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13 minutes ago, sararey said:Hey, Just wanted to let you know that I saw my Allergist/Immunologist today for the heinous facial flushing/burning/swelling, etc., etc. My face apparently can't even tolerate daylightanymore.Guess what? He could see my facial texture from across the room! I asked him if he could take a closer look at it and he said that he could see it from where he was! It was still swollen from my reaction to sunlight at work yesterday, so it did/does look really bad. FML. It does look better (but not good!)when my face is calm, but when it flushes?O.M.G. He knew what it was without me saying anything, he called it Orange Peel Texture. That it is what happens when skin is swollen and inflamed. He didn't say if he thought it would get better and I didn't ask. I am not sure that I really want to know. Right now, my focus is on stopping the progression of this flushing. If it improves by the time I go for a follow-up, in 3 weeks, I will ask more about the texture. I am starting a 3rd Antihistamine (Doxepin), I am already taking 2 others.I will let you know how it goes...
Oh shit, really?!
(Sorry for all my bad language on here btw, I almost never swear in-person lol...but this nightmare warrants it!!)
Have you seen this allergist before or was this the first time?
I can't believe he actually called it orange peel texture! And recognized it from far away..he must be familiar with it then.
Ugh god...yea I understand not asking...it's like a Schrodinger's Cat situation but I would have probably just involuntarily yelled "AND??! does it go away???"
definitely let me know what he says next time and how the meds go, thx for the update
did he say what the specific allergy was? Or was it the sun that he said?
I actually have flushing and burning right NOW because I got nervous earlier(eyelids scaring me)...it's so weird because I never so much as blushed before this damn stuff touched my face...I could have had a panic attack and nervous breakdowns and sobbed and been a fit of nerves and my face would still be stone, no burning, none of this crap...and it's not good becausE I feel like it is further burning the skin.
I saw him, the Allergist,about a year ago, before all ofthis madness started, I have been seeing his PA since. Swear to god, the PA's that I have seen since this nightmare started have done nothing but worsen my situation.
I know, when he said the words "Orange Peel Texture" I think I almost passed out, couldn't believe it. Because usually it is Doctors and Derms and PA's looking at my face all squinty-eyed, like they can hardly see what I am talking about. AND HE KNEW WHAT IT WAS FROM ACROSS THE ROOM. Maybe if he hadn't stunned me into silence, if I had known that he would recognize it, I would have asked more questions... Next time I will.
In terms of a diagnosis, probably Mast Cell Activation Disorder. Sunlight can be a trigger.This has been known about me for quite some time, history of head-to-toe hives frequently, allergic/anaphylactic reactions, cold urticaria, etc. all well controlledby antihistamines. They think that the recent, sudden bouts flushing (and nausea)is a part of the disease.Just to note: ALL of my Doctors/Derms knew about this before starting Retin A and they said that it would be fine. But who knows, maybe this would have happened anyway, evenif I didn't have this underlying problem. Obviously itCAN happen, because so many other peoplehave been affected too...
And who knows if the flushing is the disease or the Retin A? (My flushing didn't start until months after I stopped Retin A, but I did have burning sensations.) Could the nausea be due to extreme emotional distress? I don't even know. I will say though that when I flush, my ears flush too and of course I never applied Retin A to my ears, and I am more allergically reactive in general. Again, stress? I'm not sure.
Oh no, I am so sorry about your flushing, burning and eyelids. Gosh, when does this domino-effect stop???I agree, I think thatthe flushingcontributes to the damage.
And BTW, Thank you so much for creating this threadand telling your experience, it is inspiring. And the pictures are so important! People can read about it, but when they SEE the pictures, it has a totally different impact. I will keep posting too because I think that it is important for people to know of this risk, even though this is not listed as a side effect, it is devastating. If I had seen a post like this when I was researching Retin A, I never would have used it.
