My dermatologist put me on Retin A for keritosis pilaris on my face and it wasn't too bad before. I had around 3 - 5 little bumps on my face that came and sometimes I even had none. Well I wanted to fix the bumps anyways so my dermatologist put me on Retin A. This broke me out so bad, but I kept using it because I was told it would get worse before it got better. Well, then my skin started peeling and it was red and inflamed and painful. And now my face is covered in the little bumps and cystic acne - and I NEVER had acne before using this medication! It looks terrifying - my face has never been this bad before! There's little to no smooth surface on my face, it's just tiny little bumps and giant red cystic pimples all over my face. I've been using it for almost 4 months now and I don't see it getting any better from here. I would rather deal with what I had before.

Hello All! I posted a few weeks ago and now I am updatng you with my results. I have been on tretinoin .025% for 6 weeks now. My skin is honestly about 80% cleared. I had acne on my forehead, both cheeks, and neck area. My forehead is clear, my neck is clear, and my left cheek is completely clear. I have 3 pimples on my right cheek that came up after I used sunscreen for a couple days as I was out in the sun. I shaved with a single blade razor yesterday and relaized my face is super soft and very smooth. I think tretinoin is a miracle cure for me. I had a bad initial breakout. The initial breakout started in week 2 and continued all the way through week 5. I am over the intitial breakup and I think my face has come a long way. My advice is to stick with it! ALl good things take time and if there was some way to get rid of acne in 2 weeks then I wouldn;t trust it. This stuff really works. My acne is mainly gone, but I do have some darker spots. I never had acne scars that were indented or anything, but I had the post inflammatory hyperpigmentation. I am hoping that this will go away by week 8. I'm used to waking up every morning and having at least 2 or 3 new piples everyday, I litrally have not had a pimple on my forehead, left cheek, or neck in over a week. Once my right cheek clears up I think I will be totally clear and my confidence is already starting to come back. Give it time! My face got much worse looking for a span of 2-3 weeks but trust me it will be worth it. I am 6 weeks in and I can't wait to see what I look like after 10 weeks.

First I'd like to say that I have been struggling with acne and acne scars for about 8 years now; I am an avid makeup wearer because nothing seems to work for my skin, and makeup gives me the self-confidence I lack. I would also like to say that this is not my first Retin-A rodeo. I was first introduced to it when I was about 16 by my dermatologist, who also prescribed that I take Doxycycline, use Clindamycin pads, and apply Benzoyl Peroxide to my face daily. This cocktail of prescriptions worked very well for me if I recall correctly, I think I just had to stop using them because my family couldn't afford it. (Having clear skin is so expensive *sigh*) Fast forward 3 years later and my mom takes me to the dermatologist as a Christmas present, and he suggested that I use, you guessed it, Retin-A once again. Whoopee. Alongside a prescription for Minocycline, and Clindamycin (in the lotion form this time). Yesterday night I started putting this concoction on my face and today I woke up with a face full of pimples and flaking skin. What a great life I lead. My dermatologist wanted me to apply it two times every day, so today I woke up, washed my face and slathered that sh*t right on. I put on my makeup and went about my day. When I came home, I saw that my face had peeled through my makeup (It doesn't get any sexier than this folks). I totally forgot that my skin is crazy sensitive and quite frail right now and so when I pulled out my Spin for Perfect Skin Spin Brush and tried to exfoliate the peeling skin away, I instead ended up removing a large portion of skin from the lower left-hand side of my face; very near to my mouth. My whole face burns right now, and I know it's my fault for being careless, but gosh darn it why me. I say don't use this cream/gel if you wear makeup everyday like me or can't stand the sight of peeling skin (because you're not supposed to do anything about it, you're just supposed to let it happen and wash your face with a gentle cleanser). It works but at a cost.

Please see the update that I posted under comments. This stuff has destroyed my skin. I am not sure if it will ever recover. Please note that I didn't have red, peeling, or irritated skin while using it every other day. I followed all of my derms instructions and followed up with them monthly. I can't believe that I am writing this, I really thought this would work for me. I am 36 years old, female and have sensitive, acne-prone, oily skin. I have been using Tretinoin 0.025% Gel for 6 months for moderate inflammatory acne caused by taking oral steroids for a medical condition. OK, so, the Initial Breakout was brutal and lasted much longer than I expected, started at about week 3 and lasted for months! My skin is not yet better than it was before treatment (getting there though, hopefully, I don't know, it seems like acne comes in waves, right?). My pores appear larger than before and I am getting indented scars frequently, my skin has always been acne-prone and I have never scarred before. My Dermatologist says that this does not promote scarring, but I am not so sure. These scars may have happened anyway, I don't know, my acne has never been this bad before. I tried to use this every day, but ended up with an irritated-orange-peely texture, this is much better after switching to every other day, though the texture still is not normal. It definitely peels a thin layer of skin off and reveals newer skin with every use, a very good thing. It also brings closed comedones to the surface quickly. This is definitely not a miracle cure, but it just doesn't seem like there is one when it comes to acne... I do see glimmers of hope with this, but I think that it takes a very long time and must be used in combination with other treatments, especially for people that have something internally driving their acne.

