accutane before and after..

side effects = dry lips and some joint pain
...the first picture was taken dec 2008, 1st day of accutane
second picture taken last night...at like 1 AM, not ready for a picture...
3rd picture is how..i look regularly..ha.

DONE WITH ACCUTANE

Hey everyone!

Well, I have finally completed my six month course on accutane! it was definitely a roller-coaster of ups and downs, to say the least. I started December 4th, 2008, and my last pill was May 31, 2009.

Ok. So I was really looking foreward to making an 'accutane log' here, but i just got really lazy about it...sorry! hah.

alright...i'll give you a brief history about my life with acne.

Im a 19 year old guy and I live in Central Florida. I am relatively thin, about 5'9 and 130 lbs. I started getting acne when I was about 16...up til then my face was pretty much clear, aside from a few blackheads and whiteheads...which is normal during puberty. Because I was undergoing puberty, I figured all this was normal, and that i did not need to see a specialist about it. Well...it started getting out of control about 6 months after..it completely COVERED every square inch of my forehead, along the right side of my nose and mouth, and around my hairline. it was BAD. still, I just figured it would go away, as the left side of my face was completely clear, and I was still pretty confident wtih myself.

Well, after a while, I decided to try proactive. Waste of money. Basically step one is rubbing sandpaper on your face, followed by dabbing acid, and finishing off with some sulfur stuff. It hurt, smelled bad, and didnt work.

I decided to stop using proactiv...and went to california for the summer in 2008. My face....exploded with acne. Every inch of my face was covered in it. When I came back..I didn't leave my room, and didnt do anything. I didn't even like talking to my family..

So..I went to a doctor who prescribed Retin-A. This did not work.
I later tried Doxycycline, Tetracycline, and Benzaclin. NOTHING worked for me.

I finally decided to see a dermatologist. In September of 2008, I was prescribed Bactrim DS by my derm, which is basically the second best thing you could do for acne. Well, it sorta worked, but I just didn't want to use it. I wanted accutane. After months of begging, my derm finally gave me the ok to start the accutane process.

First, I took two weeks of a steroid called prednisone. This step is CRUCIAL in order to prevent an initial break out. I firmly believe prednisone significantly reduces the chance/severity of an initial breakout while on accutane.

so after two weeks of this, i finally got to start Accutane!

MONTH ONE- 40 mg sotret- Dry lips, 50% of my acne dissapeared, red marks worse than ever. Confidence way up.

MONTH TWO 60 mg Amnesteem Back pain, Joint pain. I highly reccomend not running while on accutane, if you can avoid a treadmill and use an elliptical, it works much better, and your back/joints do not hurt as much. REALLY dry lips. Mood swings. 65% of my acne was gone, red marks even worse.

MONTH THREE 60 mg Amnesteem - Back pain, Joint pain, face really dry, but it is definitely treatable with good moisturizer. i had a breakout, of about 5-6 zits. i had red marks everywhere. it looked really bad. i was kind of nervous my acne was coming back.

MONTH FOUR 40 mg Sotret - Less back pain, face still really dry, dry nose, tired. 75% clear, red marks everywhere.

MONTH FIVE 40 mg Claravis - Acne was pretty much clear, joints healed, nose wasnt dry, face and lips were still really dry. Still red...

MONTH SIX 60 mg Amnesteem - The last week was amazing. I just CLEARED UP. CLEAR! i have like 5 or 6 small redmarks! My lips are still dry, but my acne is GONE.

Summary...I never experienced depression, except a little bit in month three when i thought accutane had stopped working. ACCUTANE WORKS. I never had a suicidal thought, and my hair never thinned. All i had was joint pain and dryness for the most part. Accutane is totally worth it. Also, if you can ask for a specific brand of generic, ask for AMNESTEEM. trust me, there ARE differences in the way these pills work, and how they effect you.

The reason i was bouncing around from brand to brand was because the pharmacies got random brands every month. But i specifically requested amnesteem for my last month. My derm said she likes amnesteem the best too. Personally, the one i liked LEAST was Sotret. The side effects were much more prevelant, and it didn't work as fast/good. for me.

IF anyone has any questions feel free to ask me. GOOD LUCK ON YOUR COURSES. YOU WILL ALL HAVE CLEAR SKIN BY THE ENDED OF YOUR TREATMENT!

if you want to see my before and after pictures..let me know, my derm is giving them to me at my next appt in 2 weeks. hah

Acne Coming Back After Course?

Hey everyone,

Im about to start my 6th and final month of treatment, and i couldnt be more happy about it. I have no acne on my face...compared to a time where there was not a single spot on my face that didnt have a bump or cyst. I hate when my derm shows me how my face used to look prior to accutane..

anyway, my question to you guys is...

have you heard about acne coming back right when you finish your course?...

thats all im really nervous about...

are there reasons that trigger this like drinking alcohol or something? that's sort of a theory i just made up..hah.

anyway, if anyone has a guess / suggestion/ experience. post it up!

hey, someone whos been on accutane a while help?

hey everyone, so this is my 9th week on accutane...60mg a day...

my question to you is...is it normal to break out in the middle of the course?

i broke out at the beginning...ever since then my skin got progressivly better..today i woke up with like 4 new zits on my face and i'm really nervous that it will continually get worse...i had been basically..free of acne for like 3 weeks...

also, im getting like really dry skin on the back of my hands...im pretty sure thats normal..but i started breaking out when this occured...any help would be greatly appreciated..

-Rafael.

QuestionQuestionQuestionQuestion.

hey guys, i am finishing up my second month on accutane in about a week and a half....
already i have seen enormous improvement. people have been telling me how clear my skin has gotten in such a short period of time but ive only told like 2 people im on accutane...as of right now i dont have any zits or pimples...just like a few whiteheads and blackheads. but it feels completely smooth.
anyway...

i was just wondering, personal experiences...when was it taht YOU saw the most significant improvement in your skin?

how were months 3-6 for you..compared to 1-2.


because if by the end of month two i went from having 35298 zits on my forehead and jawline. to zero. with the only side effect being dry lips...i think i can fair out the last couple months with ease. aha.
thanks guys.