On 2/7/2017 at 1:27 PM, BrokenPorEcelain said:How long did you use the tazorac for? I first used it for 1.5-2 months (starting July 2014) then gave up because my acne/oil wasn't getting any better. I saw the derm (maybe in December) and she said, you have to give it time (at least 3-4 months) and keep using it... so I used it off and on for most of 2015 with my skin getting progressivly (but slowly) worse, but ya know I read "RETIN A IS A MIRACLE CREAM, and THAT CAN REGENERATE COLLAGEN. FADE SCARS, BLAH BLAH BLAH" thats why i kept on. Well my skin really took a turn the week of thanksgiving 2015 where it started to really burn with anything i put on it, was breaking out A LOT and felt super dry and I thought to my self "oh this is what people talk about when their skin gets dry in the winter" Well i went to see my derm in Jan 2016 and told her, look the texture of my skin has gotten worse and it is getting so crepey NOW! And she must have noticed something was wrong because she said STOP USING TAZORAC, dont ever use it, it must be too strong for you. And she prescribed Atralin, and said, it isn't as harsh and has hyaluronic acid (and we all know the magic sentence "Hyaluronic Acid can hold 1000x its weight in water, its AMAZING for skin" please....) and she said you have lost your moisture barrier, just use cera-ve PM and it should come back in a month. It never did and when winter was gone (i live in florida, not much winter) my skin was just as dry (DEHYDRATED)Do you still use the "less harsh" retinoid? I just stopped it recently.. I finally gave in to the fact that these retinoids are not miracle products for everyone, and it was the retin-a products that did this and they wern't going to make it better. i used it not much at first, off and on until July, but in July started using it every other day consistently for at least 4 months (oct) then every now and then for nov and dec. my skin continued to not get any better and worsened.And what have you been doing all this time for your skin if you don't mind me asking?? So as of Jan 2016, i religiously used cera-ve products for at least 6 months.. (o and I bought a humidifier in Jan also) still my skin continued to burn and get worse... especially in April for some reason, the crinkles were starting to REALLY show up and get bad QUICKLY over a 4 month period. So of course I tried 4-5 other moisturizers and 4-5 different cleansers. expensive ones, cheap ones, spent lots of money for absolutely no improvement. I tried the oil cleansing method and still do it from time to time when my skin just hurts bc its so DEHYDRATED (I think this horrid crinkle/wrinkles happened to my skin largely bc i lost the moisture barrier btw, there was nothing to keep bad things out and keep my skin hydrated, no hydration=collegen dies/elasticity) I had hope for a while (well from Jan 2016-July 2016) bc after washing my face and moisturzing the lines would disappear so it was def dehydrated skin, but after my skin being dehydrated for so long it, my collagen depleted and the lines turned permanent after august (lines never disappear now after washing) and have worsened.What the hell does your derm have to say for themselves and have you been to any other doctor?? my derm just says "o its just natural aging!" I have been to a diff derm (nov 2016) for "rosacea on my neck/chest" that my normal derm said it was "eczema" and gave me steriod creams over a 1.5 year period and it also progressively got worse (from a red spot the size of a silver dollar to now my whole neck and chest, steroids make rosacea worse with permanent damage....THANKS DERM!) , but I told the new derm my skin is so dry/blah blah and he immediately also said, yeah you lost your "lubrication barrier" (i didn't even mention that to him) and he said that it is weird, and that he has never seen anyone under the age of 35 lose it....What does your family say?? I have avoided all but my immediate family since this has happened. But my mother just wants me to go to a holistic doctor, but I told her there is nothing they are going to tell me that I dont know or cant find on the internet. I will no longer go to the dermatologist. they RUINED my skin....I keep going back and fourth as to whether to go to an esthetician where my cosmetic surgeon is at. I just started getting botox to try to avoid forming more lines/crinkles, I started off light with just the "11s" as they started forming last summer, and crows feet, but feel as though i need to do my whole forehead so I dont cause it to crinkle so mucheven thought about cutting some bangs, but eh, prob not lol.
I have come to the conclusion that it is NOT going to get better, it is what it is. And that crepey skin is the HARDEST and almost impossible skin problem to get rid of. My only thing now is I just want my skin to just feel (not look, I know that aint happening) normal. It always feels dry and hurts (forhead burns mostly. EVERYDAY of my life) unless I rub oil on it, which I dont do often.
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I would like to let everyone who is following this thread know that I do not yet have an update on my skin and am still in the midst of getting my next appointment with the new doctor I spoke of....and I appreciate everyone here who has contributed to the discussion and answered my questions...I plan on replying further very soon.
