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18 hours ago, Ugurl said:Omg. YES. So lets see.... its been 4.5 months since I started my tretinoin/doxy journey and I can tell that the hyper pigmentation is DEFINITELY fading away. Not only has the texture of my skin improved, but the tone is evening out also and it feels so amazing to see these results. I will be going back to the derm one more time because I do have a scar on my right cheek that even though it is fading, its fading slower than the hyper pigmentation so I want to see what my options are. but I'm at the point where I wouldn't accept any kind of chemical peel or surgical scar revision even if offered because I've come so far since even just a month ago, so I will just go talk to the derm to ensure that this scar is fading at the right rate and what I can do to speed up the process.So, it seems that everyone was RIGHT. The key to tretinoin success is patience. Just apply it religiously and slather on sunscreen all day. (If your bedroom has windows that allow a lot of light in, cover them up during the day unless you want to go to sleep with sunscreen on lol) Honestly just exercise caution, because tretinoin is essentially a low medical grade peel lol Don't lose heart, continue on with your medications, I saw your updates for week 14 +15 and DONT worry, purging and cysts are SUPER common. Your cysts might leave some hyper pigmentation or they may not. The pimples I got during my purge did leave HP, but they are now fading so it's not the end of the world.
Goodluck. Keep the updates going!!! Your skin is looking good.
Thanks Ugurl. I am just waiting for it to fade my hyperpigmentation. Pimples and cysts come and go in 2-3 days.So i am not worried about them. AllI want is my hyperpigmentation to go. And Ialso really can't believe that i have completed nearly 3.5 months on this. 
Well, let's see what time has to bring. (Whatever it is, just bring it fast because after 1.5 months my college will start 
). And I am really happy with my prgress. True that patience is the key for this thing to work. Good Luck To you too...
WEEK 17 = About 4 months completed!!! I didn't think I had the power to continue it till 4 long months and am really glad that the results are awesome 🙂
So week 17-
Right side has 1 pimple.
Left side is clear
Forehead has 2-3 pimples.... Not unmanageable
Hyperpigmentation is gone in right side.... Forehead has very less hyperpigmentation and left side has the most. But not too much visible.... So I am really happy with my decision of using Retin A. I am thinking of increasing the power after 2 more months. But it is a long way to go ahead towards the goal of clear skin 🙂
Significant improvement IMO from your week 16 pics. "Breakouts" may be stretching the definition of the word a bit, you have some blemishes sure, but the overall skin quality looks certainly healthier than it did in your previous pics. Different lighting makes it difficult to judge completely objectively but for me I certainly see continued improvement.
Week 19 and Week 20- Pimples come and go ont he forehead. Cheeks are fully clear and I am happy with my progress. But there are still some pimples that come every other day on my forehead. Let's see what's next.
On Saturday, August 13, 2016 at 8:20 AM, Weebus Glandular said:Significant improvement IMO from your week 16 pics. "Breakouts" may be stretching the definition of the word a bit, you have some blemishes sure, but the overall skin quality looks certainly healthier than it did in your previous pics. Different lighting makes it difficult to judge completely objectively but for me I certainly see continued improvement.
Thanks man! I am also really happy with my progress and hope that it will continue like this in the future. 🙂
Week 21 and 22- I am having a big active breakout now..... 2 cysts on both sides of cheeks and 3-4 small pimples on forehead and 4 small pimples on right cheek..... Now what is happening ??? I don't know. Maybe it is because I ate a lot of chocolate..... Let's see what happens, but I'm really afraid of breakouts now. I'll update it afterwards with pics.
5 hours ago, BruceWayneIsBatman said:Week 21 and 22- I am having a big active breakout now..... 2 cysts on both sides of cheeks and 3-4 small pimples on forehead and 4 small pimples on right cheek..... Now what is happening ??? I don't know. Maybe it is because I ate a lot of chocolate..... Let's see what happens, but I'm really afraid of breakouts now. I'll update it afterwards with pics.
