<p>Did anyone’s kid use tazorac, a topical retinoid cream? My daughter got a prescription for it today. I have read the message boards (exhaustively!) and the consistent, overwhelming message is: Be patient: it works well, but only after 8-12 weeks of worse skin that includes redness, itching, and breakouts. </p>
<p>I’d be interested in anyone’s experiences with it.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>My son tried it, but it wasn’t a miracle cure (like Acutane). His skin was very, very red and dry from it. And, as I recall, it was very expensive.</p>
<p>weenie, did your son try Accutane?</p>
<p>I believe there is some risk involved – what has been people’s experience?</p>
<p>DD uses Tazorac and so does DS. But they are different strengths. DS did do the Accutane route as well. He uses the tazorac now as a topical. Both of my kids feel it works well.</p>
<p>My son has been using Tazorac 0.1% for 7 or 8 months now. There was considerable redness and flaking initially, but that is long gone now and his acne is well under control. It seems to have helped a lot.</p>
<p>My D took Acutane for the prescribed amount of months…don’t really remember how many-lots of risks for girls. They have to take birth control pills and have a pregnancy test every month before the Rx can get refilled. It is tightly controlled by the government. They have to log on to an FDA website and fill out a questionaire every month about safe sex, and the importance of using condoms as well as the pill due to an extremely high risk of birth defects. (They cannot just say they are not sexually active and not participate). It also can damage the liver and cause some other problems in both sexes, so this is monitored thru blood work as well. It worked wonders, although it really dried her out, her lips were chapped so badly. But a very stubborn case of acne disappeared even tho taking the drug was a little unnerving.
She recently broke out again a little over a year after taking the accutane, and the dermatologist considered trying Tazorac .1%. But the breakout was not of the scarring type of acne she had previously suffered from, so she waited it out a month and it has disappeared as well. Her skin looks beautiful. One more note, people who have taken Acutane cannot donate blood for six months after finishing the prescribed course.</p>
<p>One of my concerns is that because D is very fair and has somewhat sensitive skin, the redness, peeling and dryness which it seems everyone on Tazorac gets could be quite pronounced. Some of the teens on the message board said it was so bad they didn’t want to go to school for the first few months. </p>
<p>Her acne of the many, small variety on forehead, nose, cheeks. I feel so bad for her as she has just stretched out after being chubby and now has this to deal with. She is 12.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity Mom55, what did your D’s MD say about txs before prescribing Taxorac? Anything about Accutane? Antibiotics? Birth control pills? OCPs alone are a common treatment around here for acne in girls, my D was put on it, and it worked well.</p>
<p>If you go to <a href=“http://www.acne.org%5B/url%5D”>www.acne.org</a> there is a great forum where people post their experiences with different acne treatments. My kids used tazorac along with other things, and it was mildly beneficial. They now use just a 2.5% benzoyl peroxide twice a day (cheap, cheap, cheap) and have better results with it. I don’t remember any redness, or dryness with the Tazorac.</p>
<p>My kids use Differin and Duac. My oldest used Retin A and Duac. We found both the Retin A and Differin to cause dryness. The Differin was not as bad. The Dr also said if the dryness was a problem to not use the Differin everyday. The Differin and Retin A worked best on the clogged pore type of acne on the forehead and chin.
One of them tried a oral antibiotic but we didn’t see much change.
A friend of mine had a funny story. They ordered new carpet. It was installed and after a few days they noticed bleached spots. They called the installer who insisted it wasn’t the carpet that they had to have done something. But the spots were in odd places like under furniture so they knew they weren’t at fault. They heard back a few days later that one of the installers had used some acne medication and somehow it ended up on the carpet. They ended up with new carpet.</p>
<p>Wow! ^^ that was really honest of the installers.</p>
<p>I used Tazorac for a while. I never had too much redness, but I did, in all honesty, skip doses sometimes. I was supposed to use Tazorac at bedtime and Duac in the morning. I was a bad patient and did just the opposite because I didn’t want to ruin my nice clothes with Duac during the day.</p>
<p>I don’t need it anymore but the package inserts say it is Category X - causes birth defects - just like Accutane. Accutane has stronger controls from what I understand, but it is probably important to know that users of Tazorac should not get pregnant. My doctor always asked me about sexual activity when I had my appointments - - I didn’t like it (the inquiry), but I understood why.</p>
<p>It has been a few years but my son went on Acutane. It was very expensive and required regular bloodwork but the results were tremendous, basically a permanent cure. It leaves you with a permanent sensitivity to sunlight.</p>
<p>I don’t remember hearing that about Accutane - the sun sensitivity part. My s took it for the prescribed 20 weeks of treatments and regular bloodwork. It was like a miracle cure for about 4 months. Now he is back to where he was (well, not nearly as bad) and refuses to use it again. No sun problems at all, tans just like he always did, but he had excessively dry lips and eyes when he was on it. Both sons used Duac, Retin, Differin, Triaz wash, in combination with antibiotics such as minocycline and doxycycline. I didn’t see much difference…but my wallet sure did.</p>
