Quick Recap: I was on epiduo all of high school and then went off if it my senior year. I had completely clear skin with only using mario badescu enzyme cleansing gel and cetaphil moisturizing cream for about 4 years. Then, junior year of college I come back from winter break and my skin breaks out worse than it has ever broken out before. I changed nothing ( no new products, nothing reformulated), but my skin continued to get worse.
Over winter break my senior year (december 2014) I went to the dermatologist and she prescribed me Retin-A (.025%), clindaymicin, and a benzoyl peroxide cleanser. My skin seemed to clear up in the beginning, and I have been using this every night religiously however my acne is not getting any better after 10 weeks, if anything it is getting worse. I have major breakouts all along my hair line (which I don't understand because I've been using the same shampoo/conditioner for the past 8 years and I checked that all the ingredients are still the same) which seems to be spreading inward. I am so incredibly frustrated and Im not sure what to do.
any advice??
(sorry about the ridiculously long explanation).
You need to give the Retin-A at least few months to show any kind of results unfortunately. I've been on it since July 2014 and am really starting to clear up a lot the past couple of months. Retin-A made me break out horribly for a few months and I really, really, wanted to stop it. My acne definitely got a lot worse before it got better. I had my GP write me a script for it and then decided to see a dermatologist to see maybe if it wasn't for me and to try something else since it was the first prescription I've tried for my acne. I stuck with it and sure enough I started to clear up a lot. She switched me to Ziana (Retin-A gel and clindamycin combo) and Aczone. l I basically feel comfortable enough to not wear make up for once. I wear minimal make up now it's gotten that clear!