I'm going to include many things I've experienced in the past with my skin (not just the current issue) so that anyone reading this can hopefully take something away from it.And so that the history of my skin is not an unknown variable in what happened to me.My entire face is wrecked right now.And I don't know what to do, I'm pacing around my house,losing sleep,sobbing constantly, I'm scared to death....What happened was...I had gotten a little acne from not washing my face or taking care of myself properly for about 6 months (Feb-July '16) because another issue that has been going on in my life.It was the type of acne you get from really neglecting your skin, NOT by actively attacking, but just basically leaving it out to dry. I was not worried and was sure as long as I got back into my routine, that it would go away.Besides the few blemishes, my skin itself was still great even though I was really strung out regarding other things.(Insomnia, gained 25 lbs, barely moving a muscle, fatigued)As before this happened I was being complimented on my skin often, it was dewy and clear and honestly as close to perfect as most people are going to get, people still Thought I was 16 years old because of it (I am 23 now) and I had been taking Extra good care of it the last 3.5 years, with gentle products/no sun/nearly 2 gallons of water a day/great diet (no dairy or gluten especially, mostly whole foods and fish..ridiculous amounts of vegetables..I did eat Aton of 90% dark chocolate tho!, etc)I got the occasional few pimples but they disappeared overnight or in 2 days.Basically, 5 out of the 7 days of each week I had pretty flawless skin.So I dealt with a day with a pimple or a day where my skin was acting a little off.I also don't wear makeup, because I do have sensitive skin, not sensitive to some things, but makeup and having to wash it off really does a number on my face, and WILL break me out, even things like mascara cause my eyelashes to fall out so I only wear lip gloss occasionally.So usually my skin has nothing bothering it whatsoever.So what I ended up doing recently (to try to get rid of the small amount of acne I got from the 6 months of neglecting my Health/skin) must have been a real shock to it.A little more backstory before I get to the climax of the actual disaster:My natural skin tone is very very pale, Transcluscent almost, no freckles except some temporary ones I had on my nose from the summer when I was a kid,I was so pale that I would get called "ghost" in elementary school when it was Fall/Winter. And when I would go on summer vacation with my family, strangers would show concern for me that I was in the sun, sometimes even insisting I used their towel to cover myself from the Rays!I tried tanning some in freshman year of high school, even spray tanning (ughhhhhhh) but I came to love my pale skin and I have avoided the sun now for 7 years. I take vitamin d3 5000 and such and have never had issues as far as that's concerned.As for my skin itself, I always had nice skin until about 11th grade, I got some normal teenage acne. At one point it was on most ofmy face but my skin quality itself was still good.That went away and then when I was about 18-19 I got some little pimples that were very persistent. I tried proactiv to no avail (that stuff really destroys the skin, only the toner and green tea moisturizer were good for me).So I went on birth control for it instead.BIG MISTAKE.a month or so later I broke out in cystic acne so deep and so painful, I could feel it throb through out the day. And it was all on my cheeks mostly, some on my chin, none on the nose, a couple on the forehead.And I never got acne on my cheeks, nor cysts, so I was so scared of scarring.And obviously my self esteem was shot.Nothing made it go away, even after stopping the BC, I had absolutely no other type of acne except for the cysts at this time.But it's amazing how even one cyst can inflame the whole surrounding area.I tried multiple topicals and oral antibiotics.I eventually had to go on Accutane.And boy did I have to push for it.(They say go to the derm before its severe but they brush you off until it IS severe)Not only with the derm but with myself.My bloodwork was god awful.But I had to get on accutane, I wasn't going to let this get out of hand.I had to completely change my entire lifestyle (it had been sedentary for a couple years).I was living off cod/salmon and about a million vegetables with a sweet potato everyday for almost half a year and bought a treadmill with my old holiday money.Finally my blood work changed drastically and I got to go on it and stay on it.I can't say I remember the dosage.40 or 60.I want to say it was 40.6 months.I actually had no side effects beside slightly chapped lips and slightly dry eyes at the last month. I think my face was sensitive to heat as well, could not stand to be in a hot car for even a few seconds.I didn't even have to use moisturizer.I think it was because of the copious amounts of water and omega 3's I was ingesting, plus no sugar or high carb load.Anyway, I was a little weary, but it worked!After a month and a half post accutane, I was clear as crystal.And not a single scar.By 2.5 months post accutane, all my marks were gone as well.(It should be noted that I did treat the cysts while on accutane, I would put ichthammol ointment to draw them out and then I would put Neosporin on them once they came to a head and were washed off with gentle washing (cerave hydrating cleanser), occasionally I would ice them VERY lightly for a few minutes at a time, I also continued to used this Clyndamycin gel stuff sometimes as it seemed to slough off any small amount of dead skin when washed off, I also never picked, so I can't say what would have happened if I did, however I did graze a couple of the cysts with a finger nail or two when washing my face and even though they bled, I was still okay).But let's just put it this way, it was October of how ever many years ago when the course ended and by Feb, I was getting strangers walk up to me, staring at my face, telling me I had the most beautiful skin they've ever seen, even my dentist was asking about my skin!, I'm not even exaggerating, it was excessive, it actually made me very uncomfortable as I am terrible at taking compliments (I was used to the opposite and dont have much else physically to feel good about)and I was extremely worried that the cysts would come back so the comments were bitter sweet.My skin itself also seemedbetter post accutane than it was rightbefore I got the cystic acne because I had never been so healthy in all my life so I felt a bit of pressure to keep up the strict regimen for awhile.