Hi everyone,
This is my first post on Acne.org although I first discovered the Regimen back in 2008. I just wanted to introduce myself, and share my experiences with you guys. I'm a 28 year old male who has suffered with Acne since I was in my teens.
I started my regimen journey 5 years ago using Brevoxyl 4% cream as it was readily available from chemists and pharmacies here in the UK. Right from day one I noticed a marked improvement to my skin, and continued to use the cream for 3 years straight. I was cured, except for the occasional breakout, normally the result of a drunken binge or less-than-perfect-diet.
After several years of success I decided to reduce my BP usage to just at night, and aside from a slight oil increase throughout the day, I stayed clear. Then in September last year disaster struck- GSK had stopped manufacturing everything with BP in it! That affected everyone who used Brevoxyl, Oxy, Panoxyl etc..
Given I was clear, I decided to try giving up BP altogether, so I continued a regimen of cleansing and moisturising only. I assumed I'd grown out of my 'Adult Acne' because I remained clear until Christmas, but then lo and behold...my Acne was back, with a vengeance!
Given my supply issues with BP, I decided to look for an alternative regimen and throughout January to March this year I tried the 'Caveman' Regimen. I refused to let any chemicals touch my skin for two months. At first the results looked promising, but I soon discovered that all the dead skin from my face was forming a disgusting oily mask which provided the perfect breeding ground for bacteria. My face became worse than it had ever been in 15 years!! I suffered a serious bout of cystic acne under my ears and all along my jaw-line. My chin erupted in whiteheads, and I developed a painful cyst in my eyebrow which affected my vision. Nothing I could do could stop it...
I became a social recluse, I hid away from everyone, kept my head down at work and avoided any social interaction. I hated what I had become, not being able to look people in the eye after being clear for so long was incredibly distressing. I would not wish this affliction on my worst enemy.
I decided last week that enough was enough, I had to get my skin (and my life) back. I immediately bought some of Dan's BP and started the Regimen again 4 days ago. After the very first night of application I could see a noticeable improvement, I jumped straight in to the full dosage, my skin understandably compatible with BP after so many years of use.
I look forward to my regimen every morning and evening, with each day comes increased confidence and self-esteem. I implore anyone who is considering the Regimen to give it a serious go and stick with it!
What a shame that products you had so much success with were discontinued...I would have been devastated!
Good luck with your reintroduction to BP. Just one bit of advice from my own experience - i was also accustomed to BP but after having a 2 month break and using AHA+ only (a bit of a disaster in the end) I also started using a lot of BP straight away when i started back using it. First week was fine, but second week was hell and I had to back off. So i would suggest you start slowly and build up to the full amount again.
Good luck! 
I had basically the same experience when they stopped making panoxyl, ive had a weird on-off relationship with quinoderm ever since and now im staying strict to my regimen because my skin actually improved a lot when I used it and I didnt realise this until I stopped using it.
Sounds a lot like what happened to me, too. Panoxyl discontinued meant that I could no longer get any (reasonably priced) 2.5.% BP. I stopped and tried some other stuff, but it only got worse. It's calmed down a bit now, 4 months later, but I'm not comfortable and I miss what my face looked like when I used BP. I want to go back, but my best option today is sadly a 5% BP, and I'm worried that it'll be too strong. The initial redness also freaks me out for some reason. I know that it'll pass but I also know that it'll be horrible at first. I think I'll start very slowly, small amounts and only nightly, perhaps only every second or third day.
Sounds a lot like what happened to me, too. Panoxyl discontinued meant that I could no longer get any (reasonably priced) 2.5.% BP. I stopped and tried some other stuff, but it only got worse. It's calmed down a bit now, 4 months later, but I'm not comfortable and I miss what my face looked like when I used BP. I want to go back, but my best option today is sadly a 5% BP, and I'm worried that it'll be too strong. The initial redness also freaks me out for some reason. I know that it'll pass but I also know that it'll be horrible at first. I think I'll start very slowly, small amounts and only nightly, perhaps only every second or third day.
Ive also had to move up to 5% and my skin has started to get used to it now, technically you can dilute it with water (1:1) and have 2.5% BP but I couldnt tell you if it would still be effective, tecnically it should be because most BP creams already contain water. There's no avoiding the redness but think to yourself that you want to get it over with for the summer time so if you start now your skin should be better by june 
giving yourself realistic deadlines help a lot when treating acne.
Sounds a lot like what happened to me, too. Panoxyl discontinued meant that I could no longer get any (reasonably priced) 2.5.% BP. I stopped and tried some other stuff, but it only got worse. It's calmed down a bit now, 4 months later, but I'm not comfortable and I miss what my face looked like when I used BP. I want to go back, but my best option today is sadly a 5% BP, and I'm worried that it'll be too strong. The initial redness also freaks me out for some reason. I know that it'll pass but I also know that it'll be horrible at first. I think I'll start very slowly, small amounts and only nightly, perhaps only every second or third day.
Ive also had to move up to 5% and my skin has started to get used to it now, technically you can dilute it with water (1:1) and have 2.5% BP but I couldnt tell you if it would still be effective, tecnically it should be because most BP creams already contain water. There's no avoiding the redness but think to yourself that you want to get it over with for the summer time so if you start now your skin should be better by june
giving yourself realistic deadlines help a lot when treating acne.
I've heard about diluting but I'll keep that as a last resort. And yeah, I have to plan ahead. Going on a trip in June so if I start now, it should indeed have calmed down enough.
Thanks all for your replies, I'm now at the end of my first week using Dan's 2.5% BP, so thought I'd share my observations.
Going against your sound advice 'AyeAye' I went straight for the full dosage, my rationale being that Dan's BP is about half the concentration of the Brevoxyl that I was very much accustomed to and my skin has always been fairly resilient.
After a few days, the dryness and redness was quite apparent, and I was finding that I had to moisturise several times throughout the day to keep the flakiness at bay. Now at day 6, my skin has acclimatised to the BP and the flakiness has almost gone completely, apart from a minor amount of dryness around my mouth.
The redness has faded a little from day 1, but I expect this will take a few more weeks to fully subside.
In comparitive terms between Dan's BP and the Brevoxyl, I find that the consistency is much better, the Brevoxyl used to leave my skin feeling very heavy after I moisturised (as expected with a cream based BP) but Dan's BP feels so much lighter. The only drawback I have noticed is even after a whole day, when I rinse my face, I can see a white residue. This is obviously only an issue if my face gets wet during the day, but with the Brevoxyl I found it had completely absorbed after only a few hours.
In terms of the results, I am very pleased. Particularly the cystic acne I have under my ears and along my jaw line, which seems to be fading with each passing day. I have had some minor whiteheads and pustules appearing, but in fewer numbers each day.
I wish I had made more of an effort to acquire Dan's BP all those years ago, the 2.5% BP works just as effectively as the 4% Brevoxyl and is considerably less drying. All that Dan needs to do now is get a UK distributor...
I also just started, today is the third day. The redness isn't as bad as I feared, but I'm not using BP on my whole face (trying to use only where I have acne) and it looks pretty weird right now. It might just be my imagination, but this 5% BP feels less harsh than I recall Panoxyl's 2.5% being. Something I haven't missed is the itchiness. It'll probably be hard to sleep for the next few nights.Trying my best not to scratch, though.
And yeah, if I could buy Dan's in the UK, it would mean that I could import it with no trouble. I'd be the first customer for sure.