Well since I was pretty much using my other post

Here!

As a log of sorts, I decided to take the leap and post a fully-fledged log!
All the history of my Acne can be read in my post over in the Accutane forums if anyone is interested.
One thing I did notice about here is there does seem to be a lot of people in the 20-30 bracket suffering from Acne, they certainly get all of my sympathies, In a way, I suppose acne is expected in the teen years, and a lot of what I have read discourages people my age from taking Accutane however, after seeing my derm it was confirmed that what I did not have was "Standard teen acne" it's something that's been incredibly persistent, and after researching the drug for the past 3 months or so, I think taking it was the best thing to do

Enough digressing I think. I started my course of Isotretinoin today (28th July) and as the title mentions, I got started on 70mg/day which for me seemed slightly strange, not only because of the high beginning dose (I am 70kg, so that's meant to be the most my body can take) but also the odd number, I hear of people starting on 40/60 even 80mg, depending on weight, but never 70. This makes actually taking the drug more difficult considering I need to take 3 20mg capsules and 2 5mg capsules at once time. But whatever, i'm not complaining!

As it stands now, I took the first dose about 8 hours ago, and I haven't felt any different, not that I expect too in the first day but i've braced myself for it all, so it's just the waiting game now ^^

Pictures!:
Right Side
Left Side

These were taken post-shower since it's way more apparent then
(Sorry for crazy hair!)

If you've managed to make it this far, thank you for bearing with the wall of text :]
Until Tomorrow!

Day 2

Still nothing too noticable as of yet. I did some heavy lifting on sunday and had aching arms before I even took the drug for the first time, this is still present today although much better so I doubt it's related. I also thought my lips seemed a little dryer when I woke up, but it wasn't something i was aware of until I actually thought about it, so

I seem to find myself almost waiting for something to happen now
I guess that's probably because i've read so much about it.

A question for anyone reading; Will it be really obvious when I need to begin moisturising? Or should I just start getting into the routine of it now? My skin does seem to be getting slightly less oily but certainly nothing that requires moisturiser yet.

Day 3/4

Nothing too major on Day 3, though I got 1-2 annoying dizzy spells mostly after I just stood up, they aren't too serious - I just feel like the room is slowly moving. I'm guessing this probably had something to do with dehydration since they stopped after drinking. Strange though, i've been drinking way more than normal on this stuff. Perhaps it's still not enough? Anyone?

Day 4 (Today) and i'm actually starting to see a difference! My acne is pretty severe, so I do tend to notice any difference, even if small. Today it seems like one side of my face has reduced redness to normal, it was much more apparent when I first woke up this morning, now it's not quite as obvious. As for side effects, i'm definitely feeling the dryness kick in now; there's a spot above my right eye that is especially red and dry. I actually do feel the need to moisurise now (guess that answers the question from my last post!)

As strange as it sounds, i'm pretty welcoming of these minor side effects, at least it means the drug is doing it's job

We'll see how things develop from here.

I'm 17 and on 'tane too =)

I get dizzy spells when I get up fast as well, and I'm drinkings looooads of water.

Well good luck!

missyjean: It's nice to know i'm not the only one

Day 5/6

I'm really starting to get the dryness now, and my skin is flaking pretty badly. No worries though, I guess it means progress!

Lips are getting more chapped each day, I pretty much have chapstick on permenantly, even woke up one night to apply
One thing I have noticed though, is with the skin being so sensitive now, whenever I moisturise I get a slight warm/burning sensation. I'm not using anything too harsh (E45 Moisturising Lotion, reccomended from someone on these very boards) It seems to vary between days, I think it was yesterday I came out the shower, and moisturised about 20 minutes later and my face started burning like crazy, particularly around my t-zone. It only lasted for 10-20 seconds. I guess it's similar to having sunburn and rubbing something onto the skin - probably due to the sensitivity of it whilst on tane.

Oh well, it's nothing major just something I thought i'd mention ^^

Laters.

Best of luck!!

Hey - all the best I had tane when I had just turned 17 and Im on it again now Ive just turned 20. My acne appeared when I was 9/10 so it was hard growing up having it, hence why I went private to get tane. I did notice that I was one of the younger loggers back then and still think the same now - a link to both logs is in my signature if you want to see how I did.

Hope all goes well, keep us posted Ness

Day 7/8

Nothing too different over these days, dryness seems to be getting worse day-by-day but i'm moisturising lots now

Oh, and I had the wonderful lower-back pains/aches on sunday that i've heard so much about. Only lasted 3-4 minutes though, could of just been the position I was sitting in, meh.

I actually got told my skin looked way better by someone yesterday
Though I don't know if I see it myself, it certainly looks less red and 'angry' than normal, so I guess that's good.

Sorry the entries are getting slack, really not having much worth writing about yet.

Laters everyone.

Day 9/10

Lips are super dry now, like really badly chapped.I have to apply lip balm every 2-3 hours otherwise they feel terrible. I've been waking up so dry; I generally moisturise before I go to sleep but waking up the next day is still unpleasant, my face feels like it has a layer of something over it.
To add to this i've also had 2 nosebleeds (though one of those has been in my sleep) the other was very small, so i'm still not complaining.

Really nothing that's too drastic right now, i'm hoping this is as bad as it will get, but i'm not entirely expecting that to be the case

Day 11/12/13/14

Sorry for grouping all of them together, but there has not been much change >.<

Skin is getting slightly less dry (or maybe i'm remembering to moisturize more )
Lips are still super dry, still using lip balm on them every few hours.
As for my skin itself, things improved quite rapidly in the first 3-4 days (face looked less red compared to normal) but after that it's been extremely gradual, whatever, I have the next 4-5 months left I suppose

I'll try to remember to update this more.

