Hello everyone, I want to relate my Epiduo experience to you.
I was first prescribed Epiduo (apply at night by itself; no moisturizer) in late December 2012. I was 21 at the time. I'm now 22. I had pretty bad acne on my face (for four years), not to mention all the scars and discoloration (which I still have). I had also been prescribed an oral antibiotic to accompany Epiduo, but it caused an ulcerative colitis flareup and a yeast infection, so I had to stop taking it after a month. It didn't help anyway.
For the first six weeks I'd say the acne became far worse on the treatment. It was pretty awful. My face burned with the Epiduo cream on, and then when I washed the cream off in the morning my face burned even more, so I put moisturizer on in the morning under my makeup. My face was positively covered with acne, and I had heard about the "initial breakout phase" so I just tried to wait it out, but it lasted a lot longer for me. Also, my face was becoming crazily dry and leathery.
After some time (perhaps 6 weeks) the "initial breakout" was over and my face returned to the state it had been in before I began Epiduo, which was still pretty bad. I was hoping for better results after six weeks, but I recalled reading that you need to wait three months before any real results can be seen, so I kept waiting.
After four months I would have to say that the majority of those dreadful little whiteheads that covered my chin were gone and those huge pimples that covered my face were become less frequent, but they were still there nevertheless. -- Also, my face was very dry. I looked like I had aged several years with how dry my face was.
After five months on the cream (and I'm still on it) I still get pimples, not near as many, but of course, my face is still terribly dry. I hate it. I wasn't expecting a miracle cream, but I really had hoped that it would work better than it has.
Anyway, now that you know my situation I was wondering what I should do now? If I get off of Epiduo will my face become covered with acne again even though it has been five months? There definitely have been results. My face is much clearer than it had been before I began treatment. -- Do I have to stay on this cream forever?
Thanks!
Ellie