......
I'm so so so saddened by this news. I think it's unbelievable the kind of distress some people are living and facing everyday, maybe only as a consequence of a stupid wrong decision in their life, following the doctors advice. May Sara rest in peace. Please stay strong everybody
I'm sorry this happened to you and others. I went through a similar ordeal. I woke up one day and was very conscious of my skin, particularly open pores and a general tired appearance. If anything caused them it was probably exfoliation but at the time I wasn't really bothered as much as I was by acne, which I believed would scar me horribly and had already caused my face to collapse. I thought my mouth had folded in on itself and that my cheeks had lost all definition. I realised that that had not happened, but my obsession with my skin kept me inspecting it and feeling sick at every defect that I discovered. I think much of what I saw was cumulative, and did not appear spontaneously. I believed in my heart that I would never be the same, and that conviction seems to have rewired my brain such that I treated my skin as belonging to somebody else and incapable of returning to form, whatever that was. I really sympathise with your commitment to fixing your skin and not acquiescing to to mediocrity. I think you are brave in a way, but also foolish. You likely have researched enough to know that you are experiencing something for which medicine is not prepared, yet you insist on declaring your misery on this website as if something will happen. I assume you look in the mirror all the time, which I understand, but I would do you disservice not to tell you that you are wasting your life and reinforcing an unhealthy thought pattern. It almost seems redolent of my own psychotic episode. I don't know how much this interferes with education or work but clearly this has obliterated your social life. In any event you need to wait, either for medicine to catch up to your ailment or for your problem to correct itself. I think you are right that your life revolves around your skin - I don't doubt that. You must change your behaviour so that your brain learns a different way of being happy. I recommend that you stop looking in the mirror, look after your skin as minimalistically as possible, and channel your energy into something that isn't so fickle and which yields reward in a fair way. You don't have to worry about your skin, or be guilty that you ruined your own life. Please try and get over this , because the more you think about it the more real the problem becomes. I don't deny that something bizarre did physically happen to you, but since you are young you have time to live life differently. In the meantime your problem will resolve, I promise, either by becoming insignificant to you or by actually being fixable. You have to become capable of waiting and then wait, and obsessing over this, looking in the mirror, researching online, and the withdrawing is going to make that really hard. I know you hate this but its all I got.
12 hours ago, deutschegrammophon said:I'm sorry this happened to you and others. I went through a similar ordeal. I woke up one day and was very conscious of my skin, particularly open pores and a general tired appearance. If anything caused them it was probably exfoliation but at the time I wasn't really bothered as much as I was by acne, which I believed would scar me horribly and had already caused my face to collapse. I thought my mouth had folded in on itself and that my cheeks had lost all definition. I realised that that had not happened, but my obsession with my skin kept me inspecting it and feeling sick at every defect that I discovered. I think much of what I saw was cumulative, and did not appear spontaneously. I believed in my heart that I would never be the same, and that conviction seems to have rewired my brain such that I treated my skin as belonging to somebody else and incapable of returning to form, whatever that was. I really sympathise with your commitment to fixing your skin and not acquiescing to to mediocrity. I think you are brave in a way, but also foolish. You likely have researched enough to know that you are experiencing something for which medicine is not prepared, yet you insist on declaring your misery on this website as if something will happen. I assume you look in the mirror all the time, which I understand, but I would do you disservice not to tell you that you are wasting your life and reinforcing an unhealthy thought pattern. It almost seems redolent of my own psychotic episode. I don't know how much this interferes with education or work but clearly this has obliterated your social life. In any event you need to wait, either for medicine to catch up to your ailment or for your problem to correct itself. I think you are right that your life revolves around your skin - I don't doubt that. You must change your behaviour so that your brain learns a different way of being happy. I recommend that you stop looking in the mirror, look after your skin as minimalistically as possible, and channel your energy into something that isn't so fickle and which yields reward in a fair way. You don't have to worry about your skin, or be guilty that you ruined your own life. Please try and get over this , because the more you think about it the more real the problem becomes. I don't deny that something bizarre did physically happen to you, but since you are young you have time to live life differently. In the meantime your problem will resolve, I promise, either by becoming insignificant to you or by actually being fixable. You have to become capable of waiting and then wait, and obsessing over this, looking in the mirror, researching online, and the withdrawing is going to make that really hard. I know you hate this but its all I got.
