I'm 16 years old, I've been using Differin 0.3 gel nightly for 6 weeks, nearly 7. Every morning I wash my face with cerave foaming facial cleanser and apply cerave moisturizer. At night, I wash with the cerave cleanser and apply the Differin before bed, a very plain routine.
Up until March 2016 I had never had acne before. Occasionally I would get 1 individual pimple, but I'd put a clearasil benzoyl peroxide spot treatment on the spot and it would be gone in 3 days at most. In March I started breaking out with more pimples than usual, which would still go away with the spot treatment I had always used but took much longer and stood out much more. In June my face cleared up and I had very clear skin all summer until about mid September, until it started again.
When I wen to the dermatologist for the first time in October 2016, I was told I simply had clogged pores and that Differin would be good for me. The doctor warned me that my skin may get worse before it got better, which I fully understood and did a lot of research on topical retinoids.
The day I started Differin I had 4 small pimples on my face and no scars. 6 weeks later, my face is absolutely destroyed. Every spot that Differin brought to the surface has scarred my skin. I have small bumps covering my forehead, as well as bigger, more sore spots (I'm not sure of any terminology for what I have so I'm just describing it). Every spot on my face is bright red. I started with 4 smaller pimples and now I have too many to count, I'm estimating about 30-40 covering my whole face.
I go back to the dermatologist this afternoon for a 6 week check up and I am extremely devastated that I was prescribed Differin in the first place. I understand that it takes the full 12 weeks to see desired results, but I feel that I shouldn't have even been prescribed this in the first place considering I had mostly clear skin and this has destroyed my face. I would rather deal with the 4 small pimples and my benzoyl peroxide spot treatment rather than what I've been through these past 6 weeks.
If anyone has had a similar experience with Differin and has been using it longer than me, please tell me how it worked for you, I'm losing hope with this and looking for advice or input from those with more experience than me.
Hey mk47, sadly I'm having a similar experience:( I started differin because I had about 8 pimples and wanted to have clear skin. It's been almost 8 weeks and now I don't have any pimples BUT now I have a billion small bumps all over my face and inflamed pores 
Anyway... I was just wondering are you still using differin?
I was just prescribed Differin this afternoon by my dermatologist. I was really worried about the "purging" period so she also prescribed me an Salicylic face wash and an antibiotic to take. She also suggested that I ease into it - applying Differin once every two-three days, and then uping the frequency of use as my skin got used to it. After reading y'all's posts I am getting nervous - how were y'all applying it? Should I not use Differin?
Hey presentjewel! I still have faith that differin will work I'm just frustrated that it's taking so long. Some people skip the purge completely and I'm sure the antibiotic will really help lessen the initial breakout. Differin has different effects on different types of skin. For some people it works great but you'll never know until you try!
2 hours ago, SaucyNewel said:Hey mk47, sadly I'm having a similar experience:( I started differin because I had about 8 pimples and wanted to have clear skin. It's been almost 8 weeks and now I don't have any pimples BUT now I have a billion small bumps all over my face and inflamed pores
Anyway... I was just wondering are you still using differin?
Yes, I'm now 8 weeks in and my acne is worse than when i wrote this post. I've also been on doxycycline 100mg tabs once a day for 2 weeks now which has done nothing. Somewhat giving up 
27 minutes ago, PresentJewel said:I was just prescribed Differin this afternoon by my dermatologist. I was really worried about the "purging" period so she also prescribed me an Salicylic face wash and an antibiotic to take. She also suggested that I ease into it - applying Differin once every two-three days, and then uping the frequency of use as my skin got used to it. After reading y'all's posts I am getting nervous - how were y'all applying it? Should I not use Differin?
Everyone's skin reacts differently, I've read posts about people having no purging and tons of success as well as those who didn't have any positive results. Easing into it is probably a good idea. I apply differin all over my fact 20 minutes after washing my face with a gentle cleanser every night
On 2017-01-03 at 8:30 PM, mk47 said:Yes, I'm now 8 weeks in and my acne is worse than when i wrote this post. I've also been on doxycycline 100mg tabs once a day for 2 weeks now which has done nothing. Somewhat giving up
It's so frustrating! I had lots of faith in this product. My acne was not bad at all when I started. Are you going to continue using it?
Yea I'm dealing with absolute hell from a retinoid too right now...but I wasn't prescribed mine..I used a sample only twice..and I'm amazed at the havoc it's wreaked in such a short period of time and to go on and on even after over 4 months of stopping it.
If any of you guys get better, please update this thread... I'm assuming most of you are continuing with using the differin tho..so may be different outcomes
Appointments are very hard to get with my derm and I got lucky with one on the 24th which will be my 12 week mark with differin and 5 week mark with doxycycline, and I've read a lot saying to push through at least 12 weeks before discontinuing differin, so I'll see how these next 3 weeks go with it and if its bad I'll most likely be put on something else around that time anyways. I'll be sure to update this with changes though, good luck to you both hopefully we'll all be clear soon :). and SaucyNewel, have you tried a benzoyl peroxide spot treatment on top of differin at night? i've found it helps me, not magically but my face looks better when I use it rather then when i don't.... I use clearasil vanishing acne treatment cream with 10% BP as a small spot treatment after differin dries on my face at night and then washing it off in the morning. I don't have sensitive skin so 10% is fine for me but if you're sensitive a lower percentage would probably be better
Thanks for the reassurance! 
