Duac and Itching: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Att...
• February 26, 2017

For Acne "Was prescribed this just a week ago and was told to use it twice a day after washing my face for my acne. I did this, but it has left my face all dry, itchy, patchy, and some parts of my face look like it's been burned. I've stopped using it now, and I won't be ever using this again. It slightly worked on calming down my acne spots, but this cream has made my face look a thousand times worse."

• Ber...
• February 28, 2018

For Acne "I've had bad skin since I was 11, and I'd been using Duac on and off since I was 15, but never correctly. At the age of 19, I decided to give it another go. I started using it in Nov 17, and I saw fantastic results by January. Like many other users here, I did experience some side effects, such as my eyes puffing up a bit, itching, and really dry skin. I told my doctor, who told me to continue using it daily but to apply moisturizer frequently. Although my skin stayed dry, after a couple of nights of wearing the Duac, all the other side effects went away and never returned throughout the course of using it. I finished after 12 weeks as prescribed. Although I still had visible acne scars from the previous 8 years, I had no spots and no blackheads. It worked perfectly! The only problem was, 2 weeks after not using it, my skin is back to normal, if not worse. Although it does work fantastically, it seems to have short-term results - at least for my skin type anyway."

• Ros...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 13, 2016

For Acne "I went to the doctor's about my acne, and she prescribed me this gel. I used it on my face the first night I got it, and it was fine, I woke up with a few red patches, but overall thought it worked well. I applied it on the second night, and I woke up to severe redness and itchiness on my face, as well as big dry patches on my cheeks, chin, and forehead. Turns out I had an allergic reaction to this gel, which has left my sensitive skin unbearable to look at. It has caused my eyes to swell up, and itching still persists."

• Sta...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 14, 2016

For Acne "Tried this twice, have really bad hormonal acne and was prescribed this by my GP, completely dried my skin out and it hurt to use anything but simple face wash on it, stung and itched a lot and made my dermatitis so much worse. That was last year, gave up on prescribed treatments until 2 months ago, again was given Duac even after describing my first experience with it. Have used it for 6 weeks now, skin has adjusted to drying but has done nothing for my acne, still have as many breakouts if not worse."

• Kee...
• June 4, 2016

For Acne "Day 3 of using Duac gel, and my face is red, irritated, and very itchy. I woke in the night with a very itchy face, and it kept me awake, so I decided to wash it and apply a few layers of a moisturizer. It is still considerably itchy, but I think that helped. I have quite dry skin anyway, so I'm guessing that's why my face got so itchy. Hopefully, I'll start seeing better results soon."

• Car...
• January 6, 2017

For Acne "I was prescribed Duac gel for my acne. At first, it worked wonders on my skin and cleared up my acne. I found sometimes that it would dry out my skin, though, so I had to moisturize every day. After using it for about 5 months, I took a break from using it. About 5 months later, I started to use Duac gel again, as I saw my acne was slowly starting to reappear. However, when I started using it the second time, I woke up the next morning and my eyes were very swollen, red, and itchy. I thought it may have been something that I had eaten the previous day, but as I continued to use Duac gel every night, every morning I woke up, I had very swollen, red, and itchy eyes. Last night I used Duac gel and I woke up with severely swollen eyes and had to go to the GP."

• blu...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 31, 2021

For Acne "I have been told by many people that they can see a difference in my skin and how much less I’m breaking out, which is amazing! However, much like everyone else here, I am suffering from burns and dry, itchy skin. It has come to the point that even using moisturizer hurts for me to use. I’m hoping it goes down soon, and I think I’m gonna have to take a break for a few days."

• Som...
• September 30, 2017

For Acne "I am 39, got a prescription for this Duac once-a-day cream and am 4 days into it. It is the 1%/5% one, but maybe the 1%/3% one would be kinder. In the area I get hit by acne more-my chin area-it is producing more, albeit smaller and painless pustules, even if it has wiped away one really big, ugly pustule spot in that area. Though grateful, I am now left with very dry, itchy, flaky skin where that spot was. No matter how much I moisturize, I am telling myself that it is only because my chin area needs more work and the cream brings these to the surface to then kill them eventually? Other parts of my face I apply it to are not left this way. Ease of use is fine. Oh yes, fridge storage is for pharmacists, not users. It says so in the leaflet."

• Dea...
• November 9, 2017

For Acne "The first time I used Duac, it was very effective, no irritation or symptoms after using it, but a bit dry on affected areas. After a while, I stopped using it as my skin was fine. When my acne came back, I began to use it again after about two weeks. The morning after applying it, my skin came out in large red blotches around affected areas, and it burned, was extremely itchy, and it was dry. I have tried to use it now again since a month of not using it, and the same has happened, won’t be using this product again."

• Tas...
• August 29, 2017

For Acne "I've had acne since I was about 10 (I'm now 19) and had tried just about every type of drugstore spot treatment. Duac is the first thing to have properly worked! My advice would be to be wary and just gradually build it into your skin routine; it took me weeks to get my skin to be able to cope with it. Before that, my skin would be itchy, red, and painful if I applied Duac every night as instructed. However, 2 years on, I can wear it every night pain-free. Definitely give it a try!"

