Severe creases from accutane

So I just stopped my third course of accutane (low dose 60 mg / week for about 6 months). I previously did a full course of 80 mg / day three years back and another low dose one a year or so after that. Even though the oil has started coming back already, the folds on my face (my laugh lines) and my forehead are extremely deep and irritated. Even if I smile for just a few seconds, the creases get all red and they stick around even when I'm not smiling now. Needless to say, this is looks terrible and is incredibly saddening.

I just want to know how I can get back to normal or even near normal. I just don't even feel like myself right now. Of course I got a couple of scars from my first course of accutane too, and they just look worse than ever now too.

How can I get rid of these creases and get some elasticity back in my face? I found a post by LiliVG on this page (http://www.acne.org/messageboard/SEBUM-t57833.html&st=60&start=60) saying she had the same thing and used jojoba oil and hyaluronic acid to cope. I just started them a few days ago, but I'm still living in agony right now. Other than that, I'm washing with Cerave cleanser and moisturizing with Cerave moisturizer.

I so wish I had never taken this drug in retrospect. Yes, it got rid of the cystic outbreaks for the most part, but I don't feel even remotely normal anymore.

4 months into accutane and completely clear!

Hey everyone,

I haven't been back to the boards in a while, but I was posting a bit when I started accutane back in december. I'm a 27 y/o male, about a 165 lbs., and am 4 months into my course of 80 mg/day... just picked up my fifth and final month's supply today actually.

Just wanted to report that this drug is truly miraculous. My skin is completely, and I mean completely, clear at this point and looks and feels great. I started noticing an improvement about 2-3 weeks in and had more or less stopped breaking out at around 2 to 2 and half months in. Though I was more or less clear by that point, my complexion wasn't great (a little blotchy, some clogged pores here and there, etc.) so I tried switching some things up. First I ditched the moisturizer (was alternating between Lubriderm and Cetaphil) and started using Jojoba oil. After using this for the past month, I don't think I'll ever use a regular moisturizer again. It leaves my skin so soft and smooth and completely moisturized without leaving that "heavy" moisturizer feeling on my skin. When I touch my face, it really doesn't feel like I put anything on. To top it off, the jojoba oil got rid of the mild eczema on my hands that accutane had been giving me. Around the same time, I also switched from Cetaphil Gentle Cleanser to Purpose Liquid Cleanser, and that helped get rid of the remaining clogged pores. I highly, highly recommend that you guys give those two products a try if you're not happy with the products you're currently using on accutane.

Anyway, I can't believe how much happier and more confident I am now since I started taking accutnae. I'm working out more and am in better shape than I have ever been. I have so much more free time now that it only takes me 10 minutes to shower and get dressed (no more standing in front of the mirror for a half hour applying bp). I'm definitely getting much more looks from the ladies now, and I have a new girlfriend and got a promotion at work. I sound like such an ass, but this really has helped turned my life around and I'm really glad I made the decision to go on accutane.

To be honest, the only thing that's ever depressed me while on accutane is how much the U.S. government is trying to legislate the drug into oblivion. I'm really afraid that the red tape they are creating for providers (iPledge) and patients (monthly blood tests, two forms of birth control and monthly pregnancy tests for females) that it'll discourage doctors from prescribing it or patients for seeking accutane treatment. Honestly, I feel like I wasted a couple of years, in the prime of my life nonetheless, just moping around like a sad sack because of my condition and I only wish now that I had not waited so long to go on accutane.

Good luck everyone.
Dan

Sun and chlorine while on accutane

So 3 and a half months into accutane and I'm going down to Florida this weekend for 3 or 4 days. How bad is the sun and the chlorine (from the pool) going to be for my skin? Obviously, I'm planning on wearing a ton of sunscreen and not sitting outside for 8 hours a day, but should I plan on staying inside or out of the pool? Living up north, I haven't had much of a chance to "sun test" my accutane skin yet.

Thanks!

I hate iPledge!!

I honestly think that iPledge is the biggest piece of bureaucratic shit ever invented. I dropped my prescription off Tuesday night, and on my own fault, I didn't give them my iPledge card which I had just gotten from my doctor... but the pharmacist didn't ask for it either. So I get a call later that night saying that they need to see the card to fill the prescription and that I can just bring it in the next day when I pick up my prescription. No big deal, I thought. So I go back Wednesday, give them my card expecting to be able to get the prescription. I'm a guy. I don't have a uterus. I'm not getting pregnant, so I have no clue why I need to enroll in this moronic program anyway. But no, they say we're going to have to call to verify the iPledge number, so I'll have to come back the next day and they'll call me if they run into any problems. I couldn't go in Thursday, so I go back tonight (Friday) expecting to pick it up since they didn't call me. Wishful thinking. It took them 10 minutes to find my iPledge card and prescription and then told me that they called iPledge who said I didn't qualify (??) so the pharmacy needed to call my doctor. Why they hadn't done it in 2 days, she didn't know. So now she says we'll have to wait until Monday and call my doctor. So it'll take at the very least 6 days for me to get my prescription, and I'm not even hopeful I'll be able to get it Monday. Of course my prescription will have already run out, but at least the government knows that I, though completely devoid of ovaries, won't get pregnant with a misshapen baby.

I really do not understand why they make us go through this. We already have to read/sign these side effect and warning forms and take monthly blood tests... The red tape that they have created for this miracle drug is absolutely unbelievable. It really is a shame.

On a positive note, I'm 3 months in on my course and things are going very, very well. My body cleared up long ago and my face is now clear as well, only about one minor blemish a week. My doctor said I might only need to do 4 months (instead of the original 5 months) since things were going well, but I actually want to push for 5 or even 6 months to prevent a recurrence. After all, my cholesterol numbers only went up to 135 and I only have very mild side effects.

Sorry to rant... It's just that this iPledge crap has cast a shadow on what has otherwise been one of the best decisions of my life.

Just started accutane today at 80mg/day

Hey everyone,

Thanks to all your advice in my last thread: http://www.acne.org/messageboard/convince-derm-prescr-t76266.html. I went back to the derm this morning to check the results of my blood test and everything is OK, so I just took my first pill of accutane. My derm prescribed me 80 mg/day (40 mg twice a day) which scares me a bit for an initial dose, but I am 170 lbs., so maybe it's about right.

Any advice for supplies I should pick up? Currently I'm using Cetaphil gentle cleanser and Complex 15 facial moisturizer, and I just bought some neosporin lip treatment for my lips. I might switch up to the Cetaphil moisturizing lotion if things get dry enough. Anything I should be doing for my nose?

Also, my derm told me I can continue using my Retin-A (low strength - 0.025%) until the dryness starts to kick in at which point I should stop. Anybody else using any topicals for the first few weeks?

Thanks,
Dan