oh boy peeps! heres my story! i ordered proactive and used it cuz i had like too zits on my face! once i started it burned! i thought it was just that it meant it was working! a week into it i was flaking and had bumps every where! my chest was tight and i got outta breathe easily!so i called customer service ! they said to just use the face wash! my face is covered in welches, hives, blisteres and acne like rash! it was red swollen and flaked! so i hide in my house for 2 weeks! today i went to the doctores and got a ket. shot! like cortison! on my butt! i picked up benadrly and tucna rash spray! proactive ruined my skin! im drinking tons of water and plan to hide untill resolved! please people learn from this! i pray that this alergic reaction cures in a week! i miss living my life! i miss looking in the mirror! but i did this to my self! chemicals r not the answer! and in the long run can cause seriuos health risks! i send my heart out to all who r going throu this!
for starters this ruined my skin. ive never been alergic to any thing in my life and when i first started useing it it burned and i just thought ok this is working. within the first week i was red, burnt, peeling, i had bumps all along my jaw line. so i called them and they said to just use the wash and oil free moisturizer. so i did and it was all down hill. the following week i called back and the lady said to stop because i was alergic. i called my doc and when i went in people were stareing at me. my face was swollen bright red, i had all these bumps, blisters and hives. so she gave me a cortizone shot on my butt. the next morning all the sweeling was down, but i still had the red rash. so i made a apointment with a derm. she was stupid and a waiste of money. she was saying that it wasnt a alergic reaction. what!! i wanted to hit her in her face. i mean i could have done a better job than her. and she wanted me to take doxacilin. yea right. that stuff messes with ur body. so now its been 9 days since ive stopped proactive and allot is better but i still have red marks and a cluster of bumps. im praying that by next week my skin is back to normal. i mean i need it. my anaversery with my hubbie is comming up and my face looks horrible. ive been hidding for 3 weeks now. please ladies try to use all natural products. go to a health food store. get multi vitamins, probiotic, eat healthy, meditate, and get a gentle wash with no harsh chemicals. always do reasearch on a product before u get it.
Hi, everyone! Having red, swollen, itchy, tender eyes has been the mystery of my life for the past six years (the same amount of time I have been using Proactiv!). I never attributed the eye flare-up (which happens once every couple of months and lasts for a few days each time) to Proactiv until I stumbled upon this website. Now I think Proactiv has to be the cause. Even though it doesn't happen every time I use the product, I have been unable to attribute the condition to anything else - food, pets, etc. No other cause ever made sense until now. I'm definitely going to try switching to another product to see if that helps. Thanks, everyone.
last week i got proactive i didnt have acne but i was prone to spots around my lips and on my forehead. I put proactive on the night next morning i was fine my face was soft and no spots but then that night my face started to get a little itchy and i thought it was a rash from a new foundation so i used proactive once more. I woke up and my face was covered in a rash and swollen around the eyes. I put ice on it and the swelling went down so i just covered it with makeup. The very next morning i woke up from a sleepover my face was so swollen and the rash had turned my face red and it was all dry and peeling like really bad sunburn. I went to the pharmacy and they said that this reaction is highly common and there was nothing they could do about it apart from rest and ice. It took 4 days for the swelling to go down and i felt so ugly. Now the swelling has gone down but my face is still itchy and sore and peeling and very dry. It was so embarrasing having to go to school and nobody is ever going to forget how ugly i looked those days everybody laughed at me . I say NEVER use proactive its full or harmfull chemicals. A woman at teh pharmacy advised me to use swedish thermal water and now i have no spots :)
Hi there, same horror story regarding Proactiv. Two days into using the Repair Lotion I developed chemical-like burns on my chin, nose and temple's. I started putting aloe vera gel on the affected area's to cool and soothe the itch and burn - which worked a miracle.
I've decided to just leave my face alone for now and let it heal itself without any further interference from myself as I'd rather put up with dry skin on the unaffected area's than tempt fate and make the situation even worse.
From now on I'm just going to stick with almond oil and rosehip oil to moisturise, and water to clean.
I have to say, I won't be using Proactiv again. It makes my skin itch VERY bad and it burned my face and made it look like I had a sun burn. When I woke up the next morning after using it, my face was swollen, my left eye was almost swollen shut, and my right eye was puffy. Is there any way to get rid of the swollen eyes quickly? I've been taking allergy medicine and Ibuprofen, but I'm still swollen. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Hello, I started using proactiv last Thursday, and my face turned red, itchy, dry and is driving me crazy! My eyes are dry and itchy and I didn't even put any on my eyes. The redness even spreaded down my neck, and when I wake up in the mornings my face and eyes are swollen. Last night I couldn't even get comfortable trying to go to sleep, my pillow case even hurt my face. I called the 800 # and they told me to use a wet washcloth after leaving it in the freezer for about 5 minutes. That's all they could offer, except a refund, it's been 5 days since I used this stuff and my face is still itching, burning and swollen and red. I am frustrated, it is miserable to sit around and feel like this, plus my granddaughter wanted me to take her shopping and I can't because of the way I look and feel. Does anyone have a better solution to stop the side effects of this stuff???
