tbh im not quite sure what a cyst is suppose to feel like, i've never had one. I've had 3 nodules in my life from consistently squeezing stubborn closed comedones they tend to be firm as opposed to zits. I have one now, taking it's time to go away. lesson learned dont't pick... nodules like cysts take longgg to go. im just ignoring mine exists [Edited image out], its not that big anyway so just loks like PIH from a zit

I do remember reading that cysts and nodules can pop up again and again before completely going...

the active ingredient in my antbacterial facewash is chlorhexidine gluconate, its a broad spectrum antibitoic and best part is that its really gentle..

Jacinthaa I'm so glad you post on here...you are one of the only people whose results give me hope!!!

okay night two, so i didnt apply the differin all over, (alternate nights at first) just on these 2 stubborn closed comedones on my temple.

i know i've only used it once but i had this small closed comedone on side of my nose which has gone now. it was dried out by a weeks long BP but stilll .

having replaced the BP with Differin my face feels more calm.

My routine

Morning - antibacterial facewash followd by SPF

evening - antibacterial facewash followed by differin on alternative nights, then a light moisturiser. (after a week or two I'll up the differin to every night).

Supplements - multivit, zinc, omega 3 and C

Kariya, are you sure they are cystic pimples? Cystic pimples are really really deep and painful to even brush over....! It might just be inflamed papules or pustules...

Hey a lil bit of motivation for everyone. i found someones log that was using retin a. differin and retin a are both forms of retinol, she also had issues with cysts but she stuck through it past the 8-12 week mark and guess what it was worth it!. its a really detailed log with pictures..

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/topic/204271-retin-a-micro-for-occassional-cystic-acne-30-f/

god darn it!!!!!! the two comedones on my right cheek are on their way to becoming pustules sad news.

I feel ya, one on my temples doing the same thing but that comedones been sat dormant for weeks so at least it's doing something now lol and then it'll be gone..

have i mentioned how much I dislike acne so sad. anyway...noregrets thanks for posting that log! I hope our acne improves soon.

and yeah noregrets...its always relieving when you see the comedones become inflamed the first time around and youre like: "YES! they are getting rid of their shiz!" But then they go away..and then they come back in the exam same spot over and OVER and OVER again before they permanently go away....by the 3rd or 4th time...you're just like..."UGH...this is not fun anymore!" lol.

Same i hate it. (i feel that deserves its own line)

there's me thinking yess this comedone going to be gone in a couple days .. has anyone noticed there skin being oilier?

yes!!!! That was totally normal during the first few weeks...my face would GLISTEN lol...! it'll go away in a month or so [Edited image out] And dont worry...the comedones will go away for a week...but they might come back again...just don't be discouraged. Remember...we all have to give this at least 12 weeks to really give an accurate assessment of how well the differin worked for us [Edited image out]

by the way, does anyone else think that its kinda sketchy how dermatologists are SO quick to prescribe accutane these days? A few years ago, I remember, it was just used for cystic/nodulistic acne...the worst type. Now....if a few different things (out of a million acne treating products) dont work...dermatologists just want you to hop on the accutane train even if your acne is just mild-moderate....kinda scary.

If anyone thats been on accutane is reading this..and its worked wonders for you...please don't jump me...just a personal observation...it seemed like it was just so much harder to get a prescription for accutane a few years ago than it is now. It seemed like it was just reserved for like really severe cases of acne..

Went clubbin' last night. And after 4 hours of dancing, I was all sweaty and dirty and my face felt GROSS.

Woke up this morning, NO new pimples Just a face as smooth as it was yesterday, oh gosh you gotta love differin!

Allison, the little comedones on my cheek kept coming till week 7 or 8. And yeah it's hard, because you think they're gone and the next day they're just back with full force! But it will smoothen out eventually

And hmz, I don't completely agree with the sketchy part. I do think that they prescribe it a lot easier then they did before, but then again, it's a great method to get you clear from acne in a relatively short period. And here in Holland they don't prescribe it th¡t often, only if you have very bad acne, or stubborn acne that doesn't respond to other treatment. Don't know if that's different in other countries.

oooohhh jacinthaa, did you have fun!!!???? I hope so! Well I'm glad that the comedones eventually disappear....aww you're from Holland!???so cool!!! Lol....the derms in America are much different i guess....they are always and forever suggesting accutane.... I hope you have a good day today guys!!! The two pustules I was talkin about have simmered down!!! I swear my skin always looks better in the mornings than it does throughout the day lol....but I guess PIH is still there...but each day...I see like 0.000000000000001% lightening of the PIH so i guess thats good....differin works glacially slow Anyway, HOW are you ALL doing???

Jacinthaa, I wanna see a picture if you took some last night clubbing!!! I bet you looked HOT!

Yeah I had like a great time! One of my favourite DJ's was at the club, so that was kinda awesome.

Yup holland all the way, cheeseheads owyeah.

Here you have to follow a couple of treatments before you can start accutane. And they really don't suggest it the first time you're at the derm.

I'm glad your pustules slimmered down! And yeah my skin does also look better when I wake up, when I shower it turns a little bit more red and red marks get more visible.

I'd love to show pictures, but most of them are with my girls and I really don't wanna post pictures with friends here (just for privacyreasons). I put them only on facebook.

Today no new eruptions, flakes are gone quite a lot since stopping bp and i can make expressions on my face again haha.. ooo holland, i've been there there just dam tho and six flags, im not sure where that is in holland..

