I'm on Day 22 tomorrow. Just wanted to let you know that all the peeling, and flaking happened to me early on as well. It's awesome to have so many people dealing with the same thing at the same time. Not that acne is good, but at least we all have a little support system while dealing with it in this site. For the lips I reccommend ROC Endryial.. amazing lipgloss. Lasts long, and really helps with the cracking. Take care, and good luck!

I know! It's great having people who are in the same boat. Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look around and see if I can get it over in aus. Let me know how your course goes. Best wishes.

W00000t! You posted pictures
Good luck

Yay! I just took a big breath, close my eyes and clicked "Add Reply"...

lmao

eheheh

DAY 18:

Hey internet strangers! I haven't washed my hair in about four days which is a verrry rare thing for me. And today I've come home to a perfectly matte face!!!

Just a recommendation, don't eat oranges on roaccutane, it stung my lips like crazy.

Also I don't know but I've been a bit overly emotional lately, last night I was watching a doco on salmon and I cried because they swam all that way to lay their eggs and then just died!? It was truly tragic.

But then again I always cry when I watch the cartoon movie Tarzan so maybe I'm just weird, which is more likely...

Farewell

Hey everyone

Got a headache today but have fought it off with water. Also I'm breaking out on the back of my neck. Gah go away acne everybody hates you.

Day 20:

Ahh it seems like yesterday I had just reached double digits... How time flies when your lips are cracked and your skin is peeling.

Got a new symptom to report today. Back pain! but verrrrry minor back pain and probably caused because I went to the gym today which was when it started. I've also had another mild headache today, probably coz I drank no water. My lips are peeling off like snakeskin. Annnd I think I'm getting a cold.

Rashes on my hand are healing even though I haven't been moiturising.
Tsk Tsk

Next I post I will make a list of hints to keep hair from drying out. They're pretty helpfull for me.

G'night!

Hey there, just read through your blog. Sounds like you're doing pretty good so far! I'm only on day 3 here, and still waiting for some oil reduction, but I'll probably be praying for oil in a couple weeks so I'll try to enjoy it for now:)
I started with the extreme thirst mere hours after my first dose and it hasn't let up. But whatever, it helps me drink all my water, so I can't really complain.
Thanks for sharing your journey, I'll be reading it!

Hey Chaoticdreams33 thanks for the post! I'm loving the loss of oil at the moment. People can no longer see their reflection in my forehead. But yeah it'll probably just get drier from here on. Haha I suppose Roaccutane is a good motivation for water drinking. I really am noticing that I get mild headaches when I don't drink enough. Good luck with your course. Do you have a log? If so I'll check in.

DAY 21:

Not much new today, but I feel like the IB has calmed down a bit, touch wood. My Mum said that my skin is looking better but I think it looks the same, and I don't really want to get my hopes up too high, too early.

So I am taking great care of my hair, coz I don't want it to get all dry and break off and split and whatnot. Things that I am doing:
* Only washing my scalp, and the front of my hair, the fringe section, I read somewhere that when you th en rinse the shampoo out it mildy cleans the rest of your hair, I dunno...
* I don't wash all of my conditioner out, I leave a tiiiiny bit in the ends
* I use a leave in contioner that supposedly prevent spil end and dry hair
* I brush my hair really carefully when it's knotty, and brush from the bottom, upwards, don't just push all the knots from top to bottom, if that makes sense.
* Sometimes I use a hair sunscreen, just a bit over the top.

Anyways maybe I'm a bit obsessed with my hair but I don't want it to become a friz, Most of these things work for me

I'm plastering my face with Cetaphil moisturising cream as I type.

Oh! Lastly, could someone please tell me off/give me a horror story as to picking while on Roaccutane. I need a slap on the wrist.

sweatpea92- Yeah I have a log, but I did it in the blog thingy. It made more sense for me at the time. Actually I still sit by my decision. Doesn't get as much traffic, but I mostly just wanted to do it for myself, so that doesn't matter to me. Anyway, the link is in my sig if you want to browse. Not much happening yet though

Thanks for the hair tips!

No worries! I shall take a look at your log

DAY 22:

I am having the day off school, with a fever and a nasty cough...

my lips are so gross.

I'm sooooooo boooorrrrrreeeddddd

The only things on tv are about Michael Jackson, can't belive he died.

