Accutane alternatives

[ghisoverrated]

For those who are acne-prone (specifically hormonal), what medications, supplements, habits, etc. have worked for you? Has anyone tried using isotretinoin or tretinoin topical cream/gel instead of oral Accutane? I would like to avoid taking anything oral that may cause additional stress to my body on cycle. I already tried salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide creams, and they only help a little bit. My acne isn't too bad, but it flares up when blasting. Thanks.

 

[Ziath11]

Topical tretinoin is good for fighting acne but it doesn’t really help stop it in my experience. It’ll help current acne go away faster but it still kept popping up. You can try high dose vitamin A daily which worked wonders for me but takes around 90 days to start helping. @GYMnTONIC has some acne body wash on his site with good ingredients.

 

[ghisoverrated]

Topical tretinoin is good for fighting acne but it doesn’t really help stop it in my experience. It’ll help current acne go away faster but it still kept popping up. You can try high dose vitamin A daily which worked wonders for me but takes around 90 days to start helping. @GYMnTONIC has some acne body wash on his site with good ingredients.

So, u think the oral is stronger than the cream in that it eliminates future acne? Interesting how that works.. I mean its the same compound..,, which should be more advantageous if I applied topically I assumed since it has a more localized effect.. and less systemic

 

[KingoftheNorth14]

Topical tretinoin is good for fighting acne but it doesn’t really help stop it in my experience. It’ll help current acne go away faster but it still kept popping up. You can try high dose vitamin A daily which worked wonders for me but takes around 90 days to start helping. @GYMnTONIC has some acne body wash on his site with good ingredients.

Agree here! I have prescribed tretinoin and it’s not a preventative but more of a help to dry up acne. I’ve also used doxycycline and it didn’t do much cause it’s more used for bacterial acne and mine was like you say hormonal acne. I also use the medical prescription grade face washes as my wife is an esthetician so she is very helpful. I get it on my forehead kinda bad or at least continuously while using deca or npp. Using other compounds like test, primo, mast don’t have any impact on my acne tho? I love deca and npp but that’s the price I pay.

I haven’t used anything else and really don’t want to use accutane either so I’m interested to here in other products that have worked for others.

 

[ghisoverrated]

Agree here! I have prescribed tretinoin and it’s not a preventative but more of a help to dry up acne. I’ve also used doxycycline and it didn’t do much cause it’s more used for bacterial acne and mine was like you say hormonal acne. I also use the medical prescription grade face washes as my wife is an esthetician so she is very helpful. I get it on my forehead kinda bad or at least continuously while using deca or npp. Using other compounds like test, primo, mast don’t have any impact on my acne tho? I love deca and npp but that’s the price I pay.

I haven’t used anything else and really don’t want to use accutane either so I’m interested to here in other products that have worked for others.

What are the ingredients in the face washes? thats a shame tho I was hoping the tretinoin cream would eliminate my acne for good. Have you tried isotretinoin cream, supposedly that is stronger?

 

[Ziath11]

So, u think the oral is stronger than the cream in that it eliminates future acne? Interesting how that works.. I mean its the same compound..,, which should be more advantageous if I applied topically I assumed since it has a more localized effect.. and less systemic

The oral is strong and can have a lot of negative side effects internally. I dab a little of the topical on any acne that pops up and it goes away quickly. That’s on top of a regular skin care routine.

Agree here! I have prescribed tretinoin and it’s not a preventative but more of a help to dry up acne. I’ve also used doxycycline and it didn’t do much cause it’s more used for bacterial acne and mine was like you say hormonal acne. I also use the medical prescription grade face washes as my wife is an esthetician so she is very helpful. I get it on my forehead kinda bad or at least continuously while using deca or npp. Using other compounds like test, primo, mast don’t have any impact on my acne tho? I love deca and npp but that’s the price I pay.

I haven’t used anything else and really don’t want to use accutane either so I’m interested to here in other products that have worked for others.

