Hi I have been using epiduo for the past year and my face was really clear over the summer. Now that it is winter, my tan has faded and my hyperpigmentation has become much more noticeable. My dermatologist prescribed me Bactrim and Differin. I have been taking the bactrim for about 2 1/2 weeks, and I still haven't started the differin. I am hesitant because I am scared about the initial breakout. My acne is not that bad but the redmarks are really annoying. I only have a few active whiteheads but it is mostly hyper pigmentation from previous areas. The bactrim seems to be stopping new pimple from popping up. Should I continue to use the epiduo or should I switch over to differin?
you may get an initial breakout from the differin as a retinoid will purge your pores. That is, if you have comedones forming underneath teh surface of your skin, differing will get these out and, theoretically, keep new ones from forming.
The Bactrim, once again theoretically, is to keep inflammation down. The hope is that the antibiotic keeps the IB to a minimum.
Ive been on both, and both worked wonders for extended periods of time. In fact Im currently using them, along w/ something else, but unfortunately, Im not getting the same results as I used to.
My opinion: go for it
Epiduo is adapalene + benzoyl peroxide. Differin is plain adapalene. If you've been on Epiduo for the past year the adapalene component of it should have done a decent job at clearing up your pores and stuff already, so you may not need the BP anymore. All you're doing by swapping to Differin is removing the BP component, which will be better for your PiH + overall skin tone. I find that when I use Epiduo my face ends up a little bit of baseline redness, no matter how it feels/what I do. Once I've been on it for a year ish, I'm going to be requesting plain Differin.
I think you should try the Differin and see how you go. If it's the 0.1% strength it has the same amount of adapalene as the Epiduo, and shouldn't cause you any pimple problems. If it does, I'd be more inclined to assume that the inactive ingredients or the absense of BP is causing a breakout, rather than the fact that Differin is a retinoid. You're already on a retinoid.
It's slightly stronger than the stuff in the Epiduo (0.1%) so you may see a liiiiittle purging if you have anything lurking deep down or if it irritates your skin to start. You should apply to your whole face as retinoids are a preventitive, not a spot treatment. You may need to start by using it every other day if it ends up being a little strong for you, then build up to daily (or less, if you can get away with less and stay clear).
From i read years ago on the essential day spa is that every retinoid type product (differin is a synthetic, milder form of heavier retin A type product0 is that an initial breakout is extremely common and almost essential to correct skin exfoliation as that is is mechanism of action by inhibition of keratinocyte differentiation. So, often times an initial breakout happens in order to correct this.
To minimize this its been said to be on antibiotics for a decent length of time (no time limit given, you are probably fine) and go slow with spot treatments, advancing to whole coverage of the face every other day.
The problem i had is that if i waited and did the every other day my skin took forever to heal. It seemed to drag out the process. Spot treating takes awhile to be effective as its slow acting on new, present acne, but then kicked in causing extreme flaking of the spot where it was applied (atleast for me). Of course i was using twice a day and such.
As stated before differin its self is a synthetic, very mild version of retin A with properties to lightening hyperpigmentation and lessen inflammation. So if this is your main concern I would apply it to the hyperpigmentation and see how it works. Give it time and do not use gobs of it. Just a little works.