Day 10 - Dry Lips!

I am on day ten of my accutane journey. It took me a really long time to get to this point, I have been on everything from topicals to antibiotics for months at a time to natural remedies such as B5. I most recently spent over $500 on chemical peels because I was told that would be my cure (I was reaching my desperation point). FInally I made that call - the one to find someone who would take my acne seriously and not take a 30 second look at my face and tell me it was because I needed to switch to a bar of soap instead of liquid and that would cure me. That wasn't the problem, my acne isn't a product issue, it isn't an issue of "growing out of it" it is something deeper and it only took me 16 years to figure that out.

So I am now working with a fantastic derm and after finagling the IPledge system (would be so much easier to be a guy on this system!) I am now obviously on accutane. I have felt more tire and achy and a little more on edge - but I keep reminding myself that these are temporary and try to get outside of whatever I may be feeling at the moment.

Leave me a comment I would love to share your journey as well!

Thanks for stopping by!

hope everything is going well for you. i'm about 3 weeks behind you.

hello his pumpkin!

Thanks for the comment! It is so nice to know other people are going through the same type of things associated with Accutane!

Things are going well though it is really amazing the roller coaster of emotions you go through - one moment feeling really good about how your skin is and in the next five minutes it can take a nose dive!

I am having a really hard time dealing with the flakiness, I am moisturizing with cetephil cream and with clinique moisture surge and yet by mid day my face is literally falling off - so embarrassing!

I have noticed some amazing changes in my skin so far, my Derm put me on prednezone for a couple of weeks to help bring down the IB which really seemed to help, I have one really good active in the middle of my forehead (third eye position) but besides that just a few here and there nothing compared to dozens of active cysts (hopefully did not just jinx myself).

oh my gosh! i was in meetings all day today at work..busy busy. then, i had stopped & looked in the bathroom mirror & noticed my skin just falling off. i am shocked no one even said anything to me. it looked terrible!! definitely very annoying. my lips are a wreck too. i put burt bees lip balm on all day, however, my lips are so chapped & raw. the area all around my mouth is so pink. i also keep getting bumps in the corner of my mouth & the bottom of my lip. looks like i have cold sores. geeze. i go for my 2nd visit next week. i actually have to get my bloodwork done tomorrow. ugh.

Hi altagirl

I've just started Roaccutane I'm on day 7. like you I feel very tired with no energy at all in the mornings but it gets better later on in the day.
My Lips are dry but nothing major and my skin isn't that dry infact it feels normal. I think that's because I have very oily skin normally.

My acne appears to be getting better but It's to early to tell if I will get the IB or not. I hope I don't.

How was your skin on the first week was it dry or did that come later?

Good luck

How was your skin on the first week was it dry or did that come later?

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hi CET!

The dryness didn't really kick in until the second or third week and then it has just been full force ever since.

Update: Skin is clearing nicely couple of new small ones but that is about! Feeling very smooth! Dryness level: 10 It is mostly around current cysts and breakouts that it is the worst - I am sure it is a good thing though it can be really embarassing as you sit in a meeting with someone wondering if your face is falling off with any given moment )

Hello his pumkin!

I so know what you mean about your face falling off at work! Seriously I was in an all day seminar with the president of my company last week where I was doing the talking and I kept thinking in the back of my mind "oh it feels like something just cracked!" and having to run to the bathroom!

I hope that it levels out for both of us!!!!!

i'm positive it'll get better. it's just going to be a crazy ride.

Day 37?

Things are looking up as in I can see improvement coming even though at the present time I really look worse than ever.

• Blackhead - Almost GONE!
• Lips - Not quite so dry
• No Active Cysts!

Overall things are still just in the healing phase - but i am sure soon things will be rapidly getting better! (I hope)

One side effect I have been noticing lately is being very emotional I seem to be able to just sit and cry for no known reason - REALLY SUCKS!