(Ofcourse All Worth it)Luckily I was able to ease up by the 2nd to 3rd year post accutane and my skin was still great.Last summer I was doing stuff like eating a dessert everyday and putting on heavy moisturizers that my skin usually wouldn't handle and it was all good.I incorporated coffee too which I fell in love with, and no issues there besides a reddish face for a few minutes if it's really hot.So that was that...until recently.The only thing that I had the last few years that's worried me about my skin was a tiny new mole on my cheek and a mark on my nose (which has gotten worse as I learned recently it is a pigmented, atrophic scar..and it's in the most difficult place a scar can be..the dip of the nose, smack in the middle)I had something happen to my nose almost 6 years ago so the cartilage is a bit warped especially at the tip, oil pools there and occasionally the teensy tiny little pimples that appear on the nose occasionally have never given that specific spot a break, so I'm guessing the consistent inflammation caused it. (Scar has been there for 2 years about)THIS is actually the reason I originally planned a dermatologist appointment a few months ago, nothing kills the look of beautiful overall skin than a scar right smack in the middle of everything. I was also concerned it was getting worse because oil continues to pool in the warped area.I thought that was bad in of itself, and then 3 weeks ago (1 week before my derm appointment was scheduled)I went and caused an even worseissue.The worst issue Ihave ever experienced with my skin.So to continue on from the beggining, after the 6 months of neglecting myself, At the startof August '16I finally pulled myself together and got back into my normal diet and exercise routine and such ( back to washing my face and not falling asleep in my sweat from exhaustion anymore too).since I had some appointments coming up and places I needed to be this month, I lost patience with the lingering bumps from those 6 months prior and decided to speed things up by using a few drops of an old, unopened sample of Tazorac I found in the depths of my closet, followed by a million different products/moisturizers/Neosporin/ichthammol ointment and some light exfoliation using an old makeup brush which I washed 3 times in boiling water with 3 different cleansers and antibacterial soap.I truly was quite gentle as I did have a passing feeling that what I was doing (something I have never so much as attempted) was not a great idea.And turns out that was correct.My skin went mental from it and got ridiculous oily and blotchy with red bumps showing up over my entire face the next day.Went to the dermatologist a week later and he did not address them, he also told me my scar on my nose was something I'd have to deal with the rest of my life.Only when I began crying did he say to use..yet another Retin A..and he said it won't help the scar but will help with my oiliness and blackheads (even tho I told him it was not my normal skin thAt he was looking at).He just said "I've seen worse".I went from having near perfect porcelain skin to having a derm tell me "I've seen worse".Even my mom told him that just months ago I was being complimented on my skin...And I don't pick or go in the sun, ever, I know the nose scar was still there back then but I guess having great overall skin helped to diminish that.He just said to this, "Oh. Nice"I cried even more and he said he would refer me to a plastic surgeon for the scar in 3 months when I came back but he said it after first telling me multiple times that it was permanent.He also said "there's nothing you can do for scars".I was like, well what do all those poor people with pits all over their face do??And he said, Nothing!My jaw was hanging open at that point.I pulled myself together to get to him that morning, with hopes he would ease my mind but he ended up just destroying any hope I had.The red bumps and sudden oiliness all over my face took a backseat to the scar that day.So I went home and sobbed and stupidly put some more of that tazorac on my face, because I assumed retin a is retin a, a pea sized amount only, and only on my nose and hair lines this time as he told me to.Well I slept in it and woke up, washed it off and my skin has never been the same since.The bright red bumps started to dry up but then my face felt awfully weird and slick so I exfoliated using Philosphy micro delivery gentle wash and all of the excessive oil disappeared.My skin was now completely dry.Tight, can't move my face.It turned a SICKLY REDDISH YELLOW all except my eye lids and a small area surrounding my lips.My PORES are now completely visible all over my entire face, almost looking like shallow ice picks scars, my once smooth and flat forehead is now MUSHY and littered in what look like LINES and SCARS appearing out of THIN AIR where acne has never even been.I've got PIN PRICKS all over my skin, and ORANGE PEEL texture.Not to mention my skin has literally turned just about the color of an orange!My face has been ON FIRE for the past two weeks to the point I could not sleep and past 3 days it has been itching like mad.Any thing I try to use stings except Neosporin.(Which I put all over my face a couple of times..probably not the best idea but I was scared to death of infection and scarring and the pain was so bad)I also suddenly developed all types of dark marks and tiny bumps over my entire face.I am downright Broken over this.