I probably won't start the whole process until next week, I will let y'all know how it goes! I was also prescribed doxycycline! How is that going for you mk47? You said in your first post that you were going back to the dermatologist that afternoon, if you don't mind me asking, how did that go?
20 hours ago, PresentJewel said:Thanks for the reassurance!
That appointment was when I was prescribed doxy, about 2 weeks ago. It really hasn't done much for me positively or negatively, I haven't seen any sort of response from my skin since starting it 
Thought I'd update this with more news, my mom was at our dermatologist this afternoon and mentioned that I've had no improvement with anything she's given me, and the derm said this might mean I'm a candidate for accutane which broke my heart 
I wouldn't be a candidate for anything if she hadn't prescribed me these things in the first place. I went into differin (and doxycycline later) with 3 small pimples.... now I'm leaving with about 30-40 whiteheads and tears.
1 hour ago, mk47 said:Thought I'd update this with more news, my mom was at our dermatologist this afternoon and mentioned that I've had no improvement with anything she's given me, and the derm said this might mean I'm a candidate for accutane which broke my heart
I'm sorry to hear that mk47 :((
Just wondering... is your acne mostly whiteheads? Because that's what mine is. I used to get red enflamed pimples but now I just have tons of whiteheads ugh!
1 hour ago, SaucyNewel said:I'm sorry to hear that mk47 :((Just wondering... is your acne mostly whiteheads? Because that's what mine is. I used to get red enflamed pimples but now I just have tons of whiteheads ugh!
Yeah, nothing but whiteheads and only on my forehead, everything else is clear I don't get it!
haha 1 hour ago, mk47 said:2 hours ago, SaucyNewel said:I'm sorry to hear that mk47 :((Just wondering... is your acne mostly whiteheads? Because that's what mine is. I used to get red enflamed pimples but now I just have tons of whiteheads ugh!
Yeah, nothing but whiteheads and only on my forehead, everything else is clear I don't get it!
Huh that's weird! I thought differin was supposed to be really effective against whiteheads
7 hours ago, SaucyNewel said:Huh that's weird! I thought differin was supposed to be really effective against whiteheads
I should mention - I also do have an occasional pustule which is worse, but they're always very very little I often mistake them for whiteheads. Never even knew what a pustule was, nonetheless had one until differin. I used BP 10% last night and woke up with everything a little flatter though!
Oh boy, at this point, you are so far in, I would wait the full 12 weeks to see what happens. With as mild as your original acne was, I'm a little surprised that you were given the stronger prescription strength. I am wondering if this is why your reaction is so severe. Still, Accutane causes a purge as well and I've seen some video blogs of people taking the Accutane that purge for MONTHS before it cleared. Accutane, however, is an extremely dangerous drug. There are a ridiculously high number of complaints of some serious side-effects, including infertility.
If I were in your shoes right now...since Accutane is not likely to clear you up before the 12-13 week mark anyway, I would just dig my heels in and push through to that point and reassess my options at that time. A lot of people report your situation and find relief when they get there...Good luck.
Accutane is definitely not an option for me, I'm not putting those chemicals into my body, but I still have faith in differin results changing between now (9 weeks) and 12 weeks! SaucyNewel I feel the exact same.... its already been a long 8 weeks so think of how sad it would be to quit 4 weeks before results! The one thing keeping me going is remembering that results should be showing by 12 weeks, not necessarily 100% clear by 12 weeks. Waiting until then to make a decision is the best idea (unless you have an allergic reaction) don't cut your results short!
11 hours ago, mk47 said:Accutane is definitely not an option for me, I'm not putting those chemicals into my body, but I still have faith in differin results changing between now (9 weeks) and 12 weeks! SaucyNewel I feel the exact same.... its already been a long 8 weeks so think of how sad it would be to quit 4 weeks before results! The one thing keeping me going is remembering that results should be showing by 12 weeks, not necessarily 100% clear by 12 weeks. Waiting until then to make a decision is the best idea (unless you have an allergic reaction) don't cut your results short!
Are you using 0.3 or 0.1? Cream or gel?
I said I'd upload a picture if I knew how and I just noticed how, so this is it- redness and inflammation have gone down SO much in the past few days and this is probably the best my skin has looked in a month. I only included a photo of my forehead because i have no acne anywhere else. Benzoyl peroxide cream truly is my holy grail
Differin at night. BP in the morning until things clear. Then just differin with BP to spot treat. Helps keep IB under control too...
Leave at least 15-20 minutes between cleanser / BP or differin / MOISTURISE and SUNSCREEN.
Saved my face...just the leftover marks now.
good luck everyone
Mk47- your eyebrows are perfect.
You know, when I was 13 I was breaking out on my forehead just like you and I turned that around by taking Flaxseed Oil. Just a teaspoon every night. My forehead was clear in a month. Now 3 years later I have no acne on my forehead (except for when I eat fried foods) but for some reason Flaxseed Oil doesn't seem to be helping the sides of my face