hey...ive been following your log and want to say that you're doing great. i'm glad you got the gram-negative thing dealt with...from what i understand, it can be a side effect of long term antibiotic use. as for the retin-a, it sounds like you are most likely through the worst part
for me, week 6 was probably the worst, and its been getting better and better since...no active spots at all. and it just seems to keep getting better
i would recommend that if the doc is pushing accutane on you because of the folliculitis, that you should try stopping the doxy first (with your doctor's approval, of course) and seeing if that helps. if not, then you have a big decision to make...to 'tane or not to 'tane. on the bright side, at least you have a doctor willing to prescribe you accutane. it certainly has gotten a very bad rap, and i have taken 4 courses without any issues besides dry lips. just my experience of course...anyhow, congrats on the retin-a starting to clear you! wish you all the best!
thank you SO much for your support
i've been starting to worry that no one was reading this anymore... haha
i have some questions for you accutane-wise, if you have the time to answer them.
did you have body acne?
did you take any vitamins or anything with them?
what were your dosages like?
how long ago did you take them?
also, well, i don't have very dry skin and i sometimes get eczema. as someone who's taken accutane, what would your opinion be on taking it?
no problem on the support j...its what we're here for
now about your accutane questions...yes, i had body acne, on my chest and back, with back being much worse than chest. before accutane i used to use a tanning booth to help hide the acne, and while it sort of worked, i now have freckles all over my back and some moles, so the UV damage is NOT the way to go!
my first course of accutane was , gosh, like 6 years ago. i way a bit less than 80kg, so my dose was average at 80mg/day, split into 40mg in the am and 40mg at night. during my first and second course i was a smoker, and i do believe that it affected the results. i never achieved complete clearing during the first 2 courses. in fact, i always gave up after 16 weeks because i was in such bad shape that i didn't want to take it anymore.
now, the 3rd and 4th times, i had quit smoking quite awhile before. i was nervous about trying again seeing as how the first 2 tries were a disaster, but to my surprise, i think i got maybe 2 big cysts during the IB stage, and from there on out it was crystal clear skin for the rest of the course. my blood panels were always normal, i felt fine, and all i had to deal with was SEVERE dry lips. the answer to that was aquaphor...it will be your best friend if you decide to take accutane
the dosage for my 3rd course was the same as the first 2...80mg/day. but for my 4th course, the doc said he wanted to really kick the acne out for good by doing a long, high dose course. the plan was to start with month 1 at 40mg/day, month 2 80mg/day, month 3 120mg/day. months 4-7 160mg/day. now, i can say that at 160mg day, i was not pleased. yes, my skin was perfect (including body). but i was hurting from the side effects. my blood panels were all still ok, but my god was i tired, joint pain and not even aquaphor could help my poor lips. i stopped at month 5 because i simply could not put up with the dose, and lowered it to 40mg/day. i had so much leftover accutane that i stayed on 40mg/day for quite awhile and enjoyed perfect skin with virtually no side effects.
1 year after my last course, the oil came back, and along with it so did the breakouts. but nowhere near as bad as before, and as i can see now, controllable with topical meds.
for me, i think smoking and accutane together were a bad mix, but after quitting, accutane worked beautifully. would i do it again? yes, and this time i'd like to stay on a once weekly 40mg dose to maintain the results. but i'll cross that bridge if/when the retin-a fails.
and i was instructed to not take multi-vitamins or anything else with vitamin-a in it as this could worsen the side effects. i was scared of carrot juice while i was taking it! so i tried to eat healthy foods low in vitamin-a but high in other vits and minerals. it seemed to work just fine
sorry for the ultra-super-mega long post
i hope i answered your questions though! let us know how the retin-a is coming along, and feel free to ask any more questions!
ps- i had an ex who took accutane and also suffered from occasional eczema. it made his eczema much much worse while on the drug. he was also calling me daily to ask if any side effects he was having were normal and whether or not i had them and what he should do about them. he had a rough time during his treatment, but other people ive know who have eczema and took accutane had no problems whatsoever. its all so up to the individual.
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