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Retin A Vs. Accutane?

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(@blamelessmoon)

Posted : 07/26/2015 9:26 pm

Hi, Im a 17 year old female who has been battling with acne since I was about 11 years old. I had mild acne on my forehead until I reached high school I started to get bad break outs on my cheeks as well. I have been on Proactiv Plus for a year now and it definitly helped clear out my skin tremendously, however I do still have mild acne that I think can be treated with Accutane. My dermatologist reccomended I try birth control for a few months before I got on it, and I cant say it helped that much. My dermatologist also prescribed me on Tretinoin 0.04% a few months ago, but I havent used it until last week. Im already breaking out my cheeks which I never do anymore since Ive been using Proactiv. I have a dermatologist appointment next week and Im debating if I should continue the Retin A or hold it off until I see her to talk about Accutane. My question is, is the inital breakout from Accutane as worse as the one from Retin A? Also, how bad it the dryness compared to Retin A? Which will I see results faster with also? Can you compare th e pros, cons, and side effects of both medications? However, I think Im going to stick to Proactiv with whatever medication Im on because it has helped me clear my skin.

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(@chris1337)

Posted : 07/27/2015 3:15 am

First I would give the Tretinoin a shot. It takes a few months to start working but generally is very effective especially if you acne is mild. You can continue to use proactive with it. I would try some other alternatives before accutane, your dermatologist would probably make you try some other things as well.. It is generally reserved for people whose acne will not respond to anything, sounds like the proactive is working well. The accutane drying is MUCH worse and will affect your whole body. You will NOT beable to use proactive while you are on it. Try other things first, if it is really percistant or gets worse then accutane may be an option.

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(@ihateusernamesx)

Posted : 07/27/2015 4:31 am

I haven't done Retin-A but I am on Differin and have been on accutane before. For me personally, the accutane had a way worse initial breakout. I would give the retinoid a fair chance before thinking about accutane as the initial breakout is unavoidable for most people and you never know, it could be your fix! Side effects wise the only one I have experienced on a retinoid is dry skin. On accutane I had the dry skin also cracked and chapped lips, lethargy and sore joints. Accutane cleared me faster but it wasn't forever and my acne came back even though it was mild. The benefit of a retinoid is you can stay on it for as long as you want and for me its working well and my skin is smooth as a babys butt which I havent experienced for about 10 years.

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(@blamelessmoon)

Posted : 07/27/2015 10:28 am

First I would give the Tretinoin a shot. It takes a few months to start working but generally is very effective especially if you acne is mild. You can continue to use proactive with it. I would try some other alternatives before accutane, your dermatologist would probably make you try some other things as well.. It is generally reserved for people whose acne will not respond to anything, sounds like the proactive is working well. The accutane drying is MUCH worse and will affect your whole body. You will NOT beable to use proactive while you are on it. Try other things first, if it is really percistant or gets worse then accutane may be an option.

Thanks so much for your feedback! I am suffering a bad initial breakout from the Tretinoin now, but I think Im going to stick with it

 

I haven't done Retin-A but I am on Differin and have been on accutane before. For me personally, the accutane had a way worse initial breakout. I would give the retinoid a fair chance before thinking about accutane as the initial breakout is unavoidable for most people and you never know, it could be your fix! Side effects wise the only one I have experienced on a retinoid is dry skin. On accutane I had the dry skin also cracked and chapped lips, lethargy and sore joints. Accutane cleared me faster but it wasn't forever and my acne came back even though it was mild. The benefit of a retinoid is you can stay on it for as long as you want and for me its working well and my skin is smooth as a babys butt which I havent experienced for about 10 years.

Yeah Retin-A does sound promising, thanks so much !

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(@jbird12)

Posted : 07/27/2015 4:04 pm

I would try retin-a first and see if that works. For some people, that is all they need. I've tried retin-a several times and several different brands and it never really helped me. As others said, retin-a and accutane are different beasts. Accutane will dry out every part of your body while retin-a will make your face more dry only.

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