Hi Everyone,

I am new to acne.org and new to the regimen, I have been struggling with acne since I was about 14, I am now 22. The only thing that cleared me was Diane- 35, its a birth control but it is very bad for blood clots so after 4 years on that I had to go off of it. I went off Diane in March of last year and my acne has been up and down since, for a couple months i'll be mostly clear and then all of a sudden bam acne everywhere, my acne is defiantly moderate, or it was until I started the regimen, now it is moderate-severe, this may be me just purging as I always experience purging with any product I use, but I really need some advice/words of wisdom as I am getting to the point where I want to stop the regimen, I am only 3 and a half weeks in, but I am experiencing the dry, flakey, red symptoms from the regimen, not to mention a HORRIBLE breakout.

Thanks,

M.K

 

I think you are right and this is purging and it will eventually go away (usually most acne medications take 2-3 months). As for the redness and the dry flaky skin, you could use the BP every other day to give your skin time to get used to it and adjust.Then as your skin adjusts, you can gradually use the BP every day. This may lessen the side effects and possibly lessen the purge.

Thanks for the advice asburypark101 I really appreciate it. I'll try cutting back on the BP as I have been using it morning and night.

yup its definitely purging. dont cut back too much though otherwise it could defeat the purpose of the whole thing. you want to keep a consistent amount for a long time for your skin to clear out, but personally i think the amounts that the regimen says to use are waaay too much. like you cant even "fit" that much onto your face lol. its fine to cut back the amount a little if the redness and flaking are really bad, just not too much in my opinion. the regimen pretty much sucks until about two months in (for most people) so its definitely going to get better from here, dont worry!

Great! thanks for the advice, its so tough to keep going when i'm feeling this discouraged but I will.

yup its definitely purging. dont cut back too much though otherwise it could defeat the purpose of the whole thing. you want to keep a consistent amount for a long time for your skin to clear out, but personally i think the amounts that the regimen says to use are waaay too much. like you cant even "fit" that much onto your face lol. its fine to cut back the amount a little if the redness and flaking are really bad, just not too much in my opinion. the regimen pretty much sucks until about two months in (for most people) so its definitely going to get better from here, dont worry!

 

I'm now 3 1/2 weeks in as well and my face is goin through the same thing. Itching, burning, dryness. I think if we just stick with it it will calm down. I've been struggling with acne all my life and have very little patience when it comes to my face. It's been roughy, but I'm praying that sticking with them regimen will pay off! Let me know how your progress is goin!

I'm now 3 1/2 weeks in as well and my face is goin through the same thing. Itching, burning, dryness. I think if we just stick with it it will calm down. I've been struggling with acne all my life and have very little patience when it comes to my face. It's been roughy, but I'm praying that sticking with them regimen will pay off! Let me know how your progress is goin!

 

Aadams0509, I experience the same thing in my first 3 and a half weeks but I bought a new moisturizer and found it really helped with the burning,dryness and itching I bought Cetaphil Restoraderm, it honestly helped so much.

I'll take a look at it, I'm almost out of my moisturizer anyways. Do you normally have dry or oily skin?