Hi, In a last attempt at doing something for my skin before taking the accutane plunge, I saw the doc and asked for the Epiduo (tactuopump here in Canada) cause I had heard on YouTube from a few people it cleared their skin up surprisingly well- they all appeared to have accutane like results so I thought what the heck. Tane is scary and even though I'm in no hurry to take it the possibility is fast approaching. My skin was under control up until about 4 months ago with Neostrata glycol if line, then I had an ingenious idea to try oil cleansing which SCREWED UP MY SKIN. Ugh I ended up with so many under the skin bumps that have taken over two months to surface and I am in a point of cystic acne that is moderately covering my entire lower half of my face. Absolutely horrific compared to the progress I had been seeing before. Anyhow, Epiduo has dried the hell out of my skin, it's tight, it hurts, not ideal BUT it had cleared about 85 percent of my active acne within my first week of use. I understand I may purge but I am quite surprised at the fast progress. The dryness pain is worth it I just want the bumps gone. If this works and I don't have to go on accutane it'll be a blessing. Will update soon

My initial experience with my epi-duo cream was awesome - I felt like I'd finally found something that actively prevented any new active formations on my face, and my skin-tone evened out quite noticeably, making my skin appear to have a healthy glow. My application was consistent, being every second night. I would cleanse skin, wait until it dried and then apply a thin film of the cream over the majority of my face, however I would focus the application on my problem areas (outer cheeks and chin) and spread any leftover to the rest of my face. Within the first week, I FELT LIKE I saw results. While my skin did appear to purge slightly, the cystic acne I had was quickly dried out - intensely - and would flake off within a day or two. This meant the scar underneath was also noticeable muted when compared to the scars of my previously active acne. Of course I was overjoyed... A few weeks into using this cream, I began noticing no increase in improvement. If anything, my skin began worsening. Frustrated, I maintained consistency with application. It was one night almost immediately after applying that my skin began burning severely - nothing was different to my routine so I was troubled. I had to wash the cream off after 20 minutes of the same intensity of burning. Afterwards, in a desperate attempt to quench my skin, I applied an all-natural moisturiser, spf free, but this only burnt my skin more, so I had to wash it off immediately. I haven't used the product since - in my eyes, anything that burns the sheeeet out of your face isn't going to be good for you, holistically. My skin showed no noticable change, but now, 3 weeks after ceasing to use Epiduo, my skin has worsened - the acne has now spread to my jawline, and cystic-like bumps are appearing more frequently. I am frustrated - but I don't want to turn to this product again. While it provided immediate results, they were short-lived and seemed to come at quite some cost.

I started using Epiduo about 4 years ago. It helped quite a bit at first, but dried out my skin so much. It's effects have decreased a lot and my skin is at a stable level, still getting breakouts. In between these four years, i have been on three different types of antibiotics, birth control, topical antibiotics, neither of which helped more than Epiduo did. However, everyone is different.

In the past I've been on clindamycin and epiduo + deoxycyclin. Each was effective for about a year before my skin got bad again. Currently I'm on three different prescriptions, aczone in the morning, epiduo forte at night and erythromycin twice a day. As well as going completely dairy free.I hoped there wouldn't be a "binge" period like there was with my old epiduo but there was. I'm in my third week and I've seen zero improvement. I have cysts all along my hair line, on my chin, and on my forehead. I hope I'll see improvements soon.

