My daughter is 15 and has been stuggling with acne for about 3 years. She has been through oral antibiotics, Differin, Retin A, Epiduo and Tazorac. None of that helped. Eventually we gave up on the derm. and the prescriptions and she just used the Obagi Clenziderm system which kept her forehead mostly clear, but she continued to break out on her cheeks. The pediatrician gave her Yaz to try in July, and she took it for 3 months. It caused her to have stomach pains and gain weight, so she stopped taking it. Toward the end of the 3 months it seemed to be starting to clear her up, but as an active kid playing varsity volleyball and stuff, she couldn't handle the side effects.
Recently she started breaking out worse again, so we finally got an appt. with a different derm. She told her to continue with the Clenziderm in the morning, and she added Ziana to use in the evening. The first week we didn't notice any difference. The second week we noticed the big, sore pimples were gone but there were new, smaller red bumps and whiteheads forming. This is week 3, and her face is absolutely covered in little red bumps and whiteheads. And she is peeling all around her mouth. Her mineral makeup won't even cover it anymore.
Is the initial breakout with Ziana supposed to be *this* bad? I am tempted to tell her to stop using it, but not if this is a stage she has to go through before she is clear. I am going to call the derm. tomorrow, but I thought I would see if anyone else has been through something similar.
Thanks!
Hi Megsmom! I am also on Ziana 6 weeks in (you can check my pics in the gallery section - i've taken a couple each week to show progress or lack there of) along with Aczone and Finacea. I believe i am in my initial breakout (6 weeks in) and it sucks. It's hard to say if Ziana will work or not but most people do tend to continue to break out or break out more than usual because that was this medicine does- it unclogs pores and brings them to the surface, hence more acne. In any event, 3 weeks is not enough time to say if the medicine is working or not. You have to at least give it 3 month and if you don't see the slight bit of difference, then you may need to add something else to the routine or try a different retinoid. I have also developed little red bumps and my face is dry and flaky (so much so that some nights i put on moisturizer BEFORE Ziana. So long story short, continued breakout is going to happen so give it till at least 3 months in to decide as it often times gets worse before it gets better.
Hope this helps 
)
Hi Megsmom! I am also on Ziana 6 weeks in (you can check my pics in the gallery section - i've taken a couple each week to show progress or lack there of) along with Aczone and Finacea. I believe i am in my initial breakout (6 weeks in) and it sucks. It's hard to say if Ziana will work or not but most people do tend to continue to break out or break out more than usual because that was this medicine does- it unclogs pores and brings them to the surface, hence more acne. In any event, 3 weeks is not enough time to say if the medicine is working or not. You have to at least give it 3 month and if you don't see the slight bit of difference, then you may need to add something else to the routine or try a different retinoid. I have also developed little red bumps and my face is dry and flaky (so much so that some nights i put on moisturizer BEFORE Ziana. So long story short, continued breakout is going to happen so give it till at least 3 months in to decide as it often times gets worse before it gets better.
Hope this helps
)
Hi there. I am a 16 year old female on ziana and 100mg minocyline every night. Last year i achieved beautiful skin after 3 months on epiduo and doxycyxline but I became resistant so the derm switched it up. However I am 2.5 months into the ziana regimen and am not pleased. I haven't seen any improvement honestly and have just recently gotten huge cysts on my naturally clear forehead.... I get so hopefull from peoples stories that say after 3 months there skin improves greatly.., but then get very discouraged when I see those posts saying the product didn't work at all. Is it normal to still be on the initial breakout 10 weeks into ziana?
Also: the last month I have been using tea tree oil basically all over my face because I was so desperate to get clear and then applying ziana directly on top.... Just yesterday I read that tea tree oil shouldn't be mixed with a tretinoin (ziana) so I stopped today and will never use it again. Also I have always applied ziana in the morning and night but am now just doing night because I thought the overuse might be contributing to my breakouts. Thoughts?
Regimen: morning: wash with cetaphil oil control foam wash
Apply cetaphil oil control moisturizer
Night: same thing but apply ziana before moisturizer and take 100mg minocycline pill
Hi Megsmom! I am also on Ziana 6 weeks in (you can check my pics in the gallery section - i've taken a couple each week to show progress or lack there of) along with Aczone and Finacea. I believe i am in my initial breakout (6 weeks in) and it sucks. It's hard to say if Ziana will work or not but most people do tend to continue to break out or break out more than usual because that was this medicine does- it unclogs pores and brings them to the surface, hence more acne. In any event, 3 weeks is not enough time to say if the medicine is working or not. You have to at least give it 3 month and if you don't see the slight bit of difference, then you may need to add something else to the routine or try a different retinoid. I have also developed little red bumps and my face is dry and flaky (so much so that some nights i put on moisturizer BEFORE Ziana. So long story short, continued breakout is going to happen so give it till at least 3 months in to decide as it often times gets worse before it gets better.