Hey...I want to thank you, first, for your sympathy(?) and compliments(?) and I am VERY sorry for your own troubles....but at the same time, I can't really get a grasp on whether you are telling me to get over it -or rather- that any of us here have a right to feel the way we feel.
After and before of same exact area...just a friendly reminder of what this stuff can do 
(even after only two uses and nearly 6 months post stopping it)
[pics removed/please private message to request]
(Stupidest part is that the before is even more high def than the after...yet still looks a million times better)
What I should have said is that if you were to go to a psychiatrist she/he would probably tell you that the intensity of your obsession is unhealthy and probably evidence of some thought disorder, especially given how much it has impacted your life. As apparent your loss of skin smoothness it is your obsession that is debilitating you, not the cosmetic problem. You also seem to resist distinct parts of my advice and refuse to see my overall point: there's nothing you can do to restore your skin, and you know it, so you had might as well try to forget about it. Naturally since you spend every hour thinking about how ruined you are this seems impossible and I appreciate that. As for me I had pretty perfect skin after taking roaccutane in high school. The stress of doing a law degree caused me to break out in a severity I refused to fully acknowledge until I experienced many personal defeats and my self esteem predisposed me to scrutiny of my skin. As I write this I have some scars but truthfully I feel attractive a lot of the time, and I got here by talking to a psychiatrist and a psychologist, not by ruminating on my flaws. If I do that it's hard to see the big picture, or if I am to come on these forums and go through the scar treatments page I revive my feelings of disfigurement. My face didn't collapse but I was so convinced that it had that when I looked in the mirror from then on I saw a stranger and that didn't resolve until I put my energy into something else, while in the meantime my skin seems to have improved. I don't know if you had a psychotic episode, and I apologise for frightening you or appearing to project my own experience onto yours, as well as suggesting that your problem is not viscerally real. I really shouldn't give you this kind of advice on here but I encourage you to seek out medical advice alternative to dermatology or plastic surgery since those avenues are dissapointing to you. What you want is to feel better, so consider that when you are happy you are happy - it's non-negotiable at that point. You don't have to give up on your skin, but please don't let it hurt you so much or dedicate to it so much energy.
2 hours ago, deutschegrammophon said:What I should have said is that if you were to go to a psychiatrist she/he would probably tell you that the intensity of your obsession is unhealthy and probably evidence of some thought disorder, especially given how much it has impacted your life. As apparent your loss of skin smoothness it is your obsession that is debilitating you, not the cosmetic problem. You also seem to resist distinct parts of my advice and refuse to see my overall point: there's nothing you can do to restore your skin, and you know it, so you had might as well try to forget about it. Naturally since you spend every hour thinking about how ruined you are this seems impossible and I appreciate that. As for me I had pretty perfect skin after taking roaccutane in high school. The stress of doing a law degree caused me to break out in a severity I refused to fully acknowledge until I experienced many personal defeats and my self esteem predisposed me to scrutiny of my skin. As I write this I have some scars but truthfully I feel attractive a lot of the time, and I got here by talking to a psychiatrist and a psychologist, not by ruminating on my flaws. If I do that it's hard to see the big picture, or if I am to come on these forums and go through the scar treatments page I revive my feelings of disfigurement. My face didn't collapse but I was so convinced that it had that when I looked in the mirror from then on I saw a stranger and that didn't resolve until I put my energy into something else, while in the meantime my skin seems to have improved. I don't know if you had a psychotic episode, and I apologise for frightening you or appearing to project my own experience onto yours, as well as suggesting that your problem is not viscerally real. I really shouldn't give you this kind of advice on here but I encourage you to seek out medical advice alternative to dermatology or plastic surgery since those avenues are dissapointing to you. What you want is to feel better, so consider that when you are happy you are happy - it's non-negotiable at that point. You don't have to give up on your skin, but please don't let it hurt you so much or dedicate to it so much energy.
What I want is not to simply "feel better". What I want is to have my skin back to normal.
I'd rather be miserable with great skin than miserable without it.
(Not because of any fault ofmy own or any thought inside my head, besides the reasonable ones that some options they give me could make my situation even worse.)