Luckily I’m pretty blessed in that department. I’m running test E 750, and NPP 450 a week and have very little acne with my current skin care routine and vitamin A. I get stubborn acne on my traps that I treat with the topical tretinoin. However i don’t notice it helping stop new acne, it just gets rid of acne already present. I’m sure if I rubbed it all over my body and face it would prevent new ones but I can’t be bothered with that and it would get expensive.

 

[ghisoverrated]

The oral is strong and can have a lot of negative side effects internally. I dab a little of the topical on any acne that pops up and it goes away quickly. That’s on top of a regular skin care routine.

Luckily I’m pretty blessed in that department. I’m running test E 750, and NPP 450 a week and have very little acne with my current skin care routine and vitamin A. I get stubborn acne on my traps that I treat with the topical tretinoin. However i don’t notice it helping stop new acne, it just gets rid of acne already present. I’m sure if I rubbed it all over my body and face it would prevent new ones but I can’t be bothered with that and it would get expensive.

Nice have you noticed any side effects with the cream? My acne isn't too bad, mostly back and traps too.

 

[Ziath11]

Nice have you noticed any side effects with the cream? My acne isn't too bad, mostly back and traps too.

Just dry skin specifically in the area i apply the cream too. Sometimes I’ll get a little trigger happy for lack of a better phase and apply to much of the cream to a pimple. The pimple will shrink but also have dry dead skin around it. If you do decide to apply it to your entire region then you may need to moisturize that area as well.

 

[cshmoney]

I’ve tried the topical creams and like I think it was mentioned above, it didn’t really do much for me in terms of reducing acne, just made it go away faster. I ultimately took accutane but before that Epiduo worked really well for me for actually clearing my skin and preventing new pimples

 

[ghisoverrated]

Just dry skin specifically in the area i apply the cream too. Sometimes I’ll get a little trigger happy for lack of a better phase and apply to much of the cream to a pimple. The pimple will shrink but also have dry dead skin around it. If you do decide to apply it to your entire region then you may need to moisturize that area as well.

got ya.. do u notice any negative interactions with topical cream? like for instance, do u need to avoid other lotions, washes, etc.. or stay out of the sun?

 

[ghisoverrated]

I’ve tried the topical creams and like I think it was mentioned above, it didn’t really do much for me in terms of reducing acne, just made it go away faster. I ultimately took accutane but before that Epiduo worked really well for me for actually clearing my skin and preventing new pimples

even if u applied the cream everyday, new pimples kept forming?

 

[Ziath11]

got ya.. do u notice any negative interactions with topical cream? like for instance, do u need to avoid other lotions, washes, etc.. or stay out of the sun?

My girlfriend works and skincare and she typed this up for you since she knows better than I do.
while on topical cream for acne you cannot use anything else with acids in it. For instance glycolic acid, lactic acid, retinol, or salicylic acid. If you do it needs to be in small amounts, nothing too strong. Like while using topical cream dont exfoliate more because the cream is already doing that. And while in the sun u MUST wear spf and reapply every 2 hours if in direct Sunlight. Because this cream makes your skin insanely sensitive to sun and u will burn and make it worse.

 

[ghisoverrated]

My girlfriend works and skincare and she typed this up for you since she knows better than I do.
while on topical cream for acne you cannot use anything else with acids in it. For instance glycolic acid, lactic acid, retinol, or salicylic acid. If you do it needs to be in small amounts, nothing too strong. Like while using topical cream dont exfoliate more because the cream is already doing that. And while in the sun u MUST wear spf and reapply every 2 hours if in direct Sunlight. Because this cream makes your skin insanely sensitive to sun and u will burn and make it worse.

thanks! what would happen if I were to use acids simultaneously?

 

[Ziath11]

thanks! what would happen if I were to use acids simultaneously?

From the mrs:
Can cause redness, irritation, over-exfoliation, dryness, pealing. Start with the tretinoin and go from there. No need to overdo it.