Destroyed.Especially after looking up what the hell was happening to me.(I feel like this can't even be real life right now, it feels like a cruel joke on top of a cruel joke.)And My god, from what I'm reading, it seems others have experienced the same thing and it is more hopeless than any other appearance related issues I've come across in my life.I never knew retin a could cause your skin to be so sensitive that anything you do afterward will damage your skin ten fold and age you overnight.It's supposedly akin to laser damage.I went to two more dermatologists!One yesterday.Went to a third derm today (Technically yesterday as I am writing this).The last derm was also a cosmetic derm.She was better than the last two.She was horrified when I said the word Tazorac.She said "my god, we call that paint thinner around here, it will peel the paint right off your car"!!!She saw my skin issues right away and told me it was obvious to her.Said I had irritant dermatitis and that I had done a real number on my face.She even took the tazorac sample from me and threw it in the trash.She was even more horrified with me telling her everything else I had done immediately after putting it on my face and days later.She told me I did just about everything to cause my skin to 'turn' SO drastically.She said to absolutely never do that again and that she is sure I learned my lesson, that we 'all do stupid things'.She did say it should go back to how it was before all this happened but I had to give it time.She also said that my skin will peel (it hasn't yet, even after 3 weeks), I told her it hadn't and she said 'oh it's definitely coming'.I actually hope it peels, I feel like it needs to.I told her I was very distraught about the texture and pores especially and she said that while pores do get bigger with age, mine should go back to normal size once all the inflammation is gone.I brought all my products I used and she went through them and told me what was good and what should not be used during healing.No exfoliation ofcourse.She also said she was wondering if she would have to treat the underlying acne once this went away because she didn't know what was caused by the irritation and what wasn't.I told her how I had only had a small amount of normal acne coming up before hand and I showed her a pic from just 1.5 months ago, and she zoomed in on it and everything and told me "oh yea, you should be fine then" so I guess she saw that my skin was fine before hand (even with the months of neglect).My issue is that I have a real hard time believing my skin will go back to how it was, there is so much wrong with it and it has the appearance of strange scarring, etc etc etc and everything I've read concerning this issue is so fear inducing as nearly everyone can't get rid of their issues after retin a destroyed their skin (and tazorac is one of the strongest types!!). It's not like other things where reviews and results are mixed and things get better, this skin reaction thing is like some unanimous eternal dooms day in the online community.It's freaking me the hell out.Derm also prescribed me hydrocortisone cream 2.5% to use for 5 days.Twice a day.I already know that stuff is dicey.Thinning skin, steroid induced rosacea, etc.And I know that taking steroids, even on skin, when under extreme amounts of stress, is dangerous.I don't need to be developing Cushings or something.It's not prednisone or anything, but still.Obviously a derm gave me that tazorac a long time ago without a second thought so how am I to believe any derm.Most I have encountered don't give a damn about anyone's skin but their own.It seems all they can do is diagnose skin cancer as benign or malignant.My relativehad moresevere cystic acne on their face and body, granted theymay have picked,but I remember our dermatologist just putting themthrough unnecessary and unhelpful treatments before finally letting themgo on accutane. He drug themthrough the mud and unfortunately I don't think my relativewas forthright enough in letting anyone know how it affected them.You know tho, I'm not so sure it would have mattered as I have made it clear to derms how much some things have affected me in the past and they literally say "so what" "who cares".If your skin isnot perfect "so what",If such and such doesn't work "who cares" ,We will just try "x, x, and X"And have "patience patience patience"And I don't know why, but they don't BELIEVE most anything that comes out of our mouths.That's why I'm so glad the 3rd derm actually looked at my pics, (I was ready to show her as many as she wanted, I even put some in a folder on my iPhone which were the clearest most high definition ones I could find from previous months and so on ago).I would like to believe her but I'm still not sure she grasped the fact that my skin was near perfect beforehand.That's why it worried me when she mentioned "underlying acne" because months ago, there was no acne and what I'm seeing now is a whole skin issue and things that look like acne and scars which came in a matter of days.Things I've never experiencedin my entire life, even during my time with cystic acne.So yea, I still don't know what to trust and what not to.I have to be cautious with everything I do to myself now.But I know that inflammation itself is also bad long term and my face has already been extremely inflamed for 3 weeks, I don't want prolonged inflammation to cause permanent tissue damage.So I'm stuck on whether I should use the cream or not.I should have asked whether it was necessary or just a comfort thing for the itching and burning.Idk..I'm just so far gone now that this has happened..who knows how long it will take to resolve..and if it doesn't I will surely be 6 feet under in no time.My skin was one of the only things I had going for me with these other things I have had to deal with in my life.And I already know how skin can causemore distress thana lot of other issues because I've already been there with the accutane thing 3.5-4.5years ago. Many things took a backseat to that. Never thought I'd have to deal with skin issues again, esp to this degree. Not to mention its not even acne, but my actual skin itself.It's incredibly sad.I have the skin of an 80 year old working the fields in the hot sun for years right now.I want my poreless porcelain skin back, I can't see the light at the end of the tunnelwhen the damage looks so stomach churning and the online consensus is grim.I just can't believe this happened from only two uses and why it startedoff as red bumps and then suddenly turned my entire skin on its head.I know when I went to the first doctor my skin was still white and texture was okay, just oily and red bumps everywhere. The rest of this madness seems to have happened after the exfoliation (it was suds tho, not beads).I also used keto shampoo that I had previously because I thought this was a fungal infection at first.But the 3rd derm said that wouldnthave affected anything but that it woudnthave helped anything either.I just can't wrap my brain around it all.
Other people have peeledtheir whole face off and scrub the life out of themselves every other weekand are fine.
My skin looks poisoned, ugly, and infested with no signs of improvement.This is a NIGHTMARE.
Here's some pics hopefully they show up alright.
The BEFORESare higher definition than the afters yet the afters still look awful while I could zoom in all day long on the befores and not find a single thing wrong with the skin beside a little dot.
These befores were taken 5 months ago. One was 4 months ago but only a forehead shot.
I will try to put some up of the small amount of acne I was trying to get rid of that showed up later on (because obviously there wasn't any in these pics). It was mostly on my chin.
Just build up type of acne and two red ones that showed up at "THAT" time.
Afters are coming, I can't figure out how to put them in same post.
Before:
[pics removed/please private message to request]
Here are theAFTERS..literally look chemically burned, the color of my skin gets washed out in some pics but in the one where my nose is all red (it FREAKEDout 6days ago) youcan see the yellowish red color of the skin, the texture is unreal, im not sure thepores are able to be seen fromthese pics but they are like pin pricks all over my face in person. My face looks and feels rough, yet shows no signs of peeling, forehead especially getting wrecked, freaking wrinkles or whatever those horizontal lines are!,looks like someone scratched me up with sandpaper even tho the "exfoliation" I did the two times was not even enough to tear the wings of a butterfly.
ive taken screen shots of similar cases and as I was scrolling through my camera roll,I saw one and I was like "wow now that person is messed up bad", and then I went into the pic and it was cropped! I pressed "revert" and it was ME.
****
I might take some pics with my digital camera because Idon't know how else one can see the full damage, especially the smaller, millions of bumps and individual marks now all over my face,but they are a pain to upload onto my old shared computer, I don't have a laptop.
Plus I looked at my face this morning and I felt vomit coming up my throat, my knees buckled and I think I kind of just stood there in shock for 30 minutes.
I guess I wake up thinking I will see my old face staring back at me but I didn't even see a wink of it returning.
Couldnt even cry, I felt numb.
this is killing me, legitimately killing me.
If anyone has experienced this reaction from anything they've used or done to their skin, please let me know.
Please.
[pics removed/please private message to request]
More BEFORESno make up in any of these:
[pics removed/please private message to request]
This sounds weird and less serious, but My forehead used to reflect light like the perfectly polished bald person's head!
Geez, now it looks dead.
id have been better off letting my head hang out of the car door and have my face go for a pavement sleigh ride, followed by a spritz of dollar store self tanner.
Ok...so first off, I apologize that this happened to you. I'm very sorry you're so upset because currently the 'acne' I'm dealing with is also from multiple bad product reactions and acne cosmetica so I get how you feel. I was also normal until I tried a few things on my face that severely irritated me and clogged my pores. It is possible to quickly go from perfect or okay skin to a disaster in a short time frame, even within days or so, because it happened to me...and I've seen pics of people online who have had similar stories. You're not alone.
Secondly, what is going on with your nose most definitely looks like an inflammatory reaction. Retinoids can beharsh to people with sensitive skin, I know from experience.How your face looked is also how mine looked after using a wash that destroyed my acid mantle and 1 week of red light therapy that made every single pore on my face bumpy, like someone pricked each pore with a needle and made it raised + red. I also had blotches of redness on my cheeks. Obviously what you have is not 100% acne, so don't think you have undone the Accutane progress. Even the supposed acne bumps can really just be an allergic reaction to the Tazorac. I remember years ago when I used Clindamycin (sp) I had the same weird reddish looking bumps that I worried were pimples/cysts but were really hives that didn'titch...took about a week for it to go away.
What I suggest doing is going to a new and better equipped derm and trying doxy or an antibiotic, even for a short period of time. I say doxy because it has helped reduce so much redness from my allergic reaction in only a 72 hour time period. It works immediately to calm down the inflammation.
