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How To Tell When It's An Allergic Reaction Vs. A Breakout?

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(@emmybear)

Posted : 07/30/2013 9:36 am

I have a problem NO dermatologist has been able to help me with...so I'm hoping someone on here will be able to share my experience and lend some help! :)

I've had clear skin all through my teens; nothing more than a few tiny clogged pores. I'm 20 now and my skin is acting VERY strange. It started in May/March with these little raised pink bumps on my chest/back/forehead. They'd ALWAYS itch and my doctor thought it might be Staph, so I went on Keflex. Which didn't really do much. However, shortly after stopping the Keflex my chest/back cleared right up. My face however kept getting worse. It's been nearly 3 months since I haven't had clear skin and my dermatologists cannot help me.

Sometimes I just think it's acne--I mean, my forehead is covered in tiny skin-colored comedones that flatten at night and flare up during the day. Other times, strange things happen and my gut tells me it's something ELSE. Like 2 weeks ago I stayed at a certain beach house in RI and whenever I stepped foot on the sand my face broke out in bright red HUGE bumps that I've never had in my life--and never had since leaving that beach! My derm tried telling me "it's just the sun", and "you must have gotten bitten by something" but he's wrong. I know it. I've gone to this beach all my life and been fine. A month prior to going to this RI beach, I was staying at a Sarasota beach place in FL and my skin was ABSOLUTELY FINE. I can't make sense of what happened back then, but the red bumps were SO bad I cried and thought I had developed cystic acne within hours. Luckily for me, as soon as I drove home from that beach house, it all disappeared. :/ :/

So now I'm just struggling with little annoying comedones on my forehead and pink bumps on my cheeks. It's nothing bad, I don't even think it qualifies as "mild acne". But it's not what I'm used to and I'm trying to fix it--my derm prescribed my PanOxyl 10% cream wash and Tretinoin Gel .025%. HAS ANYONE EXPERIENCED ANYTHING LIKE THIS?!?!??!?!?!??

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MemberMember
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(@tracy521)

Posted : 07/30/2013 9:52 am

i had an allergic reaction from a cleanser that i was using that gave me little bumps all over my face. they looked like they had little whiteheads in them but if i tried to squeeze them most times nothing would come out. i ended up having contact dermatitis and then after a bit it somehow developed into a fungal infection so i had to use nizoral shampoo on my face and it cleared it all up within 2 weeks. you could try that if you want but a good derm would be able to know the difference from acne and an allergic reaction.

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