Acnecide : Benzoyl Peroxide (5%) Gel

this was a life saver for me in summer when in my twenties i had mild (clogged pores and redness) come back in to my life after years of being skin free. This did the job for me and i noticed changes with in about 2 weeks giving me very glowy looking skin. however i did notice that if i put it high up on my cheekbones and went to sleep i woke up with quite puffy eyes- however this didn't bother me as my skin was clear! it could be quite drying in places tho so i teamed this with a cetaphil cleanser and seemed to be on to a winner. after a few months i started to become complacent and used it once every 3 nights instead of every night. about a month later my skin was worse than ever- with tiny wee spots appearing on my forehead for the first time in my life. I've now gone back to the doctor and have been given DUAC once daily gel which i believe might do the same thing (great for a few months and then start to repel). if this doesn't work i will have to try oral antibiotics.

I have been using this product for about a month now and it hasn't really helped, it does give me dry sore skin from time to time but nothing too bad that moisturiser cant help. I have suffered with acne for about 2 and half years now (on my cheeks and around my mouth and chin) and i'm 19. I have been to the doctors more times than i am able to remember and they have tried different tablets, different creams and nothing has helped. What can i do now?

I've always had acne, when I was around 15 it was at it's worst, but I didn't start any treatments for it till I was 18ish... First I tried Clindamycin Aqueous lotion which was amazing for a while - I applied once in the morning and once in the evening, my skin was crystal clear and my breakouts consisted of maybe 2 spots - loved it -then it just stopped working. I then tried Lymacyclin which just made it so much worse - I got spots in places I never had them - just awful, and later I tried Oxytetracycline (didn't do much) and now i'm on doxycycline which is ok - works on my face but not my back. But before I went onto Oxytetracycline i was given Acneside Cream..... THIS STUFF IS EVIL! I used it for maybe two evenings and then woke up on the third day with severe facial swelling (twice the size). Started taking anti-inflammatories and whatnot, changed all my bedsheets and washed everything so I didn't have any trace of it anywhere but woke on the fourth day and my face had doubled again (I could barely open my eye, they were nearly swollen shut)... Had to go to A&E and was given steroids, stronger anti-inflamattories and was put on watch, etc....and I had a rash that had spread all the way down my back and arms (in places I hadn't even used the cream). The swelling didn't go down for over a week, and basically gave me a chemical peel. My skin was so dry, to the point that if I pulled my face into a frown the skin from under my eyes would stretch (think movie The Mummy style) - and I couldn't put anything on it to help with the peeling as it was way to sensitive, even chamomile lotion, the gentlest thing ever, sent it bright red and burning. (Acneside is so nasty that when I rubbed the excess cream, which wasn't much, onto my chocolate brown towel it bleached it... that and my pillow case). So yeh, I wouldn't recommend this at all - something that bleaches things that severely shouldn't be used on ya face!