Have a good day/night, depending on when you read this

Day 19/20

Appologies for the huge gap, i've been pretty busy, and in all honesty, not much has changed.

So yeah, recently my lips have been severely peeling, i'm still remembering to put stuff on them every few hours, but it remains almost impossible not to pick at them.

For some strange reason, my forearms have been really dry, i've noticed they've been flaking in spots, so to combat this I have been moisturisising them during the day also. Along with this i've had a few spots of eczema come up on my arms/hands, i'm assuming it's related to the dryness. I've been using cream on them and they seem to be dying down. But I don't remember reading about people having any issues on their arms.. Oh well.

I have a few tender lumps on my neck, don't know whether I can put it down as part of the IB, or anything, but they seem pretty deep. They were pretty painful a few days ago but seem to be drying up now, so I guess that's good.

As for progress, my skin hasn't really changed much in the past week or so, it's still extremely dry but is definitely better than when I started the course. It varies from day to day really.

I've said it before, but I will update this more!

I hope the bumps on your neck resolve themselves! Hopefully the dryness on your arms will abate with moisturizer. All the best, I'll check back again soon.

Hang in there

I just started and I'm on my 3rd day.

Those bumps you mentioned... I get those ALL THE TIME, OMG. I have like 4-5 cysts in my neck right now. It hurts just to turn my head or look up/etc.

But they usually pass, and I'm sure the same will happen with you.


I'll be checking back at this one till you're done.


BTW, Awesome Chobits avatar.
that's probably the best manga/anime I've ever experienced.

@ Deadbeat: Thanks for the support, yeah the bumps do seem on the way out now; they seem to be much smaller, and kinda scabbing over? It's pretty nasty really, but whatever, they don't hurt anymore As for the arms, i've been moisturizing them every 4-5 hours and they seem to be getting better.

@Urban: I know, they are horrible, seriously. I have them on my neck/chin area, i've actually been putting off shaving for a while, since they seemed to be hurting so much the other day, that can't have been good for them! Thanks for the avatar compliment ^^ Yeah, Chobits was awesome it's one of the few series that I actually got into emotionally, I cried right at the end!

day 23/24

Wow, is that what it's been already? It's true what people say - it really does seem like you've been on the drug shorter than you actually have.
Yeah, so as for progress, things seem to be coming along nicely. If any of you read Missyjean's diary, she mentioned about things scabbing over? I have a similar thing going on myself, stuff keeps falling off daily (although it's near-impossible not to pick, I do try!) I've had 2-3 compliments on my skin in the last few days, though they have been from close friends/family so it is possible that they could be just saying it to keep my spirits up. Definitely better than when I first started though

I realised 2 days ago I believe, that i've stopped producing oil completely now. After coming out of the shower and drying off (I don't moisturise till an hour or so after showers) I noticed that the area around my nose (one of the only COMPLETELY clear areas) seemed incredibly soft, and not at all oily, it almost seems as if it feels kinda waxy? It's strange for me since i've always had semi-oily skin, so I spent most of the day touching it ^^
As of today (20th) My shoulders, arms are the same - not oily and seem extremely soft. Things like this make me happy as it's physical evidence that the drug is actually working.

Side effects have been essentially the same, I expect dry, chapped lips every day, and that's just what I get. The mornings are the worst since I can only apply lipbalm before bed, and then obviously go the whole night without doing so again, I usually find them bleeding in the morning x.x
I've also had minimal joint pain, mostly in my lower back. However, it's only when i've been bending down, or sitting in a certain position, and only lasts for a maximum of 2 minutes or so. Along side this I have also been incredibly itchy, my arms, neck, and back have certain times where they just itch like crazy, having a freezing cold shower is the main relief I get from this, but even this seems to be getting better as of today.


Sorry again for missing out a day or two, I will update this as I remember and kudos to you guys who actually put up with my rambling!

Hope everyone is well.

- Ryan.

Lizard lizard =D

Yeah,I can't stop touchin' my nose cos' it has no oil!

The lips thing is a huge bother too huh? My lips are soft all day thanks to the aquaphor,but then obviously rubs off during the night =( I feel your pain

Almost month 2 for you! Gratz!!!!!!!

Days 25-32

I haven't intentionally ignored this, i've just had so much going stuff going on in my life it's been difficult to find time for it.

My skin is almost the same as it was last time I updated over a week ago. Still putting off shaving for obvious reasons, though it's gonna have to happen in the next few days at least

The main thing that's been bugging me though has been my forearms. They are crazy-itchy all the time, a few days ago I ran out of hydrocortisone for the eczema that I mentioned in the previous update, and they completely broke out. New patches of it everywhere. Another thing that I noticed was over the past few days I haven't been able to get that much sleep. At all. Some nights I get like 3-4 hours, other nights it's been a little more. It's nothing to do with problems falling asleep at all, i've just had a lot of stuff to get through but my skin is noticably worse on both arms/face if I don't get much sleep. This is probably incredibly obvious but I thought i'd mention it. Anyway, got some more hydrocortisone yesterday and my arms have been cleaning up nicely.

Still getting lower back pain at times after I stand up/bend down, but it's not lasting or anything.

Right now my arms are feel like they are burning like crazy, and are incredibly itchy >.< which sucks!

Other than that not much to update really, i'll try get pics up when I can.

Just stopping by to wish you luck. I'll keep checking back to see how you're doing. Try getting as much sleep as possible, even when you aren't on accutane it feels so much better going through the day with a full nights sleep.

I'm having trouble sleeping as well. I'll turn the lights out at 3AM, which is when I usually fall asleep, and I'll still be sitting there awake at 6AM. I tried to fall asleep at 11PM last night, but I was still up for 4 hours. I also seem to be waking up every hour or two for no good reason. I didn't know if it was the Accutane or not, but I guess it is!