• Vic...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 5, 2016

For Acne "I have been using this cream for over six months, didn't do anything to my skin, but one day it left me with a red swollen face in the morning. Itching then started to come, and my allergic reaction disappeared after 4-6 days."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 10, 2017

For Acne "I started using this cream about 2 weeks ago - the first few days were fantastic, and it cleared up my spots straight away. However, after about a week, my skin became very red, dry, and incredibly itchy. I stopped using it about 3 days ago, however, my skin is still very red and itchy around my chin and jawline. It has cleared up the spots for now, however, the constant itching is not worth it. I won’t be going back to it."

• Sha...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 25, 2021

For Acne "Here is my experience on Duac. I didn’t have bad acne while on this, I had a few spots here and there. While using this for 3 days, I saw a difference, but while on this cream longer, my face became very red, itchy, blotchy, and stinging. I called the doctor, and they said this was normal. I continued using this, and it’s made my skin, all in all, 100,000% worse than it’s ever, ever been. It’s made me break out in ridiculous acne, spots, and blackheads. I have more spots now using this than I did beforehand. I have now stopped using this for 3 weeks, and my skin is still worse than ever. Please, please, if you don’t have serious acne, then do not use this gel! It’s as if my skin is in a constant rash. Hope this helps you!"

• Aly...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 31, 2018

For Acne "I've never had bad acne on my face, but I got some inflammation on my shoulders. As I got older, it started to fix itself, but I wanted something to help it along a little. I went to the doctor's and was prescribed Duac. Due to my pale skin, I was given a slightly weaker version of the gel. As expected, I had dry and itchy skin, but it passed. My shoulders became clearer, but I noticed that my face hadn't improved at all, it seemed to have gotten worse. It caused me to have a breakout on my chin that, two weeks on, still hasn't cleared up. I only apply it to my cheeks and chin, but noticed that I was getting small red lumps on my forehead. My skin has turned really red, and it seems like the irritation that you experience when you first start using this gel has returned. I have read the reviews and comments here saying that people could see improvements within several weeks to a month, but I've seen no change and it appears as though I'm just wasting my breath with this product."

• oll...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 17, 2018

For Acne "I've been using Duac gel for close to a month now. I have read reviews about this product, but it seems my case is different. I did not experience any form of dryness, itch, or redness. I just hope it works without these horrible experiences. Although my face is clearing little by little apart from the new ones coming out. I hope to comment with a better testimony next time."

• Idk...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 15, 2018

For Acne "I've had acne for around 7 months now, and it's on my forehead and mouth area. I got prescribed Duac by my doctor on Monday, so I've been using it for around 6 days now (I apply it once at night). It's helped at making my spots flat and calming any redness. However, I've got a dry patch on the bottom of my mouth, which looks like the first layer of skin has been burnt or peeled, it's red and extremely itchy. It's only been a few days, though, so I'm hoping this goes away and that it helps my skin. Try being patient, as it's said to work around 4-6 weeks in."

• Sed...
• July 1, 2019

For Acne "It caused me irritations, made me extremely itchy, and I have red blotches all over my face. I would say that the negatives outweigh the positives, and I would not recommend this as the side effects are not worth it."

• Sam...
• February 14, 2016

For Acne "40 yrs old & last year tried the progesterone-only pill for just 5 months (ceased that pill 4 months ago), but ever since, my once near-perfect skin has been plagued by constant hormonal spots. The doctor prescribed Duac & said it could cause redness & drying. I used this for 2 nights only, last Monday & Tuesday, applying just a very thin layer to all areas affected by spots as per the directions. By Wednesday afternoon, my skin had started going pink & itchy, so I didn't use it again. Woke up Thursday morning with red, itchy, burning patches all over, like port stain birthmarks, & it is still driving me crazy now, trying not to scratch, using moisturizers but to no joy - 5 days it has been like this, wish I had not used it."

• Ms ...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 27, 2017

For Acne "Horrible! This product should not even be prescribed to anyone! I had a very, very severe reaction on my skin and ended up worse than with my acne. The allergic reaction showed two days after the first application, disgrace! Now, three days after the first very, very small application (of a very expensive cream, mind you), all of my face and neck are full of red blotches similar to a first-degree burn! I have to miss days from work until this reaction passes because I cannot even go out in the sun as the itchiness flares up! So if you care for your skin, DO NOT USE THIS PRODUCT!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 3, 2020

For Acne "Gave me a bad rash on my face, acne was really red, and my face felt like I had 100 little ants crawling all over it. The itch was so bad I wanted to tear my face off."

• Rom...
• April 9, 2018

For Acne "I used this Duac gel only once, and it left my skin red, raw, and itchy, as well as dry. I am so worried. Will it ever go back to how it used to be? I much preferred my acne than this burnt skin."

• Isi...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 26, 2015

For Acne "Made my face really itchy and red so that I could stop scratching it, which caused the acne to spread further."

• unh...
• February 7, 2016

For Acne "Face has become very red, itchy, dry, and sore. Skin looks worse!"

• ind...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 25, 2017

For Acne "I used this twice and was taken to A & E with anaphylactic reaction to the product. Be aware if you have onset of itchy skin. Within 20 mins, I was taken to the hospital."