And remember, keep calm. Stressing will only make your skin and health worse.
God help me..my skin is now turning to a beat up cellophane wrinkled mess!!
What is HAPPENING to me
[pics removed/please private message to request]
Im sorry if I can't respond to anyone who has kindly commented here, I'm deeply disturbed right now..I feel like Benjamin Button
4 hours ago, cloudydreamer said:Ok...so first off, I apologize that this happened to you. I'm very sorry you're so upset because currently the 'acne' I'm dealing with is also from multiple bad product reactions and acne cosmetica so I get how you feel. I was also normal until I tried a few things on my face that severely irritated me and clogged my pores. It is possible to quickly go from perfect or okay skin to a disaster in a short time frame, even within days or so, because it happened to me...and I've seen pics of people online who have had similar stories. You're not alone.
Secondly, what is going on with your nose most definitely looks like an inflammatory reaction. Retinoids can beharsh to people with sensitive skin, I know from experience.How your face looked is also how mine looked after using a wash that destroyed my acid mantle and 1 week of red light therapy that made every single pore on my face bumpy, like someone pricked each pore with a needle and made it raised + red. I also had blotches of redness on my cheeks. Obviously what you have is not 100% acne, so don't think you have undone the Accutane progress. Even the supposed acne bumps can really just be an allergic reaction to the Tazorac. I remember years ago when I used Clindamycin (sp) I had the same weird reddish looking bumps that I worried were pimples/cysts but were really hives that didn'titch...took about a week for it to go away.
What I suggest doing is going to a new and better equipped derm and trying doxy or an antibiotic, even for a short period of time. I say doxy because it has helped reduce so much redness from my allergic reaction in only a 72 hour time period. It works immediately to calm down the inflammation.
And remember, keep calm. Stressing will only make your skin and health worse.
The thing is, besides the acne I'm now getting, there are no actual bumps. I know it may look that way, but in real life, it's not the case. When I feel My skin, it feels soft..mesh like.
(I'm worried an antibiotic will make skin more sensitive..??)
Ihope thatyour own skin issues have not scarred you and continue to resolve, unfortunately I do feel alone in this even still because of what I'm seeing elsewhere online, whatever this reaction is, is alienated from all the other reactions that people have..in that even derm's are dismissing it or not having a clue what it is..
you know when ifirst noticed my skin acting up, I WASthinking Allergic reaction..I went back in my bookmarks/history and it seems like the first week I was searching things like raw garlic allergy/too many cashews, etc.
i think because besides the day I first did the tazorac, mostof my reaction was delayed so there were a few days in between that I thought something else was going on..but then after using Taz the second time, all hell broke loose and it was no longer red itchy bumps, but the whole of my entire facialskin was wrecked.
19 hours ago, BrokenPorEcelain said:The thing is, besides the acne I'm now getting, there are no actual bumps. I know it may look that way, but in real life, it's not the case. When I feel My skin, it feels soft..mesh like.I do not feel any bumps besides the acne. (And random shallow marks and "scars" showing up out of nowhere)There were red bumps all over my face the first week but when those went away, the rest of my face went awol, and got darker, the pin pricks showed up (have now realized these are pores) and the orange peel texture began..today my skin has a millions wrinkles and my skin is like cellophane over orange peel. It looks so thin when I move my face yet shows no signs of peeling whatsoever.Past few days my face has become so tight that now not only can I barely open my mouth, but my eyes are being pulled at from all directions... feels like Alex from A Clockwork Orange, in that horrid device.They feel like they are being dragged downwards but I think it is actually in all directions because I can't even close my eyes all the way to sleep anymore.Right now as I write this, I feel no burning, I don't feel swollen, nor itchy (but then again I did not even attempt to wash my face today), my eyes just feel pulled to the breaking point and my cheeks are feeling the same way.I noticed in a few pics on myPhone that my right eye suddenly had a downward tilt, it freaked me the hell out. I'm getting dark circles from what I'm guessing is all this pulling the skin is doing to my face.I think the Tazorac got into my eye area from going on the treadmill/sweating too because my eye skin is puffy but when you press it, there's no hard fluid, it just deflates and crinkles.I'm thinking that The damage must be pretty deep for it to be able to pull that hard and not snap or peel.I've had sunburn as a child, once to a quite a bad degree, so much so that my mother was freaking out about sun poisoning..but even that only lasted a week and tho there was pain, this pulling sensation on all myOther features has never been present. Never felt anything like this or seen anything like this.Even my dry hands will crack before they start pulling..it feels like my whole face is a contracture scar..that's the only thing I can compare it to.I keep tilting my head back so my eyes will not pull but it just makes it worse because then my cheeks are pulled toward my neck.Also yesterday morning, I couldn't feel my forehead.I woke up and thought I had a tissue or a clump of my hair sitting on my forehead but there was nothing there.It was just my forehead itself that felt like a foreign object, I could feel the blood pulsating under it but not the skin