Well that sucks. Diet can definitely play a part - a night of drinking will give me cysts a day or two later, but after 22 weeks I'm skeptical some chocolate would affect you to that degree but everyone's different of course. Some had to wait 6+ months to really see the full effect, but you're definitely getting there.
Didn't see it your earlier posts so you may have mentioned it, but what strength/delivery vehicle are you using for Retin A? 0.25? 0.5? 0.1? Cream? Gel? Your skin definitely looks like it's at least handling it well with little to no irritation, if you're not using the max strength (0.1) - perhaps it's time to upgrade.
Week 24 and 23-
Well.... My forehead is finally fully clear, but the cheeks have now started getting small ...... Literally very very small pimples which make my skin look uneven.... But my face looks nearly clear after 23 weeks.
On Sunday, September 11, 2016 at 5:41 AM, Weebus Glandular said:Well that sucks. Diet can definitely play a part - a night of drinking will give me cysts a day or two later, but after 22 weeks I'm skeptical some chocolate would affect you to that degree but everyone's different of course. Some had to wait 6+ months to really see the full effect, but you're definitely getting there.Didn't see it your earlier posts so you may have mentioned it, but what strength/delivery vehicle are you using for Retin A? 0.25? 0.5? 0.1? Cream? Gel? Your skin definitely looks like it's at least handling it well with little to no irritation, if you're not using the max strength (0.1) - perhaps it's time to upgrade.
yes I'm using 0.025% cream and I also think it is time to upgrade, but after the tube gets over :'( which will still take 3 more months.... I'll post some photos tomorrow.... And I've completed 6 months of retin a. Most people get fully clear by that time, but that is not my case.... Let's see what the future has to bring 🙂
P.S. - II'll post some photos tomorrow 🙂
Well I took my friend's DSLR and thought of taking too good quality photos to post here..... And this is the result
*goes to the corner and cries quietly*
btw on asking my friend, he said that it was too much detail and you look much better than the pics.... :'/ idk what will happen next *cries again*
Take your friends comment to heart, that's extremely aggressive lighting and you're zoomed in right on your pores with a very high res camera. You've basically selected the conditions to highlight every imperfection in your skin perfectly at the sake of your face as a whole, so if that was your goal - mission accomplished. Don't fall into the obsessive trap of judging your face by the worst possible environment and believing that's what you "really" look like as if there's some pure objective standard (and it's certainly not this, the lens of the camera that close basically guarantees a distorted image even disregarding the awful lighting) - it's a never-ending psychological roller coaster with far more valleys than peaks...I speak from experience.
Your acne at this point would very likely be classified as quite minor by most derms, so really I would say it could very easily improve if you're not happy with the results right now. The reason I believe this is that your skin doesn't seem at all irritated, and especially considering your age I'm actually surprised you were prescribed the cream. I'm all or starting off slow, but even with my extremely sensitive, much drier and much older skin and relatively minor acne, my derm still recommended the gels over the creams, even though I suggested the cream as a possibility. Now for me, the cream might actually work better, but for younger people who's skin doesn't fall off with lukewarm water, the cream is usually discouraged as it can have some significantly comedogenic ingredients. A .25% cream formulation is usually what's prescribed to start aging adults taking it for wrinkles for example.
Now the gels can have harsh alcohol (depends on the brand) so that can have its own issues, but from the looks of things your skin could easily handle something with more ooomph - whether that's RetinA Gel or moving to Retin-A Micro .04, Differin etc I can't say specifically. All I can say is that .25% tretinoin in a cream base for young skin with plenty of moisture and with acne elimination as a primary goal instead of anti-aging may be a little too gentle. You can safely keep at it until that tube is gone as it's not having any adverse effects on your skin that I can see, but just keep that in mind. It's as if you've embarked on a weightlifting regimen but using only a set of 10 pound dumbbells and wondering why you're not jacked yet.
5 hours ago, Weebus Glandular said:Take your friends comment to heart, that's extremely aggressive lighting and you're zoomed in right on your pores with a very high res camera. You've basically selected the conditions to highlight every imperfection in your skin perfectly at the sake of your face as a whole, so if that was your goal - mission accomplished.
