Claravis, you're a life saver!

I decided to register with acne.org after months, maybe even years of lurking. I've read your stories, thank you all for posting pictures and detailed info and giving people like me an idea of what to expect. With that being said~ I'm taking Claravis 60mg a day for 5 months. I'm 24, and have been getting moderate to severe acne since I was 16.

I am on week 5 now (day 36) and I have definitely gotten some dryness. It's quickly remedied with a good lotion. I use Philosphy/unconditional love for my body because it has olive oil in it and is very soothing and smells amazing. I use Purpose "Redness Reducing with SPF 30" lotion for my face. I have actually noticed it helps ease the redness caused by the Claravis. It's especially useful right now because I walked outside for 20 mins and my skin turned pink. I'm very fair skinned. On the plus side, I LOVE that my face still feels smooth and dry at the end of the day! Usually it's quite oily.

My nose started to bleed a little in the shower at day 10 or so. Now that I'm over a month, the inside of my nose gets painfully dry. Nothing a little Aquaphor won't fix though. Oh and please get yourself Aquaphor before starting. Your lips will crack and feel very raw if you don't. It's seriously a life saver. My hair is a little dry so I try not to wash it or heat style it often as it feels very brittle if I do. Ok so these are the mild side effects, onto more serious ones.

My joints and muscles feel very stiff. I thought it was because of the pilates I was doing but after not doing them for a week I know it's the Claravis. Especially my hips and lower back.

I could handle all of these symptoms, but now it's becoming somewhat of a challenge at work with the FUZZY BRAIN side effects. I am screwing up quite often and I had to explain to my boss why, which was a little embarassing but he was understanding. So they are going to ease my workload until I'm done with my course.

As for the behavioral effects, I guess I'm a little more sensitive but only today because of that incident at work. I was getting feelings of guilt too around day 21. I didn't do anything to feel guilty about, mind you. I just have to keep my main goal in mind, I know it will be worth it. Though it's not a cake walk. It's better to be prepared for what's to come rather than going into this thinking you're a superhero who won't react the same way everyone else has.

Well I think I've written enough for now, I will probably post another update in the next two weeks. Good luck everyone!

p.s. I've uploaded some pics to my gallery to show the improvement, there are virtually no pimples already. I love this stuff.