37 replies to this topic

[kevy]

dublin79, I thought I was unlucky getting it earlier, but after reading all of these logs, I'm finding that I was actually lucky to get the IB over with in the beginning. Hope you're starting to get better.

4 Weeks (Day 29)

Since I'm not changing daily anymore, I decided I'm just going to post weekly.

I got a huge pimple on the border of my forehead and hair, but no one can see it. It's just odd since I never get zits there. The blackheads on my nose are almost gone, I have no zits on my lips (worst place to get them, ever) or between my lip and nose. The ones on my cheek are so small that I really don't care about them. On my upper cheeks, the remainder of my IB lingers, but getting smaller and less frequent every day. The breakout on my back is getting less frequent as well. No new ones on my neck or jawline. On my chin, I have 6 huge ones. Two of them scabed instantly and keep pussing. Those are the ones I'm pissed about.

The flakes and dryness have died down a lot, which kind of scares me cause it sort of reassured me accutane was working. It only remains wherever I have zits. My lips are still chap, but nowhere near as bad as before. I feel like my dose could be increased on my next visit if this continues. I also have a jolly red Santa Clause glow and red marks.

But after one month, I'm already looking better than I did before starting accutane.

[kevy]

Week 5

So it's been five weeks, I'm about 1/4 done with accutane and I couldn't be any happier with the results. I can count my pimples on one hand, and only three of them are big enough to notice. None of them have whiteheads either, they're just red bumps. My face gets dry on my chin and a few other spots still, but I just use oil free moisterizer and it's fine. My lips are chap, but noting some regular chap stick can't handle. The breakout on my back is almost gone. Best news of all, I finally got to shave. Now I don't look like a homeless person (or like I'm in a lame indie rock band). Worst part is the left over scars. I don't have it all over, but it's enough to notice. They usually take a month or two to go away, but on accutane they will probably stay there until I'm done with my treatment. As long as I don't have zits though, I'm happy.

Now I just can't wait for it to be over so I can drink again and not have to be sober when I talk to people.

[kevy]

Week 6

Only one pimple on my face, two on my forehead, and two on my neck. The acne on my back is very small and scattered. I'm definately not shaving until this is all over cause I've had this weird goatee of dry skin on my face that won't go away, even with moisturizer. This didn't happen until I shaved. My scars are smaller, but my face is redder.

My eyes get really dry and my muscles have been getting very sore. I tried having a drink, and it made me really sick. I wouldn't reccomend that anyone on accutane test the waters with alcohol.

My friend said the accutane box should have a warning: Will ruin your life for 5 months. I told him I would change it a little: Will ruin your life for 5 months, but will make it one hundred million times better all the years following.

[kevy]

Week 7

So I have a GIANT pimple on my chin, one building up right next to it, one medium one on my cheek, and left over big ones on my neck. I don't have any whiteheads, they are just huge hills of red. The dryness calmed down, but I still flake around my mouth. Lips are at a constant chapped state. Less pimples than before I started, but they're bigger than any I've ever had.

[kevy]

lockedingrace, I was using oil free moisterizer, but it started making the dryness worse so I only use it when I'm going out to a party or something. I use regular chap stick for my lips, it works fine.

Week 8

So my dryness is probably going to remain the way it is for the rest of the treatment. I realize my face is really red now that only a few scars remain. The dryness is only noticable around the huge zit I had until today. Now it's almost gone. I feel like my acne is almost gone for good, meaning I'll only have to deal with dryness and redness soon. Those things do not bother me with the knowledge of not having acne. This is the least amount of zits I've had in 8 years and I couldn't be happier.

Saw my dermatologist today, she said my dryness seems to be very minimal and is increasing me to 40 mg/day. She said if it makes my face too flaky that I should go back to 20, but I think I'll just stick with 40 unless it's absolutely unbearable.

In 3 days it'll be 2 months down, 3 to go. It gets much easier every day.

[kevy]

Week 9

I have two pimples near my eyebrows and one on my forehead. On my face I have practically none! There's a few the size of a pore and can only be seen if you got inches away from my face. It's getting a lot more itchy on my cheeks and flaky everywhere, but the redness is minimal and my scars are almost gone. I start 40 mg/day tomorrow and hopefully my face will be completely acne free in the next few weeks. The day I do not have a single zit on my face will be the best day of my life.

Also, I had very painful muscle/back sores the last week. I don't know if it's the accutane or my crappy ikea bed, but either way it has passed.

[kevy]

Week 10

Hey, halfway through (Day 75) in two days! I can't start 40 mg/day until then because I figured out I would have run out of pills by my next derm appointment.

Got a new big zit on my forehead that's fading quicker than usual (weird because I use to never get them there). Now when I usually get a pimple, it goes away in a day or two. I have one on my chin that's been there a few days, looks like it's going away though. There's a huge near my earlobe, on my jawline. It's formed a scab and is officially the 2nd biggest pimple I've ever had. So that's three, two less than last time. If I have less than three next week, then I'm extremely close to being zit free. I hope the increase of my dose helps progress that faster. Acne on my back is barely there, by the way.

My red marks are smaller, mostly visible on top of my cheek. My face is constantly red, but I couldn't care less about that. Getting a lot of cramps when I walk, whic sucks cause I live in NYC and walk a lot. Dry lips and face too. Otherwise, no major side effects.

[user19]

i just started accutane like 4 days ago. and its great to hear that tane is working for you.: )

are you still on 20mg a day?