I am a 30-year-old female with a family history of adult acne (particularly in the 30's). My skin is not dry or oily, it's middle-of-the-road. Here is my acne history: Absolutely nothing through my teenage years. A couple spots here and there in college, but nothing terrible or even very memorable (I just have pictures of the random, very small spot), and I mostly attribute it to bitter cold and humidity in Indiana. Lived in San Diego for three years after college and my skin loved all of the sunshine and perfect humidity level. Then we moved to Colorado. Here's my recent treatment history: My face immediately hated the dryness here, but my worst breakouts were still around my period. When my husband and I got engaged, I went to see a dermatologist so that maybe I wouldn't have to worry about something happening on my wedding day. I am an athlete, and at my first appointment the doctor told me (exact quote) that, "Athletes are just dirty," because I sweat all day and don't wash my face enough. False. I have been an athlete all my life. I should have walked out of his office right then, but I had never been to a dermatologist before and really had no idea what to expect. He prescribed Doryx 100mg (doxycycline) in about January, and then I went down to 50mg approximately May. Everything went great, we got married at the end of September with zero blemishes, and I had planned to stop taking the medicine after the wedding (they're antibiotics, after all). I weaned off of the pills as the doctor had described, and a few months later, my skin freaked out. At first they were fairly minor breakouts, but all the time. Then I developed cystic acne, concentrated either on my chin or forehead (I've always been a T-zone person), and sometimes both. WEEKS of enormous painful bumps that just would NOT come to a head. I tried hot compresses to bring the nastiness to the surface and sometimes that worked, but mostly I just had to go excavating, which was awful and painful and an even more embarrassing healing process afterward. My husband's grandfather had a habit of asking me what had happened (to my chin/forehead) in group settings at family parties. Totally mortifying, especially when I had thought I'd done a decent job of covering up to leave the safety of my house. I went back to the same dermatologist pretty quickly, and he prescribed Doryx again, this time in a 200mg/day dosage. I didn't know to be wary of that, but my first exposure to sun of any kind that year (in Austin in March/April) was very painful and resulted in rashes on my hands and nose because of my increased photosensitivity on the medication. As for treating my acne, it worked to get rid of most of the cystic stuff, but I continued to have regular, sometimes bad breakouts. While they were preferable to what I'd been going through, the sunburns were very painful and seemingly unavoidable. I'm outside all the time. When I called the dermatologist to ask what I could do to prevent the sunburns I was getting, they told me to wear sunscreen. Like I hadn't been wearing the strongest stuff I could find. Fast forward to the next winter...I had continued taking the strong dosage of Doryx because the original doctor hadn't told me to do otherwise, and was not in the habit of having his patients come for check-up appointments. My acne gets worse in the winter because it's even more dry here, and by early March I was just so incredibly done being embarrassed to get within arm's reach of anybody, for fear of them getting a good look at my face. My conversations were short and clipped and I felt disconnected from everyone around me (save my incredibly supportive husband and parents) because I just never wanted to leave my house. I decided to go see a new dermatologist. She was WONDERFUL. So supportive and communicative, and positive about my future. She prescribed minocycline, 80mg (Solodyn is the brand), and Epiduo. I had tried topicals with the old dermatologist but he never told me how to use them, so I had always spot-treated with terrible results. The new, best dermatologist ever told me to spread one pump over my face every night, otherwise the medicine would be too strong. I did exactly as instructed (starting at the end of April), and didn't even notice super dryness or itching at first, because I've always moisturized fairly heavily at night (again, Colorado). After a while though, my skin got a little red and burned when I put moisturizer on: I use Cetaphil cleanser and was using Cetaphil moisturizer at the recommendation of others on this website. When the burning started though, I searched for something creamier and a bit heavier, and found Jason Age Renewal Vitamin E moisturizing cream. I buy it at Walgreens (comes in a little tub), and it has been perfect for me with the Epiduo. My skin did not completely clear up until about the beginning of September (about four months of religious minocycline and Epiduo usage). I experienced terrible purges at about five weeks and eight weeks, as a lot of other people have said. They were awful. Awful, and like no other breakout I'd ever had. Mine were concentrated right around my chin/mouth, and while the breakouts weren't as painful as the cystic acne I used to have, the healing process was very ugly with all of the peeling and impossibility of covering it up. After about ten weeks though, the breakouts I had seemed to be hormonal (around my period), and were much smaller and more manageable than before I started using the medicine. And while healing from the purges was terrible, I truly found that my skin turned over much faster on Epiduo than it ever did before taking it: It still sucked to cover up healing skin, but that process lasted a much shorter time than it used to when I had to do the same thing for cysts or other breakouts. Then, mid-August, I healed from a breakout, and haven't had what I would consider one since. I had regular check-ups with the new, awesome dermatologist throughout the summer, and when I went back at the end of September, she wanted me to wean off of the minocycline and just be on the Epiduo. I was pretty scared, but I did it, had one fairly major pimple (just one) right at the end of the weaning process, and have been perfectly clear since. The scars that formed around my mouth during the purges fade every single day, as do the other scars around my forehead and chin areas. If I use a lighter moisturizer with the Epiduo, I still get a burning sensation, so I continue to use the heavier cream that I mentioned before. Long story short, I am THRILLED with this product. The husband and I went on a tropical vacation at the beginning of December, and not only did I show most of my skin all of the time, but we were in the water constantly (no makeup possible), and I couldn't have felt more confident. I kept thinking how different that vacation would have been if I'd still been on a high doxycycline dosage and not on Epiduo, and it made the week even more enjoyable to know that I've found something that works for me. LOVE it. 100% worth the hard times!!!!! Hope this helps. Honest-but-positive reviews got me through my darkest days during the purges, so I wanted to contribute my own and give my full story. I'm a huge believer!!