(Rhetorical question)
I am sorry that I upset you. I hope you get what you want. I actually agree that if this hadn't happened to you you would not feel this way. Sometimes as I go to sleep thinking "if I could have three wishes my first would be to have been born with an immunity to all damage, defects, deterioration, and disease". I've never really felt I could fix my skin problems so maybe that's why I seem a little obtuse to you. It's great that you are optimistic about your skin; I just misunderstood you and thought that you weren't and advised you based on that. So anyway good luck. You can ignore everything I said; it was unfair and clearly designed for somebody else.
4 hours ago, deutschegrammophon said:I am sorry that I upset you. I hope you get what you want. I actually agree that if this hadn't happened to you you would not feel this way. Sometimes as I go to sleep thinking "if I could have three wishes my first would be to have been born with an immunity to all damage, defects, deterioration, and disease". I've never really felt I could fix my skin problems so maybe that's why I seem a little obtuse to you. It's great that you are optimistic about your skin; I just misunderstood you and thought that you weren't and advised you based on that. So anyway good luck. You can ignore everything I said; it was unfair and clearly designed for somebody else.
Okay..well...I appreciate that much. Thanks.
And I'm sorry that you've had trouble trying to fix your own skin..I hope things continue to improve for you.
Good luck to you as well.
I don't think anyone should have to deal with these types of problems..
13 hours ago, Coffee32987528935 said:This entire thread is really bizarre.
Well this whole situation is "bizarre", quite honestly...I've probably used that term about ten times myself throughout this entire thread...and made a couple references to feeling I had entered the "Twilight Zone" to boot...I wish it was just a normal acne thread I had been forced to come here to make..I really do...would have probably been on accutane again and off on my merry way by now if that were the case
I called the 4th derm yesterday btw and he should have sent the referral letter..his receptionist said she would get back to me if there were any problems...I feel like I'm going to call again to be sure tho..I will also be making appointments with a rheumatologist and endocrinologist which are probably long over due...just ruling things out
ive been out of my cephalexin for almost a week now btw, and I'm breaking out more...sore like pimples and a few cysts..plus all the little weird acne that's constant as a result of the compromised skin..I've tried to call my old derm(who prescribed it) but their office will
literally never pick up...I'm going to have to go through the pharmacy at this point as the refill is authorization only...
also apologies to the people who have messaged me and I've not gotten back too...I will soon.,.today in particular has been an awful day...it's seems like they all are tho, really
1 hour ago, Runi_Runi said:14 hours ago, Coffee32987528935 said:This entire thread is really bizarre.
Truly
Lol did you just join just so could say that..? your post is exactly one hour ago and so is your join date?
29 minutes ago, BrokenPorEcelain said:I called the 4th derm yesterday btw and he should have sent the referral letter..his receptionist said she would get back to me if there were any problems...I feel like I'm going to call again to be sure tho..I will also be making appointments with a rheumatologist and endocrinologist which are probably long over due...just ruling things out
ive been out of my cephalexin for almost a week now btw, and I'm breaking out more...sore like pimples and a few cysts..plus all the little weird acne that's constant as a result of the compromised skin..I've tried to call my old derm(who prescribed it) but their office will
literally never pick up...I'm going to have to go through the pharmacy at this point as the refill is authorization only...
also apologies to the people who have messaged me and I've not gotten back too...I will soon.,.today in particular has been an awful day...it's seems like they all are tho, really Lol did you just join just so could say that..? your post is exactly one hour ago and so is your join date?
I created this account to review a list of non US products not reviewed yet, and have been reading through random threads. That was my first comment. Truly.
50 minutes ago, Runi_Runi said:1 hour ago, BrokenPorEcelain said:I called the 4th derm yesterday btw and he should have sent the referral letter..his receptionist said she would get back to me if there were any problems...I feel like I'm going to call again to be sure tho..I will also be making appointments with a rheumatologist and endocrinologist which are probably long over due...just ruling things out
ive been out of my cephalexin for almost a week now btw, and I'm breaking out more...sore like pimples and a few cysts..plus all the little weird acne that's constant as a result of the compromised skin..I've tried to call my old derm(who prescribed it) but their office will
literally never pick up...I'm going to have to go through the pharmacy at this point as the refill is authorization only...
also apologies to the people who have messaged me and I've not gotten back too...I will soon.,.today in particular has been an awful day...it's seems like they all are tho, really Lol did you just join just so could say that..? your post is exactly one hour ago and so is your join date?I created this account to review a list of non US products not reviewed yet, and have been reading through random threads. That was my first comment. Truly.
