Quick Summary:
1) I achieved completely clear skin on the Acne.org Regimen and used it for 5 years up until the end of October of this year.
2) I stopped the regimen (only cleansed and moisturized) and remained completely clear for 1 month but my skin became VERY OILY.
3) 5 weeks after stopping the regimen, my skin texture became bumpy and I had small breakouts that got larger and came more often.
4) I used Neutrogena Oil Free Acne Wash Redness Smoothing Cream Cleanser with 2% Salicylic Acid for the past two weeks but the breakouts continued so I stopped. I heard because the salicylic acid is washed off, the effectiveness is close to zero.
I refuse to go back on the Acne.org regimen and spend 30 minutes every morning and evening treating my skin. As such, I'm trying the new Proactiv Plus to see if it can get me 100% clear again. So far I've achieved very good results and it is significantly less time consuming than the Acne.org regimen
My question is did being on the Acne.org regimen for so long prevent me from outgrowing acne?
I'm a 26 year old male that had mild to moderate acne from the age of 16 and previously achieved good results from oral prescriptions (doxycycline) prescription retinoids (Retin-A Micro and Tazorac) and the best and most consistent results from the Acne.org Regimen (stayed almost completely clear for the past 5 years).
Most males in their mid-20s outgrow acne. I have a feeling the Benzoyl Peroxide caused my skin to become addicted to the constant oxygen that it provides and thus prevented me from outgrowing acne naturally as my hair follicles are in constant need of extra oxygen to prevent the acne bacteria from growing.
Without the Benzoyl Peroxide, it is possible my skin could have
there are no definite answers...I do wonder though, if you were completely clear for FIVE years, did it never cross your mind at say the one year mark to taper off? seems strange to wait 5 years then quick cold turkey.
one thing we all need to do, is make changes very very very very very very slowly....we do not have the luxury of quick changes
once you get clear again, taper off slowly and switch to an AHA in the evening or morning and just BP the other time of day...then slowly taper off the BP
and don't wait 5 years this time! hopefully you will be clear again soon, and great that BP works for you, but long term BP is just not good for the skin, but slowly taper off and start on something else that will help that IS good for your skin, ie AHA
I did try slowly tapering off numerous times over the course of the 5 years. Once at the one year mark and a few times over the next four years.
However, each time I reduced the BP to less than half a full index finger's worth I would start breaking out.
The breakouts were more minor than what I'm experiencing now, but obviously my skin still needed a tremendous amount of oxygen (ie a full thick index finger's worth) to kill the acne bacteria inside my hair follicles.
I find it extremely strange that my skin would still require this large amount of oxygen provided from a chemical substance instead of naturally outgrowing acne on its own to have the hair follicles stay clear.