Radioactive

Green goop my post-tactduo raw skin can't live without - what better time to pick it up than Sephora's VIB sale?

treatment update: Tactduo

So it's been about 3 months since I've been prescribed Tactduo with the instruction to apply to my face at bedtime - but I had since cut back to using it as a spot treatment when I feel little bumps coming up from underneath my skin because of sensitivity issues.

After using the gel religiously as instructed for the first week, my skin dried up considerably - to the point that my skin started flaking despite moisturizers and that it feels raw - and painful even.  My skin burns with pain whenever I try to sooth it with moisturizer - eventually I turned to moisture masks.  The one from Vichy burned the most, while the ones from Clinique and Clarins still mildly sting.  The only one that provides temporary relief is the cucumber aloe gel from Peter Thomas Roth - the radioactively green goop.

My acne didn't disappear despite the dryness - if anything, more little whiteheads had appeared in my trouble zones - especially on my chin.  Then most of them would eventually fade away but a few worsened to bigger zits than what I usually get.  The way they dry up also left some scarring/dark spots, but that's happened with other acne of comparable size prior to this medicated gel.

My girlfriend told me about using Tactduo as a spot treatment and I hesitated because the patient info leaflet specifically stated that it should NOT be used as a spot treatment - most likely because it could cause color blotches if not evenly applied to the face - but since the gel was causing my skin so much grief I decided to give it a try.  Since then my skin had been a lot more calm but still not acne-free, and occasionally I would get pretty bad breakouts.  But gradually it does feel like I'm not getting acne as often anymore, so maybe I'll keep using it.

new treatment: Tactuo

Since my breakout hasn't slowed down despite my new regime using oil-free cleanser and moisturizer - and it's progressed to the point that you can play connect the dots on my face - I couldn't help but to mentioned situation to my doctor,  who, after explaining that it might just be my raging hormones, prescribed a new treatment that is supposedly more effective than clindoxyl. 

 

It being a new drug and all,  the price is quite high -  without any insurance coverage it would have cost over a hundred bucks.   Luckily I have partial coverage but it's still more than what I would have paid for clindoxyl or persagel (which used to work for my occasional pimple before they became such frequent recurrence) 

Apparently it works by unplugging clogged pores then killing off the germs and it could take up to 4 weeks to see results.   It specifically instructs not to spot-apply -  the whole affected area need to be treated.   I am worried that the gel will make my skin dry, which happened when I put persagel  on the same spot for too many nights in a row. I guess I will just have to keep at it for a few weeks to see if it works.