Hi everyone,

I recently came across acne.org now that I am really struggling with my acne. I'll give some background information before I start. My acne really erupted and became terrible 2 years ago when I was 18-19 yrs old. It came to the point where nothing was helping and I had given up. Eventually on its own my skin had started to heal, although i was left with tremendous scarring all over my face. After some time my breakouts lessened and weren't as bad as they used to be. I was using basic over the counter faces washes and cerave SA renewing lotion which helped me a lot. To my family my skin really wasn't improving, I decided to take their advice and see a dermatologist.

My dermatologist prescribed duac and tretinoin .05% along with birth control. I did a lot of research on these medications, and have read that the tretinoin especially will dry out and peel my skin for weeks before it gets better. I didn't want to start the regiment but after ready many success stories I figured a few weeks of terrible skin would make up for clear skin in the end. It has only been a week now of my regimen, and I am starting to notice my skin being flaky which definitely shows through the makeup. Not only that but my acne on one of my cheeks has gotten tremendously worse, I have huge pimples all around each other and it is the most painful thing ever.

It makes me a little upset because my acne wasn't so bad to start off with and now after purchasing these medications it makes me feel worse about myself. I finally decided to join acne.org to get some insight, and also share my issues.

I really want to stop using these products but at the same time I know if I give it time things will get better, however, it just makes it impossible for me to leave my house at this point. I want to know if these medications are really worth the trouble they are giving me now.