Our weather has been constantly rainy or snowy for the last three weeks - I need me some sunshine!!!

Day 44

So you know those days where your like hmmm I think things are getting better - thinking to yourself - I have no actives currently and my face didn't completely fall off for dryness. Well that was yesterday I really thought things were getting under control and that my face was finally adjusting to the medication and not going to be flaking off all day. Today is a completley different story I have three new big ugly under the skin painful cysts and my face IS falling off (I moisturized just the same as yesterday so why why why!!!).

Hey it's my log I can whine if I want to right )

Nothing to much to report except lots of dryness couple new breakouts and tomato red skin. Life is fun.

Day 45 Officially

Skin is looking really good this morning only a couple of actives and not too much flakiness as yet -though it is only the morning.

My mood has improved dramatically since last week could have to do with the fact that we have been able to see the sun for two days in a row instead of snow snow snow!!!!

Hope all are doing great!!!

hey altagirl, i may be looking into getting accutane finnaly, as i turned it down a few years back, due sporting interests.

thanks for posting a journal as it prepares me for what is going to happen, even though we all get different side effects.

my g.p. has put me on basically all of the other strong antibiotics and they seem to stop some acne but it isn't clearing, so its time for drastic action LOL,

would you recomend i maybe start in june so that when i return to college in september my face isn't too bad, and i might be off it by then, I might hide over the summer LOL. Are you meant to keep out of the sun with accutune?, as i'm a gardener?

anyway good luck with your progress and i hope you have "halle berry" smooth skin very soon

good luck
from scotland!!!!!!!!

hello pascottish!

Wow I feel so honored to be visited by Scottland! )

To answer your questions about timing I personally was very excited to start a couple of months ago as it was still the dead of winter which would mean that by the time summer came hopefully I would be completley through with the course and maybe be able to enjoy a little pool time!

While your on accutane your skin is definetley more fragile and you are suggested to stay out of the sun as much as possible and to wear a very high sunscreen every day even if you are just going from your car to a building. So maybe the summertime wouldn't be the best time for you since your job takes you out to the sun so much - just a thought.

Good luck on whatever you decide! I know that it takes a lot to make the accutane decision but I am positive that it will have a positive outcome!!!

Day 46

So totally got a compliment from the VP of my company complimenting me on how nice my face looked!!!! So awesome!

Skin is doing really really well - of course not factoring in the dry dry skin )

I am feeling really good physically and mentally - not so tired and sad which is really nice!!!

Happy Friday Everyone![color="#FF0000"][/color]

that is so exciting! i am so glad you got a compliment b/c i'm still waiting for one. haha. hopefully by day 46 someone will see some improvement. but i'm really happy for you b/c it's nice to know other people noticing.

Day 50

Thanks his pumkin! No worries about not getting a comp yet - by the time we are all done with this process people won't even remember how bad our skin was before and that is even better! Clear skin here we come!!!

Skin update - doing REALLY well! Still incredibly dry and a few new ones popping up here and there which my three year old is really nice to point out "mommy you've got a boo boo". Yep nothing makes you feel better that confirmation that it is really that bad.

I am starting to break out on my back a lot more than ever with those big painful never going to come to a head ones, but I really don't mind I would rather have them there than sitting on my chin waving to anyone walking by!

Overall things are feeling like there might actually be a light at the end of this very dark tunnel even though i realize that the light is far away and there is still going to be many roller coaster moments of ups and downs at least at this very moment I feel like its all worth it.

peace out!

Flushing Flushing Flushing...

I feel like I am going through menopause - if I even so much as think about flushing I flush - yuck!

So in one of my past life derm visits she (not derm now) took one look at my face and acne and determined that I had rocacea. I have never been told this again by any other derm, but am really concerned that if I really did have it is this flushing going to wreck my skin? I am on 80 mgs a day which I have researched being a bit high for rocacea sufferers. Don't know what to think - I know flushing is normal on the tane - but how much is normal?