For the past few years I've had mild acne, a spot here and there most of the time, but major flare ups during certain times of my menstrual cycle. My biggest problem was whiteheads- no redness, just a ridiculous amount of tiny bumbs under my skin mixed with blackheads that just wouldn't go away no matter what scrub, cleanser, or pore strip I used. A few nights a week I'd sit in front of a magnifying mirror and squeeze the crap out of my face (which I know now only made matters worse, as it just pushed bacteria deeper into my skin and left me with scarring that I am still dealing with). Finally after months of frustration and insecurity I went to a dermatologist. I was prescribed an antibiotic (Morgidox), a benzoyl peroxide 10% cleanser, and epiduo forte. During my visit to the dermatologist it was recommended I get a facial before starting the medication to get all the gunk that was in my skin. THIS IS SO IMPORTANT. I see so many people on here complaining about how epiduo broke them out horrendously. Yes, it's a retinoid, it pushes out all the bacteria that's deep into your skin to the surface so you can get rid of it. By getting a facial you can save yourself a face full of zits because you've already extracted everything. Also, the antibiotic Morgidox kills bacteria in the skin and also helps prevent break outs. With these tools you can essentially prevent the horrible flare ups that most complain about upon starting epiduo. Now, I won't deny the first few weeks of the treatment were not easy. I experienced extreme dryness, my face peeled nastily, makeup looked awful, and upon wearing it my face felt excruciating itchy. Upon applying the treatment I felt an extreme burning and stinging that left me with headaches that caused me to loose sleep. It is strong!! But now... 5 weeks after starting epiduo, I couldn't be more happy. I've learned how to deal with the dryness (I've had to change my entire skin routine as my skin was oily and is now dry and sensitive), my scars are fading, and even though I'm still getting facials every 2 weeks to remove blackheads, not a spot in site. My skin is so soft and looks airbrushed in some areas. I'm only on the 5th week and the results are astonishing, the compliments I get on my how much my skin has cleared up are so wonderful. So, my advice is take the precautionary steps before starting this treatment, load up on moisturizer, and watch your skin transform!

I'm 21 and female, I got my acne out of nowhere at age 18. I went to a skin therapist and did some extremely expensive acid treatments. That helped with the worst of it. But I still had my acne and redness. I tried a lot of different products but nothing worked. Then I went to a regular doctor who prescribed Epiduo (in combination with Cetaphil cleanser and moisturizer) and after about 2-3 months I could see great results! Sure, I still have some red spots, scars and my skin is quite red - but I wouldn't even call it acne anymore! Epiduo is the only product I've actually seen a difference with, and it's cheap and simple! Epiduo is definitely worth a shot! I'm so happy to finally feel good about my face again! I think the secret to get rid of acne is to give it a lot of time and to use a simple routine.

epiduo is great for drying active acne, a small amount will do wonders , don't use to much as it can burn your skin. Epiduo keeps your skin and pores clean and dry ,which is a good thing for people with oily skin and a added bonus as you would be applying this with your hands by smooching it on your face with your hands you are sterilizing them as well ,this product works well with a cataphil lotion , but no moisturizer as it would just increase oil production

So a little background on my acne... I have struggled with it since middle school, was prescribed yasmin BC and antibiotics as a teenager which worked wonders and I was finally clear. In my late teens my OBGYN switched my BC because of warnings against yasmin and yaz to a different less risky BC. It was still doing the job of keeping me clear but I would occasionally start to get a cyst near that time of the month. Within the last 9 months (I'm now almost 27) I made the decision to get off of BC because my friend who had been having migraines since starting BC told me that was what had caused them. Now I had been having pretty bad migraines with aura for the past 10 years and just attributed it to genetics since my mom suffers from them as well. Turns out it was the estrogen in the birth control! I have not had one migraine in the past 9 months! FYI if you experience migraines with an aura and take BC with estrogen you are putting yourself at a much higher risk for stroke and blood clots, something I do not want to risk. But unfortunately getting off the birth has wrecked havoc on my skin. I went to a new dermatologist (after having a terrible experience with trying accutane with my old one and ending up with severe anxiety attacks and having my left arm become numb) and I was prescribed epiduo forte. I did not want any sort of antibiotic because of the damage they can do to the good bacteria in your body so I opted for something topical since I have never really been consistent with any topical creams I was prescribed in the past. So I am currently on week 7. Now the first few weeks were absolute HELL with the peeling and itching and burning of my skin. After a few weeks the peeling went away but I'm still struggling with new break outs. In fact its much worse than where I was before starting epiduo Forte. But from what I have read online at least from people reviewing the less strong version (just regular epiduo) they have said to wait a full three months to decide if its working. Honestly this is the hardest thing I have done regarding acne treatment because I have had to stay consistent with it and go through terrible peeling and this so called initial breakout. I do feel that the small skin colored bumps around my jawline have started to disappear and that I have been having less and less cystic bumps popping up as of the past week so I'm hoping I am nearing the end of this "gets worse before it gets better phase". I am however going to stick this out until the full three months is up and then update my review.

I have had pretty bad acne for 4 years, and I especially get a lot of spots on my forehead. The only thing that worked for me was quinoderm so since that has been banned I have been desperate to find something else. I started using this cream about 3 weeks ago, and it does actually work, but it destroys your skin as well. After a week I noticed I went from a lot of medium sized spots to lots of tiny, hard, red, inflamed ones, almost like a massive rash across my forehead. This is because the stuff is awful for your skin and I was applying tons of it twice a day so use springy otherwise your face will be a red, itchy, peeling mess. However if you use a lot of moisturiser and get the balance right it works pretty well, and after three weeks I have FAR BETTER SKIN, so I am happy.