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*Treatment results may vary
Week 8
The doxycycline really kicked all my deep painful acne's butt! woohoo
last Friday I stopped taking it (as you cannot drink alcohol) and went on a trip to Vegas. after a two day break, I restarted doxycycline at 100mg a day (half the dosage as before since all the acne is gone). I stopped using the retin a as well since the air there is so drying and my skin was already quite red. I continued using cetaphil wash and facecream while there and my skin actually got better. things have been pretty good so far. I have a couple zits on my forehead and one on my chin - but I think this is partially because of my cycle (if you know what I mean ;) ha).
after I came back from my trip I started treating a new routine since all my main acne is gone. I am alternating two regimens so as to avoid over irritating my skin with the retin a.
day1 - morning: wash with Neutrogena salicylic acid cleanser, use cetaphil zinc acne moisturizer, use forever makeup primer, add makeup
day 1 - night: wash with Neutrogena salicylic acid cleanser, spot treat with clindoxyl
day 2 - morning: wash with Neutrogena salicylic acid cleanser, use cetaphil zinc acne moisturizer, use forever makeup primer, add makeup
day 2 - night: wash with dove soap to remove makeup, wash with cetaphil zinc cleanser. wait at least 20 minutes, sparingly apply retin a micro 0.1%
my goal with this new regimen is to quickly remove all the acne scars that remain while still keeping my acne at bay. I suspect all the bacteria built up over time and that's why my acne was so bad in the last year. now that the doxycycline has cleared everything I am hopeful I will have an easier time now.
last Friday I stopped taking it (as you cannot drink alcohol) and went on a trip to Vegas. after a two day break, I restarted doxycycline at 100mg a day (half the dosage as before since all the acne is gone). I stopped using the retin a as well since the air there is so drying and my skin was already quite red. I continued using cetaphil wash and facecream while there and my skin actually got better. things have been pretty good so far. I have a couple zits on my forehead and one on my chin - but I think this is partially because of my cycle (if you know what I mean ;) ha).
after I came back from my trip I started treating a new routine since all my main acne is gone. I am alternating two regimens so as to avoid over irritating my skin with the retin a.
day1 - morning: wash with Neutrogena salicylic acid cleanser, use cetaphil zinc acne moisturizer, use forever makeup primer, add makeup
day 1 - night: wash with Neutrogena salicylic acid cleanser, spot treat with clindoxyl
day 2 - morning: wash with Neutrogena salicylic acid cleanser, use cetaphil zinc acne moisturizer, use forever makeup primer, add makeup
day 2 - night: wash with dove soap to remove makeup, wash with cetaphil zinc cleanser. wait at least 20 minutes, sparingly apply retin a micro 0.1%
my goal with this new regimen is to quickly remove all the acne scars that remain while still keeping my acne at bay. I suspect all the bacteria built up over time and that's why my acne was so bad in the last year. now that the doxycycline has cleared everything I am hopeful I will have an easier time now.
Week 5
The Doxycycline is really effective against my cystic acne. In fact I haven't gotten another cystic one since I started taking it. The old ones are pretty much gone but have left scaring, not surprisingly. I would highly recommend that anyone who tries Retin A to also push to take Doxycycline at the same time. I think if I had tried these two in combo from the beginning I wouldn't have had to go through the "purging" stage of Retin A in the first couple of weeks. My plan is to see the Doxycycline through for the 6 weeks (maybe tapering off to taking 1 X 100mg pill instead of 2 per day) and hopefully end with just using the Retin A micro.
I will stop the antibiotic use this weekend as I'm attending a stagette and cannot mix heavy alcohol with the Doxycycline. But then back on it as soon as I get back! Things are looking up!
I will stop the antibiotic use this weekend as I'm attending a stagette and cannot mix heavy alcohol with the Doxycycline. But then back on it as soon as I get back! Things are looking up!
Week 4
thought things were getting better but then developed more cystic acne on my cheek and on my forehead near my eye/eyebrow. It started to really hurt and wasn't dome shaped like it normally is. I suspected it was infected and confirmed this with a doctor. Was prescribed Doxycycline for the current infection and for my acne. Now taking 100mg twice a day for 6 weeks. This is day two of taking the antibiotic and the inflammation has definitely gone down. My face is really red and irritated from the retin A micro. Stayed home from work since my face is infected and the pain is too much and since my work exposes me to a lot of things that might infect my skin further.
Contemplating Accutane but I know I need to see this doxycycline through and the retin a micro for at least a couple more months.
Contemplating Accutane but I know I need to see this doxycycline through and the retin a micro for at least a couple more months.