This product is legit, it took about 6 weeks to see noticeable changes, from week 1-4, it was hell. like HELL. I was near depression and could not look at people in the eye from my purge. But from about week 6 onward, it got better. I'm on week 10-11 at the moment, and my skin has stayed pretty good, no new white heads or any inflamed acne, just left with a dozen red/brown marks. Again, I'm being patient on the marks and do hope over the next couple of month I will have smooth and clear skin. I also took minocycline (50mg) and BP 2.5% (morning) as side treatment. Overall, highly recommended, makes you a stronger person too by testing your patient.

i started to have acne since i was 18 and tried many products but last year i went to see dermatologist and he prescribed me this retinA and benzac ac..to apply retinA 1 time at night everyday(whole face) and now it clears all acne i have been using this for 2 years..

However.... does work, to a certain extent. I find the 3 month rule bullsh*t. The retin-a 0.05 only started to show signs of improvement at the end of june (i started in february, 5.5 months ish) and that was only after a HORRENDOUS belated purging phase. I had a lottos under the skin bumps prior to retin-a, thus why i got it, and since then i only have a few on my face and nothing else, I'm not 100% clear but around 80%. The under the skin bumps only went away around month 5 though, so be patient. Use sunscreen.

I am a 22 year old female with mild-moderate acne. However, I started using MAC makeup on my face, and it caused a terrible breakout that just wouldn't clear up. So I went to my derm and he prescribed retin A coupled with clindamycin. I have only been using retin A (a generic brand, though) for roughly 4-5 weeks. I know it takes 6+ weeks minimum to work, so I am patiently waiting! It finally seems to be improving and I cannot wait to see results! I was a bit apprehensive to give it a try based on reviews, but I gave it a shot. I wanted to share my routine that seems to help a lot with the dryness/flaking/oil. I'm the morning: I wash my face with Acne Free face wash, which is pretty mild with only 2.5% BP. I've used this for years and have always had good results. I use witch hazel on a cotton ball as a toner (I LOVE this and it is SO cheap!). In the morning, I use cetaphil oil control lotion (which seems to help a bit with the oil). A bit spendier, but worth it. I try to leave time to wait 10 min before putting on clindamycin because that's what has been recommended. However, being a flight attendant with an insane schedule, I only have time about half of the time to wait... And it's been fine. After that, I do my normal makeup routine. HINT! The combination of both medications and the dryness make my skin SO oily (and previously I had normal skin) BUT I just use a thin layer of baby powder on a blush/bronzer beush over my makeup and I can go all day with no oil :) and trust me, I have tried the fancy bare minerals/MAC/Clinique cure for oil, and this has been my godsend. And, again, it's SO cheap! PM routine: wash my face with acne free face wash again. Along with witch hazel as a toner. At night I use a heavier cetaphil lotion for dry skin. It's far too heavy and "oily" for day wear, but it does a lot of repairing at night! non comedogenic, of course. Again, I leave it for 10ish min (or more) and apply the retin A. A SMALL amount! Pea sized is all :) If I could stress one thing, it would be START SLOW. I did every 3rd day for 2 weeks, every other day for 2 1/2 weeks. I JUST started using it every day. It has helped a lot with the dryness. I didn't have much of the initial breakout I read about right away, it got a little worse, but nothing major. About the 3rd or 4th week I started breaking out more. But nothing terrible or cystic and they clear up fast. I have been very unhappy with my skin the last couple of weeks, but I can tell things are getting better. There are horror stories, but I can tell it will be worth the wait, and the wait hasn't been that bad. My advice is to take things slow, use everything in moderation, moisturize, and be patient. I will review this in a few weeks with an update. I really just wanted to help those currently struggling with dryness and oil who are going through this process as well. Good luck!

I'm a 20 year old female, with prior terrible hormonal cystic acne. I have only been using retina a (0.05%) for a few weeks. However, prior to starting this medication I also orally took Doxycycline for about a month. I HIGHLY recommend starting this way, in order to avoid a tremendous initial breakout. The Doxycycline was able to kill all of the bacteria on the surface, and beneath my skin, so I never actually had an initial breakout at all! In fact, from the second I started using Retin A I fell in love. Since most of my acne has already cleared up due to the antibiotics, Retin A is mainly my source for fading my very hyper-pigmented acne scars, and preventing future acne flareups. So far, I am very very happy with this product. It is excessively drying, which is a downside for sure, considering I already have moderately dry skin, but with the right skin care routine (I am using Cera Ve Hydrating Cleanser, Cera Ve Moisturizer, and Cetaphil sunscreen spf 50 regardless of the weather) I think the dryness is a minor downside. I cannot wait to see what this does for the remainder of my scars. I have always been very self conscious of my skin, and never been able to be seen without makeup, and slowly, but surely I feel like I can finally have fresh, clear and exposed natural skin!

When I started with this prescription (Tretinoin Cream .05%) I had moderate/severe acne. At first, I didn't have any of the expected side effects, like redness/itching/etc. However, after a few months my skin got very bad and I started to develop cystic acne. I kept using it, but I didn't see results until about a week ago. I have been using it for almost a year and my skin has just cleared up. AND my skin wasn't even that bad to start with. So just remember to stick with it if you can!