My acne became progressively worse after coming off the birth control pill in May 2015. I started adapalene 0.1% gel (brand name Differin) beginning of Jun 2016, along with doxy and Clindagel. I experienced the expected purging which was pretty horrendous. I have cried nearly every day while using this retinoid. My hope is not to scare anyone from using this, but please know that the purging phase is difficult.

Retinoids are a great topical treatment that can treat CERTAIN ACNE. I actually had great success with adapalene before so not sure why it is working differently now. My guess is back then the combo of birth control pills + adapalene was what made the difference because I did not experience purging that time.

When I started adapalene, I had horrific cystic acne on my chin, 2-4 at any given time in different stages of healing, where they would never fully heal and spring back up in the same spot. I also got painful bumps on my cheeks and around jaw, and the acne crept to my forehead. On birth control, I still had breakouts but never really on my forehead or cheeks.

Within 3-4 weeks the adapalene totally cleared up the cystic acne on my chin, and even with my period, I do not get cystic acne there anymore! It also cleared up clusters of flesh colored closed comedones along my hairline. I tried so many things to get this to go away “ At one point I thought they were fungal, but they were just that clogged up. The retinoid totally pushed everything to the surface. It made acne like this very easy to extract, however, while it cleared some breakouts, it caused more breakouts faster than it healed them. My face was constantly scabby and bumpy. I am also a picker so PIH everywhere.

I am three weeks away from the 12-week mark, the time frame everyone says to œwait it out, but at this point, I am considering stopping the retinoid. I tried lightly putting it on my cheek area but it caused too many breakouts so I stopped. Funny enough, the one cheek that looks relatively œclear without a slew of PIH is where I stopped putting the retinoid. I only kept it to my forehead, chin, and temples. The reason I am wanting to stop is because while it cleared some things, I believe it is causing cystic acne on my forehead. It kept doing that for my temples. I will not be stopping cold turkey, but slowly wean myself off of it. This product does have some merit because it is keeping my chin clear so I will continue to use it there. It has also been a great spot treatment by making acne come to a head very quickly or reducing inflammation on some bumps.

I will check back in 3 weeks to let you know how things pan out. I have an appointment with another dermatologist to see what they recommend. Not too thrilled with my current one because she says it is hormonal acne that will never go away unless I get back on birth control

Btw, here is a TIP “ if you are about to start using a retinoid, you will inevitably get it close to your eyes or lips even if you don™t put it anywhere near it due to unwittingly rubbing your face at night and product migration caused by the oils on your face. Please ask your derm to prescribe you Valtrex if you are prone to cold sores in addition to the retinoid script. I accidentally got the retinoid around my lips, and it caused massive flaking and aggravated the area where I kept having cold sore and blister flare ups. Thank goodness I had the Valtrex because going through a retinoid acne purge AND a full blown oral herpes outbreak would have been too much.