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So brief history of my acne and regime. I'm a 22 year old male and after continual struggle with clogged pores, whiteheads, and black heads (mild to moderate) I decided to go to a dermatologist to seek advice on what to use since over-the-counter product were not helping. Around the end of April 2012 I was prescribed Retin-A gel 0.025% and have continuously used it every night since I was prescribed it until now, October 2012, making it around 5 months of use.
The retin-a did help with the clogged pores but I found that I still had blemishes and not really much change in my skin since I started using it. Don't get me wrong, I did notice that it was working in lessing the healing time of new blemishes but I found that it wasn't giving me clear skin.
Now back to the derm today where she now prescribed me with Epiduo (Tactuo in canada) and told me to stop using the retin-a. My questions are: is the Epiduo similar in effect as the retin-a? Will my skin break out again since I won't be using the retin-a anymore? And I have read online that there is sometimes an initial breakout when using Epiduo, will I still experience this since my skin is already accustom to retin-a?
I just need advice from anyone with knowledge with this stuff or on this stuff. I'm worried I'll break out if I stop using retin-a.
Thanks for the help and answers in advance!
Hi, I am 20 and was in a similar situation as you. I used retin-a micro for about 3 months and it did clear up my skin although I would still break out sometimes and the dryness was awful. I stopped using it kind of by accident (2 weeks straight of partying at the end of the school year meant I never remembered to put it on) and my acne returned with a vengeance. After not doing anything for a couple months to see if it would just go away, my dermatologist put me on Epiduo.
After 2 weeks, I did get the initial breakout but it really wasnt all that bad. In addition because I had been on a retinoid before, my skin didnt really dry out like it did on retin-a which was nice.
I am currently on my 7th week of Epiduo and I think it has made a really big difference. Whenever I do get a new clogged pore or pimple, it resolves itself in about 1/5 the time (I put some on a large pimple one morning and it had popped, healed and was a small scab by that night, crazy). Unfortunately I have a real problem with picking at my face and this stuff makes every clogged pore very apparent. I am hoping if I can avoid touching my face for the next few days I will have predominately clear skin by the time I hit week 8.
You may experience a new initial breakout, but I think it is worth it considering the Epiduo seems to be a lot less irritating than the retin-a.
Good Luck!