No Longer So Low Dose Accutane Log

Ughhh, another course of accutane. So I'm a 19 year old guy who has been on accutane 3 previous times. My first course was when I was 17 and I was "under-treated" as my new derm put it. At 150lbs, my dosage by month went 20-20-40-60-60-40. About two months later the oil and acne was all back and I was back at a new derm being prescribed accutane.

My acne wasn't severe but it was bad enough and leaving annoying red marks and a couple of rolling scars and on top of that I was extremely oily. So my new derm prescribed me 80mg/day right off the bat. The first few months broke me out and pushed all my clogged pores up to the surface, but by the beginning/middle of month 3 I was 100% clear. I remained on 80mg/day for a total of 7 months, most of which i enjoyed perfect skin, but now it was time for me to see if I was cured; I wasn't.

So about 2 months after finishing that course some oil started coming back and I felt it was a sign of things to come, so I went to the derm and got back on accutane. I was put on another full dosage of 80mg/day even though i didn't have a pimple on my face, just oily and an overall worse complexion. My first month on my skin again became perfect, but then I got greedy. With my new found confidence in my perfect skin I decided to go wild and drink while on the tane. One night I made the stupid decision to take my 80mgs and then go out and get wasted. The next morning I woke up with a swollen lymph node in the left side of my face. Over the next four weeks i developed raised red marks, pretty much like pimples but they weren't. They weren't hives either so I just figured I was getting a bit of breakout and it would pass and I'd be home free - I was wrong. By the end of those four weeks I had like 15 of these things on my face and my face was just irritated and raw and I was like wtf. So I stopped the accutane and that all went away in about 5 or 6 days.

Its been about 5 months since then and I had remained relatively clear with the use of Ziana gel and then Retin-a Micro, but within the last month I've had more oil come back(not as bad as pre accutane) but the topical retinoids just don't seem to be able to handle it all completely. I went to the derm last week and he said I could try low dose accutane so I figured why not. Right now I'm just hoping that whole episode 5 months ago wasn't an allergic reaction seeing as accutane is the only thing that has the ability to clear my face of oil and pimples. I just picked up my prescription for 10mg/day and will be taking my first pill tonight. I'm crossing my fingers that I'm not allergic to it and that I can sail smoothly to clear skin.

I'm gonna try and update the log daily, hopefully it won't be cut short by any adverse reactions. Wish me luck!

Long Term Retin-A Micro Use

I've been on Retin-a Micro for about a month and it has worked well, but has anyone used it with good results only to have the benefits wear off or has it remained effective?

Retin-a Peeling/Flaking

I've been on Retin-A .1% for about a week and I have no peeling at all. Has anybody else experienced this? I feel like this might lessen my chances of clearing up hyper-pigmentation. I was on Ziana for about 2 or 3 months before this but it was only .025 tretinoin so i figured I'd have atleast a little bit of peeling or flaking, but I'm putting on a generous amount of the Retin-a at night and my face is tolerating it very well. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Retin-A Micro Residue?

I just started using the Retin-A Micro 0.1% gel and in certain areas it left a weird white/yellow residue on my face. Does this mean I'm using too much? I just switched from Ziana which was only .025% Tretinoin and I had to glob on to get any results so my doc figured I needed a higher strength. Did anyone else experience this residue? Anyone else switch from Ziana to Retin-A?

Switching From Ziana to Retin-A Micro

So I came off my 2nd course of Accutane about 3 months ago and started using Ziana to maintain my clear skin. Unfortunately a bit of oil came back and I've started to get a few pimples. Do you think I'll have to worry about an IB with the Retin-A or should I be in the clear considering I've been on a retinoid for 3 months? Let me know what you guys think!