Any advice would be appreciated! So Im on week 8 of Tretinoin0.1% cream. I developed acne at 19 from a pregnancy and miscarriage- that was a year ago. The first 2 weeks on Tretinoinmy skin was breaking out like it had the past few months but by week 2 only scars were there.
Week 3- another breakout but smaller than beforeTretinoin
Week 4- pretty clear
Week 5- another breakout
Week 6- Mostly scars and I thought this would be the end and the magical 6 week thing would happen, but it didnt. At the end of week 6 I developed horrible blackheads and whiteheads all over my forehead and Ive never had blackheads on my forehead, so this is strange. Right side of my face broke out also and now at week 8 my left side is breaking out. The breakouts are almost as bad as before Tretinoin. Like what is going on??
At week 6 I did increase from applying every other day to everyday, is this the issue?
Im moving next week and I just want fairly clear skin before the move. Is it not working for me or should I stick it out? Why is it getting worse when it should be getting better now?
The blackheads have gotten so bad, I bought an extractor today. I dont have a derm just a regular doctor so I dont get much help from him on this stuff. My skin use to be basically perfect, I just want it back to that. Thanks!!
Heres the thing:
As long as you still have clogged pores, tretinoin will purge it out. I learned that the hard way when I first started tret in Jan, and purging finally ended in late April. From May - July I was clear until I stopped using my Azelaic acid 2x a day. This caused my face to get clogged up again, and boom, clogged pores are back. Now I'm back on the AZA & still continuing the tret like before, and I'm re-purging.
With tretinoin, you really have to be patient. Expect breakouts until you can run your hand around your face without feeling a single bump of clogged pore. Tret will purge every clog on your face, so just wait till they're all gone and expect to be clear onwards.
Your experience with tretinoin mirrors mine somewhat. I had been prescribed some meds one of which was a combination of clindamycin and tretinoin and it worked really well. But at one point my insurance changed and would no longer cover this product. Instead, I was given tretinoin cream at .025%...Very quickly I went from having the best skin in my life to the worst. Every single day I would breakout. Multiple pimples that were red or white at the head completely covered my forehead. For weeks I did not stop breaking out and eventually I would avoid looking at myself in the mirror. I have a light golden brown skin so hyperpigmentation was a huge problem. At its worst there were probably anywhere from 15-25 acne scars littering my forehead.
So Im not surprised that your skin has gotten worse as it happened to me to. There's an extended purging period that occurs with tretinoin or so I've read/experienced. I believe pimples or clogged pores that you can't see are brought to the surface. So It will get worse before it gets better. Mine was drastic enough for me to discontinue use as my acne was way way more terrible than I could deal with.