<p>I’ve tried a bunch of things over the past year or two. Each one works for a few months, but then sort of stops. I actually just went to the dermatologist today. I was using Differin and Dicycline (I think that’s what it’s called. It’s similar to Minocycline). He put me on a stronger, newer form of Differin (.3 instead of .1). In the past I used Retin A Micro which worked well for a while.</p>
<p>I also tried something called “Blu Light” last year. It’s a series of treatments where they put some facial gel on you and put you in front of a “blu light” for 10 minutes. At the time I did research and it seemed to work well for some people. For me it made my individual acne smaller, but didn’t totally eliminate it. It’s also pretty expensive. It’s only supposed to work for a year or so before you need booster treatments. I haven’t gone back because it wasn’t as effective as the creams.</p>
<p>Bactrim, a sulfa drug, is another oral antibiotic that is prescribed for acne. It creates a sensitivity to sunlight, as do accutane, tetracycline and others. Not sure why. It’s my understanding that the sun sensitivity is not a problem once the pt. stops taking the medication.</p>
<p>I’m currently a college student and have taken many acne medications over the years (differin, retin-a, tetracycline, accutane, etc…) and for the past few years I have been on tazorac. It really has seemed to help a lot, and as you and others have mentioned it does get slightly worse before it gets better. The only real side effect I’ve had is the sun sensitivity, especially since I have pretty fair skin. My cheeks especially have a reddish hue…but as long as you put on sun screen everyday, it shouldn’t be too bad. I’d much rather have my face look a little red at times than have the acne come back, that’s for sure!</p>
<p>D tried tazorac for a number of months with very little improvement. She’d also tried a variety of antibiotics. She had the big nodule, going to scar kind of acne; this was before she started high school 4 years ago. Eventually she did take Accutane. Pretty much a miracle drug in her case and her skin is pretty fabulous with the exception of the occasional zit. Of course we were current on all the literature, she did the monthly monitoring and thankfully she had no real issues out side of very dry skin and lips. She was taking it during the school year, so sun exposure was not really an issue, though we did know it was something to be aware of.</p>
<p>In her case, she swears her face no longer tans since using Accutane, though she doesn’t really burn easily, either. She’s naturally fair, but did use to get pretty “brown” in the summers as a youngster. No more. (Drives her a bit crazy as her brothers tan almost instantly.) I keep telling her she’ll be thankful when she’s 40.</p>
<p>Thanks, all.</p>
<p>dogwood23, how old was your daughter when she went on Accutane? </p>
<p>I think the tazorac was the first thing suggested because my daughter’s acne was not the scarring type (yet). Hers is lots of small whiteheads and blackheads and alot of them “closed.” I guess the taz is supposed to bring stuff to the surface and clean the pores. That is why it gets worse first.</p>
<p>She is off to 2 weeks sleepaway camp so we are not going to try it until she comes home. But even so, I am wondering about how bad it will get. I read on message boards about kids not wanting to go to school because of how red and peely and broken out they were, sometimes for several weeks. Is 7th grade the time to be red and peely? Should we wait til next summer?</p>
<p>Any suggestions/comfort on helping a kid with acne? She has lots of friends and activities…but I worry about her giving herself an early label of “unattractive” that will stick for life. She is a beautiful and spirited girl, just shedding her chubbiness. Oh, and she has a very slim and attractive older sister with just the occasional zit.</p>
<p>Tazorac did not have much effect on my kids - not in helping their pimples, or in causing redness or peely. Just have your kid use a moisturizer.</p>
<p>My daughter was 14 when she took the Accutane. Just beginning 9th grade.</p>
<p>Her acne issues started at the end of 6th grade, beginning of 7th. Early to mid 7th grade we had her to one dermatologist who prescribed antibiotics. We added a topical that I can’t remember. No improvement. The acne was only getting worse and while my D was being a trooper, she was also about the tallest girl at school. She’s quite blonde. She just sticks out. Acne was NOT making this any easier at a time when most kids desperately just want to blend in.</p>
<p>Found a new dermatologist. Dropped the antibiotics and switched to tazarac. (By this time the acne had gotten fairly bad). Minimal improvement so started Accutane. It did take a while, but patience paid off. My brother in law had used it 30 years ago, also with great results. It’s a pain in the rear to use. Monthly blood work a couple of days before the dermatologist appointment, monthly check in with the dermatologist (and of course the one we found that we loved was NOT near by). Pregnancy was not an issue (14, no boyfriend in sight). A new, one time prescription good for the month, was written after bloodwork was reviewed. </p>
<p>I would do it again in a heartbeat. </p>
<p>Her biggest complaints while taking it were extremely dry lips and skin. Lots and lots of moisturizer and Burt’s Bees.</p>