My face went crazy after I came off BP, I think it is best to do it gradually. I really struggled for a while afterwards but so glad a did, BP was making my skin dry, red marks looked worse and took forever to fade and it also gave me sort of wrinkled looking skin where I used it, so I am glad now that I came off it. I ended up going back on birth control for my skin and started using Differin, I love differin, it was a bit drying at first but in the long run it improves the texture of your skin and helps your marks to fade while keeping your pores clear, it really helped improve my skin after BP, that along with a gentle skincare regimen and good moisturiser. I think you need to have a plan in place for when you come off, like an alternative topical to BP, salicylic acid is a good place to start as an alternative to bp, your skin might be ok, but you might have to deal with a bit of a breakout until things settle down.
Thanks. I wanted to gradually come off but i developed eczema on my face so that was not an option. My face has already started to go nuts. Every area is full of clogs which gives my face a rough texture (i have never had this type of acne before so extensively so it is quite a new and somewhat frightening experience for me). I see a derm tomorrow so hopefully i'll have a plan in place. Definitely not looking forward to the transition period as i am very sensitive about my skin. It really depresses me to the point i don't act like myself and i hide away from my loved ones. Needless to say i am working on this.
That is good you are going to a derm, tell them your concerns and hopefully they can suggested an alternative treatment that will help. Would you consider trying birth control, since your skin is really sensitive right now, you might want to wait until it settles a little bit before using another topical. I have found that birth control has really helped my skin a lot, the derm should be able to advise on the best one. Your skin sounds just like mine after bp...honestly when I used to wash my face it felt like I had grains of sand on it, it was so rough and like you I had never experience that before, it makes me sad thinking back to that time too so I know how you feel. Be gentle to your skin, anything harsh I used just made it worse, you might want to use something harsh to get rid of the clogged pores but only time and a good gentle skincare regimen will do that, plus the right topical to help you along. Try not to worry to much I know it is difficult and I was in a deep depression about my skin at that time, I finally accepted I needed a bit of help in that department and have been taking a very low dose of an anti depressant and honestly I feel like a new person, my skin improving helped as well but the anti depressant gave me a push to get back to my old self! I'm not saying that would be right for you, but don't suffer in silence, a lot of people feel depressed and anxious about different things and there is help out there, whether it is a pill or talking to someone, it helps 
Great advice! I mentioned my concerns to my derm and we decided to start back up with BP in much smaller amounts and only in the AM. For the PM we will work up to using nightly Tazorac and Atralin on alternate nights. Not thrilled about using topicals again but i've tried fighting this from the inside and it' s not enough. I had such a horrid experience with birth control that i won't even consider it, especially since it is not a long term solution (I am in my 30's). I am going to try and stay upbeat and hopefully my eczema won't flare this time around.
I stopped BP cold turkey and about a month later my skin went nuts. I was getting closer to hitting 30 and didn't want to always be dependent on it. Plus, it was just making my skin look older.
I wasn't really helping either because I started taking B5 around the same time. It hard for me to say how bad my breakout would've been if the only thing I did was stop BP. However, expect some kind of negative reaction.
Good luck!
I stopped BP cold turkey and about a month later my skin went nuts. I was getting closer to hitting 30 and didn't want to always be dependent on it. Plus, it was just making my skin look older.
I wasn't really helping either because I started taking B5 around the same time. It hard for me to say how bad my breakout would've been if the only thing I did was stop BP. However, expect some kind of negative reaction.
Good luck!
How long did it take for your face to settle down post BP?
I stopped BP cold turkey and about a month later my skin went nuts. I was getting closer to hitting 30 and didn't want to always be dependent on it. Plus, it was just making my skin look older.
I wasn't really helping either because I started taking B5 around the same time. It hard for me to say how bad my breakout would've been if the only thing I did was stop BP. However, expect some kind of negative reaction.
Good luck!
How long did it take for your face to settle down post BP?
I wish I could give you a better answer, but I was trying new "natural" treatments that were probably making the breakout worse. I actually kept breaking out badly for about 5 months before I just caved and started using BP again to fight back the breakouts. From here I went the next few months using BP sporadically (maybe once every 3-4 days) to keep the breakout at bay. I finally went cold turkey again and my skin held up pretty well for about a couple months before I triggered another breakout. I say triggered because I feel like things in my diet were causing flair ups, but even at 31 I'm still not 100% sure what causes me to breakout.
