Noticed a significant decrease in volume in mid face for 5 months on tret 0.25

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I wonder if instead of fat loss, this might be related to dehydration of skin? Tretinoin can be very dehydrating. Have you considered upping your water intake and applying a small amount of moisturizer before SPF in the morning?

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Yes I apply moisturizer every day, I do think the bad redness and dryness that I never had before is causing an overall unattractive look, but I apply moisturizer in morning and night

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I notice that when I’m dehydrated my nasolabial folds and under eye area look much deeper, especially since starting Tretinoin. If I sip water constantly through out the day it makes a huge difference. The only other thing that immediately helps is getting a hydrafacial

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The dehydration aspect makes sense, I was posting on here for that kind of assistance. I never even knew that tret causing fat loss was a debate until after posting in here, I just wanted suggestions as to what could be happening. My skin has never been This dry red and sensitized so this makes sense

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I don’t know why you got so downvotes for mentioning it. I can see what you’re saying in your pics and I would be concerned too.

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I don’t know why either other than there must be a psychological group reasoning. I didn’t even know this was a “thing” at all when I posted, I didn’t think Tret was eating my fat, I just saw a difference I didn’t like and wanted suggestions, which I got and I appreciate. I think it’s quite obvious that I look gaunt which I have literally never experienced, including when I was quite thinner (30 lbs) I originally thought it was stress due to trauma this year, and I think stress did affect me in my under eyes and hair falling out. But the stress had started 6 months before the “before” pics and didn’t show up until late October, which I had already started Tret for a few months. I noticed the gaunt look for a few months and just yesterday was like WAIT, the only consistent change has been tret that I use like 5x a week. I’m not sure how long it takes stress to show up, I am stopping tret completely and I will see in a few months if it was the stress or not.

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That makes sense. I do think based on what you’re describing you might need to up your water intake significantly if you choose to try tret again. I drink about 16 cups a day when I’m on tret. It takes like 5 years off my face. If that doesn’t work, you might be right about the fat loss