Tazorac

[okstatefan]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently 19 years old and I have been dealing with acne since i was probably 12 or 13 years old. Up until about 2 months ago i had kept my acne to just mild break outs with the occasional cyst on my shoulder or back without having any problems, but 2 months ago I broke out really bad.

I went to the dermatologist and he gave me Tazorac .1%, Doxycyclin, and Clendamyacin to apply to my acne. I have been applying the tazorac to my face now for 2 weeks and instead of my face getting better it just seems like my face is getting gradually worse. Is this normal? I'm sticking with it, it is just disappointing because my face has gone from just mildly being broken out to pimples in areas that normally were acne free, and it seems like my face is now covered in pimples as opposed to just there barely being a few on my face.

Does anyone have any advice on getting through these weeks with Tazorac? have most people seen good results from this medicine or is it worth it to keep with it?

Thank you for any information or support, this is starting to depress me.

okstatefan

 

[David M]

Hi
Do stay with it.... I know it will seem a little discouraging to be breaking out in areas where you were clear.. It's all part of the clearing process. With Taz, Retin A and various other topicals, this is typical and shows that they are working to bring everything out to the surface.. I have been on Taz a few times and like you, it did horrendous things to my skin initially, but after about 8 weeks I saw such dramatic improvements in everything.. I continued to use it even after I was clear as preventative measures which was ok.. My mistake was stopping it. After having TOTALLY clear skin for the entire two year period I decided that I was not going to use it anymore... Within the past few months I have been getting a lot of cysts etc, and Taz was awesome on these, so my derm gave me another scrip for it and told me I can go back on it if I wish.... Been seriously considering it, but I know how bad it made me at first and not sure I want to go through all of that again. However, since you are already using it, I would definitely say to continue to use it and keep telling yourself how GREAT your skin is going to be once everything clears up. With the use of the other topicals that you are on, it may lessen the effects of your break out period.. Everyones skin is different and of course reacts different to various things, BUT you will get better and will thank yourself for staying with it once you begin to experience totally clear skin.. GOOD LUCK I hope this has been of some help to you