8 replies to this topic

[frusia]

Hello all,

So after reading about a million of these logs, I thought that maybe I'd start my own. I am a 23 year old female and I just started Accutane on January 16th. For the first 2 weeks, I am supposed to take 40 mg a day, and after that I am supposed to alternate between 40 and 80 mg. I started getting acne when I was about 13, started on RetinA when I was 16 and since then have been on about just everything else. Currently, my acne is probably mild to moderate. The worst part I think is the scarring - since I'm Indian every single blemish I get seems to leave a dark mark on my face. So even when I don't have any new ones, my face still looks pretty bad from the marks.

My sister went on Accutane a few years back and she had great results. I've been wanting to do it since then, but something always got in the way! I went to my dermatologist back home and she said I seemed like a good candidate, but I should get a doctor near my school. So I went to the dermatologist near school, and she said that she didn't think I should go on Accutane and just put me on more topicals. The next year I started grad school, but I didn't want to start right then cause I was afraid of the possibility of depression while I was already nervous about the stress of going to a new place and having to make new friends (nope, I'm not good at change). Went to the doctor towards the end of last school year, and he gave me 3 more new things to take (but no Accutane). Finally went back this year, and I'm finally starting. So I'm glad, cause it's been a long wait!

So far . . .

Day 1-4
Didn't really notice anything too much. I had a whole bunch of whiteheads pop up though. I have been trying really hard not to pick, so that was kind of hard. On day 4, I went out to a pub with some classmates. I ended up having a drink (which was probably very stupid of me, I was not even particularly in the mood to drink). I just had one glass of alcoholic cider, but I regreted it soon after. Ended up feeling really queasy once I got home and falling asleep early.

Day 5
Wow, I think all of my side effects just came at once. I woke up to a back ache. I am also just generally really sore and my legs hurt when I walk. I finally noticed my lips are really dry and it seems like my skin is also kind of drying up in areas. And I have a headache. Sigh . . . Anyway, I'm hoping it isn't like this forever. I think it might have to do with one or more of these following things:
1) That drink I had last night.
2) I think I'm sick. I forgot to mention, I also woke up to a sore throat and have been sneezing today.
3) I just got my period today.

Ok, well I'm hopeful for the future and I hope that 2007 is the year when I can finally go out of the house without putting foundation on and actually wear a backless or low neck dress for once!

[frusia]

Day 6

I woke up today with no back aches or soreness at all and I was very happy about that! I was actually really surprised because I went out last night and walked all around the city and danced for about 3 hrs straight (but no drinking! I've learned my lesson, and it's best to just be careful I think) Ended up crashing at a friends place, and yes I actually wore a little bit of makeup to bed. I'm still sick, which is sucky. I think I'm just going to ride it out because I'm scared of drug interactions. As far as side effects, my skin is dry and peely and my lips are still dry. My nose kind of hurts but I think it's more from the cold then from dryness of Accutane. And I have to say, having dry skin makes it look a lot worse when you put on makeup!

[AccutaneStarter]

HEY!! I wish you the best of luck with your results! Btw, do you still have oil production?

[frusia]

Thanks AccutaneStarter! Right now, I'd say I have very little oil production on my face, though my face wasn't all that oily to begin with.

Day 10

Yay, finished with one whole package! As of right now, my face actually looks pretty decent (well besides the scars and the flakiness). But I've been thinking about how after the acne is gone, I will probably still have to do something about getting rid of the dark marks. I read about PureDeming Intense Gels in these forums about hyperpigmentation but I dunno if you can use that at the same time as accutane. I'm guessing no. Anyway, same side effects pretty much. My skin is pretty dry, now just my nose is flaking. It hurts a lot cause I also have a runny nose from being sick, so whenever I go outside in the cold it's just painful! Also, I've been blowing my nose constantly and I have noticed a little blood. I dunno if that's from Accutane or just cause I've been blowing my nose so often. I can tell my skin is a lot more sensitive. It keeps me from picking at it though since it hurts more and feels like it will scar more easily. Also, using anything but the gentlest stuff on my skin makes it feel irritated. I suppose that is all I can think of for now.

