Acne.org Products
Hello to whomever is reading this. I'm really desperate and in need of some guidance, advice, anything really. Please read if you have the time.
I've been on and off this site since I was 15, and am now 20. I went on the Regimen in the beginning of September of this year (yes it took me 5 years to realize I needed to be on the Regimen), and it worked great. By the two month mark, my skin was almost 100% clear.
Then something happened. Still not really sure what. I became a vegan (was a vegetarian prior) in August because my doctor parents dug up all sorts of clinical trials (what little there is) about dairy being linked to acne. Anyways, around the same time the Regimen REALLY started working, I decided to go on a week long dairy fest after being vegan for a few months. Cooked all sorts of French food for my family and I , desserts, tons of dairy. You get the picture. I also restarted on Bactrim (antibiotic) given to me by my idiot dermatologist. (I'm very resentful of dermatologists)
Long story short, I started breaking out in what seemed to be eczema. All. Over. My beautiful face. Nowhere else, just my fucking face. Never had eczema before in my life. I immediately attributed it to the dairy, or Bactrim, since allergies to this medication are common.
Needless to say, I could not use Dan's BP all over my face anymore. I did my best to apply it around the eczema patches, but I was heartbroken, truly. I could no longer use my beloved Regimen, the only thing that has ever worked. My skin was almost used to the two pumps thing, but now it won't tolerate even a tiny bit.
It's been a month-long nightmare of rashes on my face. The eczema cleared up I guess, but now, every time I put Dan's BP on my face, I get a horrible, itchy, red rash. Not on my forehead and nose, just the lower parts of my face, mostly cheeks and around the mouth.
I'm so impatient to wait for my skin to calm down that I keep using the BP and it's become a vicious cycle. I've been to my derm three times this month. And skipped so many classes at school.
The derm says it seems to be irritant contact dermatitis and I should stop BP, wait three days, and then MIX a pea-sized amount of the BP in with my moisturizer once a day (night, obviously) and do this for a week. I'm going to start tomorrow night. Only after a week can I ramp up the BP.
As anyone who has gotten clear on the Regimen knows, pea-size is not enough, and he's asking me to dilute it in moisturizer for God's sake. My skin is breaking out so bad and going back to what it used to be like. I'm so depressed, so upset, and so self-conscious. It's all I can think about, and is wasting so much of my time and energy. All I want to do is slather BP all over my face, but this will give me a horrible red, itchy, patchy rash.
I'm also terrified I have developed an allergy/sensitivity to Dan's BP, possibly one of the ingredients (Diazodinyl urea is suspect - linked to contact dermatitis from what I saw on Google) or BP in general. THERE IS NOTHING ELSE THAT WORKS FOR ME. Honestly, what am I going to do?
Has anyone else had a red rash like this from the BP? It's not normal redness and itching from BP, it is a rash.
I am hoping it's just highly irritated from this month of torture and has just gotten "un-used" to the BP, if that makes sense, and will slowly get used to the BP again.
I am a dancer (ballet, jazz, etc.) and have been hardly training at all because of my insecurities about my skin. I'm slowly sliding downhill in school, in dance, emotionally, mentally. Everything is going back to the way it used to be before I found the Regimen. And I have no friends. Zero. No friends at dance, none at school, none anywhere. Just my family and my dog. I don't know what's wrong with me but I feel so alone. I have been single since March and no guys even talk to me, let alone ask me out. I don't understand this because the only ugly thing about me is my skin.
Please help me. I cry as I write this, because my skin has plagued me since age 12. It has controlled my life and everything that I do or do not do. I feel I am a wonderful, beautiful, confident woman, who is held back by this silly, pointless disease. I can see the surface to my dream life but I cannot break through. I know what is waiting for me on the other side of acne.
My parents think I am "letting" it ruin my life, I have allowed this to happen. That is true, but it's so, so hard, and I have no one who understands. I can't just roll out of bed and go, face the day, look into the sun, and look people in the eye with confidence. It's so shameful to have acne. It rules everything that you do.
