For those who use prescribed acne medicine

[marroncream]

i'm going to the derm this week and am wondering what type of acne medicines are out there...the only ones i've heard of is differin gel, retin A, and accutane....can you guys tell me a bit about it? like what are the side effects and what are the differences between them...also whichever one you used how long did it take for it to see results? is there always a purging stage?? how long does that last?? also are there other common ones i've never heard of?? i would like to ask my derm about it just in case she's not a very good derm and she doesn't bring it up...and one last question...how expensive do these meds get?? i'm on summer break now so i'm not sure if my parent's insurance still covers me since i'm not a student at the moment...thanks a bunch guys!!

[marroncream]

i'm going to the derm this week and am wondering what type of acne medicines are out there...the only ones i've heard of is differin gel, retin A, and accutane....can you guys tell me a bit about it? like what are the side effects and what are the differences between them...also whichever one you used how long did it take for it to see results? is there always a purging stage?? how long does that last?? also are there other common ones i've never heard of?? i would like to ask my derm about it just in case she's not a very good derm and she doesn't bring it up...and one last question...how expensive do these meds get?? i'm on summer break now so i'm not sure if my parent's insurance still covers me since i'm not a student at the moment...thanks a bunch guys!!

[FiestyFemme]

I've been on so many meds from my derm that I can't remember them all.

I used Differin for a long time - it worked well, cleared me up and no nasty drying out of my skin. However after awhile it stopped working, but that seems to happen with a lot of prescription meds for me.

I couldn't use Retin-A or Retin-A Micro because they both dried my skin out so horribly that it was bright red and peeling. It hurt so badly that I had to quit using them - my skin was so scaly!!

I'm currently on a topical called Finacea. It's a 15% azaleic acid gel cream, and it works great!! It's much like Differin in that it doesn't dry me out and clears me up, yet it doesn't stop working like the Differin did. This is my second time using it, and I'm very pleased with the results. I'm also on an oral antibiotic called Bactrim. It's helped me tremendously - I'm not getting huge red bumps that scar anymore. Both of these have cleared me from cystic acne, as well as mild acne.

If you've never been to a derm, I highly doubt he/she will put you on Accutane without trying other meds first. Accutane is sort of like a last resort. I'm sure they'll want to try topicals first, and then maybe add an oral antibiotic if the topicals won't completely clear you up alone.

I have had a mega-purging stage with the Finacea - I think it lasted for about 8 weeks. It was horrid, but I stuck it out. Since being on Bactrim for a month, my skin is looking 100% better, and I had no purging from that. I think it just depends because the first time I used Finacea, I didn't have a purging stage. So it's hard to say if you will or not...

I have no clue how much my meds run - my insurance covers them, so I just pay the co-pay.

Anyways, good luck at the derm!!

[Luckygirl12]

I've never used those, but I'm on something called Clindamycin right now. I don't think it does anything. I haven't really noticed any difference whatsoever, so I don't recommend it. It's just a liquid you put on twice a day.

[Peaches715]

Benzamycin! It's the best! I've been on it since I was 13 (I am 20 now) I was only off it 6 months to go on accutane for my bacne. Great stuff! http://community.icompact.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_biggrin.gif

[Carly]

I've always had great luck with Differin Gel. It's not extremely drying like Retin-A, and it doesn't take very long for your skin to adjust. I've never experienced any purging. Actually I found that Differin started clearing my skin up right away. I still use this every night (sometimes I skip a night if my skin is dry), and I use Cleocin-T (Clindamycin) lotion as a moisturizer in the daytime. These two together do wonders for my skin. I am not sure how much these cost without insurance. I'd assume the Differin is probably over $100 because with my insurance I pay $40. Well I HTH. Good luck at the derm! http://community.icompact.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif