21 replies to this topic

[mirili]

Hi everybody ,

I have had acne since I was 14 years old. Now I am 22 and I can tell that I kind of have it under control, mainly thanks to bcp . I dont get inflamed acne anymore, but I have lots and lots of blackheads and flesh colored bumps under my skin and also a lot of hyperpigmentation and scars from old acne. I started using Locacid (0.05 tretinoin cream gel) 3 weeks ago. I didnt experience initial breakout yet and I can tell that the texture of my skin has improved, but I still have a lot of blackeads and hyperpigmentation and scars. I know that tretinoin can help to fade these but it is going to take a long time. I hope that tretinoin will help me achieve my goals and I will have clear skin eventually. I also have problems with picking and that is one of the reasons I am making this log, because with my weekly updates I want to update also on my picking problem and if I picked at my skin that week or not. I hope this helps me during my treatement and any recommendations are appreciated (if somebody is actually reading this ).

Edited by mirili, 30 April 2013 - 09:55 PM.

[mirili]

I now am using tretinoin for 3 and a half weeks and I think that my IB starts now. Thanks god my breakouts are small but I get more breakouts than usual nowadays. It doesnt look horrible or anything, because these are just red dots and they last for no more than 3 days but as I wrote in my first post I also have a picking problem and everytime I see new blemish it is really difficult not to pick at it. Thats why I have so many acne scars, because I just cant let go. I picked at three pimples this week so far and I think that this slows down my progress. But i Just want to write here and promise you and myself that I wont pick at my face this week anymore. It is really difficult for me but I will try hard. I am going to update you at the end of the week if I achieved my goal not to pick and I am also going to give you detailed update on my locacid situation. Hava a nice week

Edited by mirili, 08 March 2013 - 11:08 PM.

[mirili]

I just want to tell you that my initial breakout is definitely starting. My face looked great and smooth for the last three weeks on Locacid and I thought that maybe I wont get the dreaded Ib, but boy was I wrong. I havent had an inflamed pimple which formed by itself (not as a result of picking my blackheads) for a really long tome, as I said my acne is mainly non-inflamatory, but I have like five or six inflamed not too big pimples right now. I am not happy  about it but at least I know Locacid is working. I am going to check in on Sunday and make a detailed review of my 4th week on Locacid.

[mirili]

I have been using Locacid for 4 weeks today. I have to say that this has been the worst week so far. I started using Locacid because I wanted to get rid of my non-inflamatory acne (blackheads and flesh colored bumps under the skin). First three weeks of using it were great, my skin got smoother and it overally looked better. I thought that I am not going to get the initial break out but I did. Is it noraml to get IB after three weeks? I am so scared that Locacid isnt going to help me. I feel like this is too late to start breaking out. And my breakouts are inflamed and I didnt have inflamed acne like this since my teenage years. I hope that the breakout just means that my skin is getting rid of all these blackheads and under the skin bumps. I am really depressed right now. I got like ten small pimples this week. Some of them came to head  themselves, some of them are just read and inflamed and I dont know what to do about them. I hope that next week is going to be better and my skin heals a little. And I also wanted to tell you that I apply Locacid two or three days in a row and than I skip one day. I found that this is tolerable for me. My skin is still dry and flaky though. Can I be irritating my skin too much and thats why I get these pimples. But on the other hand I am afraid of using it less frequently because my doctor said that I should apply it every night.

Edited by mirili, 10 March 2013 - 05:53 AM.

[mirili]

Hi everyone, I am just checking in. My skin is in a very bad condition right now. I get more and more little pimples everyday. I hope they wont leave scars. I just wanted to ask you if you could recommend me a good oil free moisturizer. I cant use anything with mineral oil or any kind of oil, bevause it clogs my pores instantly and I dont want to reverse the effects of Locacid (if it has any). thank you in advance

[mirili]