Okay...I just thought it was odd, I wasn't really being 100% serious either...so no worries..,thanks for contributing to the review section, i think that's good that you are reviewing things that others haven't yet!
15 minutes ago, Runi_Runi said:What are you expecting from another dermatologist? Jw. Seems like most of them have the same tricks up their sleeve. I feel like they'll ed up just offering laser, seems to be their go to. Have you read anything about vitamin a causing fat/collagen loss? Your forehead looks like mine did when I suddenly lost 10 pounds in 1 month in August. I got so thin that you could see the veins in my forehead when I smiled. I'm also in my late 20s though, no wrinkles but my skin texture is a bit dryer than early 20s. Your face loses fat in your late 20s so you can experience skin changes. Anyway, the fat loss made my pores look bigger + my skin was dehydrated. I didn't think I looked bad though, and my partner didn't notice so I was whatever about it. I switched up my skincare and gained the weight back and it looks a lot better. Anyway, I read a bunch of reviews of people saying that retin a caused the fat and/or collagen in their face to dissipate. Maybe this is a factor in your textural issues? Also scarred pores/acne scars become more visible with fat/collagen loss, so maybe that's what your experiencing and not scars appearing out of nowhere! That'd be much scarier, in my opinion.
Well...Basically I'm trying to see if any professional has ever seen this or is familiar with it,
So that they can tell me what I could do and what other patients they have had done.
I figure, SOMEONE out there has to have seen this before and dealt with this in their office (or rather, is willing to admit to it).
Perhaps I would MOST like to hear "yes I have seen this before, yes this will go away".
But really I just want solid answers to what's even going on.
So that I can decide what to do or how to move forward. (I'm hoping it's just a time thing and that perhaps a year from now, things will be back to normal...I've heard of a couple people who 'supposedly' had the same reaction have it take anywhere from 8-18 months to resolve...but I can't know for sure)
I actually haven't been suggested laser yet...and if I am, I ofcourse will not do it.
You're ABSOLUTELY right tho..most people who end up with this reaction ARE suggested harsh treatments that are known to give the same exact damage themselves.
And I was actually suggested microderm and MORE retinoid by the same derm who took the tazorac sample away from me after my reaction and threw it in the trash...the same derm who told me this would all go away and that I just made a stupid mistake...she completely flipped on me with my consecutive appointment with her..which just stunned me.
All I could do was basically look at her in horror and confusion and refuse both treatments.
My skin can't even handle a daily washing with water...so how she thought it could handle more retin a and even microderm is BEYOND me.
I'm only 23 and I have never seen anyone remotely near my age group with this type of skin...unless they were someone online who had been damaged....in fact, I've seen 80 year olds with far better skin texture (they do have wrinkles ofcourse tho)...and this happened literally OVERNIGHT so it wasn't a gradual process of collagen loss or fat loss.
(I've also not lost weight recently and actually NEED to lose a lot so that'd be pretty bad if that made it worse...)
If you see my other set of before pictures on the second or third page, one is taken even just a few days before this happened..and there's no sign of anything wrong.
I had no scarred pores or anything.
The only thing I had was a small scar/mark on my nose that isn't even always visible.
And a little build up and a few pimples that I was trying the tazorac for....from me not keeping up with washing my face for months.
And I've never even had acne all over my entire face or even in the places that the deeper indentations are.
I've only had isolated cysts that I had to deal with about 4-5 years ago.
(But to answer your question outright..
Yes, I have read about some people saying they had collagen and fat loss after using retin a...but I didn't really want to believe that that was actually the case.
I figured what they were seeing was just an optical illusion of the outer skin looking so mangled and dehydrated, plus discoloration causing shadows...but now, looking at my face, especially my eye area, I realize that something is a little bit more deep than just the top layer of skin...I think this is due to the prolonged inflammation...I believe it's damaging my tissues.
