This thread is for differin users to share and support each other whilst going through treatment.

I am currently completing Week 8 and the experience has been both terrifying and challenging mentally and emotionally. I have had clear skin all my life until a few months ago when I broke into white comedones specifically on my left cheek. Understanding the science on how differin works (hence, the IB) and actually dealing with it week after week is completely two different things. I felt like I was experiencing fear factor every morning, breakouts were just getting worse and it was hard to believe there would be light at the end of the tunnel. And differin may or may not work depending on individuals. Below is a brief account of my
experience so far:

I apply differin at night and clindoxyl gel in the mornings.

Week 1-2: No significant changes

Week 3-4: The IB begins. At Week 4, visited my derm. He said there was some reduction in comedones and prescribed me doxy to control the breakouts. Derm says the IB normally peaks between week 6-8

Week 5-6: IB was at its peak. Felt like I was living in a nightmare everyday. When old pimples go away, new ones would pop up. I literally had at least 2 new
pimples everyday and they would take weeks to go away. On top of thatI had to stop doxy as I was feeling awful from the side effects i.e. nausea and headaches.

Week 7: Breakouts slowed down and appear to be more superficial (not the hard painful ones). Another visit to my derm and he said that 50% of my comedones are gone but he says the healing is not fast enough. He prescribed me azithromycin and did a round of extractions so that the acne will go away quicker

Week 8: For the first time in weeks, I feel there's some hope. Much less breakout. I can actually see some clear skin compared to weeks before. Feels like all the remaining comedones are slowly turning into pustules (small) and they do go way faster (3-5 days). But I do have one huge hard painful pimple smack right in the middle the cheek although it appears to be shrinking faster than weeks before.

From what I read, people experience slight improvement from Week 8 onwards. There's so much PIH that the skin is just a mess when I look at it as a whole. But when you look at it in isolation, there been a reduction in active acnes and comedones (significantly)

It's been a roller coaster journey so far. It's difficult to stay positive when one day you think the skin is improving and then there's some sort of setback. For example, areas that use to be clear becomes inflammed. Mornings and nights are the worse. You start and end the day having to look at the mirror!!
But I am determined to stick to differin for another 4 weeks. Hopefully after 3 months, there would be significant improvement.

To all differin users, please feel to share your experience here. It would be good to hear from you all!!