Hi guys,

Its time for my weekly update again. I have been using Locacid for 5 weeks now. I have to tell you that my skin is behaving better now. I was really frustrated last week because of all the active inflammed pimples I was getting. This week was much better since my lust update I didnt get any new innflamed pimples and the old ones are healing. My skin is still purging though, because my little blackheads are coming out and sometimes I get small red pimples with no head but they dissapear in two days or something like that. My skin definitely still has a lot of blemishes and blackheads to get rid off but I think that I am on my way to the clear skin I always wanted. I hope I am not jinxing it. I will update you during the week if anything out of ordinary happens to my skin. If anyone has some suggestions for a good oil free moisturizer feel free to leave your recommendations. Thank you and have a noce week

P.S. I was really good with picking all week long but today I picked a lot and I am very sad about it. I hope the blackheads wont get inflamed, i have to do something about this problem. I

Edited by mirili, 17 March 2013 - 06:36 AM.

[mirili]

I am so sad, my face looks horrible again. It is such a rollercoaster with this medicine. I have a lot of new pimples and scabs from picking them. I am really dissapointed with myself, because I just cannot control the picking. Thats why I decided to promise you all that a month from today I am going to post pics of my face for you to see the progress I will hopefully get. And I would never post a picture with lots of scabs on my face, because I am too embarassed, so thats why I think that maybe this promise floating there will help me not to touch my face. So wish me luck.

[gxtirby]

Hi Mirili,

 

I just wanted to give you some encouragement.  I have similar skin problems (blackheads, hyperpigmentation, noninflammed bumps) and I've been using tretinoin 0.01% cream for 10 weeks now.  I've seen some progress overall in that my face feels smoother and less congested, but I started breaking out pretty badly around week 8.  I think this is partially because I delayed the initial breakout by starting out slowly and because I've been picking.

 

For moisturizers, I use Cetaphil DailyAdvance Ultra Hydrating Lotion.  I find it's pretty light and doesn't make me break out at all.  Also - the instructions that came with my tretinoin actually recommended that you don't start out applying it every night.  You're starting with a pretty high strength (at least, compared to me!) so I think it would be okay to skip a night every couple of days if your face is really irritated.  Just my two cents.

 

Good luck with everything and don't give up!

[mirili]

Oh my god, thank you very much for your kind words and your moisturizer recommendation. I think that you are right and I have to skip a night once in a few days because my skin really looks and feels better when I give it a break. I will hang in there because I know its in my best interest, but I am really happy you are so encouraging. I guess we are in this fight together. So good luck to you and hope you will get clear soon.

[gxtirby]

Hey, no problem!  Keep us updated on your progress.  How is skipping every few days going for you?

[mirili]

Hi I am sorry I am checking in so late, but this week was crazy so far and I didnt have much time. I am using my locacid every other day these days because my skin just couldnt handle everyday usage even though I thought that after six weeks of using it my skin gets accustomed to it.. My face is still dry but it is a little better now. I think that the weather isnt helping much either. It is really cold and it snows here and my skin just cannot handle it. I did get some breakouts last week but they werent big or inflammed. They are just bumps under the skin and I am just waiting for them to go away. Overall my skin looks horrible, really dry, red, irritated and I feel like I have this film of dry skin all over and I am really afraid that my pores are clogging under this film. I know I have to go through all these stages but it isnt easy. But I am not going to give up

[mirili]

Hi everybody, just a small update.

I am using tretinoinn six and a half weeks right now. i had pretty rouugh times with my skin these days, mainly because the horrible cold weather. My skin was reaaaaaally  dry and irritated but I am happy to report that today it looks better. My skin isnt dry anymore but I got about 5 small pimples today. I dont know whats happening but I hope it gets better soon.

[mirili]

Hi guys

its time for another weekly update. I have been using Locacid for seven and a half weeks now (wow I didnt even realize how long its been) and I am happy to say that this week was one of the best.

 

Even though I got like four small pimles  and there are still old ones healing I feel that my skin looks better overall. The texture of my skin has improved, it is really smooth and I feel like I have less under the skin bumps and blackheads, which are really hard to get rid off. My skin is far from perfect but I feel that I am on a good path.

 

Another positive thing is that my skin is getting used to tretinoin because it is not so irritated and dry like it was before. I am still skipping a night every few days, because I dont want to get my skin to the state it was before (layer of dry skin all over) because it was contraproductive.

