and Strivectin in combination with my Tazorac. Nia24 and Strivectin both have niacinamide.

[timaku]

Sweet. I'm glad you found something that worked for you. I'll keep .05% Tazorac and 75 mg Minocycline 2x a day in mind while I am experimenting with prescription stuff.