70 replies to this topic

[00Cardinal]

Day 55

More of the same, both in acne and side effects (although my Achilles isn't as sore as it was, last week it hurt just walking, this week it only hurts when running).

Quick question. I'm going to run out of pills about 3 days before my next derm appointment. Should I:

A. Not worry about it, 3 days of 0mg isn't a big deal
B. Cycle down to 40mg for 6 days before the appt.

Thanks!

~Matt

[00Cardinal]

Day 63

UPDATE!

I know it's been a while, I've been trying not to visit acne.org because the less I visit the less I think about my acne. But I thought it'd be good for me to give an update.

If you count, Day 63 doesn't quite add up but that's because I did 40mg for six days when I was close to running out of pills last month.

Face - Better. I looked at my pictures from the beginning and there is definitely significant improvement. Zits are smaller, less frequent, and go away faster. There are still a ton of red marks from old zits, but hopefully those will fade over time. I'm hoping for even more improvement during the third month. I will say this, when I was on 40mg for those 6 days, I didn't get a single zit and my face looked great. Now that I'm back up to 80 I have had some zits over the past few days. Interesting I thought, but I'll stick with 80 because it means I'm done faster.

Skin - Much dryer, I have to make sure I moisturize every day and Aquaphor/Burt's Bees my lips like crazy. Also feels kind of rubbery/weird at certain times of the day, especially in the late afternoon. It's also very fragile and thin.

Other side effects - No muscle pains, but I haven't been working out recently (too busy) so that could have something to do with it too. My eyes are red, but Visine in the morning and at night keeps it under control.

The most significant side effect is actually my cholesterol. I'm a skinny, healthy, athletic guy (5'6" 150lbs.) but my family has a history of high cholesterol and it looks like the tane decided to activate that nice part of my family history.
My baseline was 148
End of month 1 was 178
End of month 2 was 190

I don't really watch what I eat, but my derm said I'm going to have start doing that. She also mentioned before I started tane that some patients go on Lipitor at the end of their treatment, maybe I'll consider that too.

Liver function/triglycerides are normal, so the only thing I have to continue testing for is cholesterol.

That's about it. I feel much more confident about my skin and I know the 'tane is working and I honestly for the most part just dont' worry about it anymore. Here's to an excellent month 3!

~Matt

[Dyne]

Where you at bro? tell me you're clear !!!

[00Cardinal]

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated.

I'm officially done with 4 months. My face is almost completely clear *knock on wood*. I've had one zit over the past week and a half. Plenty of red marks, but I'm not really worried about that. I've got my confidence back, I've been pickin up girls at parties, and I just don't worry about my face anymore. Overall I have to say I'm very pleased with Accutane.

That being said, I have a question for everybody:

So my derm said my dosage is officially done on Sunday, I'll have reached the maximum. I calculated: 152 mg/kg on Sunday. That being said, it wasn't until a week and a half ago that I stopped breaking out, until then, I was still getting zits fairly regularly. Now, she wrote on the prescription for only 10 pills (40x2). But the pharmacist made a mistake and gave me a full months' worth of pills. Here's the question:

If I'm still getting zits by Sunday...do I keep taking pills until they stop completely?

It's nice to be near the end of the road, but I'm worried about what's going to happen when I stop taking the pills. Guess we'll see!

[big_red]

I'd finish taking them if I were you, you paid for them!!!

[sundance32]

Matt!!! So good to hear from you - wow I cannot believe you are almost done!! Congrats on the clear skin.

If I were in your position I would take the rest of the pills - especially if you are still breaking out. it will just give you that extra help...and then don't forget that it stays in your system for one month after as well.

Good luck!!

Kristen

[00Cardinal]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while since I posted.

The first three months off accutane were great. My skin was clear, I felt great, and had no problems. I kept washing with cetaphil and moisturizing every day and that's it.

The past two weeks I've started getting zits back, albeit slowly. Started with some whiteheads here and there, then some blemishes, now i'm getting regular zits, about 2 or 3 a day, although not as bad/big as before/during accutane. Also, interestingly enough I've been getting some side-effects like I'm back on Accutane, dry skin, facial flushing/hot flashes, oil (which I normally never had before accutane). It's strange.

I'm supposed to go see my derm in about a week and a half. I wonder if she's going to prescribe another round of accutane, as what I have right now is probably "mild" acne as opposed to the "moderate" I had before my first course.

Some questions:
Is my acne going to continue to get worse until I get back on something?
Did anyone go through something like this themselves?
If you went on a second round, did it work that time?
Is the initial outbreak/course as bad the second time as it was the first time or does your body adjust?
Do you have to re-register for iPledge if it's this close in timeframe?

Any advice/experiences/opinions would be greatly appreciated, I'm kinda sad about this, I thought accutane had worked once and for all.

[00Cardinal]

Bump.

[Sotret99]

Hey........My derm told me it is fairly common for people to have to take back to back rounds sometimes. You have to be off of the drug for at least 2 months and you can go on again. Most people dont get any acne for along time if ever again after accutane but some people need a longer treatment, but they can only keep you on such high levels for so long so if you max out, you gotta wait two months, and they start you up again. Good news is, you will most defenitly be clear after this second round, and the dosage will be mch lower im sure. With the lower dosages, and considering you just got off accutane, you prolly wont have much of an IB, if any. And your side effects should be mild. You should just clear right up and stay on the medicine for a while to get it good in your system before you go off it. A friend of mine had the same thing happen to her, but instead of a second course the derm prescribed her a small dose of accutane to take twice a week....like one pill on wed. and one on saturday and she did it for a long period of time. She had no side effects, no IB and it just kept her clear. After a year or so I think it was they took her off it and shes been fine. I had never heard of that type of cycling before that but I guess some derms do it and it worked great so your derm will have a plan for you and whatever it is Im sure it will work.

[00Cardinal]

Thanks Sotret. I got a really nice big pimple today on my cheek. It's swollen and it's sore, I haven't had one this bad since like November. Next Tuesday can't come soon enough. Any other thoughts out there?

[00Cardinal]

Split into new log. http://www.acne.org/messageboard/index.php?showtopic=146757

So after seeing my derm, I've decided to do a second course of accutane. My acne is certainly considered "mild" right now, but I'd rather not see it get worse, and the options my derm gave me were a second course or an indefinite period of time on Bactrim.

I'll be doing the same course I did the first time, 80mg a day for a little over 4 months. I've updated my signature appropriately, I don't know how often I'll be updating but we'll see.

Does anyone have any personal experiences on their second time on accutane? I had a pretty bad IB the first time, but I also had much worse acne when I started the first time. I'm hoping to have little to no IB this time, seeing as it's only been 4 months off of accutane and my pores can't be that clogged already, right? Maybe just wishful thinking.

I'm seeing this girl right now who will support me through the whole thing, which is nice. Especially considering we were good friends when I was going through my first course and she told me she didn't care then either.

Oh well, here we go again...