I am on 40mg a day, but still i am not experiencing any dryness just a few new cyst popping out here n there.

o btw, do you have any recent pictures and before pictures

post them!!

and to those whos taking omega3 n vitamin E with accutane, do they actually make your skin heal faster or something?

[kevy]

user19, I've been on 40 mg/day for 5 days and will stay on that for the rest of the treatment. I don't have any pictures close enough to show my acne's progress, sort of avoided it. Sorry, I know seeing before and after pictures are really encouraging.

Week 11 (Day 80)

Got one new pimple, medium sized. The three I mentioned in my last post are still there, but will be gone by my next post. Hopefully no more new ones will come up. Face is still red and dry. Still have red marks on the top of my cheeks, but I think they are fading. No sores, cramps, etc.

Only thing that's really annoying me about accutane now is that I can't shave. I can't grow a full beard either, so I look like I'm going through puberty.

[kevy]

Week 13 (Day 90)

So only one new pimple at the bottom of my neck. The others I got the last time I posted are drying up and almost gone! I can't wait to not have any pimples on my face, to finally be clear. My back is completely clear, which is awesome.

Side effects, still dry skin and lips. Didn't get much worse with the increase to 40mg/day. Never get sores anymore, which is good.

Got drunk a week ago, which made me completely plastered thanks to the accutane. I am definately not having more than one drink until my treatment is done, that was not worth it at all.

And I am going to try and increase my dose to 80 mg/day so that I can finish in about 5 months and 10 days total (rather than 7-8 months total on 40 mg/day)

[Tim1986]

Hey Kevy just stoppin in to wish u luck with your treatment. Im on 20 mg, I saw that u were and u just got bumped to 40 mg thats cool. Im on day 3, hope it works out for you!

[kevy]

Week 15 (Day 111)

thanks Tim, i hope it goes well for you.

by the way, sorry i haven't posted, i've had a really long, awful holiday season.

so i have one pimple on my eyebrow, and two the size of a pore (completely unnoticable). otherwise, i'm clear baby! the dry skin on my face has calmed down more and more every day, but it seems to be getting redder and redder. someone even commented on it on new years. and my body's skin is getting really dry all the sudden.

speaking of new years, i drank on new years eve and didnt really hurt the morning after. either way, i only have less than 60 days left on accutane and will not be drinking until my doctor says it's okay.

i couldnt go to my appointment a week ago cause my plane back home's engine got messed up, then it was new years so they haven't been open until tomorrow. i'm really worried cause i only have two pills left and it usually takes three days for my bloodwork to come in. and it's also impossible to get an appointment with my doctor without a 3 week notice. i hope they'll give me a perscription to last me until the bloodwork comes in.

i also want to do 80 mg for the last 50+ days i have left, that way i'll have the 100 mg/kg thing down.

i won't be posting unless something big happens accutane-wise, like going a week without taking pills or finally not having a single zit on my face.

[kevy]

Week 19 (Day 140)

Well, I have about 30 days left to go. My derm told me there was no way she would increase me to 80 mg/day because my skin looked so great. She said we should increase it the last month just to be closer to the 100 mg/kg/day thing, but it probably will only be an increase to 60 mg/day.

I do have ONE pimple near, but not on, my lips. It's been a month since I got a zit there, so I'm not fretting about it. Plus it's really small and is almost gone after 4 days of having it. I've been averaging one small zit a week since I posted last. I think it's because I only wash my face every 2 to 3 days. That keeps the dryness down, but also gives me these zits I wouldn't usually have now that I'm near the end of my accutane treatment. Plus, I shave with a dirty blade. Probably should buy a new one.

Anyway, the side effects are all gone except the dry and red face, which is still very much present. In fact, it's the worst it's ever been. But I'm only on accutane for another month, and I hear that the dry and red face goes away after 2-3 weeks. Right in time for my trip to Europe.

Oh yeah, and my face is the clearest it's been in 8 and 1/2 years. That's how long I had acne. I can't believe I'm saying it in the past tense!

There's something I feel I should tell people not on accutane:

If you are contemplating taking accutane, do it. Dermatologists had me on every new drug for acne. I would take it for 6 months, it wouldn't help, and then they would put me on something new. None of this stuff ever worked, and I soon realized that they were just using me as a guinea pig. I spent 8 years with acne, when I could have just taken accutane for 6 months and been rid of it forever. Trying out a few drugs for a year or two isn't a bad idea, but once you've taken more than four different kinds, accutane is your only hope. And don't trust Proactiv, Jessica Simpson took accutane.

[Heather F]

Did Jessica Simpson really take Accutane?!

[kevy]

Week 24 (Day 174)

I just took my last pill of accutane. I was on 20 mg/day for the first 2 1/2 months, and 40 mg/day for the last 3 1/2 months. I haven't had a new pimple since I bought new razors to shave with, which was about a little over a month ago. I still have a dry face/lips and a red face, but that is suppose to go away in 2-3 weeks. I am extremely happy I took accutane, and wish anyone on it or about to begin the treatment all the luck in the world. I'll update on when the side effects finally go away and if my acne ever returns (that would suck).

[kevy]

It's been three weeks since I've been off accutane. The dryness is still there, but it's barely noticable to anyone but myself. The redness is not completely gone, but it's obviously going to be gone within the next few weeks. I have some scars on my cheeks and was about to use this scar treatment thing my friend gave me, but I'm wondering if it's okay to do that. Does anyone know how long you're suppose to be off accutane before you start using a face peel or even stuff like clearasil for that matter?

[Frances The Mute]

apparently youre supposed to wait 6 months before using any sort of peels. Im glad to hear youre clear now bro it was a long journey and you earned it