The question is how to stop it and how to heal.)
This definitely isn't as simple as just pure Aging... Not by any "natural" means anyhow.
(Tho it does mimic the signs of aging).
And even if it was, that would still be highly abnormal for it to show up in this way, to this degree.
That would mean that there was something seriously wrong with me, internally, for me to not bounce back or heal from this.
Which actuAlly...I will be testing for soon, just incase.
This is all definitely a direct result of the tazorac...and I believe I just had too fine of skin to ever use something this powerful, topically.
I read somewhere-after this happened-that a lot of dermatologists won't even prescribe it to people with what used to be my skin type.
(Aka very pale, very fine textured skin, "invisible" pores")...all news to me.
My issue isn't seeing veins through the skin or anything...that doesn't bother me...(unless they were bulging out or something)...I've always had skin on the thin side(another reason I shouldn't have been given samples of tazorac), plus I'm usually very pale(now my skin is a diffuse reddish yellow) But my skin was still smooth and taught/strong before this happened. Not crepey or anything.
Now it's a mess and fragile as heck.
Yes, I think dehydration is a factor...I just can't seem to get my skin hydrated tho.
And I would think even if you could lose an incredible amount of collagen or elastin so quickly...that I am young enough for it to regenerate...especially by NOW, 6 months later.
So the problem may be that it's not regenerating or something is stopping the healing process...and the longer my skin is inflamed/dehydrated and basically an "open wound", the more damage that can occur and the more bacteria and such that can have a field day on my face.
I believe, as nikgurl suggested, that my moisture/lipid barrier is also obliterated and it just isn't repairing for some reason.
And as moomoocow suggested to me awhile ago, it could be a somewhat deep tissue burn that has instigated chronic inflammation.
In some lighting my skin does look like burn victim skin..there are even shallow areas where it looks eaten by acid...and my face did burn quite horrifically after my second use of this cream to the point that I had to stay in bed to sleep off the pain..I still get burning now..but not to the extreme degree I got in the beginning.
It was worse than a sunburn and lasted a whole lot longer, yet I never even hardly peeled...I think that's what I was waiting for at the beginning ...I figured with that degree of burning, I should have shed a lot of skin..but I didn't..which I think was a bad sign.
I'm glad you are doing better and that you didn't think it looked bad...but I'm positive we aren't dealing with the same thing and my skin and face are Unrecognizable to me now, I absolutely have to get everything back to the way it was or its game over.
This is just so ridiculous in my eyes, that it could happen so quickly from a stupid "miracle" cream.
Such a seemingly harmless mistake...to cause this type of damage, just baffles me.
When this first happened, I did not think it would last even into the next day, or at most a Week...
Hm, well hydrated skin looks plump and tight. It seems like the extreme dehydration and and possible collagen loss are culprits. Do you take any vitamins and have you looked up any barrier repair creams? It takes a long time for stripped and damage barrier repair, especially on its own without helpful serums or creams. Once your barrier heals and your skin can handle more products, you can work on the pores size and collagen loss. Though I would say your pores are still pretty tiny! Skin reacts in strange ways, and our facial skin is very unique.
1 hour ago, Runi_Runi said:Hm, well hydrated skin looks plump and tight. It seems like the extreme dehydration and and possible collagen loss are culprits. Do you take any vitamins and have you looked up any barrier repair creams? It takes a long time for stripped and damage barrier repair, especially on its own without helpful serums or creams. Once your barrier heals and your skin can handle more products, you can work on the pores size and collagen loss. Though I would say your pores are still pretty tiny! Skin reacts in strange ways, and our facial skin is very unique.