I started using the proactiv 4 step system a year ago, and my face was perfectly fine, but it didn't get rid of my acne well. I put proactiv on a few weeks ago and my eyes were extremely puffy, swollen, and red. I bought a new proactiv product last night and used it. I woke up this morning (2-7-2012) and my eyes were swollen, red, puffy, and itchy. And my cheeks and face is red and itchy. Right now I am in my bed with a messed up face, staying home from school because my face is so puffy.
Im in the same boat atm i used proactive for two only because i had a few pimples and im going away. My face is so swollen and i have a thousand little pimples all over my face its the worst..
DON'T USE THIS PRODUCT!!!! I HAVE ALREADY WRITTEN MY STORY AND I WILL NEVER TRY PROACTIV AGAIN! THIS STUFF SHOULD BE BANNED FROM THE MARKET. I THOUGHT I WAS GOING TO HAVE SCARS FROM THIS STUFF. THE COMPANY SHOULD HAVE TO PAY US FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING AND FOR HAVING TO STAY OUT OF WORK OR MONEY SPENT ON A DOCTORS APPOINTMENT!!!!!!!!! AND I ONLY USED IT TWO TIMES!
Just woken up this morning - noticing that my face feels very itchy. As I became more awake I realised it kind of felt like it was burning. I went to look in the mirror and I am completely swollen - especially under my eyebrows/above my eyes. My whole face is red and awful. I just started proactiv last night. I had tried it years ago and it was fine... caused some dryness but nothing major. I then used the trial pack in november... liked it, but had no money to buy anymore. I forgot about the automatic shipments though and saw one arrive at my house last night by surprise. I was a little angry because it meant $102 was being debited from my account. But I thought, oh well- it's my own fault for not realising how it all worked. Annnyway, I was excited to use it because my skin has been acting up.
Now I'm sitting here with a tomato burning swollen face with no idea what to do.
I wish the people at Proactiv read this forum.
Now I'm sitting here with a tomato burning swollen face with no idea what to do.
I wish the people at Proactiv read this forum.
The same thing happen to me this morning. I am sooooo upset....I applied proative last night because I've had a break out and I haven't used it in a while. the first couple of times I used it; no problem. I woke up this morning and have huge under eye bags as well as swelling under my eye and very itchy skin. I'll never use it again. This is it.
NOTE: THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT THERE PRODUCT IS FINE ONE DAY OR FOR MONTHS AND THEN ALL OF SUDDEN DESTROYS YOUJ
hey 'upset'
just to let you know - i posted last week and mine cleared up within 48hours. I think the thing that really set it off was the last step.. the 'moisturiser' or whatever it's called. Apparently you're just supposed to put it on the bumps not your entire face. But who knows - it's so bizarre. I've started using it again (stupid I know) ... but surprise surprise.. I haven't had another reaction.. so strange.
Hope your skin gets better soon.
just to let you know - i posted last week and mine cleared up within 48hours. I think the thing that really set it off was the last step.. the 'moisturiser' or whatever it's called. Apparently you're just supposed to put it on the bumps not your entire face. But who knows - it's so bizarre. I've started using it again (stupid I know) ... but surprise surprise.. I haven't had another reaction.. so strange.
Hope your skin gets better soon.
The horror I went through after using Proactiv... this stuff was supposed to make my skin flawless, not puff up like i weigh 500lbs! I only used the product for 2days, and woke up to a face I couldn't even recognize in the mirror. My face is swollen to the max and I can barely see out of one of my eyes. Yesterday the rash consumed my every thought and took all my self strength not to itch, and today I can barely move my facial muscles at all. It feels like I just got hit by a bus and like my face is melting. My face is more swollen than a boxers!! I took Benadryl and have been icing my face all day. Benadryl helped my rash lessen, but nothing is making the swelling go down, not even ice packs. All the color drained from my face from icing it so long to make the swelling go down, but it feels like it swelled even more! Proactiv has byfar caused me some of the worst physical and emotional pain in my life. I'll take my face full of zits over this ANY day!
I am having the same issue.
Painful red rash all over my entire face.
My eyes are so red and swollen it looks like I have 2 black eyes.
I used proactive for 5 days and will never use it again.