Has Retin A Gel and Retin A Cream been discontinued?
EDS Skin Care Forums Forum Index » Skin Care and Makeup Forum

free skin care · Tue Apr 20, 2010 6:14 am

I can't seem to find this in Sydney, Australia. ALl the chemists I've been to have told me that it is no longer available in Australia and that the distributor for Australia no longer stocks/manufactures the Retin A Gel and soon will discontinue Retin A cream as well.

What do people use as tretinoin substitute? My skin only responds to the Retin A gel as cream breaks me out. And Stieva-A Cream, Isotrex, Differin and Zora did not work for me (too emolient).

Is Retin A Gel no longer being manufactured?

free skin care · Tue Apr 20, 2010 7:18 am

Its not been discontinued here in England, but maybe its just not available in Australia any longer.... but a derm should be able to make some up for you (or point you in the right direction). Otherwise you can definitely buy it online without prescription from all day chemist etc (who ship to me from India) and I imagine they would ship to Australia too

free skin care · Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:08 pm

i get retin a very easily form my doctor"s prescription....its still available here....in USA...
the first time i got it shipped form australian pharmacy inhousepharmacy.com
and it worked great for me..it was for 39 dollars i guess and the shipping was free... Smile

free skin care · Tue Apr 20, 2010 10:24 pm

We don't get the gel form just the cream which I don't realy like Sad

. Also, I notice very few places actually carry Retin-A these days. Oh, andthe price has increased by 40% as compared to 7/8 years ago.

Wed Apr 21, 2010 6:20 am

i get prescribed isotrex because my derm said that it sometimes difficult to get a regular supply of retin a ??

i was desperate for the retin a untill i found out that isotrex could thicken the skin, which is a big bonus

free skin care · Wed Apr 21, 2010 8:04 pm

You can send email and ask them

free skin care · Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:26 am

tub`a`butter wrote:

i get prescribed isotrex because my derm said that it sometimes difficult to get a regular supply of retin a ??

i was desperate for the retin a untill i found out that isotrex could thicken the skin, which is a big bonus

The main ingredient in isotrex is isotretinion - the same ingredient in accutane. So there is now a topical version of Accutane? Interesting

free skin care · Thu Apr 22, 2010 10:33 am

With regards to the unavailabilty of Retin A - its possible only the generic versions are now offered since the patent expired a while ago on tretinoin.

My kids have been prescribed Accutane for acne (3 of them) and the last one to have been put on it can only get the generics now as Accutane was pulled from the market (patent expired). It didn't matter much to us anyway as we would choose the less expensive generic anyway.

Some generics of Retin A are better than others though, as the bases might be different. Retin A Micro is newer and still has a patent so no generics are available. That might also hold true for Tazorac (tazoratene), but I'm not certain.

Thu Aug 19, 2010 5:45 pm

I feel I need to bump this thread to get some answers. I am a retin-a newbie.

I took my (a few-months-old) Retin A prescrition to the chemist to say it was discontinued.

My reaction was not subtle, "they can't discontinue Retin-A... It's RETIN-A!!"

As normal, when I can't have something it just makes me want it more. So I'd really like to know what the alternatives are for me here in Australia. Will I need to go back and get a prescription for something else like a Retin-A 'stand-in' product? I'm using it for wrinkles, not acne.

Are they any good? I'm really looking forward to some feedback on this issue.

free skin care · Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:26 pm

Hi Shimmie,

I'm in Sydney also and the same thing happened to me this week. My GP prescribed Retin A to me only last week, popped into the chemist only to find out that it has been discontinued. He told me I had to go back and let the GP know and get an alternative - he did suggest an alternative which I have forgotten.

You can always order from all day chemist - I have done before with no problems.

You may find that the alternative works even better for your skin - here's hoping.

I hope you find a solution soon!!!!

Tue Sep 07, 2010 6:30 pm

Hi, I'm in Sydney. Yes Retin A has been discontinued here. The replacement is Retrieve also (tretinoin 0.05%).
Hope that helps
Smile

Fri Mar 14, 2014 10:10 am

Its really annoying that its being that its being discontinued in England . Fortunately its available in online pharmacies for international shipping but if I were you I find an alternative e.g. retionols before it gets discontinued worldwide by 2015 which is what I'm assuming.

free skin care · Sat Mar 15, 2014 6:09 am

Are you saying the brand name Retin-A is no longer available or the drug tretinoin?

Using a generic of tretinoin will work just fine.

free skin care · Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:50 pm

tub`a`butter wrote:

i get prescribed isotrex because my derm said that it sometimes difficult to get a regular supply of retin a ??

i was desperate for the retin a untill i found out that isotrex could thicken the skin, which is a big bonus

You know this is interesting. What country are you in?

free skin care · Sat Mar 15, 2014 3:55 pm

My son uses Retin A gel. We are in Canada. There was a packaging change. Originally it was in a pump and his last prescription was in a tube.

Maybe check with a couple of different pharmacies?

Automatic Message

If this is your first visit to the EDS Forums please take the time to register. Registration is required for you to post on the forums. Registration will also give you the ability to track messages of interest, send private messages to other users, participate in Gift Certificates draws and enjoy automatic discounts for shopping at our online store. Registration is free and takes just a few seconds to complete.

Click Here to join our community.

If you are already a registered member on the forums, please login to gain full access to the site.