Your acne at this point would very likely be classified as quite minor by most derms, so really I would say it could very easily improve if you're not happy with the results right now. The reason I believe this is that your skin doesn't seem at all irritated, and especially considering your age I'm actually surprised you were prescribed the cream. I'm all or starting off slow, but even with my extremely sensitive, much drier and much older skin and relatively minor acne, my derm still recommended the gels over the creams, even though I suggested the cream as a possibility. Now for me, the cream might actually work better, but for younger people who's skin doesn't fall off with lukewarm water, the cream is usually discouraged as it can have some significantly comedogenic ingredients. A .25% cream formulation is usually what's prescribed to start aging adults taking it for wrinkles for example.
Now the gels can have harsh alcohol (depends on the brand) so that can have its own issues, but from the looks of things your skin could easily handle something with more ooomph - whether that's RetinA Gel or moving to Retin-A Micro .04, Differin etc I can't say specifically. All I can say is that .25% tretinoin in a cream base for young skin with plenty of moisture and with acne elimination as a primary goal instead of anti-aging may be a little too gentle. You can safely keep at it until that tube is gone as it's not having any adverse effects on your skin that I can see, but just keep that in mind. It's as if you've embarked on a weightlifting regimen but using only a set of 10 pound dumbbells and wondering why you're not jacked yet.
Yup you guessed it right !! I wanted to see the worst case scenario and I believe it is not too worse.... Thanks for the comforting words though 🙂
As far as the cream and gel thing is concerned, I didn't find gel here in Ireland and would have to order it online... I think I'll upgrade it from 0.025% to 0.5% in the coming months.
Are you also on tretinoin ?? If yes, what is your progress so far ?? If no, even then I would like to know what is your progress haha .....
17 hours ago, BruceWayneIsBatman said:Yup you guessed it right !! I wanted to see the worst case scenario and I believe it is not too worse.... Thanks for the comforting words though 🙂As far as the cream and gel thing is concerned, I didn't find gel here in Ireland and would have to order it online... I think I'll upgrade it from 0.025% to 0.5% in the coming months.
Are you also on tretinoin ?? If yes, what is your progress so far ?? If no, even then I would like to know what is your progress haha .....
I would do this under the care of a derm if you can. There's a huge variety of retinoids out there with significantly different carrier mechanisms, and when you get it from an RX you're basically guaranteed to know what you're getting as opposed to ordering it online.
Here's my own story:
http://www.acne.org/messageboard/topic/361814-tretinoin-plastic-skin-appearance/#comment-3540095
I have very abnormal skin however. Extremely dry but acne prone that also responds poorly to moisturizers (was dry and flaking before the tretinoin, so you can imagine), so really don't base anything on my experience. That being said from that story I'm back on the Bianca as it was even more gentle than the Differin (the 'weak sauce' of retinoids is too strong for me, to give you an indication of how sensitive my skin is) and applying it every 2nd/3rd day has lessened my complains from that post. Definitely less blackheads/pimples than a few months ago, far more consistent in that area at least. If only I wasn't so bloody pale, every blemish is like a landing light on a airline runway in the arctic.
Week 25 = Week 26 = Week 27 = Week 28 = Here it goes.... Sorry for the late timing... I was busy with my exams
Well the first two weeks were good, no active acne, but from the last 2 weeks my acne has been on a rise..... Here are some photos. And it is just like going back in time. I don't know what triggered it...... Let's wait and watch. Here are some photos for this month.
Well today on the right side there are more pimples again... 2-3 big ones came today only which are not in these pics...... I think I don't know what to do 
.... But is is better than ever after seeing my previous photos .. Let's see what is next.