Anyway, BP has been the only over the counter product that is effective. However, I can't use it because it damages my skin so much. I'm off it right now and been trying 500mg-1g of B5 daily.
I stopped BP cold turkey and about a month later my skin went nuts. I was getting closer to hitting 30 and didn't want to always be dependent on it. Plus, it was just making my skin look older.
I wasn't really helping either because I started taking B5 around the same time. It hard for me to say how bad my breakout would've been if the only thing I did was stop BP. However, expect some kind of negative reaction.
Good luck!
How long did it take for your face to settle down post BP?
I wish I could give you a better answer, but I was trying new "natural" treatments that were probably making the breakout worse. I actually kept breaking out badly for about 5 months before I just caved and started using BP again to fight back the breakouts. From here I went the next few months using BP sporadically (maybe once every 3-4 days) to keep the breakout at bay. I finally went cold turkey again and my skin held up pretty well for about a couple months before I triggered another breakout. I say triggered because I feel like things in my diet were causing flair ups, but even at 31 I'm still not 100% sure what causes me to breakout.
Anyway, BP has been the only over the counter product that is effective. However, I can't use it because it damages my skin so much. I'm off it right now and been trying 500mg-1g of B5 daily.
Good Luck! I am going on my 6th week off and things are getting pretty bad. Inflamed under the skin hard pimpes and whiteheads with pus. 5 month.....damn thats a long time. I don't know how i am going to manage that!. I want to give my elimination a fair shot starting June 30th but if my face continues the way it has been, i may have to try topicals again and rish my eczema coming back. I feel like my skin is hopeless.
I stopped BP cold turkey and about a month later my skin went nuts. I was getting closer to hitting 30 and didn't want to always be dependent on it. Plus, it was just making my skin look older.
I wasn't really helping either because I started taking B5 around the same time. It hard for me to say how bad my breakout would've been if the only thing I did was stop BP. However, expect some kind of negative reaction.
Good luck!
How long did it take for your face to settle down post BP?
I wish I could give you a better answer, but I was trying new "natural" treatments that were probably making the breakout worse. I actually kept breaking out badly for about 5 months before I just caved and started using BP again to fight back the breakouts. From here I went the next few months using BP sporadically (maybe once every 3-4 days) to keep the breakout at bay. I finally went cold turkey again and my skin held up pretty well for about a couple months before I triggered another breakout. I say triggered because I feel like things in my diet were causing flair ups, but even at 31 I'm still not 100% sure what causes me to breakout.
Anyway, BP has been the only over the counter product that is effective. However, I can't use it because it damages my skin so much. I'm off it right now and been trying 500mg-1g of B5 daily.
Good Luck! I am going on my 6th week off and things are getting pretty bad. Inflamed under the skin hard pimpes and whiteheads with pus. 5 month.....damn thats a long time. I don't know how i am going to manage that!. I want to give my elimination a fair shot starting June 30th but if my face continues the way it has been, i may have to try topicals again and rish my eczema coming back. I feel like my skin is hopeless.
I actually just started using BP again. My skin is just in terrible shape. I tend to try and wing BP, but when things get too bad I reintroduce it. I lasted about 6 months this time.
Have you noticed any difference with taking B5? I want to start taking it, but i hear good and bad things about it. Pros/cons about it, anyone?
I've taken about 500mg daily for two months. Long story short, I started juicing vegetables and taking B5 500mg daily after a bad breakout, which I believe was from coming off of an antibiotic. Things seemed to be getting better and I was using Tretinoin cream on some red marks to help them fade a little faster. Now, I'm not sure if the cream caused it to happen (which is what I believe), but a couple large nodules popped up on my cheeks. I bumped my B5 up to 1g daily thinking it would help. From here one side of my face was destroyed by multiple persistent cysts. I eventually stopped the 1g dosage after 2 weeks and now take 500mg Time Release daily. However, now my face is such a mess that I don't even think the B5 is doing anything.
I stopped using Epiduo - a BP and adapalene cream - several months ago, and thanks to all the great advice on this website I did it REALLY gradually. So 6 days a week for two weeks, then 5 days a week for two weeks, every other day for four weeks or so, then twice a week for four weeks, then once a week for bit, then every so often, and now never. On the days I wasn't using Epiduo I used an adapalene only gel, but now I don't even use that anymore. No breakout, no bad reaction. I still get the odd spot, but that was the case even when I was using the BP.