Retin-A is relatively safe, primarily because it’s a topical medicine that is supposed to be applied only to the areas affected by acne. However, some reactions are still possible, and some of them may prevent you from carrying on with you treatment. Make sure you always read about this medicine or check with your doctor before starting to apply it. This is necessary to exclude the possibility of developing any reactions or suffering from quite serious health effects. Retin-A is FDA pregnancy category C. This medicine can pass into breast milk and may harm an unborn baby. However, it is not known for sure whether Retin-A may harm an unborn baby if taken by a pregnant mother. You will need to be very careful if you think you need to be taking Retin-A and you are pregnant or breastfeeding. It’s recommended to use a reliable method of birth control throughout the entire period of the treatment and avoid having unprotected sex. If you happened to get pregnant while using Retin-A – talk to your doctor as soon as possible to learn about the options you have. The use of Retin-A is rarely justified in women that got pregnant, so you may be told to stop the treatment. However, in some cases your doctor may tell you to go ahead and carry on with taking Retin-A – but in that case the benefits of that treatment must definitely outweigh potential risks. The following drugs can interact with tretinoin topical, which can make your skin more sensitive to natural and artificial sunlight. Before using this medication, tell your doctor if you are using any of these: doxycycline, chlorpromazine, demeclocycline, tetracycline, diuretics, sulfa drugs, antibiotics, or minocycline. Any other prescription or over-the-counter medications you are using at the moment are also supposed to be reported to your health care provider to make sure you get the most benefits out of your treatment. You need to be especially careful with skin products that contain resorcinol, salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, and sulfur, as they can add to the irritation Retin-A can cause at the beginning of your treatment. Read the labels of the products you use very carefully to make sure they do not contain anything that may potentially affect the success of your treatment and make Retin-A less efficient. Some of the drugs you are using at the moment may interfere with the effects of Retin-A, so you will need to make sure your health care provider knows about them all. You will be supposed to use Retin-A for as long as prescribed and avoid sharing this medicine with other people. Even though you may think some other person has the same skin problem as you do, using Retin-A may not be as beneficial for them. You may not be aware of possible contraindications that person may have, so make sure you are the only one using this medicine. Also store Retin-A in some place safe where children will be unable to get access to it.