Week 29 = Week 30 = Week 31 = Week 32... Well, I have been mostly clear for now and I feel awesome.... Cannot believe that I have made it to 30 weeks !!!! Now I'm thinking of doing some upgrades.... Well I will increase the concentration of tretinoin from 0.025 to 0.05 from 20 December.... And I didn't use azelic acid for 1 month and it shows that it really controls acne as I got a few pimples without it. I will increase it also from 10% to 20% and will most probably stabilize at that point without going any further for the rest of the time..... Now eagerly waiting for 20th December.... Will add some photos for this month soon. Thanks for all your support till now
Week 33 = Week 34
Well here we are..... Merry Christmas to all of you. I stopped using all my meds for 1 week to see what would happen. This happened.....
Well..... Now I have again started azelic acid with 20% w/w and I guess this initial reaction is due to increase in the concentration. I'll increase the tretinoin concentration also from 0.025 to 0.05 in a few days after these pimples subside. For the time being I'm sticking with 0.025% only..... Looks like God had a surprise for me on Christmas
Week 35-
Right side is improving but left side is experiencing heavy breakouts. Forehead is same as the previous week. Good thing it is a holiday season and I'm at home. Otherwise I would have to answer awkward questions about my breakouts again...
PS - Happy New Year everyone.
Let's see what the future has to bring.
On Friday, September 30, 2016 at 9:50 AM, BruceWayneIsBatman said:Yup you guessed it right !! I wanted to see the worst case scenario and I believe it is not too worse.... Thanks for the comforting words though 🙂As far as the cream and gel thing is concerned, I didn't find gel here in Ireland and would have to order it online... I think I'll upgrade it from 0.025% to 0.5% in the coming months.
Are you also on tretinoin ?? If yes, what is your progress so far ?? If no, even then I would like to know what is your progress haha .....
How's your progress sir ??
Week 38 = Week 39 = Week 40
Well I am having breakouts on each and every part of my face. I don't know what is next but I just want these to go away. As soon as possible. Here are some photos for this month. Just waiting for a miracle to happen 
Any advice anyone ??? I just can't handle it anymore... What should I do ?? Advice needed
Week 41-
These days my right side I'd fully clear with some hyperpigmentation and left side is having 2-3 pimples, not a big deal..... But the forehead is having great breakout. Good thing that winter season is going and I wear a cap all day so that the forehead is covered. I guess it will heal within the next 2 weeks. Let's hope for the best and I will stick to 0.05 for the rest of the time being.
On 4/7/2016 at 7:43 PM, Ugurl said:I've recently started using tretinoin as well along with doxycycline. Keep us updated. These medications affect everyone differently so it'll be interesting to see if we heal at different rates or not. Good luck! Just a hint and I may be off on this one: If you are using retin A or tretinoin, it's probably not a good idea to use salicylic acid face wash. It might be drying out your skin too much which can result in putting the oil glands into hyperdrive. I did go to the dermatologist and was prescribed a Sulfur/sulfacetamide face wash which i use once every other day and moisturize like crazy. Good luck with this. Keep us updated.
Hello...just something I read but you aren't supposed to mix sulfer with Retin A but I could be wrong...
11 hours ago, Kblady said:On 4/8/2016 at 6:13 AM, Ugurl said:I've recently started using tretinoin as well along with doxycycline. Keep us updated. These medications affect everyone differently so it'll be interesting to see if we heal at different rates or not. Good luck! Just a hint and I may be off on this one: If you are using retin A or tretinoin, it's probably not a good idea to use salicylic acid face wash. It might be drying out your skin too much which can result in putting the oil glands into hyperdrive. I did go to the dermatologist and was prescribed a Sulfur/sulfacetamide face wash which i use once every other day and moisturize like crazy. Good luck with this. Keep us updated.
Hello...just something I read but you aren't supposed to mix sulfer with Retin A but I could be wrong...
Hello there.... Actually that was not my comment. There is a confusion I guess. I just use salicylic acid face wash and retin a 0.05 with 20%w/w azealic acid.
Week 46 = Week 47
Left side is mostly clear but has hyperpigmentation. Right side has 3 pimples and forehead is mostly clear.... Just waiting for hyperpigmentation to fade away. Other than that I guess I'm pretty satisfied with retin a 0.05. Some days are great while some are bad.... But now it is mostly awesome. Will add photos next week or so.