oh great.....

yellowtulips80

I think I chemically burned my face.  My skin is uber sensitive and I'm also really acne prone.  So stupid me mixed the wrong cleansers with a prescription cream when I was trying to fight a bad breakout last night.  I woke up this morning feeling like my face is on fire. 

 Ugh.  Lesson learned!  I just need to bite the bullet and see the dermatolgist again but it seems like NOTHING works for me. I either develop a bad reaction or I break out more.  I am about to be thirty for crying out loud and my face still looks like I'm 13.  

TwistofFate

I'm sorry.

What meds do you/have you used? What cleansers?

yellowtulips80

I think the better question is what haven't I used before.  This is a reaction from a combination of differin gel, a salicylic acid based cleanser and proactive.  I think the only thing I haven't tried is accutane. 

If it comes over the counter I have tried it.  

PuppiesAndRainbows

yellowtulips80:

I think the better question is what haven't I used before.  This is a reaction from a combination of differin gel, a salicylic acid based cleanser and proactive.  I think the only thing I haven't tried is accutane. 

If it comes over the counter I have tried it.  

I have the same problem. I'm nearly thirty, and have issues with breakouts all the time. I've been on accutane twice. Accutane helped dramatically the first time. The second time, it didn't help as much, and it caused extreme psychological side effects, meaning I got intensely paranoid and anxious. I would not recommend you try Accutane, since you are of child bearing age with a family. If you get pregnant it causes horrific birth defects, not to mention I think it also causes bowel problems, which I also experienced while on accutane (IBS).

It sounds like you are severely drying your skin out, which starts a vicious cycle of your oil glands going into over production to attempt to compensate for the dryness, which then causes pimples, not to mention the dry skin clogs your pores, causing breakouts.

I would start using a very mild, very moisturizing cleanser, and a really thick moisturizer at night, plus something lighter with sunscreen for the day. What has helped my skin is using a Clindamyacin mousse at night for the breakouts, under your moisturizer. For nighttime use a moisturizer that has alpha hydroxy acid, like Eucerin. Also, if you are using an exfoliator like St Ives, don't. It makes your skin worse. Use a lighter, milder exfoliant like the one from Aveeno, that won't tear your skin and dry it out.

Good luck!

PuppiesAndRainbows

Also, what initially drove me to the dermatologist was using Proactive. It made my skin the worse it has ever been. It's probably making it worse for you too, so I would consider stop using it.

decaturbride

Proactive was the worst thing I have ever tried for my face. I used it for a few days the week before I got engaged. Horrible! My whole face was peeling off and red. It is way too string and drying for me. I used to do the same  thing you did, I would breakout and then I would anything, everything to get rid of the breakout. This would dry the crap out of my face and then i would breakout from that.

Here's what I use now: Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser (dermatologist rec)

                                  Finacea gel (azelaic acid) in the morning

                                  Acanya Gel (clindamycin/Benzoyl Peroxide) at night.

 The Finacea and Acanya are prescriptions from the dermatologist. I had the Differin for a little while and it was too drying for me. I also liked the Azelex gel. I tend to get more cystic acne than little breakouts and get those injected at the dermatologist to make them go away fast. So that might be an option for you in the future if you have big spots. When I used the Proactive and peeled my skin off, I used a heavy moisturizer for about a week afterwards and it really helped. I can't remember which one but I want to say Oil of Olay or something kind of old school like that. You could also try the Cetaphil moisturizer because it is very gentle. I am a firm believer in going to the dermatologist now. Their stuff works 100% better than anything over the counter. I hope your face feels and looks better soon!

                                  

PuppiesAndRainbows

decaturbride:

Proactive was the worst thing I have ever tried for my face. I used it for a few days the week before I got engaged. Horrible! My whole face was peeling off and red. It is way too string and drying for me. I used to do the same  thing you did, I would breakout and then I would anything, everything to get rid of the breakout. This would dry the crap out of my face and then i would breakout from that.

Here's what I use now: Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser (dermatologist rec)

                                  Finacea gel (azelaic acid) in the morning

                                  Acanya Gel (clindamycin/Benzoyl Peroxide) at night.

 The Finacea and Acanya are prescriptions from the dermatologist. I had the Differin for a little while and it was too drying for me. I also liked the Azelex gel. I tend to get more cystic acne than little breakouts and get those injected at the dermatologist to make them go away fast. So that might be an option for you in the future if you have big spots. When I used the Proactive and peeled my skin off, I used a heavy moisturizer for about a week afterwards and it really helped. I can't remember which one but I want to say Oil of Olay or something kind of old school like that. You could also try the Cetaphil moisturizer because it is very gentle. I am a firm believer in going to the dermatologist now. Their stuff works 100% better than anything over the counter. I hope your face feels and looks better soon!

                                  

I also switched to Cetaphil after my round with proactive, and I saw a big improvement right away. The cetaphil moisturizer was not rich enough for my very dry skin. The liquid cetaphil seems more moisturizing than the bar cetaphil, which is tempting to buy because it's so much cheaper, but I really think the liquid is better.

The clindamyacin works really well for me too. Seems like we've had similar experiences with cystic acne. They're so painful!

decaturbride

Yes, cystic acne sucks!!! It feels like your face is going to explode, or at least, it would feel better if it did just explode. So glad I found out about the injections at the dermatologist to make them go away. I only wish I'd known in high school when all this mess started. I was at the dermatologist about every 3 weeks while I was pregnant, the hormones made my face go crazy and I couldn't use the prescriptions stuff to control it. They built a nice new spa area with all my copays.

yellowtulips80

part of my problem is that my dermatologist thinks I have a mild allergy to soap.  I used to get these weird rashes all over my body in response to most body wash.  I'm also allergic to a lot of moisturizers because they contain an ingredient related to latex.  I have thought seriously a few times about investing in one of those clairsonic things but honestly I'm so frustrated that I don't even think that will work.  My dermatologist also told me to use oil of olay and nothing else because anything else would be too much moisture.  So now I am really confused and I really hate my skin.  My face is starting to look better.  I'm using dove and oil of olay for now.

PuppiesAndRainbows

If you have been going to the same person and haven't gotten better, I think you should consider switching dermatologists. The regimen you are on is depriving your skin of essential moisture, and that is not the way to treat acne. I understand how frustrating/embarrassing it is to be dealing with this problem at your age. Hopefully you can find some relief soon!

TwistofFate

I recommend seeing another derm as well. I use Cetaphil for cleaning and moisturizing. I use the Daily Facial Cleanser. If you have sensitive skin, you can use the gentle skin cleanser. We use the GSC with our baby. I used Proactiv in the past and it was awful. It is basically salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide. It was very drying and I didn't see the results I needed.

 Have you used Differin 0.1 or 0.3?

I have been using Epiduo with the Cetaphil and it has made a drastic difference. If I need more moisturizing, I use the cream vs. the lotion. Anything that is used to treat acne is going to dry out your skin, especially in the summer (hot outside) and winter (heat blaring on your skin) months. That is why it is important to pair up your acne regiment with a good cleanser and moisturizer.