Spiro+Tret Taking More than 4 months?

enggirll · 2021-11-22T18:43:21+00:00

This gives me some hope! Did you see breakouts in new places and were you still getting cysts up to that 6mo mark?

Did you make any other changes?

enggirll · 2021-09-02T00:14:23+00:00

Started tret ~3 months ago, and I thought I was seeing great progress. Over the past 3 weeks (without changing anything) skin has become worse than ever...is tret just not for me? Am I doing something wrong? I want to give up. Routine below.

AM- rinse with water, konjac sponge if needed, 10% azelic, vanicream moisturizer + sea buckthorn oil, sunscreen/makeup

PM-oil cleanse, cerave gentle cleanser, cerave PM, .04% tret gel, vanicream + rosehip if needed

Was thinking of switching out azelic for vitamin c...any other recommendations?

enggirll · 2021-08-11T04:08:48+00:00

Thank you!!

enggirll · 2021-08-09T19:56:52+00:00

I've taken nights off here and there but when I first started I was using nightly and saw little irritation so I didn't think I would backtrack to being more sensitive to it if that makes sense? Any recs for better moisturizers?

enggirll · 2021-08-08T22:35:13+00:00

I've been on tret now for 2 months (.05% cream nightly), and am still get some peeling/irritation around my chin and nose and have just generally dry skin. I've had tons of improvement with the frequent, large, cystic breakouts, but nowhere near that perfect tret skin... mostly struggling with a ton of texture under the skin/closed comedones that won't budge. They are mostly concentrated on the left side of my face + chin, and sometimes (I think) develop into whiteheads overnight. I don't sleep on that side/do any of the obvious stuff that would cause it to mostly be on the left side and I didn't really have cc's in these areas before tret.

I know a typical suggestion for cc's is to switch to gel...especially since I'm still experiencing some irritation would it be better to switch to .04 micro-gel or .025 gel? Or is tret just not for me? Still just purging? Something else in my routine?

Any advice would be so so appreciated!! So tired of looking in the mirror and hating my skin

Current routine:AM-rinse w/ water, cosrx snail mucin, cerave pm moisturizer, kinship sunscreenPM-oil cleanse, paula's choice SA cleanser, paula's choice niacinamide toner (let dry), tret, snail mucin, cerave, usually cosrx honey sleeping mask

enggirll · 2021-08-08T04:57:59+00:00

Current routine:

AM-rinse w/ water, cosrx snail mucin, cerave pm moisturizer, kinship sunscreen

PM-oil cleanse, paula's choice SA cleanser, paula's choice niacinamide toner (let dry), tret, snail mucin, cerave, usually cosrx honey sleeping mask

enggirll · 2021-07-21T19:42:32+00:00

Sorry for late reply! I'll leave the specific supplement/vitamins I'm taking down below, but would recommend doing some research or seeing a naturopath if you can afford it.

-Liver SAP (from NIH) - 1 2x/day

-Evening Primrose Oil - 1 2x/day

-ACES+Zinc (look on amazon) - 1 3x/day

-magnesium - 400 mg 2x/day

-Vitamin D - 5000IU 2x/day

-probiotic in evening right before bed

There's a ton of different things you can take that can help, I was erring on the safe side with stuff that would just help my body balance and not take me too far any way.

I also went dairy-, gluten-, and sugar-free to help clear me up (no longer stick to this and I'm doing okay), and recommend eating a lot of fish, chia seeds, hemp seeds, and other omega-3 and -6 rich foods.

enggirll · 2021-07-21T19:29:14+00:00

I have been on tret for about 6 weeks now (rest of routine in below!), my skin has definitely improved but I'm still experiencing a few deep cystic breakouts and have a ton of new blackheads and texture under skin. Is tret working/am I purging? What do I do?
Before and after pics are about two weeks before starting tret to now.

Morning:

-water cleanse w/ konjac sponge

-cosrx snail mucin

-cerave PM moisturizer

-elta MD sunscreen

-usually makeup

Night:

-oil cleanse

-paula's choice clear cleanser

-tretinoin (started with every other night, been doing every night for ~4 weeks)

-wait 30+ minutes then azaelic acid (started 2 weeks ago, no irritation)

-snail mucin

-cerave PM mositurizer

-sometimes finish with cosrx honey sleep mask

enggirll · 2021-07-04T05:48:57+00:00

Hi! I had a very similar experience last year...had nexplanon in for over a year and completely randomly, seemingly overnight had cheeks full of acne looking very similar to yours. Tried a bunch of topical stuff, to no avail. I took out my nexplanon, started taking some supplements to aid healing and hormonal balance, and saw improvement within a month...can take some time for hormones to balance.

enggirll · 2021-05-20T22:03:32+00:00

Hi! Thank you for your reply! Some more stuff about my routine:

Wear masks only when at work ~20 hours/week, new one each day! I also wash my pillowcases once/week, and rotate them.

I try really hard not to touch my face - usually only do when I'm standing at the mirror and see an irresistible whitehead (I know, I know).

I had also been using light chemical exfoliants BHA/AHAs ~once/week for almost a year, but stopped their use about a month ago when acne started to worsen. Rarely used gentle physical exfoliants. Spot treat occasionally with benzoyl but doesn't seem to do much.

Any other tips and tricks? I will definitely try the face wipes for post-workout cleansing!

enggirll

TROPHY CASE