Any advice or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the long post. Thanks for reading.
My suggestion would be to go back to doing exactly what you were doing when your skin was clear. Go back on the regimen and stop any other topicals or prescriptions, as well as any extreme diets. If you suspect Dan's BP may now be giving you a reaction, maybe try another 2.5% BP, such as Proactiv (just their BP not the 3 steps) or Neutrogena OTS. And go slow to give your skin time to adjust. If the regimen worked for you before, I would think it should work again. It just may take some time to get your skin back in good condition. And try not to stress about it, be optimistic that you can get back to where you were a couple months ago.
My suggestion would be to go back to doing exactly what you were doing when your skin was clear. Go back on the regimen and stop any other topicals or prescriptions, as well as any extreme diets. If you suspect Dan's BP may now be giving you a reaction, maybe try another 2.5% BP, such as Proactiv (just their BP not the 3 steps) or Neutrogena OTS. And go slow to give your skin time to adjust. If the regimen worked for you before, I would think it should work again. It just may take some time to get your skin back in good condition. And try not to stress about it, be optimistic that you can get back to where you were a couple months ago.
Thank you for the advice! I checked out Proactiv's BP and it contains the same ingredient that Dan's has that may be irritating me 
It also has cetearyl alcohol which is super comedogenic. I won't stop hunting for a gel 2.5% though... but I'm really hoping Dan's won't give me any more rashes as long as I go slow, because it's an incredible product.
It's so hard not to stress about my skin, but I'll try. The car mirror is the worst, I swear. It makes my skin look terrible. Maybe avoiding mirrors for a while would be a good idea lol. Stress is certainly aggravating the breakouts further.
My parents think I am "letting" it ruin my life, I have allowed this to happen. That is true, but it's so, so hard, and I have no one who understands. I can't just roll out of bed and go, face the day, look into the sun, and look people in the eye with confidence. It's so shameful to have acne. It rules everything that you do.
Stress. You've got acne and are thinking about what people will think of you when you look them in the eye. Most people don't give a flying fuck about acne, however you perceive it differently. You' re constantly thinking about acne, how you look, what people think of you.... you become paranoid and it raises your stress levels more. Guess what stress does? Yep, causes yet more acne.
Topicals will not and can not manage acne that well. More often that not, they just exasperate the problem.
Oh I can totally understand the stress and frustration that goes with having problematic skin. I was on the regimen in 2008 and it cleared me up in 6 weeks and had kept me so clear that I thought I could stop. So wrong. My acne came back after two months off it with worst cystic acne. I didn't even know what cystic acne was until now. So I quickly went back to the regimen using proactiv treatment (I don't use the cleanser or the toner because I hated them) for the first month because for some reason I think it's more gentle than dans. I gradually ramp it up as I go. I am on my 5th week now and I am using dans treatment in full dose without problem. My skin is almost clear now. If it works for you the first time , it will work again. But keep in mind you still have to start with small amount as if you were new to the regimen otherwise your skin will freak out.
Anyways , I don't know what eczema is but I am thinking it's the cause of your sensitivity towards bp this time. Be ultra gentle to your skin and start slow.
One thing I do want to share with you is that when my skin was clear on the regimen, I could eat anything and it didn't matter a bit so I am skeptical about people saying certain food breaks them out. And remember be patient with the regimen. Your skin didn't become the way it is overnight and so it won't heal and improve overnight. I hope it works out for you.
My parents think I am "letting" it ruin my life, I have allowed this to happen. That is true, but it's so, so hard, and I have no one who understands. I can't just roll out of bed and go, face the day, look into the sun, and look people in the eye with confidence. It's so shameful to have acne. It rules everything that you do.
Stress. You've got acne and are thinking about what people will think of you when you look them in the eye. Most people don't give a flying fuck about acne, however you perceive it differently. You' re constantly thinking about acne, how you look, what people think of you.... you become paranoid and it raises your stress levels more. Guess what stress does? Yep, causes yet more acne.
