Adult Acne and Proactive

[Anonymous]

Since I turned 30 (about 6 years ago) I have developed adult acne. It is worse some months depending on my cycle and how nuts I get. I cannot take birth control pills, so has anyone else used proactive and are you happy with the results or can you recommend another product?

I have dark complexion (Middle Eastern and western European) and oily skin.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Proactive worked miracles for me. I got acne in my early 20s (had great skin in my teens-- go figure), and struggled with it for years. No amount of face-washing, masks, astringents, etc made any difference. I tried the prescription stuff (retin-A, tetracycline) and they dried my skin out so much that it cracked. Then I had acne on top of cracked, flaking skin. Ouch.

Ordered Proactive in a weak moment, and within a couple weeks, my acne had cleared up 90%. Another month, and I looked like a grownup instead of a pimply teen. I stayed on it for a couple years, then stopped when I got pregnant. I have a handful of friend who have also used it, and I don't know anyone who was dissatisfied. I say go for it.

[Anonymous]

Same experience, almost exactly, as PP. Worked wonders for me and I still use it, many years later.

I know how annoying and difficult it can be to have acne as an adult--or any time--you could probaby try it for free and see what you think.

[Anonymous]

21:04 here: I meant also to say that when I stopped using it while pregnant, the acne did not recur. It's been a year and a half, and I have very few problems. The occasional zit, but nothing like before. Using Proactive for two years seems to have changed the chemistry of my skin over the long run.

[Anonymous]

Worked well for me too! Loved it. Then I found many of my towels turning orange as if they were bleached. turned out that the Proactive (or its remnants on my hands) were causing the discoloration. I had to throw away lots of towels until I found out that it was the proactive. After finding this out, I had to give up since I could not afford to be replacing towels constantly...

[Anonymous]

so THATs why my towels and some tshirts have become strangely discolored!!! i have many friends that swear by proactiv. dh used it for a while but i couldn't really tell a difference.

[Anonymous]

I changed to white towels, sheets and sleepwear to avoid this problem (w/another acne treatment, not Proactiv).

[Anonymous]

Proactive is just fine.

But you can get the same effect using other OTC products. One thing that makes Proactive effective and non-irritating is that it uses a benzo-peroxide formula of only 2.5% so that your skin doesn't become red in response (most OTC benzo products are 5-10% and too strong). Neutrogena makes a 2.5% benzo cream that is equivalent to Proactive's lotion. Then combine that with a salicylic acid toner and something like Oil of Olay (a non-comedogenic lotion with sunscreen) and you have the Proactive combo.

It's the benzo-peroxide that bleaches dyes - especially blue dye (which you can guess from the "peroxide" part of the name).

[Anonymous]

My sister used ProActive after accutane did not work. It worked miracles for her. Six years later , her skin is still clear. She doesn't use it anymore and has had no flare ups.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Since I turned 30 (about 6 years ago) I have developed adult acne. It is worse some months depending on my cycle and how nuts I get. I cannot take birth control pills, so has anyone else used proactive and are you happy with the results or can you recommend another product?

I have dark complexion (Middle Eastern and western European) and oily skin.

Thanks

Out of curiosity, why can't you take birth control pills?

[Anonymous]

I'm not the OP, but I can't take birth control pills either. They're just not worth the weight gain, horrible mood swings, total libido loss, and on top of all that, they actually made my acne worse.

[Anonymous]

If you smoke, have poor circulation and high blood pressure birth control pills may not be a good idea.

[Anonymous]

I tried Proactive for adult acne and sadly, it didnt work for me. BUT the good thing is that you can return it and get a full refund if that happens for you. So, no risk and no worries. I will say that the return was not the most pleasant (the proactive people try to sell sell sell different products, but you can just insist that you aren't interested until they get the point).

If it doesnt work, see a dermatologist as soon as possible. Eventually, I found a regime that works for me, but not after being completely miserable for about a year, while I stubbornly refused to believe that it was a problem I couldn't treat myself.

Good luck!!!

[Anonymous]

I had bad acne in my 20's also and birth control is actually what *caused* it (I'm convinced of this -- I only had the occasional zit prior to going on the pill. I am also convinced birth control made my hair fall out -- not all of it of course -- but I lost a lot of hair). I tried several different types too -- they were all a nightmare even the low estrogen ones. Antibiotics never worked either.

I never did try proactiv -- although I remember longingly watching the commercials but thinking it was probably a scam and not sure I could afford it -- wish there were message boards like this back then!

When I finally got health insurance in my late 20's I went on accutane for a few months and never had another problem. But I would definitely exhaust every option before you do that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Since I turned 30 (about 6 years ago) I have developed adult acne. It is worse some months depending on my cycle and how nuts I get. I cannot take birth control pills, so has anyone else used proactive and are you happy with the results or can you recommend another product?

I have dark complexion (Middle Eastern and western European) and oily skin.

Thanks

Out of curiosity, why can't you take birth control pills?

OP here, I cannot take birth control pills because during my pregnancy with number two, I had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot).