10 replies to this topic

[iloveuk]

Hi....I'm a 27 yr. old female and I have had acne complicated by rosacea for 14 years now. I believe there is a hormonal component to my acne, but hormonal treatments have given me limited success. It's hard for me to use acne topicals because my skin is so thin and the rosacea is almost more bothersome than the acne for me. Topical rosacea products irritate my skin and make my acne flare up. Anyway, my dr. wants me to start Accutane next month. Most of my worst acne is on my back and the sides of my arms...huge cysts that wont go away. My face has very mild acne now but is full of deep scars on my temples and chin from past breakouts. My face has large pores and is super greasy yet always feels tight, irritated, and looks flaky, especially when I apply makeup of any kind. here are my questions: (I know my derm knows best but I trust the experiences of those who have been on Accutane slightly more)

1. Will Accutane make the sagging that I have on my face worse? I already feel like the skin on my cheeks looks saggy and I absolutely cannot take anything that will worsen this look

2. Will the scars that I already have appear deeper? My skin is already super thin and sensitive so I'm afraid any decrease in thickness in some areas will make them look worse?

3. This is embarrassing, but to me my skin looks like man skin, the texture, appearance, everything. Will Accutane return my skin to a normal appearance?

Thanks to whoever takes the time to honestly give me their opinions...I dont know why but I rarely get a response to any of my questions on here...

[lamarr1986]

1. I seriously doubt it will make any 'sagging' worse...

2. they may appear deeper, some people can see this, but it is only temporary and won't make your scars worse permanently...but they could possibly look worse whilst on tane and a while after...

3. yes i think it should improve your pore size and texture, i can't say that it will make your skin do a 180, blackheads, excess sebum, etc can all be improved quite dramatically... on a low dose course you should see considerable improvement in most of your problems...

Low dose is the ONLY way to go with rosacea, i don't care what anyone else says. I'm sure your derm already knows this though!!

Best of luck!!

[Yvette2]

Hi -

I'm on month 4 of low dose Accutane (10mg started month one in May and beginning June 20mg to the end). I had chin acne that came out of nowhere last year. It was mild-moderate. I also have mild Rosacea - light pink cheeks and nose. I'm 39. I was scared to start Accutane (thought my Rosacea would get worse) so I hesitated when my Derm. mentioned it last Winter. Finally took the plunge in May this year.

I LOVE Accutane and what it's done for my skin so far. When I first started (weeks one/two) my face got oilier (my t-zone can get a little oily but the rest of my face is normal). A few of my acne on my chin "flared" into whiteheads week one, but then went away. I had headaches week one and general achiness in month one. Feel like an ol' lady at times. Derm. said occassional Tylenol or Advil for pain is fine. By the end of month one, my face was getting smoother (pores and stuff clearing out). The blackheads on my nose looked like little ants - sebum was getting ready to pop out. Kinda gross, but intruiging! Month two - blackheads cleared on nose. Face smoother. No more active acne on chin. Confidence = high! Sometimes moody though - Tane can alter your moods a little. However, the "high" I was getting with clearer skin wins!

If you are troubled by the acne and it makes you down, take the Accutane. Friends of mine have taken it (they didn't have Rosacea though) but it worked for them. My Derm. said if it was too much, I could always stop. They did say the first month/two is kinda hard getting adjusted. It does go by fast though. As you know, low dose is "key" for Rosacea and acne, if you go too high your face will get really red, peely, irritated, and you may flush more. What dose are you going to start off with? My face is a little more sensitive, but not redder. I do have drier skin, sometimes a little flakey, but not too bad. Really started to get more drier this month. But I moisterise with Kinerase Cream at night an use gentle cleansers. I haven't noticed any additional wrinkling or anything. Just smoother and clearer skin!

Sorry for the novel - just wanted to give you some info. Let us know how things go for ya.

Yvette

[iloveuk]

Thanks for the great replies so far! The derm wants me to alternate taking 20 mg. one day and 40 mg. the next and eventually work up to 60 mg. per day. This seems REALLY high to me considering I'm 5'5 and 108 lbs. I mentioned to her that I've heard that low dose accutane is best for rosacea and high dose can either cause or make it worse and she said high dose will not make it worse, but any dose will make rosacea better. I think a high dose will make it worse, and I have considered arguing just sticking to 20 mg. a day. I would hate to end up with worse rosacea than I already have...the only reason I am even considering accutane is because of how discouraged I am by my appearance and because I have pretty much exhausted all of my efforts to help myself with diet, cleansing, supplements, etc. I can barely eat anything already because I'm allergic to gluten, eggs, dairy, peanuts, and beans and follow a low glycemic diet of mostly meat and veggies with all this deprivation my skin is still awful.

[tenten]

I've gained sagging on both sides on my face under my eyes and weird type of scars I think it's just sagging though, so not sure how it will go for you, Iasked my derm about it and she said it's the fat pockets under the eyes reacting.

You sound like me I too have very sensitive skin and my scars in certain places have got deeper, weird thing is where I had no scars, some scarring has appeared indented.

Everyone is different, some people have tougher skin....but I'd say go for it if you can except things might get worse. Because I've been really down over some things it takes a very strong mind to get through accutuane.

Any more questions feel free to ask:)

Hope I don't scare you.

[iloveuk]

Tenten,

Thanks for your honesty, and it doesn't scare me. I really don't know that I can accept things getting worse. In the past 2 weeks I have watched my face go from "fine" to saggy and indented in places it wasn't before and I'm not even on Accutane yet. I'm only 27 and I take really good care of myself so it's alarming to watch these things happen and not know whats going on or why. I'm afraid Accutane might cause other erratic strange things to happen to my face that will freak me out even more. Acne sucks but I'm almost more afraid that Accutane will cause my skin to age even more than it rapidly is already. Am I sounding crazy? I hope not...

Can I ask how severe your acne was before Accutane?

[tenten]

I've never had severe acne my derm called it mild persistant acne I went the to the derm and she asked me some questions what mostly got me on acctuane was my 'emotional' side of my life, I was avoiding friends etcetc and I felt down all the time. Also I'd tried nearly everything out there for my acne.

So I started on accutane with about 7 or so cysts alot of blocked pores, and red marks, my skin can look good one week but crap the next.

The first week I noticed no difference, second week came the other side effects like dried nose, lips, bleeding nose alot, headaches, body aches etc.

I'm now nearly 3 months in and I've had the worst breakout I've had in those 3 months then in a long time, Have alot of red marks left over from this and I'm still getting new active acne every couple days.

It's really got me down seeing no improvement this far in but I have hope it will work, it just takes some people longer.

I say go for it, with your issues like mine it will be very hard but then again you might be one of the lucky ones and look better after a month. This drug really does work but you just have to take everyday and not get down.

If your skin is already doing weird things by itself, going on accutane shouldn't make much difference, your skin and scars might look worse in your course but the skin does thicken up and I've hear tissue helps build itself back up so In the end you could actually look better.

It's a gamble....but I say take it.

OH and a major tip for dry skin like mine, my skin started peeling off my face in week 2-3 flakes were just falling off, buy the best moisterizer you can find, get the oil-free neutrogena sensitive skin it's the best thing I've ever used and for lips the Blistex lip ointment works a treat.

Drink lots more water your skin may be dehydrated and the lack of moisture it's loosing it's "plump" try to drink 4-6 glasses a day if you can.

Avoid and limit hot showers making sure you don't put any water on your face..try to only let cool water on your face, ok I'm rambling lol but this all helped me.

[Yvette2]

Hi there -

Read some more of your posts and if you are concerned about your Rosacea getting worse with Accutane (which is legitimate as it can) stay on lower dose. I've been on 20mg and the first month/two my face actually felt cooler (which I read Accutane does) and less blotchy. However, as Accutane gets into your body and continues to work it makes you/your skin more sensitive. My Derm. wanted me to *try* 30mg this month (month 4) but noticed the first few days taking it my face was redder and more flushy. I asked her to prescribe three 10mg pills, in case it was too much, I could go back two two 10mg pills. I stopped and went back to 20mg day. I *may* try alternating 20mg one day and 30mg the next. My Derm. is fine with that and taking lower dose is better for our sensitive skins just that we would need to take Accutane a little longer (more than 5 months) to get the final cummulative dose. Read studies via the internet "low dose accutane studies and Rosacea" and you will find many stressing the importance of keeping the dose low (under 30mg day and more like 10 or 20mg day).....

Again, listen to your instincts and watch your skin. If you feel flushy and get really red, skin gets too sensitive, then you may need to lower the dose. You don't want to be worse at the end. There are people here who have taken higher doses and now have Rosacea.

Take care.

Yvette

[iloveuk]

Yvette2, you are so right...I don't know why my derm adamantly disputes the fact that Accutane at high doses does not cause rosacea and cannot make existing rosacea worse. She came highly recommended as "the best dermatologist in town" but her lack of knowledge about this fact concerns me. I will definitely only take 20 mg. because 60 mg. will be total overkill for my skin, and I really can't imagine my skin becoming more thin and sensitive than it already is. I cant even go out in the sun for 30 seconds with spf 30 sunscreen on and a hat without feeling a sensation of burning on the few exposed areas of my face. Because of this (and the fact that I live in Tucson, AZ aka hell) I never go out until after 7 pm for fear that I will burn. Thanks for your insight and info!

Tenten, your posts are really helpful! The only reason my derm suggested accutane is because of my emotional issues surrounding my appearance. Having had acne for so long, its really frustrating to continue to suffer and allow it to prevent me from going out, working, etc. I know that I feel that it's a lot worse than others see it, since some of friends say "You don't even have pimples!", but I see the acne and I especially see that the texture of my skin is just scarred and crappy. I hope that you start to see awesome improvements in your skin as it sounds like you have similar issues as I do and I'm sure that you would feel really bad to have invested yourself in Accutane only to see minimal improvements. I will remember them when I start next month, and I've already collected some tips that might be helpful to you....apparently Accutane reduces Hyaluronic Acid production throughout the body which can cause some of the skin symptoms we've discussed as well as joint problems, so supplementing with it while on Accutane can be helpful. Vitamin E and Fish oil (not Cod Liver Oil) can also possibly help with side effects. If you have any nutritional questions, I'm pretty knowledgeable so ask away!

[assassinated beauty]

My scars and red marks look A LOT worse now and I'm 2 weeks from finishing a 5 month course (60mg a day)

Its really getting me down. My skins so horrible looking now.

[iloveuk]

My scars and red marks look A LOT worse now and I'm 2 weeks from finishing a 5 month course (60mg a day)

Its really getting me down. My skins so horrible looking now.

I'm so sorry to hear that Did your skin thin out a lot from the Accutane and do you think that's why the scars look worse? If so then hopefully when you're finished with the course your skin will thicken back up and look great