Tretinoin for loose skin while the weight comes off - my protocol

FLglpguy

FLglpguy

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Tretinoin entered my routine at the same time I started Tirz 2 mos back. So far the loss is only 35lbs, with another 130lbs still to come. My hope was to keep the skin tightening up along the way rather than wait until the weight is off and attempt repairs after the fact. Once this much weight has come off, surgery to deal with loose/sagging skin would be the only route left for me. Up to now there is no loose skin whatsoever. Pool laps and pool weights are part of my workouts, and resistance bands get used daily as well.

Male: 55yr

SW: 386lbs

CW: 351lbs

GW: 220lbs

The starting Tretinoin was .05% CREAM, and in 30 more days I am moving up to .1% GEL. That means a 90 day stretch at .05% cream, then .1% gel from there until the 220lbs goal is reached. DO NOT slather this stuff on. All that is needed is a pea sized dab, very small, placed exactly where you know firmness will matter as the weight comes off.

Every NIGHTIME, a pea sized amount goes under each bicep, on my chin/neck, and on both sides of the lower belly, roughly halfway between belly button and love handles. 5 tiny pea sized amounts...THAT'S IT! Cream and gel do not behave the same. Cream came first for me, hoping it would be the gentler option, and it has been. Gel reaches deeper and the response comes faster. The .1% gel decision is because after 3 mos at .05% tolerance will be higher, and by then I will also be further along in the weight loss #'s. Once the big #'s of 75lbs, 100lbs down, etc... arrive, I want the full effect of the medication working for me.

Once again, my strong suggestion is that nobody decides more is better. IT IS NOT. Do some reading on this cream. It is prescription for a reason, and it stays in your bloodstream. Acne is its usual indication, which makes it useful for those of us on T or HGH trying to keep the scars and bumps from breakouts under control.

I would love to hear your thoughts and/or experience with this or with similar creams you have used or think may work.
 
Ohh tret has been part of my face routine for 7 or 8 years at this point. Nothing beats it! For yearsssssss the strength was 0.025, and only recently did I move up to 0.05, since 0.025 is no longer available in Australia.

Pimples are a real thing with the test cream I also began, though the tret sends them off quick smart. At the first hint of one I add an extra dab there and it is gone within a day or two.

Putting it anywhere but my face never occurred to me!! The tummy might get a trial run.

One thing worth saying: tretinoin does not f*** around. Go too hard too fast and your face really will be ruined.
 
WholesomeApril said:

Ohh tret has been part of my face routine for 7 or 8 years at this point. Nothing beats it! For yearsssssss the strength was 0.025, and only recently did I move up to 0.05, since 0.025 is no longer available in Australia.

Pimples are a real thing with the test cream I also began, though the tret sends them off quick smart. At the first hint of one I add an extra dab there and it is gone within a day or two.

Putting it anywhere but my face never occurred to me!! The tummy might get a trial run.

One thing worth saying: tretinoin does not f*** around. Go too hard too fast and your face really will be ruined.
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Treated areas do get firmer skin, so in my mind there is no reason it would not help hold things tight while the weight is coming off? Removing saggy skin once the weight is already gone is another matter, and I doubt it does that.
 
Anyone else here on it hoping to head off a saggy belly, chin and arms, or am I alone in that?
 
FLglpguy said:

Anyone else here on it hoping to head off a saggy belly, chin and arms, or am I alone in that?
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From what I can tell, fine lines are about all it genuinely fixes. If it did more, every old lady out there would have tight facial skin.
 
WholesomeApril said:

Ohh tret has been part of my face routine for 7 or 8 years at this point. Nothing beats it! For yearsssssss the strength was 0.025, and only recently did I move up to 0.05, since 0.025 is no longer available in Australia.

Pimples are a real thing with the test cream I also began, though the tret sends them off quick smart. At the first hint of one I add an extra dab there and it is gone within a day or two.

Putting it anywhere but my face never occurred to me!! The tummy might get a trial run.

One thing worth saying: tretinoin does not f*** around. Go too hard too fast and your face really will be ruined.
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Mine comes from Amazon at 0.025% 😅

Tret went onto my face starting in March and the change is already obvious. Converted for life here. Whether deeper skin sagging responds I cannot say, though it might help. Keen to see how it turns out for you.
 