Thanks for trying to help..I've kinda been through so many conversations with people by now tho about this that I'm almost a lost cause...i will probably have to just find things out on my own and continue to update...unless people come along who have actually had this exact issue and healed from it...I have to take all advice with a big fat bucket of salt
1 hour ago, BrokenPorEcelain said:Well I think it's more of a visibility issue as far as pores go, I don't know if they physically enlarged..more like became deeper and darker or somehow more visible...which gives an overall, nasty appearance to the skin(combined with everything else that's going on)...the whole orange peel texture and all...all I can explain it as are pin pricks all over my face with raised looking skin around them...I thought it was a rash at first because I have never seen visible pores/dots all over my face like that..not everything can be seen perfectly from my pictures, some things show up more than others..but the overall look and change from before is quite obvious and not remotely flatteringI was trying hylatopic plus and cerave but most things burn me...I have been trying to moisturize more lately tho since leaving it alone ain't working...(also trying to sleep withhumidifier)....I have to be very careful with what I use now...I used the vanicream the last derm gave me and it made my face burn and turn an even darker deeper orangey color...Even my normal skin, when it's happy and healthy, does not like topicals very much...usually in an acne-prone type of way, not a burning type of way tho...I've known this for awhile so I still can't believe I went and used a sample of something I knew little to nothing about...I'm hoping when and if the barrier returns..then the rest will take care of itself...obviously my skin can't handle any kind of harsh topical treatments like this so things like microneedling and laser and stuff that others use to build collagen and get rid of scars (which rarely even work anyway from what I've seen) are out the the question for me...I really shouldn't have to use them anyway, this whole ordeal is so ridiculous...I just can't believe this even happened half the timeYea I take my usualvitamins that I've been taking for years..zinc, mag/calc/zinc combo, vitamin D, vitamin E, biotin 1000(I only take 1/4th of the pill because of fear it will cause acne), vitamin b regular complex and stress complex(has c),folic acid, I'll take iron once in awhile..all stuff I've done for the past few years....I was drinking emergency-c past few weeks too, 1000mg of vitamin c...but I will probably just get pills from now on to avoid the sugar.Yes...skin sure does react strangely sometimes..I've just never dealt with anything like this...even cystic acne I consider a less than bizarre issue..hard to get rid of..but not "weird"...I've talked to so many people dealing with this same or similar issue from retinoids and things like laser, chemical peels, dermabrasion, etc....it's like some specifically difficult reaction to deal with that noteveryone gets...there's not enough awareness of it or answers/solutions...Oh..I've talked about this before earlier in my thread..but I HAVE heard of one or two people using very low dose accutane to cure this type of damage/reaction ..but I'm not so sure about that because some people supposedly get this issue from accutane itself (albeit at a higher dose)...but since I've had luck with it once in the past with no side effects...if I run out of options..I may try extremely low dose like 5mg....I heard it can reverse atrophy and is a powerful anti-inflammatory...just something I may have to keep in mind ...I feel like my skin needs to be rebuilt from the inside out since the outside is so weak and unable to handle anything without probablygetting worse and scarring...Thanks for trying to help..I've kinda been through so many conversations with people by now tho about this that I'm almost a lost cause...i will probably have to just find things out on my own and continue to update...unless people come along who have actually had this exact issue and healed from it...I have to take all advice with a big fat bucket of salt
Accutane sounds so harsh for what you've already been through! But I understand. It be uncomfortable. Do you have a job or do you attend school? Things that you have to look forward to? It's always good to have these things, in case it does end up being permanent.
The reason why you reacted to bad to the Tazorac is because you've used Accutane in the past. A lot of people who've been on Accutane react extremely violently to any kind of synthetic vitamin a - which Tazorac is..
So I would really suggest that you stay away from Accutane. These words come from someone who've had their life altered for the bad because of that shitty drug. Avoid it at all costs and it's not an anti inflammatory - it's the exact opposite. It's toxic even at low very low doses!
Look into using Lugols Iodine mixed with a moisturizer 2x a day that could help you.
4 hours ago, Washer said:The reason why you reacted to bad to the Tazorac is because you've used Accutane in the past. A lot of people who've been on Accutane react extremely violently to any kind of synthetic vitamin a - which Tazorac is..
So I would really suggest that you stay away from Accutane. These words come from someone who've had their life altered for the bad because of that shitty drug. Avoid it at all costs and it's not an anti inflammatory - it's the exact opposite. It's toxic even at low very low doses!
Look into using Lugols Iodine mixed with a moisturizer 2x a day that could help you.
I appreciate the concern...the thing is I don't think that's the reason at all because that was literally 4 years ago (that the course ended...even longer if we are talking the beginning of the course) and my skin did not change in any way besides the acne being ridden of...I was producing oil normally as well..my skin was very healthy...
Everyone is different.