itself.It does have sensation when I touch it tho, barely.But just walking about all day, I can barely feel it there.I was going to go to the ER yesterday because the eye thing in particular got so bad..but I was so ashamed by the way I looked and also scared that whatever treatment they would give, would make the look of my skin worse. Plus the ER is a crap shoot in general. ://So Next week I am going to the Burn Center on the day they address chemical burns, the Gyno, the Endo, A Primary doc, having bloodwork done to rule out anything that could be impeding healing, and having another derm appointment with a physicians assistant (doubt that will be worth it).I don't know what the hell is going on, the only other people I see with all these symptoms online are in what seems like eternal despair, Not knowing anymore than I do, and being dealt questions with no answers.I had to go to the IPLaserdamage website because that's the only place that people with these symptoms are conjugating.It's so bizarre and long term andlooks just like laser damage.I guess people with bad reactions to chemical peels, dermabrasion, and Retinoids acquire similar damage.It amazes me that a little sample given to me years ago can cause this type of mayhem.Even accutane, one of the most controversial drugs ever, only gave me minimal side effects and great results. Didn't even scar from it.I guess my skin can't handle anything harsh topically.Thank you for commenting and trying to help, but I am pretty sure what I have going on isn't what you had.I wish it was just an allergic reaction....and actually I did take Benadryl for 5 nights...but to no avail.I think that my nose may have had a reaction..I agree it was probably very irritated.Probably because the skin there is so thin and oily.I'm guessing the acne is from the tazorac purge and also now that my skin is compromised, bacteria can have all the fun it wants all over my face.
(I'm worried an antibiotic will make skin more sensitive..??)The cysts/acne really is acne tho, because they are not showing up in rash formation and they are displaying all signs that they are acne.Yet they are not healing...the ones on my hairline and cheek and I lightly touched it and it is now deflated looking..almost like my eyelids.It's like there is air in it instead of fluid.Edit : also it's now been OVER A MONTH since this all started, I think if it was only at the week mark I might be more inclined to believe it would be temporary..but nopeI hope that your own skin issues have not scarred you and continue to resolve, unfortunately I do feel alone in this even still because of what I'm seeing elsewhere online, whatever this reaction is, is alienated from all the other reactions that people have..in that even derm's are dismissing it or not having a clue what it is..
you know when i first noticed my skin acting up, I WAS thinking Allergic reaction..I went back in my bookmarks/history and it seems like the first week I was searching things like raw garlic allergy/too many cashews, etc.
i think because besides the day I first did the tazorac, most of my reaction was delayed so there were a few days in between that I thought something else was going on..but then after using Taz the second time, all hell broke loose and it was no longer red itchy bumps, but the whole of my entire facial skin was wrecked.
The thing is, besides the acne I'm now getting, there are no actual bumps. I know it may look that way, but in real life, it's not the case. When I feel My skin, it feels soft..mesh like.
If it's soft and mesh-like it just sounds like the retinoid really overtaxed and stripped your skin. I don't even think you have real acne right now, it doesn't even look that way to me at all. It looks severely irritated. Bumpiness and even pimples can actually be irritation in disguise. I have the EXACT same pinprick pore issue you are describing as well -- it's your pores inflamed, I'm guessing. Same thing happened to me from the light and cleanser I was using. It was like the light, especially, just inflamed and raised up every pore in my face especially my cheeks, to the point where it looks like zits but there's no heads on them and nothing comes out if I squeeze them. It's gone down 40% in the last 36 hours which is a good sign... I anticipate the rash will disappear completely within 2 weeks. There is hope.
Your scars and shallow marks showing up out of nowhere sounds similar. Like the retinoid just brought your pores to the surface and made them more obvious. Orange peel texture is a sign of severe over exfoliation. I had this once from using a glycolic acid peel on my leg. The skin got pinkish white and bumpy like an orange but eventually in a few weeks, it went back to normal. Skin has a miraculous ability to recover...never forget that! You will be okay. If peeling is meant to happen from the orange peel bumps, it will happen...let it happen on its own. The tightness you described is symptomatic of over use of retinoids. It sounds like you almost gave yourself a chemical peel or something. Even if there's no itching or burning, it's still possible...that's why I completely agree you shouldn't be using anything other than water or a very gentle cleansing milk or lotion.
I wish benadryl could have helped me too. But yeah, what I had was definitely more of a dermatitis/acne cosmetica thing, not just inflammation. I am just riding it out right now. A lot of the overall flushed look has gone away, which I am attributing to the antibiotics. I am still suffering with what feels like someone pricking my nerves in my face with a sewing needle, especially where there was a spot or raised pore from the light ad cleanser, and I'm scared. I hope that isn't permanent. I completely understand how you feel, as I used a sample of Retin A micro and it gave me a chemical burn in 2 places but that eventually disappeared too...you can't ever be sure with these things. 