The 0.1 was what my doctor prescribed, but it runs $100! I am not paying that when GLP's cost me less! I have . . . .other sources.

Where does everyone get their 0.1 Retin - A?
 
AcadiaPeptides said:

The 0.1 was what my doctor prescribed, but it runs $100! I am not paying that when GLP's cost me less! I have . . . .other sources.

Where does everyone get their 0.1 Retin - A?
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Cash pay at Amazon pharmacy comes to roughly $20 for tret
 
WholesomeApril made the point that tretinoin does not f*** around, and that going too hard too fast will really ruin your face.

(This is where the joke about my own ruined face goes.) What I will say is that Tretinoin is darn cheap to try (roughly $3 a tube from plenty of vendors in India.) Fixing ruined faces, sadly, is not something it does, darn it😂.
 
Could it at least tighten the surface layer of my lower stomach? Not lifting the sagging skin, obviously, but perhaps smoothing the texture.. Damnit! Here I was thinking one Indiamart order and I would be sorted! 🤬
 
Alright @birdwhacker, the tubes of 0.05% Tret cream are somewhere in my stash and I will add a little of it to the beef tallow balm I love. The name on the jar is Healthy Derm GHK-Cu tallow balm. My expectations when buying it were low, so I simply slathered it on the belly pooch nightly for 2 months (one whole jar, $30) and I am absolutely blown away at how my saggy, stretch-marked c-section scarred belly has softened, smoothed and improved! Itching was another thing it had been doing, which is strange given that the area has been numb for 19 years since I had my baby! The full body set is now on order so my face can get some too! Tallow Based moisturizer has been in my routine for years, but the peptides are really making a difference in my skin and body!

Kpv, Ss-31, MotsC, 5AM1MQ and Reta are all in the stack too, so there is that. Progesterone micro pill at bedtime and vag estrogen cream daily as well, though injecting T&E needs to start soon here. Labs are getting done shortly.
 
My hope is that using this throughout the transformation means the loose/saggy skin never shows up at all. Whether it helps we will find out, though on the lower abdomen, chest and triceps it surely cannot hurt. Those three spots are the only ones getting Tret at the moment.

The scale is 50lbs lower now and there have been no side effects. From IndiaMart I bought 40 tubes. 20 of each of the 2 strengths I named in my opening post.
 
Where I live the only thing available is 0.05% Facial gel 20g at 100euro. Would that be the same one you are using? Do you think it might do something for my wife's belly, she has a battle scar from the twins?
 
deiwukas said:

Where I live the only thing available is 0.05% Facial gel 20g at 100euro. Would that be the same one you are using? Do you think it might do something for my wife's belly, she has a battle scar from the twins?
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A scar is not something it will change. For a bad scar on my hand - from slicing tile - MeDerma worked extremely well for me. The gel strips are the ones to get; they hold their place and over time the scar becomes fairly well hidden.
 
FLglpguy said:

deiwukas said:

Where I live the only thing available is 0.05% Facial gel 20g at 100euro. Would that be the same one you are using? Do you think it might do something for my wife's belly, she has a battle scar from the twins?
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A scar is not something it will change. For a bad scar on my hand - from slicing tile - MeDerma worked extremely well for me. The gel strips are the ones to get; they hold their place and over time the scar becomes fairly well hidden.
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Either of those? Some of it would also go on my 4 year old, since she has a scar that is healing far too slowly.
 
Silicone gel patches and the gel cream have both worked great for me. Those prices in your pics are RIDICULOUS! Buy them off INDIAMART or somewhere similar
 
AcadiaPeptides said:

The 0.1 was what my doctor prescribed, but it runs $100! I am not paying that when GLP's cost me less! I have . . . .other sources.

Where does everyone get their 0.1 Retin - A?
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Move your Rx over to Amazon pharmacy. Just be sure it's the generic, not the brand
 
The 0.1 was what my doctor prescribed, but it runs $100! I am not paying that when GLP's cost me less! I have . . . .other sources.

Where does everyone get their 0.1 Retin - A?
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For US Pharma and you have an Rx: GoodRx or costplusdrugs.

India pharma, minus the IndiaMart hassle: alldaychemist or skinorac.
 
wtlossjourney1988 said:

Does this need an Rx to buy?
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Tretinoin specifically?

It depends where you buy. From US sources, a prescription is required.

Indian sellers do not ask for one.
 
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