I have been using proactive i think for about a year maybe. I had real bad zits but i dont recall getting cysts. At first proactive dried my skin out a lot so i had to use a moisturizer. But now i get cysts all the damn time (hardly any other zits) and my face doesnt get dry anymore, it gets REAL oily. Especially if i wash with proactive in the morning, id say about 4 hrs go by and my face is pretty oily. Could the proactive messed with my skin and now i produce too much oil? I wanna ween my way off proactive because i know it doesnt help against my cysts. Well my question is, is proactive the reason my face is overly oily and i just get cystic acne and not just pimples?
Also i tried to stop using proactive before and my face broke out real bad, do u think that is just like a post breakout from stopping it? Can i stop using proactive now that ive been using it so long?
I would rather go back to having regular pimples all over my face then these huge cysts that just refill and come back in same spots over and over...grrrrrr (like a lion ) :P
Hey, I had the same problem. Several months ago I bought the Proactiv line (spent a lot of money) and at first it worked great for me. Then the drying started. It became flaky and it hurt. I believe my skin was so dry from the proactiv that it overcompensated in oil which led to more breakouts. I used Proactiv for 2 months. The worst place I had acne was on my forehead and mild acne on chin and around mouth. After a period of using Proactiv my forehead began breaking out in deep cyst like acne. They never really came to a head and were painful. IF the cystic acne did come to a head (which took weeks), it would just re-fill over and over again. It was a never ending cycle. I went to an aestetician and she advised me to get off of it and to try other products she recommended. It took well over a month of being off Proactiv, along with the other changes I made, but within the past week I have a clear face finally. No more deep cystic acne on forehead etc. But I am so paranoid and scared that it's going to come back. It's been so long since I have seen myself without acne that I am so paranoid that it's going to come back.. like it's too good to be true. Only time will tell but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. However, there are 2 products that I still use of Proactiv. BP lotion (leftover from the package I bought) which I use every other night just once a day, or when needed, and I use Proactiv's oil-free moisturizer which I love, but that's it. Just remember, if you decide to stop using Proactiv your face will not all of a sudden clear up because you are off of it. If it was the Proactiv causing the cyst like acne, it will take a while to go away. It took almost 2 months for me... and I don't really know if it was the Proactiv causing it for me, but it's a possibility.
I've used Proactiv on two seperate occasions. First time I used it, my skin was getting better, but then just stopped working. I also noticed that it got greasier.
Second time I used was about a year later and it did absolutely nothing good for my skin. It actually made it a lot worse.
Proactive is just like everything else that we use for acne, it doesn't work for everyone. It's no miracle product. If you see it isn't getting better or if you see it getting worse, just stop using it before it starts getting worse. I doubt you'll get a post breakout only because when I stopped, my skin stayed exactly the same while I looked for something new.
After proactiv, my face was never the same. I started getting cystic acne like CRAZY, and it left scars. I can't say for sure that it was proactiv, maybe just coincidental timing... who knows, but I'm never going back on it as a precaution...
Well ima try to get off of it and use somthing else. Any suggestions? I am using this soap bar called "Basis Facial bar" recommended by dermatologists. I just started using that so i dunno if it is gonna work at all.
I also wonder if i should try vitamin b5, but im worried about the hair loss and the dryness. Cause my hair, even with gel in it has some hairs that just fray all over the place like they dont take the gel :x
I try to think positive and stay away from foods that i know will make me breakout, my face starts looking real good...then BAM several cysts..now i have some on my chin, and they like connected together to form a big one and it just keeps refilling no matter what i put on it or do to it. So damn depressing...
Well ima try to get off of it and use somthing else. Any suggestions? I am using this soap bar called "Basis Facial bar" recommended by dermatologists. I just started using that so i dunno if it is gonna work at all.
I also wonder if i should try vitamin b5, but im worried about the hair loss and the dryness. Cause my hair, even with gel in it has some hairs that just fray all over the place like they dont take the gel :x
I try to think positive and stay away from foods that i know will make me breakout, my face starts looking real good...then BAM several cysts..now i have some on my chin, and they like connected together to form a big one and it just keeps refilling no matter what i put on it or do to it. So damn depressing...
Have you tried a liver healing diet regime? something like prometheus suggeste,d your acne may be related to your food intake, or vitamin deffiencies etc, i suggest taking B5 yes, and hair loss isnt always a side effect if taking in reasonable dosages, anyway, here are a list of good over the counter products that i found worked for me when i used topicals when i had acne,
Clearasill Double Action Pads(Good Salyclic Acid, but can be drying for sensitive skin)
Tea Tree And Witch Hazel Induced Solution(Very soothing for your skin, unclogs pores etc, decreases inflammation)
Clearasill Treatment Cream (10% BP, there is also a spot cover up cream, which i find useful for my mild scarring)
Oxy Pads(Work like the clearasill pads, only has Benzoyle Peroxide, instead of salyclic acid)
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Prometheus is really cool, so is sweetjade, they all know theyre stuff and have given me ever growing confidence with acne.
and it just keeps refilling no matter what i put on it or do to it. So damn depressing... 