Topicals will not and can not manage acne that well. More often that not, they just exasperate the problem.
You are so right. I know. The ultra-high levels of stress I have due to my skin is making it worse. A vicious cycle. It's easier said than done, but I will try my best to not focus on my skin and what people think. Thanks a bunch for telling me that people don't care about my acne, it really helps to hear this from people. I am a very paranoid person, and it is doing me NO favors. Worrying is a false sense of control! It will not make our skin better!
Also, I agree with your statement about topicals. My brother had way worse acne than me, and due to his large course load in college as a double major, he didn't have TIME to do a crazy acne regimen day and night. He told me that once he stopped using the topicals, BP, SA, all that crap, his skin cleared. Interesting. 
I think I am going to switch over to a more natural, holistic regimen. No more Acne.org products for me. There is something in them that is just not right. Every time I use Dan's products now I get the rash. I patch tested my cheek last night with a different BP and woke up with NO red itchy rash. So I know it is Dan's products. No offense to him.
The Regimen cleared me, but after those two months of use, my skin developed a sensitivity/allergy to it that is rather paradoxical since it is only on the lower parts of my face. Either way, my skin has changed now. It is highly sensitized.
Are you using cortisone cream on your skin? I find it calms everything down especially eczema. Unfortunately I think patience is the answer. I'm so self conscious about my face going to work. I'm 30 and my acne makes me look 12. I work in a steel factory and the guys all treat me like a kid just because of my skin. What I do before going to work is not look in the mirror as soon as I get in the car. When I go to the wash room, I don't look in the mirror. I actually find that after a couple of hours I've forgotten all about my skin and I relax. I can work and do my thing. I even avoid the mirror on the car ride home. It at least gives me a break. It just lets me relax, focus on my work and forget for 8 hours out of the day. It's great for my mental health. Try to be patient, don't overload your skin, it'll just make it worse which you probably already know. And just let time do it's thing. This will all be behind you sooner then you think. Remember: A watched pot doesn't boil. Time is all in your head.
I used the Regimen for 4 months, using all of acne.org's products - by the 3rd month mark, I was basically clear. But by the 4th month, one day RANDOMLY, I started getting exactly what you were describing all over my face. It started with my left temple, it was just like a dry, flaky bit of skin but it was super itchy, really red and raised too. I've been using other BP products for the last like 8 years, so when I started the Regimen, my skin never got super dry. I followed it the dosage recommendations too - slowly ramping it up week by week and it was fine. And by the 4th month I'd been using the full 2 pumps for a couple of months already, so I don't think it was a 'normal' reaction. I remember posting on the forum and everyone said that that sounded like an allergic reaction. I too tried to 'push through' by continuing to use BP and just adding a crap ton of jojoba oil into my moisturiser, but it only got worse.
Unfortunately I had to quit the regimen - it took about 2 months to get rid of all those dry itchy spots completely. A few months after that I was prescribed clindoxyl gel (1% clindamycin, 5% BP I think), and that didn't irritate my skin like Dan's BP did so I thought maybe it was the mixture of BP w/ something that made it ok. Eventually I was switched to clindamycin phosphate 1%, but I wanted something for spot treating, so about 2 months ago, which I guess is like half a year after I quit using Dan's BP, I started using Benzagel 5% BP that I had used previous to the regimen (and never had any negative reactions to). I spot treated very carefully, and paid CLOSE attention to my skin. It's been fine since then - it can be a little drying and cause some initial itchiness, but overall I've survived. The conclusion I came to was that it must've been something in Dan's BP because I had eliminated anything else that could've caused the "rash" or whatever.
I was super depressed at the time too - hardly went to classes, didn't go out, didn't really talk to anyone. It was also right before my final exams too so the added stress probably didn't help, although it provided a good distraction. Try to focus on school and dance and other things in life that make you happy! Also definitely stop with the BP and let your skin rest, and then look for another BP.