I've been thinking about this so i thought id share with u guys and see what you think.. differins markedly made my skin oilier and allison said that happened to her the first month too... so since acne is caused by excess sebum i was thinking maybe the initial breakout is a combination of purging and excess sebum clogging your pores. Once your oil gets back to normal i think then u would have a final purge or it might be that the differins kicked in so the excess oil ain't a thing for it... (i think too much)

I just know over here accutane is once everything else has failed..

i'll post more later but check this guy's differin blog out!

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/topic/310153-differin-tetralysal-16-year-old-male-with-pictures/

HOW AMAZING....

http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php/topic/297021-one-year-of-differin-3-and-clyndamycin-phosphate-gel-1/

woooo thst guy really got cleared and 10 months is nothing if u look at the before and after...

Night 3.. the 2 closed comedones next to my eyebrow i couldnt resist squeezing, the bigger one that was a little inflmaed came out as a plug without any pressure (the area still a little red n raised) the other one was raised to the skins surface soi just scratched off .

Bare in mind i've had them for weeks and i must of picked at them plenty of times and they would just stay there doing nothing..

want to tae this chance to thank y'all for your replies and tempting me to start treatment

Week 6.5......plateau....a few pustules...but i helped them "erupt" via a comedone extractor...they went down SIGNIFICANTLY within 24 hours...now i just have maybe a total 16 SMALL comedones (like only visible in the day light) on my entire face...that might be an overestimation..but I do have some MEAN hyperpigmentation...!!!! Its slowly fading...like I said earlier...the process is GLACIALLY slow. Anyway, hopefully it will get better in the next few weeks Chin is super flaky...not peeling. Its kinda funny though..if I take my hand and rub it against my entire face...I see flakes on my hand so differin is only mildly irritating my skin at this point....

Noregrets...your very welcome! I'm SO glad you post on here every day!! I will start the 7th week on wednesday...wish me luck you guys!!!

Also noregrets, isn't it amazing how much his skin changed (the guy from the blog) in 3 months!? AHH!

 

 

Anyway, so here is an interesting study I read about adapalene (main ingredient in differin)....I thought I would share!

 

Link: http://www.piel.com....2/adapaleno.pdf

 

Look at the graph on page 247. Significant reduction in inflammatory/comedonal lesions was seen after 8 weeks when using differin 0.3. However, when using differin 0.1....a significant reduction was first witnessed at the 12 week mark. It takes a long time lol. And Kariya, the pictures on page 248 give me hope! Look at that patient's skin....it definitely looked worse at the 4th week mark and then showed slight improvement at the 8 week mark...but GOD DARN look at WEEK 12!!!! AMAZING!!!!!

 

 

 

I thought I would share this link again so noregrets could see it!

I thought I would also mention...if you are on antibiotics....taking a probiotic is SO important and it helps SOOOOO much with the side effects of the antibiotic. Also, I've read numerous amounts of articles on how sometimes probiotics have an effect of decreasing acne all in themselves, as they restore the natural balances to our digestive tract so that our organs are able to deal more effectively with the toxins!

hi allisoncatherine..

i see ur taking that AHA.. at what point in your regiment do you put that on?? Morning or night with differin?

also, i seen those post for.. the one with koreanamerican19 treuly is AMAZING.

Hello again guys! Sorry I havent said a lot recently. Due to the fact I've been a little busy and not much to report on my skin.

How I would love to have completly clear skin!!

Hopefully, in another two months I will! Just got to stick with it..

Kariya, yeah...I started putting in AHA in the mornings with hydroquinone in it to help fade with the PIH since thats mainly my problem. I mean...I have SUCH small comedones now...and barely any active acne ....its just PIH (i got tons of PIH)...here's a picture with minimal makeup....just a smidge of foundation and I look like I have almost completely clear skin....its just the PIH thats bothering me now. So here is progress for you guys Before when I put on makeup, my acne was actually "bumpy" and I could see it very much so through makeup. This girl's picture is almost identical to how my acne looked underneath makeup about a month and a half ago...

and this is a pic from today....my acne looks NONEXISTENT with a little foundation....there ARE still a few comedones left....but its so much better than before! Now just dealing with the PIH....

Lmao those two pictures baffled me i thought it was a before n after..

Thats good allison 6 weeks in and no active acne

i feel like I've got new little closed comedones too, must not let it get to me..

thanks.. PIH is another bigissue for me too..

do u put on the Aha before klaron or after klaron?

anyways, i feel like i am getting less bumps.. slightly smoother but again this is the morning.. crossing my fingers and hope i didn jinx anything.. lol.

Lol noregrets...the first picture isn't me!!! lol....that would be quite a dramatic transformation considering i would have to morph into a different ethnicity! lol.

Anyway, kariya, this is my regimen.

Morning:

Wash face only with COLD WATER (use no cleanser)

apply a dab of differin 0.3% all over face

Use DCL AHA lightening gel as recommended by my dermatologist...you can check it out here... http://www.skin-etc.com/dclahaligel.html

Use sunscreen/primer

Apply green concealer on hyperpigmented spots

Apply estee lauder max coverage foundation

Night

Remove makeup with jojoba oil...

Wash face with Clinique's mild cleanser

3x a week...I was my face with selsun blue (really helps)

Apply differin 0.3

Apply a klaron lotion coating

Pills I'm taking: doxycycline, culturelle probiotics, and orthotricyclen (birth control).

By the way guys...I'M SOOOOOOOO excited about my new mineral makeup foundation from dermstore! AHHH! Its pure enough to fall asleep in and its made with all natural minerals (even the TINT is made out of a natural substance) Eeeeeep!!! I don't plan on SLEEPING in my foundation everyday but...you know....if I'm ever in a position where I have to sleep over at a friend's house or something....I'll definitely use that foundation for emergency purposes!!! <3 <3 <3 My skin is doing okay!