I am not one to post things online like this, but I know how much posts like these helped me as I was fighting acne. So, I decided to share my story of healing my acne.
I am 18 years old and graduated high school last month. I really only suffered from acne since 9th grade, but it got noticeably bad at the start of my senior year. I had moderately severe acne- cystic and lots of red zits. I tried many things to stop it- clean & clear advantage, proactiv, and then back to clean & clear again.. not having any desired results. I tried vitamin d supplements as well, but no such luck. I was starting to give up hope and felt like it would never get better.
Then I decided to go to my doctor (which I should have done much sooner!). She told me that my acne was most likely hereditary (thanks mom!) but she prescribed me two things: a topical cream and an antibiotic. The topical is called Tretinoin (which I think is a generic retin-A?) and the antibiotic is a generic Bactrim DS. She also told me to wash my face with a salicylic acid soap. So that night I started my new regimen, which I still use today (after 4 months). Every night I wash my face with Clearasil Daily Face Wash (with salicylic acid) using my Clarisonic Mia 2 on the slow speed. Then I apply the tretinoin. I also take 1 Bactrim DS each night. The first month or two I was taking 1 in the morning and 1 nightly. And now, my face is SO SMOOTH. I have an occasional SMALL pimple, but I haven't broken out ever since. About a month of this regimen, my face was drying out a lot, but I stuck with it and the dryness went away completely. Now i am VERY satisfied with my results. Before, it was so bad that I wouldn't go hang out with my friends and at one point I wouldn't even walk around my own house without makeup. Now I am much closer to going out in public with no makeup. The only thing that is stopping me is the hyper-pigmentation that is left behind from my acne. But, this is continuously fading and I believe that the Tretinoin is a big help in fading this!!
I just wanted to share my story, because I once felt like there was no hope, and now I am so much happier with my skin, and I know that you can be to! So I hope that this post helped you, and I wish you much luck with healing your acne. Just know that it WILL get better!!
I can't say I see much of a difference yet, but hopefully I will have some results too! Congrats on clear skin.
I know it's been a long time but I just rediscovered this post that I had written over a year ago and wanted to give an update! Since going to college, I had stopped that skin care routine and my acne came back with full force. I went to a derma and got it under control again, stopped going, and it came back again... I recently just went to my doctor and she prescribed me Minocycline and retin-A again. Just started less than a week ago. Hopefully I will see good results again!
Thanks for chiming in again with your experience. It was also my understanding that retin-a was a solution that needed to be used long-term (like forever) or else the acne comes back. You're fortunate your doc prescribed an antibiotic with that, mine didn't and I'm going through the IB phase (I'm in week 7). I also heard that by week 10-12 is when I should be free of acne. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!