It also gave me whitehead-like papules in every place I put it and in the surrounding areas as an added bonus. Like you said, everyone is unique -- Accutane worked great for you and you're lucky since it can be a nightmare for others.
You're welcome, by the way. I have a feeling in a few weeks' time you'll be a lot better.
Also, don't get discouraged because it's been 4 weeks. It can take a long time, as I said, for the allergy and reactions to stop happening. Your skin goes through 28 day cycles, and that is likely why...you may just start seeing progress come these next few weeks. Just be patient. And as I said, get treatment sooner rather than later.
I just want you to know I know exactly how you feel. My texture/pore issues are worse than yours, however. I'd kill to have your skin as it is. I had a major breakout 4 months ago after using proactiv (I did t have any acne, just thought it'd make my skin nice) and after a few months of it not going away I went to the derm who gave me doxycycline, clindamycin topical, and tazorac 0.5. It's been 3-4 weeks. My acne is 90% gone, however my skin has become so oily that several pores are clogged, my pores are twice as big and spreading, and I'm developing orange peel texture. I've decided today enough is enough. The antibiotics are taking care of the acne well enough, I'd rather have a few scars than live with this texture any longer. I just hope it gets better, I haven't read very hopeful posts, but I'm hoping their skin cleared up so they didn't feel the need to post anymore.
I wanted to follow up with you. It's been 4 days since I quit Taz, and my face is already showing improvement. My oil production has dramatically decreased, which has slowly improved the texture of my skin. It's not perfect at all, still not as good as before I started, but the improvement is noticeable, as gradual as it is. My pores are also noticeably smoothing out and not as big. This is going to take some time I can tell, but I pay close attention to my face and am 100% certain that quitting taz is improving my skin. My regimen at the moment is bare minimum. I clean with cetaphil twice a day, and use simple moisturizer day and night. I should also note I've been taking doxycycline and use clindamycin for about a month now, which has cleared my acne 95%.
Hello again, I just wanted to quickly say that very much appreciate those who have posted and tried to help me..I will respond eventually in full but I am very distressed right now.
Ive seen no improvement.
In fact I have seen more
acne and dents/marks showing up on top of this god awful texture and tone.
I got blookdwork back from the Gyno and it was normal, as well as the ultrasound..no sign of pcos or anything like that.
Im still on the doxy..if my skin hasn't begun to improve by Halloween, I will be contacting the derm again..fighting back tears as I write this..I can't live like this
11 hours ago, StemCell1992 said:I just started to use Retin A and I see my skin is getting worse, please tell if you find any solution to this and thank you for this topic, I will stop to use it immediately.
You are welcome..and yes I will continue to update..I hope I am at least able to warn others
yes..I would absolutely stop if I were you and also make sure you don't do anything harsh to your skin while on it or in the weeks following discontinued use..retinoids remove the protective layer of skin and so any thing that you do to it is magnified and even little things could cause damage..be careful..I wish there was someone who was there to tell me "NO!!!!" when I opened up this sample of Tazorac
UGHHHH, still can't believe this happened
I feel like you need to go get an allergen test or see a endocrine doctor. And the fact your blood work was bad pre-accutane is concerning ? especially since you said you were a healthy person and ate healthy. I just think your story is confusing , not saying I don't believe it because the nose and your skin definitely was strange looking. I feel like you have something internally going on.
1 hour ago, Melmmg said:I feel like you need to go get an allergen test or see a endocrine doctor. And the fact your blood work was bad pre-accutane is concerning ? especially since you said you were a healthy person and ate healthy. I just think your story is confusing , not saying I don't believe it because the nose and your skin definitely was strange looking. I feel like you have something internally going on.
Sorry for the confusion ..I thought I set everything out pretty straight..I guess it's the length of my post that can cause some headaches, I get it...but
Oh...no I was NOT a healthy person pre-Accutane. Not any worse than most teenagers..but not exceptionally aware of my health like I am now.
I didn't drink or smoke or sun bathe or anything but I was eating awfully and not moving, taking awful care of my self. I barely even drank a sip of water also back then.
But that was almost 5 years ago.
Since then I have been healthy..very healthy..I changed my lifestyle and diet to get on accutane in the first place and continued on with that since .
Except for a period of 6 months (that ended about 4 months ago) that I mentioned..where I wasn't washing my face, falling asleep in my sweat, still eating healthy foods but OVEReating to the degree that I gained a whole hell of a lot of weight in a small time frame.
So when I used the tazorac I was already 2 months into my damage control and re-introduction into by old healthy and active routine. Using the tazorac was also supposed to be part of my damage control as I got some mild acne from that 6 months of neglect...but unfortunately it backfired.
