Well, i'm going to begin my course of Accutane next Tuesday. My acne could be categorized as moderate, but persistent. I normally do not get "normal" pimples; rather, I have one or two cysts at a time that seem to stay inflamed and linger for months. Lately, they have begun to scar so my derm and I decided that accutane is a good option. I'm already very self-concious about my face and am nervous about the IB. Any advice?

Also, will the scars/indentations that I currently have "fill-in" during my course of accutane? My derm seems to think so, but I wanted to hear others' experience.

Hi OSU. Im 29/f and I have the same type acne you do. I'm going in for my final "test" the middle of this month, and then will start me treatment. We should compare notes!

Hey, I am 28/f and have the same. I did not have an initial breakout.

hey there OSU Girl!~~~

ok - take a deep breat and go!!!! You are hopefully going to have CLEAR SKIN in a matter of months!!!! I HAD very similar acne but probably more like 5-6 cysts at a time that I would have to take advil for the pain of them (you know the throbbing). Anyway I started tane almost 5 months ago and I do not have a single bump on my face - this isn't easy this next few months but it is going to be SOOO worth it. Get ready for your skin to be the driest it has ever been, some headaches and the acne to get a little worse in the first couple of months and then for everything to start healing - good luck girl!

Products I couldn't have lived without on this course:
Cetiphil Cleanser and Moisturizer
Jojoba Oil - mix a couple drops in with your moisturizer and your conditioner
Aveeno - hand cream and lip moisturizer
VASELINE!

Went to the derm today for my bloodwork, and she wants me to start out on 30mg of Sotret a day. I weigh 110 lbs, and think that this does may be high. My dosage will be increased to 60 mgs per day for the remaining 4 months. Is there any guidance out there as to how many mgs you should take cumulatively based on your weight?

So. . . .I will fill my prescription tomorrow and see how it goes.

Just want to wish you good luck with your course. I hope it is your 1st and last course. Remember to stay consistent and it takes a while for some to see improvement. I didn't see any really good results until month 4. I'm out of month 5 and things are getting progressively better though. Be warned..... the dryness is sometihng you've never experienced before. Take it easy!

Can't wait to hear about your course!

Day 5

I just took my 5th 30mg Sotret this morning. I haven't noticed any real changes yet, nor did I expect any. My skin still isn't drying out, although before I started my course it would look like an oil slick within a couple of hours after I washed my face in the morning. Just hoping the next few months pass by quickly.

Some questions:

1. Are you allowed to thread your eyebrows while you are on Accutane?

2. Does this medicine make your teeth more sensitive? Mine seem to be very sensitive to sweet foods lately. Just sucking on a mint can cause them to burn!

Hey, good luck with your course. I'm on day 7 30mg also. Accutane probably has many un-listed side effects as it can affect everybody differently so your sensitive teeth could be due to the drug. After my first week I've noticed that my eyes are now less sensitive to light than they were before, how weird.
I've noticed a lot of little pustules forming around my chin/lips/nose area where my skin was red before but no spots developed. I hope this is my 'IB' as they are quite small and sometimes disappear overnight. It's awesome. So if you do get an IB, don't be scared, it may be minor. I like to think of it as bringing up all of the spots that would form anyway in due time, but forming them all at once to get them out of the way .
Oh yeah, take your dosages with a fatty meal. I'm taking mine with my dinner. I had a non-fattening dinner last night so I took my pills with a spoonfull of mayonaisse lol! Eating mayonaisse like it's yoghurt

Day 33

One month down!! The first month has not been so bad. I don't know what I was expecting, but my side effects (chapped lips, dry hair) have been manageble so far. I still haven't seen much progress on my face though, but realize that it just takes time.

I still have a cyst below the surface that was there for about 4 months pre-tane. While it hasn't gotten any bigger on accutane, it hasn't gotten any smaller either. Will it ever go away? It's been injected several times, and now I have indentations around it which makes it appear even worse than it probably is. Usually, my indentations fill in after a few months, but I am worried that these won't because it's been injected several times. The scarring I have been left with is sometimes more emotionally scarring than the acne itself.

My derm just increased my dosage to 60 mg a day for the remaining 4 months of my course. Only 110 days to go!

Hey I have that stupid bump under my skin to, from pre tane. I am over 3 weeks in and it still the same size. Im just going to leave it for a few months and then re assess.

Day 37

My skin has been adjusting to the increase in dosage (30mg/day to 60 mg/day) over the past week, and it has been drier than ever. I'm using cetaphil moisturizing cream, and while it does add extra moisture, it tends to make my skin look oily as well. Does that make any sense? My skin is both oily and dry at the same time? Wierd.

Anyway, I haven't experienced any other side effects except for an increase in my hair shedding. It seems to be extremely dry, too, but I'm going to get my hair done tonight and will see if she can do a moisturizing treatment on it.

So. . . . the saga continues.

Thanks for the post! I'm glad to hear that you don't have any side effects from highlighting your hair. I would really like to get highlights. I'm used to having my hair light. Do you have thick or thin hair? Can't wait for Friday.

Day 85

Okay . . . .so things were going well until about a week ago. Yes, I was experiencing the dry eyes, dry, sensitive skin and was constantly tired, but it was manageable. Then, a week ago, I had a few big presentations at work and was the maid of honor in my sisters wedding. Needless to say, I was a bit stressed out and that took a toll on my body and my skin. I had a rather large cyst arrive a few days before the wedding so my derm injected it with cortizone. It went down nicely for the wedding - thank goodness! - but five days later I am left with an indentation. This was my problem before and I am wondering (1) what should I put on it to make the indent fill in and less red, and (2) how long before it will go away?

From what I've read, the indented scars should fill in a bit on their own once you're done with the course. Your skin won't be so dry and will thicken back up to normal (won't be so fragile). I've got an indented scar on my forehead from a 3rd month monster, but it's sloooooowly getting more shallow. I hope yours reacts the same. Best wishes to you!

Thanks, Siava! I appreciate the well wishes. Also wanted to let you know that I've been reading your blog and that I'm happy that you are finished with the course. Yay!!

Hi OSUgirl!

Just wondering....Are you in Oregon by chance or is your name regarding something different.
I live in Milwaukie, OR so I was just curious....


Good luck with your course!
I'm on my 2nd....my skin is no where near as bad as it was before but I've been steadily breaking out with smaller pimples so I decided I needed to go for a 2nd round.

Oh and your skin gets thinner on Tane so once you're off of it your indents should fill back up for the most part.

Hi Gin*n*Juice, thanks for the advice. I hope your course goes well. And btw, the O stands for Ohio.

Nothing much new to report. No new actives, just dealing with the scars. I'm hoping they fill in somewhat in the next few weeks as I have several weddings to attend in late September.

Day 95

My face is doing pretty good, although I've had a few annoying whiteheads pop up this week. But I'm not too concerned about them as they seem to shrink on their own within a few days. I do have 3 or 4 actives on my arms right now, though. Wierd!!

I have been putting Philosophy "Save Me" onto the indent/red mark on my chin this week, and it seems to have helped with the redness. It has retinol and other vitamins in it, so I've been applying it to my cheeks and nose every other day, too. Since I'm nearing 30, I think it may help prevent the inevitable wrinkles!

My side effects have definitely been manageable, but the one that bothers me the most (or puts a damper on my day-to-day life) is the tiredness. Maybe I'm not eating right, or maybe I need more sleep while on this medicine, but by 8:00 each night, I want to crawl into bed!

I stopped taking Accutane two weeks ago, but still seem to be losing more hair than normal. Has anyone else experienced this? And, when will I stop losing so much?