[frusia]

Day 15

So this is my first day upping up the dose. I'm supposed to alternate 40 and 80 mg from now on. I'm a little bit nervous cause a lot of the really annoying side effects I had at first like overall tiredness and headaches have gone away, so I'm hoping they don't come back with a vengance. Also, I know it's only been two weeks, but my face is actually looking really good - I have no idea whether it's the accutane or just good luck, but I'm not complaining! So hopefully the increase in dose doesn't make me have a huge initial breakout as well. Of course right now I still have a lot of blackheads and hyperpigmentation, but I'm praying those will go away with time. As for other side effects, I still have very dry lips and dry flakiness, especially by my nose.

[Tasukete80]

Hey Frusia,

Just wanted to say hi and goodluck! I'm about a week behind you, so it's helpful to see what's in my future...
Here's to beautiful skin!

[frusia]

Thanks for the good wishes Tasukete80 - I wish you all the best too!

Day 21

3 weeks down! So after upping the dosage, I could definitely tell there was an increase in dryness and my lips especially end up cracking a lot if I forgot about the aquaphor. Luckily, I didn't have any problems with soreness - I had a slight headache the first day but it went away. Also, my eyes have kind of been hurting a little bit - I'm thinking about whether to get eye drops, but I really hate putting things in my eyes. Ah well, so far that's not so bad.

My skin is still looking alright. Last week, I got one on my cheek and today I felt something coming up on my chin - but they're small and only coming one at a time so I won't complain too much. Of course, I still have lots of blackheads. I read a lot of these logs where people say there blackheads just disappear. That would be amazing if that happened as I can not remember a day since I was 12 years old when my nose has not been pretty much covered in blackheads. Also, I hate hyperpigmentation! Even when I am pretty much clear, it still looks bad cause of the way my skin scars. But I have to say, so far so good.

Sooooo, after reading all the makeup forums, I decided to order some Everyday Mineral makeup samples. This stuff is so cool and I love free samples!! And it's so cheap - for the same price as I was paying for my foundation (~$35 for department store liquid makeup), I can get a sample kit with tons of stuff in it (2 large foundations, 1 concealer, 2 blushes, and 2 brushes). I don't think it covers the dark marks quite as well, but it feels so much better to just brush on some light powder, than to glob on all this cakey liquid makeup. I am sadly addicted to foundation, and I hope that one day I won't wear any - but until that day, mineral makeup is pretty awesome. I'm thinking of changing for good. My only gripe is that most of the colors on Everyday Minerals seem to be made for white people. As of right now, I'm having trouble finding the right shade. But according to the website, they're bringing out some new colors this month, so hopefully that problem will be solved!

[frusia]

Day 30

Not too much to report - the days are flying fast it seems! One month down. I don't know if it's just my imagination but the blackheads on my face seem to be more visible and towards the surface. Otherwise, my face is feeling pretty smooth. Dryness and irritation have gone down a lot so I have switched to using St. Ives Gentle Apricot Scrub instead of Cetaphil to exfoliate more. Next time I go to the doctor, I'm going to ask if I can use fading cream for hyperpigmentation while you are on Accutane. Also, I am probably being super paranoid but I noticed I've been a little down this last week - I doubt that it has to do with Accutane, but I guess I don't know for sure. Anyway, I guess that's it for right now. So far so good!

[frusia]

Day 38

So my blackheads which were way towards the surface last week are now really small. They're still there, but the skin is pretty smooth as opposed to last week where it was all rough and bumpy. So that's exciting! Of course I was kind of bad and ended up messing with my skin so there are several places on my face where the pores just look huge like I have a small hole where the blackhead used to be. Hopefully the scars won't stay forever and my pores will look better with time.

In other news, I went to go get my eyebrows threaded. For any girl who is worried about the no waxing rule while on Accutane, I strongly suggest threading. To be honest, I've never done waxing before - just threading. I'm Indian and most Indian girls I know do threading. I definitely think it is just as good as waxing (if not better), it doesn't take a lot of time, and it's usually cheap ($7 at the place I go). If you find a Middle Eastern or Indian salon in your neighborhood, I definitely suggest you try it.

My doctor's appointment is tomorrow so we'll see how it goes! I'm definitely going to ask about hyperpigmentation fading creams cause that seems to be my main problem right now.