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Side Effects
Tretinoin is a vitamin A derivative called a topical retinoid. It helps clear acne by promoting skin cell turnover.
Tretinoin is usually applied once a day around bedtime.
Used Tretinoin? Rate It:
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December 22, 2012
Cons:
Makes face REALLY oily
Flaking skin
Redness
Sensitive skin, tightness
Canker sores, easily cut mouth
Been using Retin-A Micro combined w/ minocycline for 3 months and my skin finally calmed down about 2 weeks ago. About a month in II was having really bad flaking around my mouth and getting canker sores. When it was warm I was using 3-4 oil blotting sheets a day with flaky skin to boot. I've scaled back application to every other night and use a moisturizer w/ salicylic acid & my face has been clear of cystic acne for several weeks and the redness is subsiding finally! Jaw and cheek area acne.
September 19, 2012
Pros:
make pimple dry quickly
Cons:
itchy, redness, leaves the scars
To be clear, i am using this cream with other oral medicine Doxcycline and Spironolactone, Doxcycline caused me upset stomach so i stopped using them now. Regarding Tretinoin, as everybody said i am having itchy skin, redness and yeah breakout too :(. Today is my 13th day, in the morning i saw three more painful cysitc acne apart from other existing acne and scars, its not fun at all.Hopefully it will go, i am so depressed with these acne. I have done so many things, tree tea oil, clarisonic mia cleanser, natural remedies like nutmeg, oatmeal honey facepack, baking soda etc etc..but everytime it is getting worst and endup going doctor. I will be more patience with this medicine hopefully i will get clearer skin within a month or two.
March 22, 2012
Pros:
Everything
Cons:
Burning and Peeling at first
Breakouts early in treatment
I am 26 years old. After having somewhat acne-free skin most of my life, I was surprised by a sudden, awful breakouts on my chin and cheeks that would last months on end. My doctor put me on Retin A .05% in November 2011. At first, it didn't seem to be working (I had 2 really bad early-stage breakouts - one at 1 week and one at 4 weeks) and it took until mid-January 2012 (with my dosage increased to .25% and Erythromycin topical added) to start seeing results. Normally I would expect to have one or two pimples per month, but I can say that I have now gone over 6 weeks without a single breakout. If one zit does rear its ugly head, it is small and gone within a day. Retin A is absolutely a miracle product for me. Regimen [evening]: Makeup off with cleansing towelettes; Wash face with Benzol Peroxide-based cleanser (nothing fancy); Exfoliate (also nothing fancy); Let dry 20 minutes; Erythromycin topical all over face; Let set 10 minutes; Retin-A gel all over face; Sleep. Regimen [morning]: Wash flakes off face with damp washcloth (Retin-A leaves little flakes as it dries); SPF 30 moisturizer.
March 4, 2012
Pros:
Probably would have worked if I had the patience to wait a year...
Cons:
Just made it unbearable
Expensive with no insurance
I didn't put down any pros because I ended up not having any. I took it for 4 months and I imagine if I had maybe moderate or less acne then it maybe would have done the job. Topical treatment alone will not work for my coin sized cysts so I am going on Accutane. Although I left no pros, I might consider using tretinoin after I finish Accutane to keep the acne away permanently and also because it is supposed to work for scaring and wrinkles. This product was expensive though. Tretinoin is supposedly the generic and it cost me about $100 (uninsured). I got a very large amount though for that much money. I probably could have gotten a year out of that container.
January 17, 2012
Pros:
Dry skin
Cons:
Clear skin
Smooth skin
No more breakouts
I have always struggled with acne and recently started breaking out in giant cystic acne. I went to the dermatologist and he put me on Tretinoin cream along with oral Doxycycline. This product has worked great for me. I didn't have a bad inital breakout like others stated that they experienced. I had maybe 1 or 2 new zits within the first few days and then my skin cleared up completely. I haven't had a breakout since. This product does cause your skin the be dry and flaky. I'd recommend scrubbing your face with St. Ives Apricot Scrub each morning to exfoliate and removed the dead skin and then apply a moisturizer...this has really worked for me. All-in-all a great product and I'd recommend it for mild to moderate acne.
November 30, 2011
Pros:
Got Rid of Acne
Leaves My Skin Smooth
Works Quickly and Keeps Working
Cons:
May have dried out my skin a little at first, but I don't really remember
Using the generic version of this at night paired with the generic version of metronidazole in the morning has completely cleared up my skin. I would recommend it to any one suffering from moderate acne.
October 7, 2011
Pros:
Clears acne
quick to apply
dries quickly
Cons:
stinks of alcohol
causes peeling
causes sensitivity
have to wait half an hour
I've used this for about half a year now and it's done wonders.
Gone from using it once a day to once every other day to 2-3 times a week and it still works!
it caused peeling and my skin prone to redness but once I stopped using it every day that stopped.
I might wean myself back on to see if it deals with my scarring now.
August 23, 2011
Pros:
Leaves skin soft
More even skintone
Less bumps
Clears fast
Cons:
Takes a long time
Makes acne better, then worse
IB
EXTREMELY SENSITIVE TO SUN
I have been on Retin A Micro .04% for about 5-6 weeks now. At first, I saw nothing but positive results, but now, things are getting a little worse (not as bad as when I started). I'm guessing this is just the initial break out, or the IB. I will say, the blemishes are small, but of course I'm going to notice them. Since reading all of these posts I'm just going to keep on going with the Retin A even though I feel like my skin is playing tricks on me while on it. So, if you're like me and are skeptical about this stuff, just wait it out. As for you sun worshipers (I'm guilty) WEAR SPF 30+! I can't stress it enough. I was at the pool one day and I had on SPF 15 thinking I'd be okay. That night I was VERY sun burned...to the point where I was nauseous and light headed...turned out, I had a horrible case of sun poisioning. My face had blistered and was completely raw for about a week. My skin had a layer of dead skin cells over it because of the burns. It was so painful. So please, listen to this...even if you tan easily (I do too I'm part Native American) wear sunscreen! Good luck, and remember, stick with it! :)
July 24, 2011
Pros:
-Makes skin more smooth
-Clears acne quickly
-Minimal scarring
-No staining
-Minimal odor
Cons:
-Noticeable initial breakout
-Skin becomes more dry
-Does not clear everything
I was prescribed this by my dermatologist about 6-7 weeks ago. I was instructed to wash my face once in the morning and once at night (at night with BenzEFoam). I was to apply the Retin-A 0.1% at night as well. There was a noticeable breakout, but the acne cleared and began to improve quickly. Minimal redness, zero peeling. Then I noticed a lack of results. Big pimples faded and disappeared, but small blackheads and bumps under the skin remained. At my 6-week visit back to the derm, he recommended using the Retin-A twice a day since my skin isn't sensitive to it. Now I have a worse IB, but it seems as if it's helping to bring everything out so it can be killed off. It's been a week since I began using it twice a day. So far, I have a moderate IB, but I can tell it's improving.
April 14, 2011
Pros:
-better skin texture
-cleared up even the big, deep pimples
-feels light on your skin
Cons:
-took almost a full month to really get things to start to clear up
-mild burn sensation during second week of applicaiton
-cannot put lotion on top of product, will peel up and look like dry skin
you have to be patient, very patient. it took the full 5-6 weeks of consistent use (1-2x/day). It seemed like nothing was happening and then all of a sudden my skin cleared up. It's no completely blemish free but what remain are small and hardly noticable and i assume they will eventually go away too.
Pros:
Smoother skin
Lightens scars
Helped with cystic/nodule acne