So to lay it in brief :
-Pre-accutane: unhealthy
-During Accutane : healthy
-During the 3-3.5 years post 'tane: stillhealthy
-Jan '16-June '16- Unhealthy, gained weight, lack of hygiene, stressed out, etc,
-June '16- Aug '16- healthy again..actually I was in overdrive
-Aug 29th- used tazorac..bad immediate reaction
-Sept 8th- used tazorac again..because of the first derm's suggestion...MUCH WORSE reaction that has continued to today
(Oct 24th)
Also..my bloodwork before accutane became extremely well off after changing my diet and lifestyle..my panels actually came back LOWER as I went through the accutane process because I was increasingly strict with my routine.
So I don't have any disease prior other than the disease of bad habits dying hard.
Which is why I can't understand how my skin isn't bouncing back if I have already been back into taking good care of myself for months now. It's not like it happened during the 6 months of being off track.
maybe it still threw me off balance and maybe going into overdrive exhausted/shocked my immune system??..idk...but when I went on Accuatane, very powerful stuff, I was also in overdrive over a few months prior..to get on it..and when I did I had no negative reaction...
so that's very odd that I am now..especially over a topical
i am am just as baffled as anyone else regarding what has happened here..I WISH I was leaving something
out because at least then id have another possible reason this is happening but I pretty much said all there is to say
I am thinking about getting allergy patch testing and definitely will be going to my endocronologist..maybe a rheumatologist as well. Thx
i did go to my gynecologist tho and had a lot of blood work and an ultrasound and it detected no hormonal issues or cysts so I know that much at least
thanks for reading my long novels btw lol..takes patience..something I'm losing the longer this nightmare goes on!!
**will respond to the reply on your thread 2moro..for now I must sleep !
Just a quick update:
skin not getting any better..new marks continue to show up...it's all so disturbing...I grow more and more hopeless as each day passes with no improvement...I scour the Internet all day and all night trying to find some legitimate proof of someone who has healed form this exact issue...but I find no one...I'm so scared, I can barely function..I'm finding other people who are in the same situation but all of them are still in the deep end of it...the doxycycline I was prescribed hasn't worked at all...my derm wants to do 6 more weeks of it, I don't see the point. since it it hasnt so much as moved my progress an inch...
im just about done
6 hours ago, mr22ausman said:Hey how are you going? Any improvement at all?
i have worse damage then yours from laser under my eyes and I'm still trying to figure out the magic cure but it's a nightmare trying to reverse damage.
No...no better unfortunately...was breaking down the other day because my forehead feels and looks like chewed up silly puddy...along with all the other issues...I'm going back to the derm hopefully within the next week or the week after thanksgiving...I'm getting sick and tired of this bullshit...I'm not going to make it much longer if things don't start to improve...
so so sorry about your laser damage...I've been through a lot of laser damage stories through my research as to what the heck was a happening to skin as my symptoms are similar...we are all just living slightly different forms of the same nightmare 
it makes me sick
Yeh I feel your pain. I was like ready to give up the other week! Just wanted to die!
Just sucks knowing you carnt go back and not living your life to the fullest. I'm trying turmeric cream for healing with emu oil. I'm seeing a naturopath to get a good diet and buying LED lights for collagen and healing!
I'm hoping all of this in 3 months will do some improvement. Prob not heaps but anything is better. But just sucks to know I have to do all of this to try and fix a issue that won't all be fixed and normal people just wake up with beautiful skin! FML
there a places in heaven for poor basteds like us.
Ohh and I'll keep in touch if I see any improvements. Ps : laser / ret A - anything that's over strong and powerful for your skin is just going to do harm. I used taz ages ago for a week and I saw that it was thinning my skin. Stay away from all that stuff! Your skin must be like mine weak and pale. I had very baby Irish skin and Obviously I couldn't use anything harsh... Things they don't tell you
Teensie update....No thanksgiving for me..nothing to be thankful for quite honestly ..I just contemplated the fact that if my skin doesn't go back to normal, the only thing I will be greatful for is death.
dramatic to some of you but honestly...what the fuck...how does this even happen...it's so ridiculous that skin can do a 180 from a cream
also thank you for all who have responded to this post...I hope some day soon, one of us will heal and find the answers for the rest of us dealing with this specifically tricky issue
5 hours ago, VulneraryRain said:Hi, I probably am nothing compared to you, but ive recently got jaw breakout and dead skim buikd up qith closed comedones everywhere and its depressing. I know its really hard for you more so due to what happened,but dont feel depressed btw can makeup help conceal it?
Thank you but no, make up can't conceal it and I don't wear make up anyway, nor do I ever wish to.
i just want my skin back to the way it was.
Im not leaving the house with it like this anyhow, except for appointments.
also, I think the makeup process would cause more issues.
i definitely can't 'not' feel depressed...I literally went from having near perfect skin to a fucking disaster overnight..I'm way past just depressed unfortunately
i hope your breakout resolves for you, my chin is completely covered with acne now as a result of what's happened, ofcourse that's the least of my worries so long as it doesn't leave permanent marks/scarring