After accutane...

...How long did it take for your skin to gain its normal moisture and for the rashes to end after you finished your course? I finished mine about 2 weeks ago, my skin is still very dry and sensitive. I'm pretty much clear, a few blackheads perhaps but haven't had what you'd call a "pimple" for about a month probably. However I do get these red itchy lumps sometimes, I think it's the dryness that causes them.
Also, did your skin keep on getting better after you finished the course, as in did the remaining blackheads just eventually disappear and all?

Accutane recap

Well I was about to make a log when I started my course on the first of June 2008, but I never did. However I'll make a small recap of whats happened and how things have gone and are still going.

So I'm a 16 year old guy from Finland (177 cm, 63kg), I play football (soccer to the yanks ) and go to the gym every other day. I've been dealing with acne since I was 12 I think. It was bearable until the past year when my acne got moderately severe, I never had cysts but lots and lots of very inflamed big pimples that mainly covered both my cheeks. I took a total of 9 months (3x 3 months) of tetracyclines, that worked for a while but my acne always got bad again a few months after the course. I pretty much tried every product out there, they just dried my skin and didn't do anything to solve the problem.
The few months before I took accutane must have been the worst months of my life, I was getting depressed and I felt that I really couldn't deal with it anymore so I finally went to my derm and asked for isotretinoin.

I took my first pill on the first day of my summer holiday (my holiday lasts 10 weeks), and my goal was to be clear by the time school starts again. I'll give you a very brief idea of whats happened during the last 10 weeks.

Week 1:
Nothing really, at the end of the week acne starts getting a bit worse. Doseage of 20mg per day.

Week 2-3:
Acne gets a bit worse but it's been worse, I don't really feel like seeing anyone at the moment and I feel pretty down. Dry eyes. Doseage 40mg per day.

Week 4:
The initial breakout starts to end, skin condition is bearable. Lips and skin are getting a bit dry. Blackheads fall off my nose and forehead. Some lower back pain. Doseage 40mg per day. Blood tests come back good.

Week 5-7:
Nothing big happens here, at around week 7 my skin seems to clear up a bit however. Lips are getting dryer, skin isn't dry but my eyes are dry even if I use eyedrops. My lower back is kinda hurting but it isn't that bad. Doseage 50mg per day, wont get any higher than this.

Week 8:
Everythings drying up more, my skin is getting fragile. Acne is getting better however.

Week 9:
My skin hasn't looked this good for ages, lips are very dry if I dont moisturize for a moment, eyes are dry if I dont use eydrops for a while, getting big rashes on my arms but they fade once I moisturize well. Lower back still kinda hurts.

Week 10: (NOW)
Got a few pimples and I was stupid and irritated them, theyre very obvious now and I feel so stupid for touching them... Big party tomorrow and my skin isn't exactly looking good in my opinion. The overall texture is very good but the two big marks are very obvious. School starts in 2 days so I hope that they'll fade away by then (very unlikely).

Overall I'm very happy that I took the accutane course, I don't think that I could've dealt with acne for one more month, I really regret for not taking it earlier... I don't think that my skin will be too good once school starts but it surely will be after a few weeks.

I'll list all my side effects too, from worse to mildest:

DRY EYES
DRY LIPS
DRY SKIN/RASHES
LOWER BACK PAIN

I've had no signs of depression or other severe side effects so I'm pretty happy about that.
Even if I feel that acne has taken a lot of my life away from me (there were times when I didn't feel like going out and all, my friends never probably even understood my problem as I never talked about it) I believe that it has made me a better person overall. It has made me a lot more humble actually.

I'll update in a few days!

Popping/scratching dilemma

Well, I have a small problem here. I've now been using accutane for a week, and my initial breakout is pretty nasty. All the bumps unbder my skyn come to a head really fast though, and usually seem "poppable" in a day or two after they've appeared.

So to my problem, I'm someone who you might call a "chronic scratcher", for as long as I remember I've scratched everything I can from mosquito bites to zits. The problem is though, that i don't scratch anything during daytime, but when I'm asleep! I might just wake up in the morning with my fingers and face covered in dried blood. I've pretty much tried everything, clipping my nails every day (but somehow I'll still manage to scratch! ) and wearing thin gloves (I don't get sleep if I wear gloves at night as its way too hot...).

So, how dangerous is it to pop zits when on accutane? I mean it must be better for me to pop them out clean rather than scratch them out... My mother usually pops the zits, she doesnt use any pressure and uses desinfected tools for it and puts alcohol on them afterwards, we've done this many times before accutane and they haven't left any scars nor have they ever got infected, always looked way better a few days after the clearing.

I know that skin doesnt heal quite so well while on accutane, but is it still ok to pop the ones that are on surface? I'll probably end up scratching them out asleep if I dont...
Have you found any solutions for night time scratching?

Thanks!

Accutane and growth

Well I've been trying to find out all the possible side effects of accutane so that I'll be prepared for them, and I've come across several side-effects that sound a bit scary.
The one I'm really concerned about is how it might effect bone growth, I'm 176 cm tall now and 16 years old (born December 1991) and I really wouldnt mind growing a few more cm.
I know there are a few of these threads here but they are kindof old and dead so I wont bring them up...

So to the point, I'd like to hear some of your experiences (especially males who took accutane at about my age) about how you've been growing during accutane and after accutane. I don't really mind if I dont grow that much in height anymore (I'd still like to be over 180cm, my brother and father are both over 180cm) but growing in width is pretty much a must for me!

Isotretinoin and vision

I'm going to start my isotretinoin course this weekend, and I'm a bit worried about some of the side-effects. I'm not too worried about dry skin/lips and such, but I've read that some people get impaired night vision/eyesight which might be permanent.
So have any of you had any experience of impaired night vision or eyesight because of accutane?

Also I'd like to know how severe the muscle and joint pains can be, I go to the gym a few times a week and play football (soccer) about three times a week, can the muscle/joint pains prevent me from doing these?

Thanks!