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On 7/21/2016 at 0:54 PM, strongbadia5000 said:I'm trying to get up the courage to try a retinoid but it's hard reading so many horror stories. Does anyone have a positive experience using a retinoid that they can share especially one where it did not make their skin worse?
I'm going through some less than optimal results with my retinoid (Bianca) right now, so I can't specifically give you a 'success' story at the moment.
But I will just say this though: Think of the typical poster on a forum like this. I'm posting here precisely because I'm not getting the results I want - if I was, would I have made an account for this forum, or even knew of its existence? Probably not. The problem with trying to judge the efficacy of a treatment by the type of posts on a site that's designed to offer support for those experiencing a specific condition is that you're automatically self-selecting a very narrow segment of the population - the ones that are still experiencing it. People who've had a problem rectified by a treatment generally don't hang around support forums for that problem, they just get on with their lives. Sure, there will be some that have established a rapport with the community and will continue to offer their positive experiences for moral support for a time, but in general discussion sites like these will naturally filter those out who no longer have the problem. People got stuff to do. 
So just keep that in mind if you get spooked when you see so many complaints by people with regards to specific medications - the ones that achieved great results have likely moved on, it's like trying to judge the reliability of a product by visiting their tech help site. Yes, 'everyone's skin is different', there are some incompetent dermatologists out there, and private pharma companies ultimately operate for their shareholders. But when we're talking about a medication that's been on the market for 40+ years and likely been prescribed millions of times, to believe it's complete bunk is to basically believe in either a worldwide conspiracy or at the least, an incredible level of synchronized incompetence from medical professionals over that time.
All you can do is see a derm (or even just your GP to start if there's a long wait) and describe your history and skin type - they will very likely prescribe you a retinoid, but the specific one will depend on your specific skin. There's a huge variety of retinoids out there, while the mechanism they use to help acne is largely the same, the delivery method of the specific medication can mean the difference between a worsening of acne to near-complete remission.
Personally I needed more than a retinoid to get my skin clear. I had to combine it with azelaic acid 2x a day + tretinoin (.05% gel) 2x a week to get results. It took me about 5 months to start seeing results. About 6.5 months in I got lazy and stopped using my azelaic acid, and I started breaking out again minimally. I decided to go back on the azelaic acid and now I'm purging all over again.
10 hours ago, Tretinoin said:Personally I needed more than a retinoid to get my skin clear. I had to combine it with azelaic acid 2x a day + tretinoin (.05% gel) 2x a week to get results. It took me about 5 months to start seeing results. About 6.5 months in I got lazy and stopped using my azelaic acid, and I started breaking out again minimally. I decided to go back on the azelaic acid and now I'm purging all over again.
I'm curious as to the low frequency of tretinoin - do you notice a difference at just twice a week? If you break out when stopping the azelaic acid, what do you feel the tretinoin does for you?
I think the first person who replied is absolutely right. For ex, going onto treato-dot-com and looking up drug information, you'll likely find more people posting negative reviews and complaints than rave reviews since upset people are more inclined to write a review about a product for vindication.
This isn't to say that you might not have a poor reaction to a product. There are products out there that receive rave reviews yet might be awful for you (I've had this happen to me plenty of times with makeup, namely a foundation that gave me acne cosmetica for the first time ever). So it's always a gamble, regardless if it's a retinoid or makeup or even shampoo. It's hard to predict what will happen, so that's why it's important to take it slow. Moisturizing before using the retinoid to buffer your skin could be a good idea. Try using it 2-3 times a week instead of every other day if you're scared. Perhaps you also shouldn't layer it on areas that are clear to prevent potential damage. I'm going to do a tiny test patch of Differn 0.1 gel on the side of my forehead (tiny, thin layer only) 3 nights a week and see what happens. I have cc's there ... I don't see any point in putting Differin on the clear parts of my cheeks when that could trigger acne I've never had. I usually react poorly to products within the first week, so once I get past the 1-2 week mark and I'm not allergic (hypersensitive person here!), I'll proceed to other areas.
Also, food for thought...you could do a low dose antibiotic when you try retinoids for the first time to keep your acne from getting out of control. You have options.
On 8/14/2016 at 2:55 AM, Weebus Glandular said:On 8/13/2016 at 4:01 PM, Tretinoin said:Personally I needed more than a retinoid to get my skin clear. I had to combine it with azelaic acid 2x a day + tretinoin (.05% gel) 2x a week to get results. It took me about 5 months to start seeing results. About 6.5 months in I got lazy and stopped using my azelaic acid, and I started breaking out again minimally. I decided to go back on the azelaic acid and now I'm purging all over again.
I'm curious as to the low frequency of tretinoin - do you notice a difference at just twice a week? If you break out when stopping the azelaic acid, what do you feel the tretinoin does for you?
Hey sorry for the late reply, I literally only saw this now. Hopefully my reply would still be of value to you though.I actually meant that I use tretinoin 4xa week, not 2x. I feel tretinoin worked better for my dark marks and giving me that glowing complexion. I believe Azelaic acid combined with tretinoin is an amazing combination, although it wasnt enough for my persistent acne due to the fact that it did not stop my very over productive oil glands from drenching my face and literally clogging pores on a daily basis. Im on Accutane now for that. If you dont have any problems with oily skin, AZA + tret is definitely a viable solution. Take note that youll have to use them indefinitely to keep the results though.
On 10/2/2016 at 8:42 AM, Tretinoin said:Hey sorry for the late reply, I literally only saw this now. Hopefully my reply would still be of value to you though.I actually meant that I use tretinoin 4xa week, not 2x. I feel tretinoin worked better for my dark marks and giving me that glowing complexion. I believe Azelaic acid combined with tretinoin is an amazing combination, although it wasnt enough for my persistent acne due to the fact that it did not stop my very over productive oil glands from drenching my face and literally clogging pores on a daily basis. Im on Accutane now for that. If you dont have any problems with oily skin, AZA + tret is definitely a viable solution. Take note that youll have to use them indefinitely to keep the results though.
Thanks, appreciated. I mostly have very dry skin actually, save for my forehead where I'm constantly dealing with clogged pores and these obnoxious 'clear n hard' ones that seem to withstand anything. Perhaps AZA for just these trouble shots as 4 months of Bianca (Ziana in the US) has helped reduce their size but never full cleared them.