DAY 23:

Back pains aren't really much fun, but I'm trying to stay positive. It really only hurts when I bend down for too long and then stand up straight. I'm buying some fish oil capsules today so hopefully that might help a little bit. Overall I think my skin is feeling smoother, my forehead is clear and beautiful, albeit a few red marks. I've been peeling my lips and now they are patchy, purple and sore

Bit down today, got a really painfull cough, and cold. Been drinking lots of water so no headache today

But it's the start of the 3 weeks holidays! yaay

Have a lovely day

Hey sweatpea, looks like we're in this together. I'm on day 24 of Accutane & in the healing process of what people are calling my "initial breakout".

It was discouraging at 1st, because within the 1st 2 wks I could see a noticeable difference in the texture in my skin. It seemed smoother & more even somehow. Sooo... Im feeling good about things when wk 3 rolls around & BAM! Cystic explosions (some of the worst Ive ever had) ransacked my face to the point where I was embarrassed to even go to work. I dont think Ive had direct eye contact with anyone since. Thankfully, its started to heal & after reading about alot of people's experiences with this here I feel better about it. This too shall pass.

As far as side effects, I too have had dry patches on the back of my hands. I also cut my finger recently & it seems to be taking forever to heal. Ive since read that this actually very common for Accutane users. And I almost immediately experienced the dry lips. And it wasnt just the lips, but like... the area around my lips were flaking everywhere. Its been terrible (not to mention painful!) & Ive been almost as self concious about that as I am with the acne itself. As I type this, I have a split lip & it hurts to open my mouth especially around the corners. Aquaphor is a topical cream that you can buy in most drugstores (at least in the US) & Ive been told that is works really for this. Plan on buying some today, so Ill let ya know how it works for me.

Anyway, just wanted to tell you that youre not alone in this - I feel ya girl! Hang in there & keep us updated on your progess.

Yay the same day as me! Thanks for the reply Sorry to hear about the IB, from the sound of yours mine doesn't seem so bad, but I'm breaking out with some cysts on my jawline. ew. I got into a fight with my cat the other day and now I'm scratched all up one arm, so I'm guessing that'll be there for a while haha. My lips are so gross toooooo!!! all purpley colored and skin peeling everywhere. Let me know how you go on your course! What dosage are you on? Cool if we were on the same.

DAY 24:

I went shopping today and stupid me forgot my lip balm, it was torture. I'm still recovering But I bought a sweet vintage dress, bag and shoes so all is good. God my lips hurt, they're not far away from bleeding I reckon.

Yay Merlin is on tonight, that show is so corny but I love it.

DAY 25:

I just had my second blood test, and the lady wasn't as good as the one I had last time. She was like a brutal ape jabbing my arm with the needle and grunting. Ok, maybe thats a bit of an exaggeration but it hurt more than it did last time.

I'm peeling in the most random of places, like the inner corner of my right eye.

My derm appointment is on friday, so it's almost been a month.

My skin s pretty much free of white heads which is good, but I've got a fair few cysts, and they're different to the ones that I usually get in that there harder and flatter if that makes sense. I think I'm starting to notice a small change for the better apart from those few pesky cysts, which are mainly on my cheeks and jawline.

Just an update for anyone who doesnt want to read all the earlier pages:

Im 17 and a girl,
On 40 mg of Roaccutane,
I've got moderate acne,
I'm using cetaphil gentle cleanser and moisturising cream, both working well
I'm alternating between the QV lip balm and the green nivea one with jojoba.
I'm also using a nivea day lotion but I dont really like it, so I rarely use it.

Side effects so far:
Peeling skin
Very dry and peeling lips
Mild headaches
Mild backpain

Bye!

heya wish you good luck....i started isotretinoin from june 17!!well as of now nothing to say terrible breakouts:(..i actually have no clue how the medicine works

My Advice: Get Blistex for your lips.

I use that. It's great.

DAY 26:

Heya! Lots of posts annnd over a thousand people have read my log, or just the same people over and over, but whatever.

That's life and xdax - Thanks for the advice I will get me some blistex, does all blistex come with menthol? Because I don't really like the menthol tingle.

jediv - Thanks for the well wishes, right back at cha. As basically as I can sum it up, i 'spose, Roaccutane stops your body from making oil, which is pretty much the cause of pimples.

Had another mild headache today, but then again I had no water or food today as I was a busy bee.

I think the fish oil is really helping, No more back pain. I'm taking like 6 a day. On the back it says take 2 for normal supplement or take 4, 3 times a day for arthritis, so I'm going in between those two ammounts. It also says that fish oil lowers triglycerides which is a good thing because Roaccutane elevates them.

I HAVE TO STOP PEELING MY LIPS! I just caught myself doing it. I don't even notice. arrrgh.

Thanks for all the posts, everyone who has posted. I had no idea of how supportive this website is.

Good luck with everyone's treatments, truly hope they work for you