Hope this helps
Hi there. I am a 16 year old female on ziana and 100mg minocyline every night. Last year i achieved beautiful skin after 3 months on epiduo and doxycyxline but I became resistant so the derm switched it up. However I am 2.5 months into the ziana regimen and am not pleased. I haven't seen any improvement honestly and have just recently gotten huge cysts on my naturally clear forehead.... I get so hopefull from peoples stories that say after 3 months there skin improves greatly.., but then get very discouraged when I see those posts saying the product didn't work at all. Is it normal to still be on the initial breakout 10 weeks into ziana?
Also: the last month I have been using tea tree oil basically all over my face because I was so desperate to get clear and then applying ziana directly on top.... Just yesterday I read that tea tree oil shouldn't be mixed with a tretinoin (ziana) so I stopped today and will never use it again. Also I have always applied ziana in the morning and night but am now just doing night because I thought the overuse might be contributing to my breakouts. Thoughts?
Regimen: morning: wash with cetaphil oil control foam wash
Apply cetaphil oil control moisturizer
Night: same thing but apply ziana before moisturizer and take 100mg minocycline pill
Your'e definitely overdoing it. Ziana should only be used at night and only a pea sized amount. Also, because retinoids are powerful in and of themselves you should be cautious in adding in anything else that can be harsh on the skin (tea tree being a prime example). Some people break out till their fourth month so 10 weeks into an initial breakout is not unheard of. If however you are not seeing consistent improvement but 16 weeks try a different retinoid like retin a.
BTW, antibiotics don't do jack and can really mess with your system.
Hi Megsmom! I am also on Ziana 6 weeks in (you can check my pics in the gallery section - i've taken a couple each week to show progress or lack there of) along with Aczone and Finacea. I believe i am in my initial breakout (6 weeks in) and it sucks. It's hard to say if Ziana will work or not but most people do tend to continue to break out or break out more than usual because that was this medicine does- it unclogs pores and brings them to the surface, hence more acne. In any event, 3 weeks is not enough time to say if the medicine is working or not. You have to at least give it 3 month and if you don't see the slight bit of difference, then you may need to add something else to the routine or try a different retinoid. I have also developed little red bumps and my face is dry and flaky (so much so that some nights i put on moisturizer BEFORE Ziana. So long story short, continued breakout is going to happen so give it till at least 3 months in to decide as it often times gets worse before it gets better.
Hope this helps
Hi there. I am a 16 year old female on ziana and 100mg minocyline every night. Last year i achieved beautiful skin after 3 months on epiduo and doxycyxline but I became resistant so the derm switched it up. However I am 2.5 months into the ziana regimen and am not pleased. I haven't seen any improvement honestly and have just recently gotten huge cysts on my naturally clear forehead.... I get so hopefull from peoples stories that say after 3 months there skin improves greatly.., but then get very discouraged when I see those posts saying the product didn't work at all. Is it normal to still be on the initial breakout 10 weeks into ziana?
Also: the last month I have been using tea tree oil basically all over my face because I was so desperate to get clear and then applying ziana directly on top.... Just yesterday I read that tea tree oil shouldn't be mixed with a tretinoin (ziana) so I stopped today and will never use it again. Also I have always applied ziana in the morning and night but am now just doing night because I thought the overuse might be contributing to my breakouts. Thoughts?
Regimen: morning: wash with cetaphil oil control foam wash
Apply cetaphil oil control moisturizer
Night: same thing but apply ziana before moisturizer and take 100mg minocycline pill
Your'e definitely overdoing it. Ziana should only be used at night and only a pea sized amount. Also, because retinoids are powerful in and of themselves you should be cautious in adding in anything else that can be harsh on the skin (tea tree being a prime example). Some people break out till their fourth month so 10 weeks into an initial breakout is not unheard of. If however you are not seeing consistent improvement but 16 weeks try a different retinoid like retin a.
BTW, antibiotics don't do jack and can really mess with your system.
Thank you so much for the reply I really appreciate it! Yeah i started thinking maybe the tea tree oil is the reason my skin isn't improving because im not letting ziana do it's job.... I'm not sure if minocycline is even doing much but I do know doxycline worked for me very well! Insurance stopped covering it though...)):
I have been on Ziana for about a week and a half and I'm so pleased! There was a very brief purging stage where all of the flesh-colored acne became whiteheads and my skin was not looking good at all (there're still some white heads left over now), but overall, my skin is so much smoother and almost ZERO clogged pores. Push through the purging stage, it's so worth it!