 

I hope that everybody who is fighting with acne will get some good results soon

[mirili]

I feel like everytime I write my skin looks good it looks terrible the next day

I jinxed myself. I got like 5 new spots since my last update and my skin is dry again. I guess I was wrong when I wrote that my skin is used to tretinoin. It is not! Okay so the battle with dry skin and pimples everywhere starts again .

Have a nice weekend everyone

Edited by mirili, 04 April 2013 - 11:31 PM.

[mirili]

Hi everybody.

 

Its time for another update. I have been using Locacid for a little more than eight and a half weeks. I am almost afraid to write that my skin looks so much better now because I always jinx myself.

 

I didnt get hardly any new spots this week and I am very happy about it. My skin is a little bit dry but it is much better than before. There are still some old scabs healing but it doesnt look horrible.

 

Even though my face improved a little I cannot say it is pefect. There still is a lot of hyperpigmentation, my skin tone is very uneven, it is a bit dry and there also are some spots under the skin. I guess that this really is a long process and I have to stay patient. But I am happy even for small improvements.

[mirili]

Another update is here!

 

I have been using Locacid for approximately nine and a half weeks now.

The majority of this week I was really satisfied with my skin. I am using Locacid two days in a row and then I have one day off and again two days in a row and one day off. It works pretty well for me to apply it this way.

About three days ago I noticed some small under the skin bumps on my forehead. I dont know if there are new ones or locacid is just making them more visible because it is purging my skin, but I am not happy with them.

Yesterday I picked at some of my small inflammed whiteheads and now I have scabs on my face. I feel like I went two steps back with my progress. Sometimes I feel that my progress has stopped and sometimes even that my skin is getting worse again. I just hope it is just another purging faze and my skin will get better and clearer soon. If it really is purging I dont mind because I want the under the skin bumps to go away, but you never know.

 

There are things worse than acne though and we have to realize how lucky we are that we are even here.

[mirili]

Just a quick update

 

My skin doesnt look very good. Last week was one of the worst skin weeks  . I dont know why but I got some under the skin flesh colored bumps on one cheek and now I am trying to recover from picking them. I dont understand why these pimples appeared because I wasnt using anything new and I just dont know where they came from. Maybe it is because it was that time of the month but I never get pimples associated with it.

Now my skin is healing and looking a little better and I hope from now on it will be just better. I have been using locacid for nearly 11 weeks now so it is just one week until the 12 weeks point. I think that the 12 weeks wont be magical turning point but I hope that it at least will get better and better from now on and not worse.

[dohai2105]

Hi mirili

 

I had alot of pimples and I have been using locacid for 8 weeks . My skin looks better now but I still get some pimples when i stop using locacid . My terrible English cannot express all my thought but i hope your pimples and scars go away soon and i will follow your updates .

[mirili]

Thank you very much for your support. Your english isnt terrible at all. You are really sweet. I hope your acne goes away too. Good luck. I am going to update here frequently with my progress and maybe I will insert some pictures soon. So thank you for your support again.

[mirili]

Hi everybody

 

Here is my update. I have been using Locacid for 12 weeks already. Yes it is true, the magical 12 weeks point is here. I think that it is not goung to be quite as magical though. My skin doesnt look horrible but it doesnt look great either.

 

This past two weeks were very difficult. I think that my skin looks worse than before. It is permanently dry (less flaky but still dry) and I am getting new blemishes especially along my hairline and on my jawline.

 

I dont know why I am still getting new and new blemishes. I dont know if it is still the initial breakout or if something is wrong with my hormones. If it is the initial brekout I dont mind it, because it means my skin is purging all the impurities. On the other hand i think I am using Locacid too long to still have breakouts. Or is the breakout related to my hormones? I am on bcp yasmin and I have been using it for 3 and a half months. I switched to it from another bcp which really helped my acne but caused water retention. Yasmin should also help with acne but maybe it is not the right pill for me. I just dont know what is the cause of my acne. I am going to wait anbother two months and if my skin doesnt get better I think I will have to switch my birth control pills. Wish me luck.

 

Have a nice week everybody